Copano Rickey

Foaled in Japan on 24 March 2010, Copano Rickey was bred by Yanagawa Bokujo. He was by Gold Allure, a son of Sunday Silence, and out of Copano Nikita, whose sire was the American-bred Timber Country. His wider maternal line traces through Copano Nikita’s dam, Nihon Pillow Rose.

Gold Allure’s side of the pedigree supplied a direct connection to Sunday Silence, while Timber Country provided an important influence on the dam’s side. Copano Rickey inherited a pedigree that would ultimately be expressed through a top-level career on dirt.

He raced for owner Sachiaki Kobayashi and was trained by Akira Murayama at the Ritto training centre. Those connections remained associated with him throughout the career recorded in the available databases.

Copano Rickey’s record of 33 starts comprised 16 wins, three seconds and three thirds. His earnings reached ¥995,144,000: ¥308,244,000 in Japan Racing Association competition and ¥686,900,000 on the National Association of Racing circuit. The balance of those totals reflects the breadth of his dirt career, which took in major events across both systems.

His defining achievements were spread over four seasons, from 2014 through 2017. Rather than being identified by a single championship campaign, he repeatedly returned to win prominent dirt races: the February Stakes in 2014 and 2015, the JBC Classic in the same two years, the Kashiwa Kinen three times, and the Tokyo Daishoten at the close of his final season.

The 2015 season consolidated the reputation created a year earlier. Copano Rickey won the February Stakes for a second consecutive time, turning his initial breakthrough into a repeat achievement. By defending the race, he became associated not merely with one standout performance but with sustained command of one of the JRA’s premier dirt contests.

He also retained the JBC Classic, winning it in both 2014 and 2015. Those paired victories in two separate major races gave his record a distinctive pattern: successive February Stakes triumphs alongside successive JBC Classic triumphs.

His work that season brought formal recognition when he was named JRA Best Dirt Horse for 2015. The award placed his achievements in their wider competitive context and marked the high point of his championship standing.

Copano Rickey’s identity was inseparable from dirt racing. All of the major victories documented in his record—the February Stakes, Kashiwa Kinen, JBC Classic and Tokyo Daishoten—belonged to that sphere, making “dirt specialist” an accurate summary of his competitive profile.

Trainer Akira Murayama prepared him from Ritto, while Sachiaki Kobayashi raced him throughout the documented ownership history. The horse’s earnings were divided markedly between the two main Japanese racing structures. His JRA total of just over ¥308.24 million was substantial, but his NAR earnings of ¥686.90 million were more than twice as high. That distribution corresponds with a career whose most persistent successes came through major dirt contests staged across both jurisdictions.

His consistency is also apparent in the overall figures. Copano Rickey won 16 of 33 races—nearly half of all his starts—and reached the first three in 22. Yet his historical standing rests less on the aggregate alone than on the repeated nature of his major wins. He won the February Stakes and JBC Classic twice each, and the Kashiwa Kinen three times, before adding the Tokyo Daishoten in his final major-winning season.

Copano Rickey retired as a stallion after compiling one of the most substantial Japanese dirt records of his era. His 16 wins and ¥995.144 million in earnings provide the numerical outline, but his defining legacy is the durability of his elite form: major victories at four, five, six and seven years of age.

The 2014 February Stakes supplied the breakthrough, while the successful defence in 2015 helped secure his JRA championship. His two JBC Classics and three Kashiwa Kinen victories established a record of repeat success in leading NAR dirt competition, and the 2017 Tokyo Daishoten extended his achievements to the end of his racing career. Recognition as the 2015 JRA Best Dirt Horse and recipient of the 2017 NAR Dirt Grade Race Special Prize completed a career acknowledged on both sides of Japanese racing’s dirt programme.