Cheval Grand (Japanese: シュヴァルグラン, Hepburn: Shuvaru Guran; foaled March 14, 2012) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2016 Copa Republica Argentina, the 2016 Hanshin Daishoten, and the 2017 Japan Cup. Cheval Grand has earned a total of $10,190,341, averaging $308,798 per start.
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Background
Cheval Grand was foaled on March 14, 2012, at Northern Farm in Abira, Hokkaido. His dam, Halwa Sweet, is also the dam of Verxina and Vivlos, also owned by Kazuhiro Sasaki and trained by Yasuo Tomomichi. Both Verxina and Vivlos had successful careers, with his older sister Verxina winning the Victoria Mile and younger sister Vivlos winning the Shuka Sho and Dubai Turf.
Racing career
Cheval Grand's first race was on September 21, 2014, where he finished in 2nd place by a neck behind the favorite. On October 3, 2015, in the Special Weight category, he won his first race at Hanshin Racecourse as the favorite. In his last two races of the 2015 season, he finished third including one GIII race where he was the favorite.
2015 was Cheval Grand's three year old season where he entered six races and came out with three wins. He was registered to enter the Wakakoma Stakes, an OP race, in January of that year but was forced to drop out due to an injury. With the goal of running in the Japanese Derby, he entered the GIII 1800m Mainichi Hai in late March followed by the 2200m GII Kyoto Shimbun Hai, where he came in 5th and 8th respectively. Because of these losses, he was not able to enter the classic races and had to find a new path for his three year old season. He entered 3 more minor races that year over 2000m to 2400m, winning as the favorite in all three.
At the start of his four year old season, he entered graded races again, starting with the Nikkei New Year Cup, where he came in second. He raced again two months later in March, when he entered Hanshin Daishoten as the favorite, where he won his first ever victory in a graded race. He entered the Tenno Sho (spring) as his first GI race, but he came in third behind Kitasan Black. Cheval Grand's next GI race was a month later at the Takarazuka Kinen but lost, coming in ninth place. On November 6, 2016, Cheval Grand won the GII Copa Republica Argentina, starting strong for the autumn of the 2016 season. He stayed in graded races for the remaining two races for the year, but fell short of a GI victory. He came in third at the Japan Cup and sixth at the Arima Kinen.
Cheval Grand's five year old season, in 2017, started with the Hanshin Daishoten. He started strong but was overtaken by Satono Diamond for a second place finish. He once again enter the Tenno Sho (sping) after that but came in second behind Kitasan Black. Again, he entered the Takarazuka Kinen, but mismanaged his stamina and finished in eighth. With a new jockey on his back, Cheval Grand entered the GII Kyoto Daishoten, coming in third place. Cheval Grand earned his first and only GI victory on November 26, 2017, as he won the Japan Cup. His final race of the year was the Arima Kinen, where he finished third, an improvement from his previous sixth place the year prior.
On April 29, 2018, Cheval came in 2nd place at the Spring Tenno Sho behind Rainbow Line.
On March 30, 2019, Cheval came in 2nd place behind Old Persian at the Dubai Sheema Classic. Cheval went on to race in 2 British races, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the International Stakes, that year, neither of which were successful. Cheval Grand retired after returning to Japan and racing in both the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen, the latter in which he finished in 6th place behind Lys Gracieux but passing Almond Eye.
Racing form
Cheval Grand won seven races out of 33 starts with another 14 podium finishes. This data available on JBIS, netkeiba, British Horesracing Authority and racingpost.
Retirement
After retiring from racing, Cheval Grand was a stud at the Breeders Stallion Station. After not producing any notable offspring, he retired from his stud career in late 2025 and was moved to Northern Horse Park. On April 30, 2026, Cheval Grand debuted as a jumping horse in the "Thoroughbred Horse Show 2026 - The Second Career" at Laque Dragon Horse Park, Otsu, Shiga.
In popular culture
An anthropomorphized version of Cheval Grand appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Yūko Natsuyoshi. She is depicted as the introverted middle child between Verxina and Vivlos with a deep-seated inferiority complex. She possesses a quiet determination to prove her abilities in order to resolve her feelings of inadequacy in comparison to her more talented sisters. Like her real-life counterpart, she has a rivalry with Kitasan Black that is depicted in the third season of the anime series.
Pedigree
Cheval Grand was inbred 3 × 4 to Halo, meaning that this stallion appeared in both the third and fourth generations of his pedigree.