Ushba Tesoro

Ushba Tesoro（ウシュバテソーロ、Foaled March 4, 2017） is a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse who won the Tokyo Daishoten in 2022, before going on to win the Kawasaki Kinen and the Dubai World Cup in 2023.

The name "Ushba" is derived from a mountain in Georgia, while "Tesoro" is the eponym used by its owner.

Up until his four-year-old season (2021)
Ushba Tesoro was bought by Kenji Ryotokuji, founder of Ryotokuji University, at the JRHA Select Sale Foal Session for 25 million yen.

He would make his debut at a maiden race on August 25, 2019, at the Niigata Racecourse, but finished in fifth place.

Ushba Tesoro would win his first race after seven unsuccessful races at a maiden race held at Tokyo Racecourse. The following month, the horse entered the Principal Stakes, a trial race for the Japanese Derby, but came in fourth place. The horse would return to allowance races but could not win a 2nd race for the rest of that year.

On his third race of his four-year old season, Ushba Tesoro won his first race in over a year. Later that year, on November, he scored his third victory at the Sanriku Tokubetsu.

2022: Five-year-old season
Ushba Tesoro ran three allowance races but lost all three of them. After coming in 6th place in the last of those three, it was decided that the horse's next race would be on a dirt track. On April 30, Ushba Tesoro entered the Yokohama Stakes (dirt 2100m) and was the 7th favored. Once the race started, Ushba Tesoro passed all the other horses from the back on the final stretch, finishing his first dirt race in a victory. On the Radio Nippon Sho in September, the horse came up from 10th place and covered the last three furlongs the fastest but came in third place. The following month, Ushba Tesoro won his first Listed Race at the Brazil Cup, where he covered the last three furlongs at 35.5 seconds and passed all the other horses from behind. Ushba Tesoro won his next race. the Canopus Stakes, as well in a similar fashion, where he came in from 10th place and passed the other horses in the final stretch, covering the last three furlongs in 37.3 seconds. Ushba Tesoro would run his first group race at the end of the year at the Tokyo Daishoten, which doubled as the horse's first Group I race. The horse went in as the second most favored behind Meisho Hario, the winner of that year's Teio Sho, another 2000m dirt race held at Oi Racecourse. The horse stayed with the group for most of the race, and started to go forward as it went around the fourth corner. The horse went from the outside and passed the likes of Shonan Nadeshiko and Sunrise Hope that was running in front of him, and crossed the finish line with a 1.75 lengths gap behind Notturno, who came in second place. This victory marked his first group race win and Group 1 win for the horse, after just five races on the dirt track. The horse covered the last 3 furlongs at 37.2 seconds, once again the fastest of the entrants. This race also marked the first dirt G1 race win for the horse's jockey, Kazuo Yokoyama.

2023: Six-year-old season
Ushba Tesoro started the season with the Kawasaki Kinen. In that race, he ran with the pack, and quickly took the lead after passing the final corner, winning his second Group 1 race with a half-a-length lead behind T O Keynes.

On February 24, it was officially announced that the horse was invited to that year's Dubai World Cup. As Yokoyama was already scheduled to ride Titleholder at the Nikkei Sho as well as Aguri on the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, it was also announced that Yuga Kawada would be riding the horse in Dubai. At the race, Ushba Tesoro trailed the pack from behind for most of the duration, coming up and passing them from behind on the final stretch. This victory marked the first time since Victoire Pisa in 2011 for a Japanese horse to win the race, and the first time ever that a Japanese horse won the race since the race was switched from track surface to dirt. During the post-race interview, Kawada commented "There were hurdles to overcome in logistics and surfaces, as it was the horse's first time abroad, but the horse moved very well during training, so I focused on whether it can channel that in this race when I rode him" and "Ushba Tesoro worked hard to win the number one race in the world, so I'm proud that I was able to show that a Japanese jockey can fight in the global stage."

On mid-April 2023, Ushba Tesoro's trainer announced that after taking a break for the summer, the horse will run at this year's Nippon TV Hai before moving on to the BC Classic in Santa Anita. Kawada would reprise his role as jockey. On September 27, he returned to race as scheduled in Nippon TV Hai. After breaking out of the gates well, the race progressed as he was traveling around third or fourth position along the way, stalking the leader Mitono O. As he approached the fourth corner, he surged to the front, and with a light urging from Kawada, he won by 2 and a half lengths. After that, he arrived in Santa Anita without any issues and was set to race in the BC Classic on November 4. He ran the race from the last position after a slow start. Approaching the home straight, Kawada pushed him up from the back of the pack to chase the leaders, however, he was unable to chase them down and finished 5th, breaking his winning streak. He went home to Japan afterward and it was decided that he would run at the Tokyo Daishoten again if his condition was good. Additionally, his connections plan to continue his career next year, aiming for a consecutive victory in the Dubai World Cup. In the Tokyo Daishoten, he was held back from the start and until the final straight where he caught Wilson Tesoro in his final strides, achieving consecutive victories of the race. He was the fifth horse to win the race consecutively since Omega Perfume from 2018 to 2021. With his achievements in winning the Tokyo Daishoten consecutively and winning the Dubai World Cup, he was awarded the JRA Special Award and the NAR Dirt Grade Race Special Award of the year.

2024: Seven-year-old season
Ushba Tesoro started his seven-year-old season in the Saudi Cup. Amidst the intense competition for the lead in the race, he sat at the back of the pack as usual. Gradually closing the gap around the third corner, he began to move up in the straight, overtaking the strong frontrunner, Saudi Crown and took the lead, but was overtaken by Senor Buscador from the outside just 50 meters from the goal, finishing second. He earned approximately 500 million yen by placing second, surpassing Panthalassa and T M Opera O with his total prize money amounting to 1,876,317,000 yen, ranking fourth in Japanese horseracing history.

On March 30, he ran as scheduled at the Dubai World Cup to defend his title. He ran from behind as usual, but he was unable to chase down the tearaway leader, Laurel River, who had a huge comfortable lead, he finished second place. With the money he earned in this race by placing second, he surpassed Equinox, becoming the highest-earning horse in Japanese history with his prize money amounting to 2,215,678,200 yen.

Racing statistics
The following statistics is based on data available at netkeiba.com, JBIS Search, Emirates Racing Authority, and Total Performance Data.

Legend:

Notes:

Personality
When training or walking around the paddock, Ushba Tesoro always looked unmotivated. Because of this, he was notoriously called by Japanese horseracing fans an "average Monday salaryman," while the overseas media called him a "lazy worker." Furthermore, his jockey from the Dubai World Cup, Yuga Kawada, mentioned, "He usually tries to return home with the other horses who have already finished galloping before he had even started galloping himself."

His trainer, Noboru Takagi, and the assistant trainer explained, "Regarding his drooping neck when walking the paddock, he is actually concentrating," and "He's fired up and ready to go."

Pedigree

 * "*" indicates the horse was brought to Japan from abroad.
 * Ushba Tesoro was inbred 4 × 5 to Northern Taste, meaning that this stallion appears in both the fourth and fifth generations of his pedigree.