Vodka (horse)

Vodka
ウオッカ
2007 Tokyo Yūshun race, Tokyo Racecourse
SireTanino Gimlet
GrandsireBrian's Time (USA)
DamTanino Sister
DamsireRousillon (USA)
SexMare
Foaled(2004-04-04)4 April 2004
Died1 April 2019(2019-04-01) (aged 14)
CountryJapan
ColourBay
BreederCountry Bokujo
OwnerYuzo Tanimizu
Racing colors
TrainerKatsuhiko Sumii
Record26: 10–5–3
Earnings¥1,333,565,800 JPY
($8,413,398 USD)
Major wins
Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (2006)
Tulip Sho (2007)
Yasuda Kinen (2008, 2009)
Tenno Sho (Autumn) (2008)
Victoria Mile (2009)
Japan Cup (2009)
Japanese Classic Race wins:
Tokyo Yūshun (2007)
Awards
JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Filly (2006)
Japanese Champion Older Female (2008, 2009)
Japanese Horse of the Year (2008, 2009)
JRA Special Award (2007)
Honours
Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame (2011)

Vodka (Japanese: ウオッカ, Hepburn: Uokka; 4 April 2004 – 1 April 2019) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She won seven G1 races in Japan, including the 2007 Tokyo Yūshun, the first filly to win this race in 64 years since Kurifuji in 1943 as well as the 2009 Japan Cup. She was awarded the JRA Horse of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 and was inducted to the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2011.[1]

Breeding

Tanino Gimlet, the sire of Vodka.

Vodka was foaled on 4 April 2004 at Country Bokujo in Shizunai, Hokkaido. She was a bay mare with a white blaze by the 2002 Tokyo Yushun (Derby) winner, Tanino Gimlet out of Tanino Sister by Rousillon (USA). Her owner named her "Vodka" because he wanted her to be stronger than her father, named after the cocktail gimlet. He dropped the crown name "Tanino" when naming Vodka as he feared it would dilute the impact of her name.[2][3]

Vodka would be sent to be trained under Katsuhiko Sumii.

Racing career

2006: two-year old season

Vodka after winning the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies

In 2006, Vodka won her first race start and was second in the ungraded Kigiku Sho, both of which were contested at the Kyoto Racecourse. Vodka would then go on to win the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies race held at the Hanshin Racecourse, beating out Aston Machan by a neck.[4] For her accomplishments, Vodka was awarded the 2006 JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Filly.[5]

2007: three-year old season

In 2007, Vodka won her first start in the ungraded Elfin Stakes, followed by another win in the G3 Tulip Sho, from Daiwa Scarlet, who finished in second place. At her next start on 8 April, in the G1 Oka Shō (Japanese 1000 Guineas), the first race of the Japanese Triple Tiara, Daiwa Scarlet relegated Vodka to second place.[6] Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka would go on to meet a total of four times that year. Daiwa Scarlet bested her in three of those races. One of those contests was not a win for Daiwa Scarlet though, in the 2007 G1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama Racecourse, Daiwa Scarlet finished second to Matsurida Gogh, with Vodka finishing 11th.[7]

Vodka's jockey, Hirofumi Shii, bowing to Crown Prince Naruhito who, along with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and First Lady Akie Abe, was spectating the Japanese Derby[8][9]

Vodka's next race start was in the G1 Tokyo Yūshun, also known as the Japanese Derby, the second jewel in the Classic Triple Crown. Fillies are usually entered in the Yushun Himba, also known as the Japanese Oaks, which is the second jewel of the Japanese Triple Tiara which is a week before the race, however, in a move that shocked the racing world, Vodka won handily, defeating a field of some of the best three-year-old colts in the country. She became the first filly to win the race in 64 years.[10]

Vodka was unplaced in her next start before racing in the G1 Shuka Sho, which is the last race of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown races. Daiwa Scarlet won the race, with Vodka finishing in third place.[11] She was entered in the 2007 Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cup, but was scratched a few hours before the race due to what was thought to be a hip problem. In her next start Vodka finished 4th in the G1 Japan Cup.[12] Vodka subsequently did not place in her last start of the season.

Despite winning the Japanese Derby. She lost to Daiwa Scarlet in being awarded the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Filly as Vodka never finished above her in the 3 races in which both horses participated, but the achievement in the Derby led to her receiving the JRA Special Award (an award given to horses/person achieved special achievements, usually historical records, not awarded every year) instead. Her 9 race starts of the season resulted in 3 wins, 1 second and 1 third place.[13][14]

2008: four-year old season

Vodka (left, orange helmet) and Daiwa Scarlet (right, blue helmet) after finishing the Autumn Tenno Sho

In her first start of the season Vodka was unplaced in the G2 Kyōto Kinen. Vodka then went to Dubai in the spring of 2008 to race in the G1 Dubai Duty Free on Dubai World Cup Night.[15] She came in a fast closing fourth. Then upon her return to Japan, Vodka narrowly lost the G1 Victoria Mile to Asian Windsin May.[16] She next easily won the G1 Yasuda Kinen in June and narrowly defeated Daiwa Scarlet in the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn).[17][18] Finally that season even though she was heavily favored, she was unable to win the G1 Japan Cup and came in a close third to Screen Hero.[19]

During 2008 Vodka had 8 starts for the above 2 wins, 2 seconds in the G1 Victoria Mile and G2 Mainichi Okan; 1 third in the G1 Japan Cup and 1 fourth in the G1 Dubai Duty Free.

2009: five-year old season

Vodka winning the 2009 Victoria Mile

Vodka’s successive wins in the Yasuda Kinen triplicated what had only been achieved twice before, by Sweet Sue in 1952 and 1953 and by Yamanin Zephyr in 1992 and 1993. In the 2009 running, another photo finish decided the winner, in which the five-year-old mare Vodka on her third Japan Cup try with the French jockey Christophe Lemaire won by a nose over the 2008 Kikuka Sho winner Oken Bruce Lee, in a time of 2 minutes and 22.4 seconds, the third-fastest Japan Cup ever run at the standard 2,400-meter distance. Vodka's win would make her the second highest earning racehorse in Japan. Vodka placed 4th in the 2007 running to Admire Moon and 3rd in the 2008 running to Screen Hero, in which the latter ran 13th in the 2009 race. Vodka had a nosebleed during the Japan Cup and was prohibited from racing for a month following her triumphant Japan Cup run according to Japan Racing Association rules.

Her 7 race starts of the season resulted in 3 wins, 1 second and 1 third placing. Vodka was voted Horse of the Year, for the second consecutive year and became the first female to win the title twice.

2010: six-year old season

Vodka had her first start on the synthetic Tapeta Footings surface in the Dubai International Racing Carnival Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (G2), after racing exclusively on turf in each of her previous 25 starts. In this race she finished eighth and was retired from racing altogether following another nasal bleeding attack.[20][21]

Her main jockeys included Hirofumi Shii, who rode her in four wins, and Yutaka Take, in three wins. In her final two races Vodka was ridden by Frenchman Christophe Lemaire, who rode her in the Japan Cup victory.

Vodka finished her racing career with a total 10 wins in 22 races in Japan, with wins in seven grade I races, including the 2006 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, the 2007 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), the 2008 Yasuda Kinen and Tenno Sho (Autumn), the 2009 Victoria Mile, Yasuda Kinen and Japan Cup. She equalled the record of the Japanese Triple Crown winners Symboli Rudolf and Deep Impact, as well as T. M. Opera O, for the most grade 1 races won in Japan.

Vodka was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame in 2011.[22]

Racing statistics

Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search[23] and netkeiba.com.[24]

Date Racecourse Race Grade Distance
(condition)		 Entry HN Odds
(Favored)		 Finish Time Margins Jockey Winner
(Runner-up)
2006 – two-year-old season
29 Oct Kyoto 2yo Newcomer 1,600 m (Firm) 13 4 3.3 (2) 1st 1:35.0 -0.6 Katsuma Sameshima (Lace Doll)
12 Nov Kyoto Kigiku Sho ALW 1,800 m (Firm) 8 7 3.0 (2) 2nd 1:49.5 0.2 Hirofumi Shii Meiner Soliste
3 Dec Hanshin Hanshin Juvenile Fillies 1 1,600 m (Firm) 18 2 11.1 (4) 1st R1:33.1 -0.0 Hirofumi Shii (Aston Machan)
2007 – three-year-old season
3 Feb Kyoto Elfin Stakes OP 1,600 m (Firm) 9 9 1.7 (1) 1st 1:33.7 -0.5 Hirofumi Shii (Nishino Manamusume)
3 Mar Hanshin Tulip Sho 3 1,600 m (Firm) 16 11 1.4 (1) 1st 1:33.7 -0.0 Hirofumi Shii (Daiwa Scarlet)
8 Apr Hanshin Oka Sho 1 1,600 m (Firm) 18 14 1.4 (1) 2nd 1:33.9 0.2 Hirofumi Shii Daiwa Scarlet
27 May Tokyo Tōkyō Yūshun 1 2,400 m (Firm) 18 3 10.5 (3) 1st 2:24.5 -0.5 Hirofumi Shii (Asakusa Kings)
24 Jun Hanshin Takarazuka Kinen 1 2,200 m (Good) 18 2 3.5 (1) 8th 2:14.0 1.6 Hirofumi Shii Admire Moon
14 Oct Kyoto Shuka Sho 1 2,000 m (Firm) 18 16 2.7 (1) 3rd 1:59.3 0.2 Hirofumi Shii Daiwa Scarlet
11 Nov Kyoto QEII Cup 1 2,200 m (Firm) 14 3 -- (--) Scr -- -- Hirofumi Shii Daiwa Scarlet
25 Nov Tokyo Japan Cup 1 2,400 m (Firm) 18 11 6.1 (2) 4th 2:24.9 0.2 Hirofumi Shii Admire Moon
23 Dec Nakayama Arima Kinen 1 2,500 m (Good) 16 16 6.9 (3) 11th 2:35.7 2.1 Hirofumi Shii Matsurida Gogh
2008 – four-year-old season
23 Feb Kyoto Kyōto Kinen 2 2,200 m (Firm) 16 16 3.4 (2) 6th 2:13.9 0.3 Hirofumi Shii Admire Aura
29 Mar Nad Al Sheba Dubai Duty Free 1 1,777 m (Good) 16 12 -- (--) 4th 1:46.6 -- Yutaka Take Jay Peg
18 May Tokyo Victoria Mile 1 1,600 m (Firm) 18 9 2.1 (1) 2nd 1:33.8 0.1 Yutaka Take Asian Winds
8 Jun Tokyo Yasuda Kinen 1 1,600 m (Firm) 18 5 4.1 (2) 1st 1:32.7 -0.6 Yasunari Iwata (Armada)
12 Oct Tokyo Mainichi Okan 2 1,800 m (Firm) 16 3 1.5 (1) 2nd 1:44.6 0.0 Yutaka Take Super Hornet
2 Nov Tokyo Tenno Sho (Autumn) 1 2,000 m (Firm) 17 14 2.7 (1) 1st R1:57.2 -0.0 Yutaka Take (Daiwa Scarlet)
30 Nov Tokyo Japan Cup 1 2,400 m (Firm) 18 4 3.7 (2) 3rd 2:25.7 0.2 Yasunari Iwata Screen Hero
2009 – five-year-old season
5 Mar Nad Al Sheba Jebel Hatta 2 1,777 m (Firm) 16 7 -- (--) 5th 1:49.2 -- Yutaka Take Balius
28 Mar Nad Al Sheba Dubai Duty Free 1 1,777 m (Good) 16 3 -- (--) 7th 1:48.7 -- Yutaka Take Gladiatorus
17 May Tokyo Victoria Mile 1 1,600 m (Firm) 18 6 1.7 (1) 1st 1:32.4 -1.2 Yutaka Take (Bravo Daisy)
7 Jun Tokyo Yasuda Kinen 1 1,600 m (Firm) 18 3 1.8 (1) 1st 1:33.5 -0.1 Yutaka Take (Deep Sky)
11 Oct Tokyo Mainichi Okan 2 1,800 m (Firm) 11 6 1.3 (1) 2nd 1:45.5 0.2 Yutaka Take Company
1 Nov Tokyo Tenno Sho (Autumn) 1 2,000 m (Firm) 18 7 2.1 (1) 3rd 1:57.5 0.3 Yutaka Take Company
29 Nov Tokyo Japan Cup 1 2,400 m (Firm) 18 5 3.6 (1) 1st 2:22.4 -0.0 Christophe Lemaire (Oken Bruce Lee)
2010 – six-year-old season
4 Mar Meydan Al Maktoum Challenge 2 2,000 m (Standard) 14 8 -- (--) 8th -- -- Christophe Lemaire Red Desire

Legend:

  Turf   All Weather

Breeding career and death

Vodka was retired from racing in 2010 and was shipped from Dubai to Ireland to be mated to the 2009 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner, Sea the Stars at the Aga Khan's Gilltown Stud in County Kildare. On 2 May 2011 Vodka foaled a brown colt as a result of this mating.[25] She had 7 foals in total, all foaled in Ireland:[26]

  • Volare (colt, foaled 2011, by Sea the Stars) – raced 2 times;[27] died suddenly at the age of 3 on 16 August 2018.[28]
  • Case by Case (filly, foaled 2012, by Sea the Stars) – raced 6 times; retired to become a broodmare.[29]
  • Tanino Urban Sea (filly, foaled 2013, by Sea the Stars) – won 4 times out of 19 starts; retired to become a broodmare.[30]
  • Tanino Frankel (colt, foaled 2015, by Frankel) – won 4 times out of 19 starts; was Grade III placed in the 2019 Kokura Daishoten and the Nakayama Kimpai. He was retired to become a stud after his racing career.[31]
  • Tanino Mission (filly, foaled 2016, by Invincible Spirit) – won 1 time out of 16 starts; retired to become a broodmare.[32]
  • Seven pockets (colt, foaled 2017, by Frankel) – won 2 times out of 4 starts.[33]
  • Unnamed (filly, foaled 2018, by Frankel) – went unraced.[34]

Vodka died on 1 April 2019 after developing laminitis on both hinds caused by kicking a concrete wall in Newmarket, Suffolk.[35] This was after she went through surgery to treat her right hind leg which was found to be broken. She was 14 years old.[36][37] She was cremated, with part of her ashes buried beneath a gravestone under a cherry blossom tree on private land in Newmarket, and the remainder entrusted to her owner, Yuzo Tanimizu.[38]

An anthropomorphized version of Vodka appears in the multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Ayaka Ōhashi.[39] Appearing as a rough-and-tumble tomboy, Vodka looks up to both her motorcyclist father as well as Tracen upperclassman Tanino Gimlet (her real-life sire) and strives to replicate the "cool" image she sees from them. Her career is also defined by her rivalry with Daiwa Scarlet, as even outside the racetrack the two cannot help but bicker over any topic imaginable and make competitions out of every activity.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Vodka (JPN), bay mare, 2004
Sire
Tanino Gimlet (JPN)
B. 1999		 *Brian's Time (USA)

1985　		 Roberto Hail to Reason
Bramalea
Kelley's Day Graustark
Golden Trail
Tanino Crystal
1988　		 *Crystal Palace (FR) Caro
Hermieres
*Tanino Sea-Bird (USA) Sea-Bird
Flaxen
Dam
Tanino Sister (JPN)
Ch. 1993		 *Rousillon (USA)
1981		 Riverman Never Bend
River Lady
Belle Dorine Marshua's Dancer
Palsy Walsy
Energy Tosho
1987		 Tosho Boy *Tesco Boy (GB)
*Social Butterfly (USA) 1963
Cornice Tosho Dandy Lute (FR)
Rose Tosho (Family: 3-l)

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Vodka pursuing all-time earnings record in Dubai". Thoroughbred Times, February 26, 2010 Archived 3 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Tanimizu, Yuzo (1 April 2007). "【優駿コラム 馬主】『その馬が走ったらいい名前に見えてくる』という真実". Yushun (in Japanese). Vol. 760, no. April 2007. Chuo Keiba PR Center. p. 153.
  3. ↑ Morimoto, Rui (23 May 2013). "馬名にまつわるエトセトラ～もっと競馬をおもしろく見るために - ことばマガジン". The Asahi Shimbun (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  4. ↑ "Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (JPN G1) – Vodka toast of her class". Japan Racing Association. 3 December 2006. Archived from the original on 6 December 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "Deep Impact Repeats as Japan's Horse of Year". BloodHorse.com. 22 January 2007. Archived from the original on 30 April 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  6. ↑ "Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) – Daiwa Scarlet gets a leg up on Vodka". Japan Racing Association. 9 April 2007. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Curry, Mike (23 December 2007). "Matsurida Gogh springs stunning upset in Arima Kinen". Thoroughbred Times. Archived from the original on 21 November 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  8. ↑ "皇太子殿下、東京競馬場へ行啓―ダービー観戦". Keiba Book (in Japanese). 23 May 2007.
  9. ↑ "安倍晋三内閣総理大臣、東京競馬場へ来場". ラジオNIKKEI (in Japanese). 27 May 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "Vodka First Filly Since 1943 to Win Japanese Derby". BloodHorse.com. 27 May 2007. Archived from the original on 9 September 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  11. ↑ "Shuka Sho – Scarlet knocks down Vodka 10/14/07". Japan Race Association. 14 October 2007. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  12. ↑ "Admire Moon wins the 27th Japan Cup!". Japan Race Association. 25 November 2007. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 6 January 2026..
  13. ↑ "JRA賞競走馬部門、記者投票集計結果". netkeiba (in Japanese). 8 January 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  14. ↑ "ＪＲＡ賞受賞馬のプロフィール〜選考の経緯". ラジオNIKKEI (in Japanese). 9 January 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  15. ↑ "Dubai World Cup day – no joy for the Japanese contenders". Japan Racing Association. 30 March 2008. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  16. ↑ "Gale Winds blow in Victoria Mile". Japan Racing Association. 18 May 2008. Archived from the original on 5 October 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  17. ↑ "Vodka back to her best in the Yasuda Kinen!". Japan Racing Association. 8 June 2008. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  18. ↑ "Vodka edges Daiwa Scarlet by two centimeters for historic Tenno Sho (Autumn) finish". Japan Racing Association. 2 November 2008. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  19. ↑ "Screen Hero causes a boilover in the Japan Cup!". Japan Racing Association. 30 November 2008. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  20. ↑ "Vodka retired, no Dubai World Cup". DubaiRaceNight. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  21. ↑ "ウオッカ登録抹消…アイルランドで繁殖馬に". スポニチ Sponichi Annex (in Japanese). 18 March 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  22. ↑ "ウオッカ、顕彰馬に選出される". ラジオNIKKEI (in Japanese). 9 May 2011. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  23. ↑ "Vodka(JPN) JBIS-Search". JBIS-Search. Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  24. ↑ ウオッカ (Vodka) 競走馬データ. netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. Retrieved 17 April 2024.
  25. ↑ "Champion Japanese mare Vodka foals a Sea the Stars colt". Aga Khan Stud. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  26. ↑ "Vodka Broodmare Info". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "Volare(IRE) | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "Vodka's first foal, Volare, has died suddenly". デイリースポーツ online (in Japanese). 24 August 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  29. ↑ "Case by Case(IRE) | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  30. ↑ "Tanino Urban Sea(GB) | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  31. ↑ "Tanino Frankel(IRE) | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  32. ↑ "Tanino Mission(IRE) | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  33. ↑ "Seven Pockets | Horse Profile, Pedigree, Form, Race Record". netkeiba. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  34. ↑ "__________________ | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Retrieved 2 July 2026.
  35. ↑ "【担当者がつける名馬の通信簿・ウオッカ編④】初出し！桜花賞はフケ・まさかのダービー・本当の死因". 東スポ競馬 (in Japanese). 31 October 2025. Retrieved 18 August 2026.
  36. ↑ 名牝ウオッカ死亡 谷水オーナー、角居調教師、武豊騎手、四位騎手のコメント | 競馬ニュース. netkeiba (in Japanese). Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  37. ↑ "名牝ウオッカが蹄葉炎で死す 武豊「本当に残念」". デイリースポーツ online (in Japanese). 19 April 2026. Retrieved 19 April 2026.
  38. ↑ Hiramatsu, Satoshi (11 February 2022). ウオッカの仔が英国で勝利。母の死も無関係ではないそこに至るまでの経緯とは？ [Vodka's son wins in the UK. The death of his mother is not unrelated; what led to this?]. Yahoo News Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 28 November 2023. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
  39. ↑ Character: キャラクター [Character: Vodka]. Umamusume Project (in Japanese). Cygames. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2026.
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