Sleepless Night (Japanese: スリープレスナイト, Surīpresu Naito; 7 February 2004 – 2 February 2012) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She recorded nine wins from eighteen starts between 2007 and 2009, including the Sprinters Stakes (GI), the CBC Sho (GIII) and the Kitakyushu Kinen (JpnIII) in 2008, and was named Best Sprinter that year. Her name translates to "sleepless night", a reference to a famous satirical poem from 1853 about the panic caused by the arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry's "Black Ships" (Kurofune, the namesake of her sire).
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Background
Sleepless Night was a bay mare bred in Hayakita, Hokkaido (now Abira), by Northern Farm. She was sired by Kurofune, and her dam was What Katy Did, a mare by Nureyev. Her full brother, Squadron, won the Kuroshio Sprinters Cup. Her dam, What Katy Did, was foaled by Katies; a highly prolific broodmare who also foaled Hishi Amazon and is the damline descendant of Admire Moon and Efforia. She was owned by Sunday Racing and trained by Kojiro Hashimoto at the JRA's Ritto Training Center.
Racing career
2007: three-year-old season
Sleepless Night debuted on 7 January 2007 in a 3-year-old newcomer race over 1400 metres on turf at Kyoto Racecourse, finishing second. After a third-place finish, she won her maiden race on dirt over 1200 metres on 10 February by 1.6 seconds. She then won a 1-win class race in May, the Izushi Tokubetsu (2-win) in June, and the Echigo Stakes (3-win) in July, entering the open class. She finished fifth in the Perseus Stakes and the Shimotsuki Stakes, and second in the Galaxy Stakes at Hanshin Racecourse in December.
2008: four-year-old season
She began the year with a second-place finish in the Kadomatsu Stakes at Kyoto. On 20 April, she won the Keiyo Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse in a tie-record time of 1:09.1, followed by a victory in the Ritto Stakes at Kyoto in May. On 15 June, she contested the CBC Sho (GIII) at Chukyo Racecourse. Ridden by Hiroyuki Uemura, she defeated Spinning Noir to record her first graded stakes victory, giving Uemura his first graded win in over nine years. On 17 August, she won the Kitakyushu Kinen (JpnIII) at Kokura Racecourse.
On 5 October, she started 1st favourite in the Sprinters Stakes (GI) at Nakayama. She took the lead in the straight and held off the late challenge of Kinshasa no Kiseki to win by 0.2 seconds, securing her first Grade 1 victory and completing a five-race winning streak. She was subsequently registered for the Hong Kong Sprint, but was withdrawn after sustaining an injury, and did not race again that year. She was named Best Sprinter at the 2008 JRA Awards.
2009: five-year-old season
Sleepless Night returned on 29 March in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen (GI) at Chukyo. She caught the front-running Laurel Guerreiro in the straight but was repassed, finishing second. After a break, she ran in the Centaur Stakes (GII) at Hanshin on 13 September, finishing second to Ultimo Toule. While being prepared for a second attempt at the Sprinters Stakes, she was diagnosed with a bowed tendon in her right foreleg and was retired. Her JRA registration was cancelled on 1 October 2009.
Race record
The following table details all 18 starts of Sleepless Night's racing career based on official JBIS and netkeiba records. Record current as of her final start on 13 September 2009.
R indicated that it was a record time finish
Broodmare career
Sleepless Night retired to Northern Farm as a broodmare and produced two foals. Her first foal, Blanche Dame (by Deep Impact), won one race from eight starts. On 23 January 2012, she gave birth to her second foal, an unnamed colt. On the morning of 2 February, she fractured her right radius and died at the age of eight.
Pedigree
Sleepless Night is inbred 5 × 3 to Northern Dancer and 5 × 4, 4 to Nearctic.