Hishi Amazon

Foaled on 26 March 1991, Hishi Amazon was bred and owned by Masaichiro Abe. She was trained by Takao Nakano at Miho, providing continuity among the principal connections responsible for her breeding and racing career.

Her sire, Theatrical, was a son of Nureyev and Tree of Knowledge. Hishi Amazon’s dam, Katies, was by Nonoalco out of Mortefontaine. The family also produced several other successful Japanese runners. Hishi Amazon was a half-sister to Hishi Pinnacle, winner of the 1999 Rose Stakes, Hishi Alydar, winner of the 1994 Elm Stakes, and Hishi Nile, winner of the 1996 Fairy Stakes.

Although remembered primarily as a middle-distance performer, Hishi Amazon’s race record covered a notably broad range. She won on dirt at 1,200 metres on debut and later collected major turf races from 1,200 to 2,400 metres.

Hishi Amazon began racing at Nakayama on 19 September 1993, winning an 11-runner, 1,200-metre dirt event under E. Nakadate. Her next two appearances produced second-place finishes: first over 1,400 metres on dirt at Tokyo, then in the Grade 2 Keisei Hai Sansai Stakes over the same distance on turf.

That progression culminated in the Hanshin Sansai Himba Stakes on 5 December. Facing 14 rivals over 1,600 metres on good turf, Hishi Amazon won under Nakadate, defeating Robe Montante. It was her first top-level success and secured the JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Filly for 1993.

The campaign had established several themes that would continue through her career. She had adapted immediately from dirt to turf, remained competitive through a rise in class, and developed from sprinting distances to a mile within her first four starts.

The defining victory of Hishi Amazon’s career came at Kyoto on 13 November 1994. Contesting the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup over 2,400 metres, she faced 17 opponents—the largest field she had encountered—and defeated Chokai Carol under her regular jockey, E. Nakadate.

The result completed her six-race winning sequence and confirmed that her earlier success at sprint and mile distances could be carried into a major middle-distance contest. It was her second top-level win and the principal victory attached to her career record.

Her season concluded against broader competition in the Arima Kinen at Nakayama. Racing over 2,500 metres, Hishi Amazon finished second to Narita Brian in the 13-runner Grand Prix. Although her winning sequence ended, the performance extended an exceptional year in which she had won six of seven starts and finished second in the other.

Hishi Amazon did not reappear until the Takamatsunomiya Hai at Chukyo on 9 July 1995. She finished fifth over 2,000 metres, her first unplaced result, but returned to winning form during the autumn.

In September she captured the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers over 2,200 metres at Nakayama, defeating Irish Dance on good-to-soft turf. She followed that success in October with victory in the Grade 2 Kyoto Daishoten. The latter race, staged over 2,400 metres on good ground, brought another important staying performance as she defeated Tamamo Highway.

Those two victories led into the Japan Cup at Tokyo on 26 November. Hishi Amazon finished second in the 14-runner, 2,400-metre international contest, with Germany’s Lando ahead of her. Alongside her runner-up finish to Narita Brian in the previous season’s Arima Kinen, the result added another major placing to a record already distinguished by two top-level victories.

She closed 1995 by finishing fifth in the Arima Kinen, in which Mayano Top Gun was the winner.

Takao Nakano trained Hishi Amazon throughout her career from Miho, while E. Nakadate rode her in 19 of her 20 recorded starts. Nakadate was aboard for all ten victories, including both top-level wins, and for her second-place finishes in the Arima Kinen and Japan Cup. H. Kawachi partnered her only in her final race.

Her record was unusually decisive: across 20 starts she finished either first or second 15 times and was never third. Her ten victories included nine on turf and one on dirt, while the winning distances stretched from 1,200 to 2,400 metres. The strongest concentration of her later success came between 2,000 and 2,400 metres, supporting her identification as a leading middle-distance mare despite the speed she displayed earlier in her career.

Hishi Amazon retired with ten wins from 20 starts, including seven graded victories in addition to her two top-level successes. Her ¥695,829,000 in JRA earnings reflected a career spent almost entirely in graded and major competition after her opening races.

Her legacy rests on more than the headline victory in the 1994 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. She was already a champion juvenile in 1993, became a major winner across a wide span of distances in 1994, and returned as an older mare to win two significant 2,200-to-2,400-metre races before finishing second in the Japan Cup. That chronological progression—from a winning dirt debut through juvenile championship honours to sustained middle-distance form—gives her record its distinctive shape.

Hishi Amazon died on 15 April 2019 at the age of 28.