Cheval Grand (シュヴァルグラン) was a Japanese chestnut stallion of the 2010s, foaled on 14 March 2012 and bred by Northern Farm. He raced in the colours of Kazuhiro Sasaki and was trained throughout his career by Yasuo Tomomichi at Ritto. A son of Heart's Cry out of Halwa Sweet, by Machiavellian, he came from an especially accomplished family and developed into a high-class middle- to long-distance performer.
That pedigree was notable even by major Japanese standards. Cheval Grand was a sibling to Verxina, winner of the 2013 Victoria Mile, and Vivlos, winner of the 2016 Shuka Sho, giving Halwa Sweet an unusually strong record as the dam of top-level performers. Cheval Grand added a major staying and all-round championship dimension to that family, showing that the page could produce elite talent across important divisions.
On the track, he built his reputation steadily rather than in a single early burst. His major breakthrough season came in 2016, when he won both the Hanshin Daishoten and the Copa Republica Argentina, establishing himself among Japan's best older horses over longer trips. Those wins helped define him as a durable and genuine top-class campaigner, and they formed the platform for the biggest success of his career the following year.
In 2017, Cheval Grand reached his peak with victory in the Japan Cup, the Group 1 triumph that secured his place in the modern Japanese racing record. Winning one of the country's signature international races gave his career its enduring headline and confirmed him as more than just a consistent graded performer. Across his full career he compiled a record of 33 starts for 7 wins, 7 seconds and 7 thirds, and his reported earnings reached ¥1,000.70 million in JRA money, with total reported earnings of $10,190,341.
Cheval Grand retired with the profile of a tough, accomplished Japanese stayer-miler? No; evidence supports him specifically as a middle- to long-distance horse, and that is where his reputation rests. His significance lies in the combination of elite pedigree, longevity, and a Japan Cup victory that crowned years of high-level form. As a son of Heart's Cry and a brother to multiple Group 1 winners, he stands as an important representative of a powerful Northern Farm family as well as a major race winner in his own right.
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