Uma profile
Sakura Laurel
Sakura Laurel (サクラローレル, Sakura Rōreru) makes perseverance look radiant. Bright and positive despite fragile legs and repeated injuries, she embodies a stirring promise: however cruel the winter or deep the hurt, the cherry blossoms will bloom someday—without fail.
Known simply as Laurel, she is a Senior Division student living in Miho Dorm with Seiun Sky. Her poised manner comes through in the way she calls herself Watashi and addresses her coach as Trainer-san, but her gentleness should never be mistaken for frailty. Each time hardship knocks her down, Laurel rises again—and every recovery only sharpens the ambition beneath her warm smile.
At the heart of that ambition stands Narita Brian, Laurel’s special rival and a powerful source of motivation. She does not merely dream of racing beside Brian; she means to defeat her one day. That goal gives her optimism real steel: Laurel’s patience is not passive, but the patience of someone enduring winter while preparing for full bloom. Her determination takes center stage in the manga Star Blossom, where she serves as the main protagonist; she also makes a cameo in Uma Musume Pretty Derby Season 3 and has the solo song “Youthful Eyes.”
Her smaller quirks are every bit as memorable. Laurel can apparently eat salad almost without end, yet the moment an airplane takes off is enough to unsettle her. She knows enough French to sightsee alone, insists on grilling yakiniku thoroughly, and treasures omelet and galette recipes handed down by her father. Even her appearance has its own flourish: her tail is said to be as wonderfully fluffy as her mother’s, while the sound of a trumpet makes her posture snap straight at once.
Voiced by Mizuki Mano, Laurel stands 162 cm tall, wears 23 cm shoes, and has measurements of B78–W54–H80; her recorded weight is, with immaculate confidence, “Perfect.” Born on May 8, she is elegant, approachable, and quietly formidable—a cherry blossom whose beauty lies not only in blooming, but in surviving every winter before it.
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Same races
Same Races
7 shared rivals
Latest: TENNO SHO (SPRING) · 1997-04-27
Latest: TENNO SHO (SPRING) · 1997-04-27
Latest: ARIMA KINEN (41ST THE GRAND PRIX) · 1996-12-22
Latest: TENNO SHO (AUTUMN) · 1996-10-27
Latest: TENNO SHO (AUTUMN) · 1996-10-27
Latest: TENNO SHO (SPRING) · 1996-04-21
Latest: TENNO SHO (SPRING) · 1996-04-21
Related Umas
9 total · 9 linked
Rivals
5 total · 4 linked
Stablemates
1 total · 1 linked
Mentioned By Related Umas
6 profiles
Mentioned By Rivals
2 profiles
Sakura Laurel was one of Japan’s outstanding middle- and long-distance racehorses of the 1990s. His victories in the 1996 Tenno Sho (Spring) and Arima Kinen anchored a championship campaign that earned him both Japanese Horse of the Year and the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse.
Career at a glance
Track record
Featured races
Finished 1st · G1 · at Kyoto · over 3200m · Kyoto (JP)
Finished 1st · G1 · at Nakayama · over 2500m · Nakayama (JP)
Finished 1st · G2 · at Nakayama · over 1800m · Nakayama (JP)
At a glance
Origins, pedigree and connections
A chestnut stallion foaled in Japan on 8 May 1991, Sakura Laurel was bred by Tanioka Stud. He raced for Sakura Commerce Co. Ltd. and was trained during his career first by Katsutaro Sakai and later by Futoshi Kojima, whose stable was based at Miho.
His pedigree brought together prominent international bloodlines. He was a son of Rainbow Quest and the mare Lola Lola, whose sire was Saint Cyrien. Sakura Laurel ultimately made his name across a wide span of middle- and long-distance races, from 1,800 metres to the 3,200 metres of the Tenno Sho (Spring).
Over 22 starts he recorded nine wins, five seconds and four thirds, earning ¥626,991,000. That record reflects a career shaped by gradual development: his first important graded victory came in 1995, while his decisive rise to championship status occurred as an older horse in 1996.
Career at a glance
- Foaled: 8 May 1991
- Sex and colour: Chestnut stallion
- Breeder: Tanioka Stud
- Owner: Sakura Commerce Co. Ltd.
- Trainers: Katsutaro Sakai; Futoshi Kojima
- Career record: 22 starts, 9 wins, 5 seconds, 4 thirds
- Earnings: ¥626,991,000
- Major wins: 1995 Nikkan Sports Sho Kimpai; 1996 Nakayama Kinen, Tenno Sho (Spring), Sankei Sho All Comers and Arima Kinen
- Honours: 1996 Japanese Horse of the Year; 1996 JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse
Racing career
Early development in 1994
Sakura Laurel’s career began at Nakayama in January 1994. He finished ninth on his debut, a 1,600-metre turf maiden, and improved to third over the same course and distance nine days later. His first victory came on 30 January after a change of both venue and surface: ridden by F. Kojima, he won a 1,400-metre dirt maiden at Tokyo, defeating Cyclennon Volk.
Progress through the allowance ranks was not immediate. He finished sixth back on turf at Tokyo in February, then ran second to Taiki Blizzard in an 1,800-metre dirt allowance at Nakayama under Olivier Peslier. Returning to the same distance and surface on 26 March, Sakura Laurel won under F. Kojima, with Candle Time second.
His first graded test demonstrated that he could carry his form onto turf and over a substantially longer distance. In the Grade 3 Aoba Sho at Tokyo on 30 April, he finished third among 17 runners over 2,400 metres, behind winner Air Dublin. Later that year he was third in the 2,000-metre Sado Stakes and eighth in the Grade 2 St Lite Kinen over 2,200 metres on soft turf.
The autumn brought a sequence of increasingly strong results. He was runner-up in both the 1,800-metre Rokusha Tokubetsu and the 2,000-metre Shukyo Tokubetsu at Tokyo. He then won the 2,200-metre Hirasan Tokubetsu at Kyoto in November and the 2,500-metre Toji Stakes at Nakayama in December. Those successive victories gave him a firm foundation for his first major success at the beginning of 1995.
First graded success and an interruption
On 5 January 1995, Sakura Laurel won the Grade 3 Nikkan Sports Sho Kimpai over 2,000 metres at Nakayama. The race was held on soft turf and drew 16 runners; Sakura Laurel, again partnered by F. Kojima, defeated Golden Eye. It was his first graded victory and extended the winning sequence that had begun with the Hirasan Tokubetsu.
He next stepped up to 2,500 metres for the Grade 2 Meguro Kinen at Tokyo on 19 February. Sakura Laurel finished second to Hagino Real King, adding another high-level placing to a record that was becoming increasingly effective over extended distances.
His next recorded appearance did not come until March 1996. The interval separated the promising graded performer of early 1995 from the fully developed older horse who would dominate his championship season.
The defining races of 1996
Nakayama Kinen: a winning return
Sakura Laurel returned in the Grade 2 Nakayama Kinen on 10 March 1996, his first recorded start for more than a year. With Norihiro Yokoyama riding, he won the 1,800-metre contest on good turf from Genuine.
The performance mattered not only as a successful comeback but also because it immediately restored Sakura Laurel to the highest domestic company. Coming over a shorter distance than many of his best earlier efforts, the Nakayama Kinen also showed the breadth of his effective range before he moved on to Japan’s premier spring staying contest.
Tenno Sho (Spring): success over 3,200 metres
Six weeks later, Sakura Laurel contested the Grade 1 Tenno Sho (Spring) at Kyoto. Run over 3,200 metres on 21 April, it presented a very different test from the 1,800-metre Nakayama Kinen. From stall one, Yokoyama guided Sakura Laurel to victory over Narita Brian in a field of 16 that also included Mayano Top Gun.
This was Sakura Laurel’s first recorded Grade 1 victory and the clearest demonstration of his long-distance quality. Beating Narita Brian in one of Japan’s foremost staying races established him among the country’s elite older horses and turned his comeback into a championship campaign.
Autumn consolidation and an important defeat
Sakura Laurel resumed in the Grade 2 Sankei Sho All Comers at Nakayama on 15 September. Racing over 2,200 metres on soft turf, he defeated Fashion Show in a nine-runner field, again with Yokoyama aboard.
His winning run ended in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo on 27 October. Drawn 16 of 17 for the 2,000-metre Grade 1, he finished third behind Bubble Gum Fellow. Mayano Top Gun, Marvelous Sunday and Nice Nature were among the other runners. Although Sakura Laurel was beaten, the placing kept him among the leading contenders heading into the year-end Arima Kinen.
Arima Kinen: the championship sealed
The 41st Arima Kinen, staged over 2,500 metres at Nakayama on 22 December, became the culminating race of Sakura Laurel’s career. Yokoyama rode him from stall six in the 14-horse field, and Sakura Laurel defeated Marvelous Sunday; Hishi Amazon and Mayano Top Gun were also among the opposition.
The Grade 1 victory joined his spring Tenno Sho success and confirmed his command of two of the season’s most consequential long-distance prizes. His overall 1996 record included four victories—the Nakayama Kinen, Tenno Sho (Spring), All Comers and Arima Kinen—plus a third in the Tenno Sho (Autumn). He was consequently voted Japanese Horse of the Year and received the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse. Those honours recognized the complete season rather than a single performance: he had won from 1,800 to 3,200 metres and had succeeded at the highest level in both spring and winter.
Final season and overseas appearance
Sakura Laurel returned to defend his Tenno Sho (Spring) title at Kyoto on 27 April 1997. Again facing a 16-runner field over 3,200 metres, he finished second to Mayano Top Gun, with Marvelous Sunday also in the race. The result reversed the order between Sakura Laurel and Mayano Top Gun from the previous year’s edition, but it gave the reigning Horse of the Year another Grade 1 placing at his most demanding distance.
His final recorded start took him outside Japan. On 14 September he contested the 2,400-metre Prix Foy at Longchamp in France, with Yutaka Take riding. Sakura Laurel finished eighth of eight behind Yokohama. His career concluded with nine wins and 18 top-three finishes from 22 starts.
Retirement and legacy
After retirement from racing, Sakura Laurel remained closely identified with the strength of Japan’s older-horse division in the mid-1990s. His career had not followed the shape of a precocious champion: he began in maiden and allowance company, progressed through increasingly long races, won his first graded event in 1995 and reached his peak at five in 1996.
That peak was broad as well as brilliant. His major victories ranged from the 1,800-metre Nakayama Kinen to the 3,200-metre Tenno Sho (Spring), while the 2,500-metre Arima Kinen supplied the defining year-end success. The presence of Narita Brian, Mayano Top Gun, Marvelous Sunday and other leading horses in his most important races places those achievements within a notably competitive period of Japanese racing.
Sakura Laurel died on 24 January 2020. His enduring distinction rests on a championship season in which he combined a successful return to racing, top-level stamina and victory in the Arima Kinen—the campaign that made him Japan’s Horse of the Year.
Sources
- netkeiba: Sakura Laurel profile, pedigree and record
- Wikipedia: Sakura Laurel
- netkeiba: 1994 Tokyo maiden
- netkeiba: 1994 Nakayama allowance
- netkeiba: 1994 Aoba Sho
- netkeiba: 1994 Hirasan Tokubetsu
- netkeiba: 1994 Toji Stakes
- netkeiba: 1995 Nikkan Sports Sho Kimpai
- netkeiba: 1995 Meguro Kinen
- netkeiba: 1996 Nakayama Kinen
- netkeiba: 1996 Tenno Sho (Spring)
- netkeiba: 1996 Sankei Sho All Comers
- netkeiba: 1996 Tenno Sho (Autumn)
- netkeiba: 1996 Arima Kinen
- netkeiba: 1997 Tenno Sho (Spring)
- netkeiba: 1997 Prix Foy
- https://www.jbis.jp/horse/0000079041/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_blossom
- https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/199406010206/
- https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/199406010506/
- https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/199405010709/
- https://en.netkeiba.com/db/race/199406020403/
More photographs
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| Date | Race | Grade | Course | Going | Dist | Pos | Draw | Jockey | Wgt | SP | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997-09-14 |
Prix Foy
|
G3 | Longchamp (FR) | Good | 2400 m | 8 | 1 | Yutaka Take | 58.0 kg | 0.0 | - |
| 1997-04-27 |
TENNO SHO (SPRING)
|
G1 | Kyoto (JP) | Good | 3200 m | 2 | 8 | Norihiro Yokoyama | 58.0 kg | 2.1 | 3:14.6 |
| 1996-12-22 |
ARIMA KINEN (41ST THE GRAND PRIX)
|
G1 | Nakayama (JP) | Good | 2500 m | 1 | 6 | Norihiro Yokoyama | 56.0 kg | 2.2 | 2:33.8 |
| 1996-10-27 |
TENNO SHO (AUTUMN)
|
G1 | Tokyo (JP) | Good | 2000 m | 3 | 16 | Norihiro Yokoyama | 58.0 kg | 2.5 | 1:58.9 |
| 1996-09-15 |
SANKEI SHO ALL COMERS
|
G2 | Nakayama (JP) | Soft | 2200 m | 1 | 9 | Norihiro Yokoyama | 59.0 kg | 1.9 | 2:16.7 |
| 1996-04-21 |
TENNO SHO (SPRING)
|
G1 | Kyoto (JP) | Good | 3200 m | 1 | 1 | Norihiro Yokoyama | 58.0 kg | 14.5 | 3:17.8 |
| 1996-03-10 |
NAKAYAMA KINEN
|
G2 | Nakayama (JP) | Good | 1800 m | 1 | 5 | Norihiro Yokoyama | 57.0 kg | 19.5 | 1:47.2 |
| 1995-02-19 |
MEGURO KINEN
|
G2 | Tokyo (JP) | Good | 2500 m | 2 | 4 | F.Kojima | 56.5 kg | 1.5 | 2:31.2 |
| 1995-01-05 |
NIKKAN SPORTS SHO KIM PAI
|
G3 | Nakayama (JP) | Soft | 2000 m | 1 | 11 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 4.9 | 2:00.5 |
| 1994-12-18 |
TOJI STAKES
|
Pre-OP | Nakayama (JP) | Good | 2500 m | 1 | 14 | F.Kojima | 56.0 kg | 2.1 | 2:33.5 |
| 1994-11-20 |
HIRASAN TOKUBETSU
|
Pre-OP | Kyoto (JP) | Good | 2200 m | 1 | 1 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 1.5 | 2:14.1 |
| 1994-10-30 |
SHUKYO TOKUBETSU
|
Pre-OP | Tokyo (JP) | Good | 2000 m | 2 | 6 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 1.4 | 2:01.5 |
| 1994-10-15 |
ROKUSHA TOKUBETSU
|
Pre-OP | Tokyo (JP) | Good | 1800 m | 2 | 6 | F.Kojima | 56.0 kg | 1.2 | 1:47.5 |
| 1994-09-25 |
R.F.RADIO NIPPON SHO ST.LITE KINEN
|
G2 | Nakayama (JP) | Soft | 2200 m | 8 | 9 | H.Matoba | 56.0 kg | 2.9 | 2:17.0 |
| 1994-09-04 |
SADO STAKES
|
Pre-OP | Ngt (JP) | Good | 2000 m | 3 | 5 | F.Kojima | 56.0 kg | 3.4 | 2:01.3 |
| 1994-04-30 |
TV TOKYO HAI AOBA SHO
|
G3 | Tokyo (JP) | Good | 2400 m | 3 | 9 | F.Kojima | 56.0 kg | 7.1 | 2:28.9 |
| 1994-03-26 |
4yo ALW (1 Win)
|
Pre-OP | Nakayama (JP) | Good | 1800 m | 1 | 7 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 1.2 | 1:53.9 |
| 1994-03-06 |
4yo ALW (1 Win)
|
Pre-OP | Nakayama (JP) | Good | 1800 m | 2 | 3 | O.Peslier | 55.0 kg | 4.4 | 1:54.1 |
| 1994-02-19 |
HARUNA SHO ALW (1 Win)
|
Pre-OP | Tokyo (JP) | Good | 1600 m | 6 | 10 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 8.6 | 1:35.9 |
| 1994-01-30 |
4yo MDN
|
Maiden | Tokyo (JP) | Soft | 1400 m | 1 | 6 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 2.7 | 1:26.6 |
| 1994-01-15 |
4yo DBT
|
Maiden | Nakayama (JP) | Soft | 1600 m | 3 | 13 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 6.7 | 1:37.8 |
| 1994-01-06 |
4yo DBT
|
Maiden | Nakayama (JP) | Good | 1600 m | 9 | 7 | F.Kojima | 55.0 kg | 1.8 | 1:37.9 |
Citations
Race Result Sources
AI Race Import 2026-07-02 12:23 UTC
Imported and enriched race results from supported racing sources.