Nishino Flower

Her career ranged from top juvenile form to Classic success and later elite sprinting and miling, a breadth reflected in her championship honors.

Her background was slightly unusual. Nishino Flower was by the American sire Majestic Light out of Duplicit, a Danzig mare who had been imported to Japan while carrying the foal. That circumstance meant Nishino Flower was born in Japan on 19 April 1989 and was therefore eligible for the Japanese Classics. According to later accounts, she had seemed such a frail foal that several trainers initially turned her away before she eventually joined Matsuda’s yard, making her later achievements all the more striking.

She announced herself at two with major wins in the 1991 Daily Hai Sansai Stakes and Hanshin Sansai Himba Stakes, performances that earned her the JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Filly. Rather than fading after an early peak, she carried that class into her three-year-old season and captured the 1992 Oka Sho, the Japanese 1000 Guineas, confirming herself as the best of her generation among fillies.

Nishino Flower then showed that her talent was not confined to the Classic program. Over sprint and mile distances she remained among the best horses in training, taking the 1992 Sprinters Stakes and later the 1993 Yomiuri Milers Cup. Those performances helped her secure the 1992 JRA awards for both Best Three-Year-Old Filly and Best Sprinter or Miler, an unusually strong combination that speaks to her versatility as well as her quality.

Her pedigree continued to have some depth within the family, with siblings including Nishino Final, Nishino Maihime, and Brand Camellia, each a winner at a useful level. Nishino Flower herself retired as one of the notable Japanese mares of her era: a homebred who overcame an unpromising start, became a champion at two, won a Classic at three, and proved herself again against top-class sprint and mile opposition. She died on 5 February 2020.