Stellenbosch (

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

: ステレンボッシュ, foaled February 12, 2021) is an active Japanese

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse. She won the

Oka Sho The is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan. The race is restricted to three-year-old Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbre ...

in 2024. She was named after

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

, a town in

Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Racing career

Before debut

Stellenbosch was born at Northern Farm, located in Abira,

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

. She is currently owned by Shadai Group Owners, for about 5 million yen per share, with Katsumi Yoshida as their representative. She was sent into training with Sakae Kunieda.

2023: two-year-old season

Stellenbosch debuted at the

Sapporo Racecourse is a racecourse run by the Japan Racing Association located in Chūō-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. Built in 1907, it has a seating capacity of 12,000, and can accommodate 30,000 spectators in total. Sapporo Racecourse hosts one GII (Grade 2) h ...

on July 23, 2023, in an 1,800-meter, two-year-old newcomer race on turf, ridden by

Takeshi Yokoyama Takeshi Yokoyama (; born December 22, 1998) is a Japanese jockey. Takeshi was born to a family heavily involved in horse racing. His grandfather , father Norihiro, and elder brother Kazuo, are all jockeys. When he entered the Horse Racing Sch ...

. Although she was the second favored horse, she won brilliantly by one and a half

horse length A horse length, or simply length, is a unit of measurement for the length of a horse from nose to tail, approximately . Use in horse racing The length is commonly used in Thoroughbred horse racing, where it describes the distance between horses in ...

. Ten weeks later, she raced in a 1-win class race, Saffron Sho. She settled in from behind and then moved up in the final straight but lost by a nose to Spring Nova. Seven weeks later, she raced in another 1-win class race, Akamatsu Sho, with

Tom Marquand Tom Marquand (born 30 March 1998) is a British jockey who competes in flat racing. Background Marquand spent his childhood near Cheltenham and, although not from a racing background, grew up around horses. After pony racing and riding out f ...

on her saddle. She settled in midfield this time, and in the final straight, she overtook Teleos Sarah to win by three quarters of a horse length. For the last race of her two-year-old season, she was signed-up for the

Hanshin Juvenile Fillies The Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (阪神ジュベナイルフィリーズ) is a one-mile turf stakes race for thoroughbred fillies two years old. It is considered the ''de facto'' year-end championship for two-year-old fillies in Japan. Qualifying ra ...

held at

Hanshin Racecourse is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After World War II, GHQ orde ...

on December 10. This was her first

graded stakes race A graded stakes race is a thoroughbred horse race in the United States that meets the criteria of the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA). A specific grade level (I, II, III or listed) is th ...

, the first being a grade one. She was favored 5th in the race with

Christophe Lemaire Christophe Patrice Lemaire (Japanese:, born 20 May 1979) is a French-born jockey. He has enjoyed much of his success on the Japanese flat racing circuit, with the most wins at Japan Racing Association racetracks for five consecutive years sin ...

on her saddle. Settling in midfield from the start, she traveled well into the final straight but lost by a neck to

Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; ; ) is a (municipality) and capital of the province of Ascoli Piceno, in the Italy, Italian region of Marche. Geography The town lies at the confluence of the Tronto, River Tronto and the small Castellano (river), River Castell ...

, finishing second place.

2024: three-year-old season

Stellenbosch entered straight to Oka Sho, the first leg of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. With João Moreira on her saddle, she was the second most favored horse to win the race. She settled in midfield from the start, and in the final straight, she moved out ahead of Ascoli Piceno, winning the race by three quarters of a horse length.

Racing statistics

Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search, and NetKeiba. ''Legend:''

Pedigree

* She is related to 2023

Hopeful Stakes The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has ...

winner,

Regaleira Regaleira (Japanese: レガレイラ, foaled April 12, 2021) is an active Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. She won the 2023 Hopeful Stakes and the 2024 Arima Kinen She was named after Quinta da Regaleira, a palace located at Sintra, Portugal. ...

, through Land's Edge. * Land's Edge's half brother is Deep Impact and Black Tide.

Footnotes

Notes

References

{{Reflist Racehorses trained in Japan Racehorses bred in Japan Thoroughbred racehorses 2021 racehorse births Oka Sho winners Thoroughbred family 2-f