Screen Hero
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| Screen Hero | |
|---|---|
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| Sire | Grass Wonder |
| Grandsire | Silver Hawk |
| Dam | Running Heroine |
| Damsire | Sunday Silence |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 18 April 2004[1] |
| Country | Japan |
| Colour | Chestnut |
| Breeder | Shadai Farm |
| Owner | Teruya Yoshida |
| Trainer | Susumu Yano Yuichi Shikato |
| Record | 23: 5-6-2 |
| Earnings | ¥503,403,000 |
| Major wins | |
| Copa Republica Argentina (2008) Japan Cup (2008) | |
| Awards | |
| JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse (2008) | |
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Screen Hero (Template:Langx, foaled 18 April 2004) is a Japanese retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active sire best known for winning the 2008 Japan Cup. In his first two seasons he showed above-average racing ability, winning two races and being placed at Grade II level but appeared to be some way behind the best horses in Japan. After a lengthy absence he emerged as a top-class racehorse as a four-year-old in 2008, winning the Grade II Copa Republica Argentina before recording a 40/1 upset victory in the Japan Cup. He failed to win in the following year and his racing career was ended by a serious leg injury at the end of the season. He has had early success as a breeding stallion.
Background
Screen Hero is a chestnut horse with a white star and two white socks standing 15.3½ hands high,[2] bred by the Yoshida family's Shadai Farm. He is one of the best horses[3] sired by the Kentucky-bred stallion Grass Wonder whose wins included the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, the Takarazuka Kinen and two runnings of the Arima Kinen. Screen Hero's dam Running Heroine (a daughter of Sunday Silence) finished unplaced in both of her races in 1996.[4] Running Heroine's dam Dyna Actress was a top-class racemare who won the Sprinters Stakes and was the JRA Award for Best Older Filly or Mare in 1987 and 1988. She was descended from the influential French-bred broodmare La Troienne.[5]
During his racing career Screen Hero was owned by Teruya Yoshida and was initially trained by Susumu Yano.
Racing career
2006 & 2007: early career
As a juvenile, Screen Hero ran twice on the dirt in maiden races, finishing fourth over 1600 metres at Tokyo Racecourse and second over 1800 metres at Nakayama Racecourse.[6]
Screen Hero raced eleven times and won two races as a three-year-old in 2007. On his seasonal debut he recorded his first victory when he won a maiden over 1800 metres on dirt at Nakayama in January, beating Berg Missile and fourteen others. In February he finished third at Tokyo and then won a minor race over 1600 metres at Nakayama. In March he was switched to turf and moved up in class for the Grade II Fuji TV Spring Stakes and finished fifth behind Flying Apple before competing on dirt for the last time and finishing second over 1800 metres at Nakyama. After being beaten in two races on turf at Tokyo he was moved back into Grade III class for the Radio Nikkei Sho at Fukushima Racecourse on 1 July and produced his best effort to date as he finished second of the sixteen runners behind the New Zealand-bred Roc de Cambes. In his two remaining races of 2007 he ran unplaced in the Grade III Niigata Kinen and finished third to Roc de Cambes in the Grade II St Lite Kinen over 2200 metres at Nakayama on 16 September.[6] His performances had earned him a place in the Kikuka Sho in October but his season was ended by a fracture to his left foreleg.[7]
2008: four-year-old season
After a break of eleven months, Screen Hero returned in the Shikotsuko Tokubetsu over 2600 metres at Sapporo Racecourse on 16 August 2008 and recorded his best win up to that time as he defeated B B Falcon and nine others. In his next two races he finished second to Biennale over 2600 metres at Sapporo in September and was then beaten a nose by Jaguar Mail in the October Stakes over 2400 metres at Tokyo.[6]
By late autumn, Susumu Yano had retired and Screen Hero entered the stable of the first-season trainer Yūichi Shikato.[7] On 9 November he was ridden by Masayoshi Ebina when he contested the Copa Republica Argentina, a Grade II handicap race over 2500 metres at Tokyo. The colt recorded his first win at Graded level as he came home one and a half lengths clear of Jaguar Mail with Al Nasrain a neck away in third.[8]
On 30 November Screen Hero contested the 28th running of the Japan Cup in front of a 102,567 crowd[9] at Tokyo and started a 40/1 outsider in a seventeen-runner field. Before the race Shikato commented "He's getting better with each race. He knows how to race, so I'm not particularly concerned about the draw. We're challengers here".[10] The Tokyo Yushun winner Deep Sky started favourite ahead of the outstanding racemare Vodka. The overseas challenge was provided by the three British runners Papal Bull (King Edward VII Stakes, Princess of Wales's Stakes), Sixties Icon (St Leger) and Purple Moon (Ebor Handicap, runner-up in the Melbourne Cup). The other Japanese runners included Meisho Samson (Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun, Tenno Sho), Oken Bruce Lee (Kikuka Sho), Asakusa Kings (Kikuka Sho) and Matsurida Gogh (Arima Kinen). Ridden by the Italian jockey Mirco Demuro Screen Hero tracked the leaders as the outsider Never Bouchon set a slow pace. Matsurida Gogh took the lead in the straight but Screen Hero produced a powerful late run to take the lead 150 metres from the post. In a blanket finish he won by half a length, three quarters of a length, a head and a neck from Deep Sky, Vodka, Matsurida Gogh and Oken Bruce Lee.[11][12] After the race Demuro said "We had decided to mark Matsurida Gogh as he always gets a nice position. The only thing I had been concerned about was the start, but he broke well and the slow pace meant we could move in and get a good position easily... he is a very competitive horse. When he lines up with other horses, he really battles to stay ahead of them". Shikato commented "My heart was just pounding until he was over the finish line... With each race he seemed to rise to meet the level of his opponents".[13]
On his final appearance of the season at Nakayama on 28 December, Screen Hero finished fifth behind the four-year-old filly Daiwa Scarlet in the Arima Kinen.
In January 2009, Screen Hero was voted Champion Japanese older male horse at the JRA Awards, taking 167 of 300 votes.[7]
2009: five-year-old season
Screen Hero remained in training as a five-year-old but failed to win in five races. In the spring he ran fourth behind Asakusa Kings in the Hanshin Daishoten and then finished down the field behind Meiner Kitz in the 3200 metres Tenno Sho. In the Takarazuka Kinen he started a 20/1 outsider and finished fifth, three lengths behind the winner Dream Journey. After a break of over four months he returned in November for the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho for which he started at odds of 30/1 in an eighteen-runner field. Ridden by Hiroshi Kitamura he produced his best effort of the season as he finished second to the eight-year-old Company with Vodka in third and Oken Bruce Lee, Dream Journey, Matsurida Gogh and Asakusa Kings among the unplaced horses.[14] On his final run of the year, he attempted to repeat his 2008 success in the Japan Cup but finished thirteenth of the eighteen runners behind Vodka.
In December it was reported that Screen Hero had sustained a serious leg injury, described as a "bowed tendon" and would not race for at least nine months.[15] In fact he never raced again and was retired to stud in 2010.
Racing form
Screen Hero ran in 23 races and recorded five wins. The data available is based on JBIS and netkeiba.[16][17]
| Date | Track | Race | Grade | Distance (Condition) |
Entry | HN | Odds (Favored) |
Finish | Time | Margins | Jockey | Winner (Runner-up) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 – two-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Nov 26 | Tokyo | 2YO debut | 1600m（Fast） | 16 | 11 | 239.3（13） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.4th | 1:41.4 | 1.3 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | Retsina | |
| Dec 17 | Nakayama | 2YO maiden | 1800m（Sloppy） | 16 | 5 | 8.4（5） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.2nd | 1:56.0 | 0.6 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | Gold Mine | |
| 2007 – three-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Jan 13 | Nakayama | 3YO maiden | 1800m（Fast） | 16 | 6 | 3.1（2） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.1st | 1:57.1 | –0.7 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | (Berg Missile) | |
| Feb 11 | Tokyo | Cattleya Sho | ALW (1W) | 1600m（Fast） | 16 | 3 | 25.2（8） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.3rd | 1:39.6 | 0.8 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | Domingo City |
| Feb 25 | Nakayama | 3YO allowance | 1W | 1800m（Good） | 9 | 6 | 2.4（1） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.1st | 1:56.4 | 0.0 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | (Testa Rossa) |
| Mar 18 | Nakayama | Spring Stakes | 2 | 1800m（Firm） | 11 | 3 | 110.5（10） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.5th | 1:49.5 | 0.5 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | Flying Apple |
| Mar 31 | Nakayama | Fukuryu Stakes | OP | 1800m（Good） | 10 | 9 | 22.7（7） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.2nd | 1:53.9 | 0.1 | Hiroshi Kitamura | Meisho Aigle |
| May 5 | Tokyo | Principal Stakes | OP | 2000m（Firm） | 13 | 10 | 19.7（8） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.7th | 2:00.4 | 0.8 | Masayoshi Ebina | Golden Dahlia |
| Jun 9 | Tokyo | Edelweiss Stakes | ALW (2W) | 1600m（Firm） | 17 | 5 | 25.0（8） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.4th | 1:34.4 | 0.3 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | High Society |
| Jul 1 | Fukushima | Radio Nikkei Sho | 3 | 1800m（Firm） | 16 | 7 | 62.6（14） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.2nd | 1:47.9 | 0.2 | Shu Ishibashi | Roc de Cambes |
| Aug 26 | Niigata | Niigata Kinen | 3 | 2000m（Firm） | 18 | 15 | 22.4（9） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.16th | 1:59.6 | 1.8 | Shu Ishibashi | Yumeno Shirushi |
| Sep 16 | Nakayama | St. Lite Kinen | 2 | 2200m（Firm） | 17 | 11 | 64.8（14） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.3rd | 2:12.7 | 0.7 | Hatsuhiro Kowata | Roc de Cambes |
| 2008 – four-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Aug 16 | Sapporo | Shikotsuko Tokubetsu | ALW (2W) | 2600m（Firm） | 11 | 5 | 2.5（1） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.1st | 2:44.2 | 0.0 | Norihiro Yokoyama | (B B Falcon) |
| Sep 7 | Sapporo | Sapporo Nikkei Open | OP | 2600m（Firm） | 12 | 11 | 4.6（3） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.2nd | 2:42.4 | 0.4 | Koshiro Take | Biennale |
| Oct 12 | Tokyo | October Stakes | ALW (3W) | 2400m（Firm） | 16 | 16 | 5.1（2） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.2nd | 2:26.2 | 0.0 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Jaguar Mail |
| Nov 9 | Tokyo | Copa Republica Argentina | 2 | 2500m（Firm） | 16 | 4 | 8.9（3） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.1st | 2:30.8 | –0.2 | Masayoshi Ebina | (Jaguar Mail) |
| Nov 30 | Tokyo | Japan Cup | 1 | 2400m（Firm） | 17 | 16 | 41.0（9） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.1st | 2:25.5 | –0.1 | Mirco Demuro | (Deep Sky) |
| Dec 28 | Nakayama | Arima Kinen | 1 | 2500m（Firm） | 14 | 8 | 6.4（3） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.5th | 2:32.0 | 0.5 | Mirco Demuro | Daiwa Scarlet |
| 2009 – five-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Mar 22 | Hanshin | Hanshin Daishoten | 2 | 3000m（Soft） | 12 | 10 | 4.0（3） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.4th | 3:14.0 | 0.8 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Asakusa Kings |
| May 3 | Kyoto | Tenno Sho (Spring) | 1 | 3200m（Firm） | 18 | 16 | 6.3（2） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.14th | 3:17.1 | 2.7 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Meiner Kitz |
| Jun 28 | Hanshin | Takarazuka Kinen | 1 | 2200m（Firm） | 14 | 10 | 21.4（6） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.5th | 2:11.8 | 0.5 | Norihiro Yokoyama | Dream Journey |
| Nov 1 | Tokyo | Tenno Sho (Autumn) | 1 | 2000m（Firm） | 18 | 2 | 31.4（7） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.2nd | 1:57.5 | 0.3 | Hiroshi Kitamura | Company |
| Nov 29 | Tokyo | Japan Cup | 1 | 2400m（Firm） | 18 | 18 | 7.5（4） | Page Template:Color/styles.css has no content.13th | 2:25.5 | 2.1 | Mirco Demuro | Vodka |
Legend:
Page Template:Legend/styles.css has no content. Turf
Page Template:Legend/styles.css has no content. Dirt
Stud record
Screen Hero was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion. For the 2015 season he was based at the Lex Stud. His first two crops of foals included Maurice[18] Gold Actor (Arima Kinen) and the Grade III winners Musee Alien and Guanciale.[2]
Notable progeny
c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding
| Foaled | Name | Sex | Major Wins |
| 2011 | Gold Actor | c | Arima Kinen |
| 2011 | Maurice | c | Yasuda Kinen, Mile Championship, Hong Kong Mile, Champions Mile, Tenno Sho (autumn), Hong Kong Cup |
| 2017 | Win Marilyn | f | Hong Kong Vase |
| 2017 | Win Carnelian | c | Sprinters Stakes |
Pedigree
| Sire Grass Wonder (USA) 1995 |
Silver Hawk (USA) 1979 |
Roberto | Hail To Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bramalea | |||
| Gris Vitesse | Amerigo | ||
| Matchiche | |||
| Ameriflora (USA) 1989 |
Danzig | Northern Dancer | |
| Pas de Nom | |||
| Graceful Touch | His Majesty | ||
| Pi Phi Gal | |||
| Dam Running Heroine (JPN) 1993 |
Sunday Silence (USA) 1986 |
Halo | Hail To Reason |
| Cosmah | |||
| Wishing Well | Understanding | ||
| Mountain Flower | |||
| Dyna Actress (JPN) 1983 |
Northern Taste | Northern Dancer | |
| Lady Victoria | |||
| Model Sport | Model Pool | ||
| Magic Goddess (family: 1-x)[5] |
- Screen Hero is inbred 4 × 4 to Hail To Reason and Northern Dancer, meaning that both of these stallions appear twice in the fourth generation of his pedigree.
References
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Screen Hero pedigree". Equineline.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Screen Hero – Stallions in Japan 2015". jrha.or.jp.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Grass Wonder – Stud Record". Racing Post.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. "Running Heroine(JPN)". jbis.jp.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."La Troienne – Family 1-x". Thoroughbred Bloodlinest. Archived from the original on 2012-08-06. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Race Records:Lifetime Starts – Screen Hero". Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association.
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."2008 JRA Awards". japanracing.jp.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Copa Republica Argentina result". Racing Post. 9 November 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nicholas Godfrey (30 November 2008). "Screen Hero heads 1 2 3 for home team as Brits flop". Racing Post. Archived from the original on 20 April 2016.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Japan Cup (G1) comments from Japanese runners' connections". japanracing.jp. 28 November 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Japan Cup result". Racing Post. 30 November 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Blood-Horse Staff (30 November 2008). "Screen Hero Posts Japan Cup Upset". The Blood-Horse.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Barabara Bayer (December 2008). "Screen Hero takes center stage with Japan Cup victory". The Japan Times.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Tenno Sho (autumn) result". Racing Post. 1 November 2009.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nicholas Godfrey (8 December 2009). "Japan Cup star Screen Hero out for nine months". Racing Post.[dead link]
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Race Records | Screen Hero(JPN) | JBIS-Search". www.jbis.jp. Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Screen Hero Race Record and Form | Horse Profile". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. Retrieved 27 December 2025.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Myra Lewyn (7 June 2015). "Maurice Finds More for Yasuda Kinen Win". The Blood-Horse.
