Sometimes I wonder how much funny name coincidences influence racehorse pairings.
Case in point, we have Maruzensky, a racehorse so smooth and fast while running it got the nickname of “Supercar”, then there’s a mare called Sakura Sedan.
Sakura Sedan had a son called Sakura Toko, and while the results weren’t particularly overwhelming, the general evaluation was so good they attempted a cross of Sakura Sedan and Maruzensky again. This was when Sakura Chiyono O was born.
Despite being named after Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, 58th Yokozuna and last Yokozuna of the Showa era, Sakura Chiyono O was often described as being very cute. Moreover, Sakura Chiyono O came at a very interesting time for the Sakura Gundan.
Earlier, during the racing career of Sakura Star O (a tragic tale for another day), Futoshi Kojima (who you may remember as the Sakura Gundan’s main jockey) had bad blood developing between him and Yeon Jon-suk. The main reason was that Kojima was meeting new people, more horse owners, and wanted to be open to the possibility of running for others.
Thing were… complex. As explained in the earlier post, Kojima is Katsutaro Sakai’s son-in-law, and both were friends with Yeon Jon-suk. But the relationship between Kojima and Jon-suk was DEEP. Jon-suk was said to care about Kojima like if he was his son, Kojima said many times that he often told Jon-suk things that he didn’t feel safe confiding even to his real parents. And even on his deathbed, it was said that Jon-suk asked about Kojima’s grades.
It’s the sort of relationship where Jon-suk called Kojima “Chubby” (太) and Kojima called him “Old man” (おやじい). So it’s not hard to see how Jon-suk might’ve felt betrayed when Kojima wanted to expand his circle a bit.
This resulted in a change of jockey during Sakura Star O’s run to Shinji Azuma. This seemed to be the way things were going to go again, but with Maruzensky’s pedigree and a high evaluation during that early stage of life, Sakura Chiyono O had a lot of expectations on its back. That’s when Shigeharu Matsumoto, an assistant trainer, approached Kojima and convinced him to mend things.
Given that Sakura Chiyono O was born in 1987 and Kojima was even the main jockey of Sakura Laurel who was born in 1991, it’s safe to say things were mended. In fact, the only reason Sakura Laurel changed jockeys was because Kojima retired in 1996.
So as it’s probably illustrated, Sakura Chiyono O had a LOT of expectations on his back.
And for the most part he did deliver… kinda.
In case the time frame hasn’t clicked yet, Sakura Chiyono O ran during the Second Horseracing Boom, AKA the Oguri Boom, AKA the Heisei Sankyo era. What this means is that even before you factor anything else, Sakura Chiyono O was entering the battlefield in a time where many other scary opponents were making a name for themselves.
Sakura Chiyono O’s career started in good shape in 1987. He only had a second place defeat against Meiner Logik before winning his first G1, what’s now known as the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, but was known back then as the Asahi Cup 3-year Stakes.
1988 would be the year where Sakura Chiyono O’s rivalries would be set with Dicta Striker Soccer Boy, Yaeno Muteki, and Mejiro Ardan among others.
He would lose the Satsuki Sho to Yaeno Muteki, but his confrontation with Mejiro Ardan in the Nihon Derby is the highlight of it all.
For one, the Nihon Derby was one of the races that Maruzensky couldn’t run because he was considered “imported” at the time, Sakura Star O was planned to eventually challenge the Nihon Derby but tragically couldn’t make it (it was put down two months earlier after a very protracted convalescence.), Sakura Toko (Sakura Chiyono O’s half-brother) also couldn’t run it because of an injury, it was the first time in ten years that the Sakai stable had won the Nihon Derby, and Sakai was so moved that it was the first time Kojima saw him cry.
And the ride doesn’t end there! Because Kojima’s own dad had died the December right before and after the race Kojima’s mother was seen in the course with a photo of Kojima’s dad. Not only that but he was then gifted a Supra by Toyota and he even got a kiss by Miki Asakura herself! THE Miki Asakura, Miss Universe Representative and singer that covered Bonnie Tyler’s Hero amongst many MANY other songs.
Imagine if Kojima didn’t mend things with Jon-suk and didn’t ride Sakura Chiyono O.
After this, however, Sakura Chiyono O would need to take a break for one year, returning for the Yasuda Kinen… and losing in 16th place to Bamboo Memory.
Then finally, one last Takarazuka Kinen that also ended in 16th, against Inari One.
It’s honestly kinda surprising how little he faced against the rest of the Heisei Sankyo despite running in quite a few prestigious races.
But that’s how Sakura Chiyono O’s career ends. It didn’t end with a bang but that’s because the bang came earlier and BY GOD what a bang.
So, how do you adapt this tale into the game?
Well, funny thing about that…
You see, Chiyo-chan and Ardan are late additions to the game. You can see the Heisei Sankyo and others like Yaeno Muteki and Bamboo Memory as far back as Starting Gate, but Chiyo-chan was only added basically after the game released.
And this is relevant because her tale feels like an iteration of Teio in a world where Teio already exists. Which is something you can ALSO claim about Ardan in relation to McQueen.
To grossly oversimplify: We have a girl whose original is directly descended from a horse considered in a category of their own that adopt a role of senpai in their stories. The girl is trying to live up to the legacy of said senpai in some way, and things get complicated around the same time that a girl from the Mejiro household enters the scene. Finally a leg condition forces them to retire before one last race.
Teio is the story of a cocky turbogremlin that fell deeper and deeper into a rut as leg injuries piled up and all her possible accolades were dashed by others, until she made one last comeback proving she could still win against the up and comer Biwa Hayahide (except Hayahide was also a senpai… don’t think too hard about it, linear time doesn’t exist in Uma Musume).
Chiyo-chan is less… protagonist-ish. She’s decidedly more of a side character, and I don’t mean that just literally, I mean that her arc feels more like if you had a Slam Dunk spin off all about Ryounan instead of Shohoku… and instead of Sendoh you’re focusing on… Ryoji Ikegami. He’s not a bad character, or weak, or even boring, but it’s definitely not a Main Character either.
The game still does fun stuff with her campaign, though.
Her objectives follow a very truncated version of the real one’s career at first. You still run the Asahi Hai FS, you still run the Satsuki Sho, you still run a very loaded Nihon Derby… but then, you run the Autumn Tenno Sho.
The 1988 Autumn Tenno Sho is where Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross had their last showdown.
Basically, Chiyo-chan is trying to keep up with the rest of her generation instead of needing one year of resting.
Afterwards, in an effort to not fall behind she asks the help of Maruzensky, and the player can choose if to run the Yasuda Kinen or the Takarazuka Kinen. As mentioned above, these two are the races that the real Sakura Chiyono O ended 16th in, but here it’s more a choice up to the player, since they’re back to back and making them mandatory objectives (especially when they’re historic losses) might be too much.
Her next objective is the Autumn Tenno Sho again… and the 1989 Autumn Tenno Sho is where Oguri Cap and Super Creek faced off with Super Creek beating Oguri Cap. Moreover, it was a race where Mejiro Ardan ended third, Inari One also participated, as did Yaeno Muteki. The only one missing was Chiyo-chan.
Now, in that order of ideas, the 1989 Japan Cup (not to be confused with the Nihon Derby whose actual name is Tokyo Yushun, a mixup I have a lot) was another defeat that Oguri Cap suffered, but it was against Horlicks, a New Zealand horse. And Chiyo-chan’s opponent isn’t actually Oguri Cap.
It’s Maruzensky.
This is where that encounter against a beefed up Maruzensky that I’ve mentioned before comes in.
With that last race ends Chiyo-chan’s Twinkle Series run.
The assessment that Chiyo-chan feels like a side-character, while appropiate for me, doesn’t fully embody what I mean by itself.
When I say she feels like a side character I don’t mean it so much in the sense that she’s playing second banana to someone else, but rather that she’s having her own story in parallel to everyone else. Horse Racing is a broad sport with many different sides to it, and like mentioned before Sakura Chiyono O only crossed paths with Inari One at the very end. And considering that he ran in a lot of big name races, the fact that he only crossed paths like that ONCE really gives it the feel that he was running his own adventure, like a side story that connects to the main story at the very end somehow.
Not only that, but while Chiyo-chan isn’t as explosive a character as… Bakushin for example, I’d argue the game shines harder with these characters. While big personalities are fun, the fact that Chiyo-chan can shine through so hard with her puppy-like earnestness, attentiveness, and ambition, is a testament to how big personalities are a bonus rather than the main attraction.
And honestly, that’s what best embodies the legacy of Sakura Chiyono O for me. In case all the paragraphs detailing Futoshi Kojima getting back into the saddle and winning the Nihon Derby in super climactic fashion didn’t sell it, that was a whole arc that took place away from the main attraction of the Heisei Sankyo, a side story with its own highs and lows that finishes while tying to the main arc waaay after the fact, like a distant epilogue to the main plot.