Wagnerian (horse)

Wagnerian (Japanese: ワグネリアン, 10 February 2015 - 5 January 2022) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the best two-year-olds in Japan in 2017 when he was unbeaten in three races including the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. In the following spring he was defeated in his first two starts of the year but then recorded his biggest win in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). On his only subsequent appearance of 2018 he won the Kobe Shimbun Hai. Wagnerian failed to win in 2019 but finished third in both the Osaka Hai and the Japan Cup.

Background
Wagnerian is a bay horse with no white markings bred in Hokkaido, Japan at the Northern Farm by his owner Makoto Kaneko. During his racing career he was trained by Yasuo Tomomichi.

He was from the eighth crop of foals sired by Deep Impact, who was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, winning races including the Tokyo Yushun, Tenno Sho, Arima Kinen and Japan Cup. Deep Impact's other progeny include Gentildonna, Harp Star, Kizuna, A Shin Hikari, Marialite and Saxon Warrior. Wagnerian's dam, who won one race from nine attempts died in September 2018 as a result of injuries sustained in the Hokkaido earthquake. She was a daughter of Broad Appeal, an American-bred mare who was imported to Japan and won several good races on dirt. Broad Appeal was descended from the Irish broodmare Royal Meage, the ancestor of many major winners including Dancer's Image, Habitat and Suave Dancer.

2017: two-year-old season
Wagnerian began his racing career on 12 July at Chukyo Racecourse when he was a narrow winner of a contest for previously unraced juveniles over 2000 metres. After a break of two months the colt returned in the Nojigiku Stakes over 1800 metres at Hanshin Racecourse and won by two lengths from Delos. On 18 November Wagnerian was stepped up in class for the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes over 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse and started the 0.4/1 favourite against six opponents. Ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga, who became his regular jockey, he came home three lengths clear of Lucas, with Charlemagne a neck away in third.

In the official ratings for Japanese two-year-olds Wagnerian was rated the third best juvenile of the year behind Danon Premium (Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes) and Time Flyer (Hopeful Stakes).

2018: three-year-old season
Wagnerian began his second campaign in the Yayoi Sho over 2000 metres at Nakayama Racecourse on 4 March in which he finished second of the ten runners, beaten one and a half lengths by Danon Premium. In the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho over the same distance on 15 April the colt was made the 5/2 favourite but came home seventh of the sixteen runners, almost six lengths behind the upset winner Epoca d'Oro. On 27 May, in front of a crowd of 126,767, Wagnerian was one of eighteen colts to contest the 85th edition of the Japanese Derby over 2400 metres at Tokyo and started the 11.5/1 fifth choice in the betting behind Danon Premium, Blast Onepiece, Kitano Commandeur and Epoca d'Oro. After tracking the leaders Wagnerian produced a sustained challenge down the centre of the course in the straight, gaining the advantage in the last 50 metres and winning by half a length from Epoca d'Oro with Cosmic Force, Etario, Blast Onepiece and Danon Premium close behind. Fukunaga, who was winning the race for the first time said "The staff did a terrific job in preparing the colt and he just gave his best. I just drove him feverishly to the line. I’ve won G1 races in Tokyo before, but to win the Derby is totally a different story. I was beginning to have doubts after having so many chances, but thanks to the support of my family and so many others, I’m thrilled to have won at last".

Following a break of almost four months Wagnerian returned to the track on 23 September for the Kobe Shimbun Hai over 2400 metres at Hanshin and started the 1.7/1 joint favourite alongside Epoca d'Oro. After racing in mid-division Wagnerian made strong progress in the straight, catching the front-running outsider Meisho Tekkon on the last 100 metres and holding off the late challenge of Etario to win by half a length. The colt was aimed at the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho but did not recover sufficiently from his race at Hanshin and was rested for the remainder of the year.

In January 2019 Wagnerian was runner-up to Blast Onepiece in the poll to determine the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt for 2018 taking 88 of the 276 votes. In the 2018 World's Best Racehorse Rankings Wagnerian was rated the eleventh best three-year-old colt in the world and the fifth-ninth best horse of any age or sex.

2019: four-year-old season
On his first appearance as a four-year-old Wagnerian started the 7.4/1 fourth favourite for the Grade 1 Osaka Hai at Hanshin on 31 March. He raced in mid-division before staying on strongly to take third place behind Al Ain and Kiseki, beaten half a length by the winner. He was then off the track for four and a half months before contesting the Grade 2 Sapporo Kinen in August when he finished fourth behind Blast Onepiece, Sungrazer and Fierement. After another break he returned in the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho at Tokyo on 27 October when he started at odds of 17.7/1 in a field of sixteen. He stayed on well from the rear of the field without looking likely to win and came home fifth as victory went to the filly Almond Eye. On 24 November Wagnerian ended his season by starting second favourite for the Japan Cup. After settling behind the leaders he lost his position entering the straight but then "unleashed a furious charge" to take third place behind Suave Richard and Curren Bouquetd'or.

2020: five-year-old season
Wagnerian made his first appearance of 2020 in the Osaka Hai on 5 April and started the 4.2/1 fourth choice in the betting. He raced behind the leaders on the inside rail and struggled to obtain a clear run approaching the straight before finishing well to take fifth place, two and a half lengths behind the winner Lucky Lilac. At the same track on 28 June Wagnerian contested the 61st edition of the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen. He raced in second place behind the front-running outsider Tosen Surya for most of the way but dropped out of contention in the straight and came home thirteenth of the eighteen runners behind Chrono Genesis.

2021: six-year-old season and death
Wagnerian was taken out of the race for a prolonged time due to problems with his throat and had undergone surgery to remove his vocal cords. He returned to race at the 2021 Kyoto Kinen but came in 5th place, and could not win anymore races. After finishing in 18th place at the Japan Cup, Wagnerian's health conditions gradually deteriorated and was hospitalized at an equine vet stable located inside the Ritto Training Center. At around 6PM on 5 January 2022, Wagnerian died at the vet stable, and after an autopsy was conducted it was revealed that the horse had an egg-sized gallstone stuck in his bile duct, which led to a multiple organ failure.

Wagnerian's death marked the first death of an active Derby-winner in the Heisei era and the fifth ever, after, , Tokino Minoru, and.