Narita Brian (Japanese: ナリタブライアン, Hepburn: Narita Buraian; May 3, 1991 – September 27, 1998) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Until Special Week surpassed him in 1999, Narita Brian was Japan's top money earner. He was the fifth colt to win the Japanese Triple Crown in 1994, and also won the Arima Kinen in the same year. Narita Brian was nicknamed the "shadow roll monster" because he wore a shadow roll while racing.
He debuted in August 1993 and, from November of that year until March 1995, achieved five consecutive GI wins, including the Classic Triple Crown, and placed in the top two in 10 consecutive races. He was awarded the 1993 JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt and was chosen as the 1994 JRA Horse of the Year as well as Best Four-Year-Old Colt.
After developing a hip joint disease in the spring of 1995, his performance declined, winning only one graded race in six starts (with no GI victories in five starts). However, he drew fan attention with the match race against Mayano Top Gun at the 44th Hanshin Daishoten and by running in short-distance races such as the 26th Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Following tendonitis that developed after running in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, he was retired from racing in October 1996. He became a sire after retirement, but in September 1998, he suffered a stomach rupture and was euthanized.
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Background
Narita Brian was born on May 3, 1991, at Hayata Ranch in Niikappu Town, Hokkaido. His father, Brian's Time, was a stallion imported from the United States and centred on Hayata Ranch. He was the fifth foal from Pacificus, a daughter of Kentucky Derby winner Northern Dancer. A year before his birth, Pacificus had foaled Narita Brian's half-brother Biwa Hayahide.
According to Hayata Ranch manager Ota Mie, Narita Brian did not stand out at first as a foal. However, his physical abilities were gradually appreciated by the staff who trained him. The staff member in charge of training at Hayata Ranch, Miyoshi Kiura, said he believed Narita Brian had a quality that surpassed his half-brother Biwa Hayahide in terms of suppleness and agility. Despite his potential, it was shown that he had a timid temperament. For example, during a training session, he was startled by a puddle and threw his rider off of his back.
Narita Brian was purchased by Yamaji Hidenori through a "yard deal" (the process of purchasing a horse without going through the auction process). After the horse was purchased, it was decided by Hidenori that Narita Brian would be trained by Masahiro Okubo of Central Horse Racing. The merchant of the horse was introduced to Okubo through livestock trader Kiyomasa Kudo, and Okudo approached Yamaji and expressed an interest in the horse. Okubo later recalled, "If Biwa Hayahide had succeeded earlier, Narita Brian would not have come to me."
Racing career
Racing as a two-year-old in 1993, Narita Brian won the Asahi Hai Sansai Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse. In the following year he completed the Japanese Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing by winning the Satsuki Shō, Tokyo Yūshun and Kikuka Shō before defeating older horses at the Arima Kinen.
He stayed in training for a further two years, winning the Hanshin Daishōten in 1995 and 1996. In the latter year, he defeated the 1995 Japanese Horse of the Year Mayano Top Gun.
Racing form
Narita Brian ran in 21 races in which he won 12 races (including 5 Group 1 wins), finished runner-up in three races, and a single third place. This data available is based on JBIS search, and netkeiba.com. The races are considered all weather.
Awards and honours
Narita Brian received the JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Colt in 1993. In 1994 he was voted the Best Three-year-old Colt and Japanese Horse of the Year in 1994. He was declared "Horse of the 20th century" in Japan. In 1998 he was elected to the JRA Hall of Fame.
A museum dedicated to Narita Brian named the Narita Brian Memorial Hall was opened on his death anniversary in 2000, but was closed in 2008. The structure is now the Yushun Memorial Hall, with the exhibits' focus being more oriented around those of Oguri Cap.
Stud career
Narita Brian's most successful offspring was Daitaku Flag who was second in the Mainichi Hai and fourth in the Satsuki Sho; and Meine Vita who placed second in both Flower Cup and Sapporo Nisai Stakes. He never sired a graded race winner. In his short career as a stud, he bred with 187 mares, produced 151 foals, registered 147 of them, with earnings of ¥1,306,533,000 and AEI of 0.85.
Death and memorials
On 17 June 1998, it was discovered that Narita Brian had developed colic, and as a result of a medical examination at the Miishi Livestock Medical Center, it was revealed that he had developed a bowel obstruction. Emergency open surgery was performed, and Narita Brian had almost recovered only to develop colic again.
The area where he was being kept at CB Stud was around 50 minutes away from the medical center and he had already developed a gastric rupture. Open surgery was again performed; however, it was too late. Narita Brian was euthanised on September 27, 1998. He was buried on the grounds of CB Stud.
In September 1999, a horse statue was erected in Ritto Training Center in Narita Brian's honour. It was also revealed by CB Stud manager Isao Sasaki that the stable used by Narita Brian would be "permanently retired". In October 2004, 10 years after Narita Brian had achieved the Classic Triple Crown, as part of the JRA Golden Jubilee Campaign's "Famous Horse Memorial Race", the "Narita Brian Memorial" was implemented at Kyoto Racecourse.
In popular culture
An anthropomorphized version of Narita Brian appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Rika Kinugawa, taking over for Yūka Aisaka. She is characterized by her reliance on physical strength when running on the track, in contrast to her in-universe sister Biwa Hayahide's logical approach. While she is the second vice president of Tracen Academy's student council, she rarely engages in council activities or exercise her authority over troublemaking students, to the consternation of her fellow vice president Air Groove. Brian also retains her horse counterpart's nickname of "shadow roll monster", evoked by the medical plaster she wears on the bridge of her nose.
Narita Brian has been cited as the inspiration for the legacy system in the role-playing game series Fire Emblem, where in some of the series' entries characters can pass down traits and stats to younger generations. When developing Genealogy of the Holy War in 1994, the developers, who were fans of horse racing, were inspired by Narita Brian's Triple Crown victory, and decided to adapt the concept of horse bloodlines into their game, which acted as the basis for the game's setting spanning over several generations.