Symboli Kris S (Japanese: シンボリクリスエス, Hepburn: Shinbori Kurisu Esu; foaled January 21, 1999 – December 8, 2020) was an American-born, Japan-based Thoroughbred racehorse and breeding stallion. He was voted Japanese Horse of the Year in 2002 and 2003. He was retired at the end of 2003 and was syndicated for $15 million.
From 2002 to 2003, Symboli Kris S achieved the first consecutive wins in the history of the Tennō Shō (Autumn) (GI) and became the fourth horse to achieve consecutive wins in the Arima Kinen (GI). In his final race, the 2003 Arima Kinen, he won by an overwhelming 9 lengths, a record margin for the race at the time.
After retiring as a racehorse, he became a sire, producing GI winners such as Le Vent Se Leve, Success Brocken, and Epiphaneia.
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Background
Symboli Kris S, a dark bay stallion, was foaled on January 21, 1999, on Mill Ridge Farm in Kentucky, USA. He was sired by Kris S., an American Thoroughbred racehorse who is best known as a highly successful sire. Symboli Kris S was out of the American-bred mare Tee Kay, who won the Martha Washington Stakes (G3) in 1994, among other achievements, with a record of 31 races and 4 wins.
Racing career
2001: two-year-old season
Symboli Kris S made his debut on a 1600-metre maiden race at Tokyo Racecourse, where he won the race by a neck against the second-place finisher, Asakusa Kininaru.
2002: three-year-old season
After his debut, his trainer, Kazuo Fujisawa, rested him for the next three and half months before racing again at the Saintpaulia Sho on January 27. Symboli Kris S scored podium in the next three races, achieving second place once and third place twice. Although these races showed good promise, the losses all followed the same pattern—a failure to catch up from the back. This prompted Fujisawa to change strategy during his fifth race, the Yamabuki Sho. In this race, Symboli Kris S took the lead from the start, maintained his position, and won the race by one and three-quarters length for his second career victory.
On April 27, Symboli Kris S would start in his first graded stakes race, the Aoba Sho. Instead of his normal jockey (Yukio Okabe), he would be controlled by Yutaka Take. Starting from gate 3 in stall 2, he positioned himself well on the inside. With 200 metres to go, he broke away from the inner rail and widened the gap. He crossed the finish line two and a half lengths ahead of Bamboo Juventus, who came from the far outside, and achieved his first graded stakes victory. This win allowed him to compete for the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby).
For the Derby, Symboli Kris S was placed as the third favourite behind No Reason (Satsuki Sho's winner) and Tanino Gimlet (Satsuki's Sho third-place finisher). When the race began, he positioned himself in the mid-pack in the early phase. At the third corner, he started moving outside to gain advantage. He surpassed several horses like Machikane Akatsuki and Gold Allure for the lead. However, Tanino Gimlet caught up to him before the line with a late surge on the homestretch. Symboli Kris S finished second by one length.
He was rested for the summer in Monbetsu before resuming his season at the Kobe Shimbun Hai, a trial race for the Kikuka Sho. Just like in the Tokyo Yushun, Symboli Kris S stayed in the middle of the pack at the start. However, this time, he was blocked on the third corner and could not find a way to move to the outside. He delayed his burst on the final straight, a move that ended up propelling him past the rest of the field and giving him his second graded win, finishing two and a half lengths ahead of No Reason. Later, in his biography, his returning jockey Okabe described this race as a turning point for Symboli Kris S; before, he would generally have a slow start out the gate before gradually finding his pace, whereas in this race he took the initiative right from the start. This result also prompted Fujisawa to persuade Wada to switch the horse's next race from the Kikuka Sho to the Tenno Sho (Autumn), as he thought the horse was good enough to compete against the older competitors.
2003: four-year-old season
Symboli Kris S was almost fully rested for the spring campaign as Fujisawa refused to put him on the Tenno Sho (Spring). Fujisawa believed the race's distance—the longest GI at 3200 metres—"was not for him" and also wanted to preserve his energy for the autumn campaign. He started the season with a run in the Takarazuka Kinen at the Hanshin Racecourse in June. For the race, he received the most votes with 59,817 votes in total. He was ridden by Kent Desormeaux for this race. This race, which featured the likes of Agnes Digital, Balance of Game, Daitaku Bertram, Dantsu Flame, Fast Tateyama, Hishi Miracle, Neo Universe, Tap Dance City and Tsurumaru Boy, was dubbed the "best field of the Takarazuka Kinen ever" at that time. Kris S's routine start was good and he took off in the middle pack. He tried for an outside move to pass Tap Dance City and succeeded. Unfortunately, his lack of pace for the day cost him the win as he was soon overtaken by Tap Dance City, Tsurumaru Boy and Hishi Miracle. He finished the race in fifth place. Fujisawa attributed this loss to the mistiming of taking the lead and also the erratic inward and outward movement by Symboli Kris S on the straight.
Following the earlier plan, the next race for the horse was the Tenno Sho (Autumn). His main competition for the day would be Lohengrin and Eishin Preston. At the start, Symboli Kris S was drawn on the disadvantageous outside gate but was still able to start in the mid-pack as usual. Lohengrin and Go Steady dominated the early phase as they stretched the lead by 20 lengths at the first 1000 metres. The two horses eventually slowed down on the later phase as the chasing pack caught up. Then, Symboli Kris S made an unorthodox move for this race as he veered towards the inside track from the outside to unleash his finishing speed that pulled him away. He maintained the lead and won the race and denying the late-charge Tsurumaru Boy, who finished in second place, one and a half lengths behind. This was his third GI win, and it was also the first time in history a horse won the Tenno Sho (Autumn) in back to back years.
In November, Symboli Kris S would race in the Japan Cup for the second time. He was picked as the favourite to win with odds of 1.9 to 1 out of 18 horses competing. Peslier rode him well in the middle pack during the early race. As he reached the third corner of the track, he sped up, accelerating into their approach to the homestretch. However, he was unable to catch the runaway Tap Dance City in the process. Tap Dance City maintained his early lead to win by nine and three quarters lengths ahead of Symboli Kris S, who took third place behind That's The Plenty.
Racing form
Symboli Kris S won eight races and placed on the podium six more times out of 15 races. This data is available based on JBIS and netkeiba.
Legend:
Turf
R indicated that it was a record time finish.
Stud record
Symboli Kris S first stood at the Shadai Stallion Station in Abira, Hokkaido. In 2016, he moved to the Breeders Stallion Station in Hidaka, Hokkaido.
In October 2019, he retired from stud duty and was moved to the Symboli Farm in Narita, Chiba. He was humanely euthanized on December 8, 2020, at the age of 21 after battling laminitis.
Progeny
Success Brocken (2005) winner of the Japan Dirt Derby (Jpn-I) in 2008, February Stakes (JPN-GI) in 2009, and Tokyo Daishoten (Jpn-I) in 2009.
Strong Return (2006) winner of the Yasuda Kinen (JPN-GI) in 2012.
Alfredo (2009) winner of the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (JPN-GI) in 2011.
Epiphaneia (2010), winner of the Kikuka Sho and the Japan Cup; sired Daring Tact and Efforia
Le Vent Se Leve (2015), winner of the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun in 2017, as well as the Japan Dirt Derby in 2018, Mile Championship Nambu Hai in 2018, and the Champions Cup in 2018.
Symboli Kris S was also the damsire of Oju Chosan, Rey de Oro, Akai Ito, and Songline.
In popular culture
An anthropomorphized version of Symboli Kris S appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Meiku Harukawa. She is depicted as an emotionless, quiet young woman who, as a foreign exchange student, often speaks in English. She is dedicated to fulfilling missions with the goal of repaying her debt to the Symboli family, and values peak efficiency and winning as much as possible.