Kurifuji – The Undefeated Wartime Queen of Japanese Racing

Kurifuji was a chestnut racemare who raced in Japan during the dark years of the Second World War. In 1943 she went 11-for-11, winning the Tokyo Yūshun (Japanese Derby), the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and the Kyoto Norinsho Shoten 4-Year-Old Stakes (the race that would later become the Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St. Leger).
At the time, the idea of a “Triple Crown” had not yet been formally defined, but looking back from the post-war era, her achievement came to be called an “irregular Triple Crown” – something no other horse, male or female, has ever repeated.

She raced only briefly, but left behind one of the most perfect records in Japanese racing history: 11 starts, 11 wins, with most of those victories coming by wide margins. In 1984 she was inducted into the Japan Racing Association Hall of Fame, and to this day she is still regularly mentioned in “greatest of all time” debates.

Birth and Bloodlines – A Filly Born to High Expectations

Kurifuji was foaled on 10 March 1940 at the Shimousa Imperial Ranch in Chiba Prefecture, a property run by the Imperial Household Agency. Her sire was Tournesol (GB), an imported stallion who became a dominant influence in pre-war Japanese breeding, leading the sires’ list five years in a row and siring multiple Tokyo Yūshun (Japanese Derby) winners. Her dam Kenfuji was a daughter of Chapel Brampton (GB), another imported stallion, and traced back to the legendary British foundation mare Astonishment, whose descendants formed one of the great Japanese female families.

As a young filly she was registered under the name Toshifuji. When she was offered at a yearling sale as an “old 3-year-old” under the pre-war Japanese age system, she immediately caught the eye of shipping magnate Yuuji Kuribayashi, later known as one of the most powerful owners in the country. Kuribayashi reportedly said, “The moment I saw her face, I knew she was the one,” and secured her with a single bid of 40,000 yen – four times the 10,000-yen winner’s purse of the Tokyo Yūshun at that time. Based on rough comparisons of wages and race purses, that sum has been estimated as roughly around 100 million yen in today’s money, a truly massive price for a filly in wartime Japan.

Kuribayashi sent his expensive purchase to the Tokyo stable of master trainer Keizo (Fujiyoshi) Ogata, one of the great horsemen of his era. There she received her new racing name: Kurifuji – formed from the kanji for “chestnut” (kuri) in Kuribayashi’s surname and “wisteria” (fuji) from her dam Kenfuji. From the very beginning, she was treated as a once-in-a-generation talent.

Late Debut and a Perfect Season in 1943

Kurifuji’s legs gave her connections some headaches. Pre-race training left her with minor issues, and she failed to make the season’s first major 4-year-old race, the Yokohama Norinsho Shoten 4-Year-Old Stakes (a classic trial at the time). She finally debuted on 16 May 1943 at Tokyo Racecourse in a new-horse race over 1,800 metres. Ridden by young jockey Choukichi Maeda, she won by a length in heavy going – the smallest winning margin of her entire career.

Two weeks later she returned in a 1,600-metre “4-Year-Old Call” race at Tokyo and blitzed the field by a wide margin. With two wins from two starts, Ogata and Kuribayashi did something almost unthinkable today: they sent this lightly raced filly straight into the Tokyo Yūshun, the 1943 Japanese Derby.

The 1943 Tokyo Yūshun – From Disaster at the Start to a Record-Breaking Win

The 12th running of the Tokyo Yūshun (Japanese Derby) was held on 6 June 1943 at Tokyo Racecourse. The field of 25 was the largest in the race’s history up to that point, and the grandstand, which could hold more than 20,000 people, was packed with spectators – many of them in military uniform. Kurifuji was sent off as the favourite, with a win payout of 53.5 yen for a 20-yen ticket – roughly 2.7 to 1 in modern odds.

The start, however, was a nightmare. In those days there were no starting gates; horses lined up behind a rope barrier stretched across the track. As the barrier went up, Kurifuji was still wedged awkwardly between her neighbours. She hesitated, lost her balance, and effectively “somersaulted” out of the line, giving away about two lengths at the break. For a moment, it looked as though the Derby might be lost before it had begun.

Maeda did not panic. He remembered Ogata’s instructions: don’t rush her, trust her ability. He let her settle near the rear, saving energy while the leaders cut out a strong pace. Only when the field compressed around the final turns did he begin to thread his way forward, first on the inside, then swinging out for a clear run in the straight.

Once Kurifuji saw daylight, the race was over. Her acceleration was electric. She swept past her rivals, hit the front 200 metres from home, and drew further and further away. At the finish she was six lengths clear, in a new race-record time of 2:31.4 – 1.6 seconds faster than the previous year’s winner. Maeda, just over 20 years old, became the youngest Derby-winning jockey in history, a record that still stands today.

Kuribayashi later recalled being stunned that Kurifuji’s breathing hardly seemed elevated after the race – as if she had simply finished another training gallop. It was obvious to everyone present: this filly was operating on a different level.

Oaks and “Irregular Triple Crown” – Dominating the Classics

Only half a month after the Derby, Kurifuji travelled west to contest the Hanshin Yūshun Himba, a race that wartime scheduling had temporarily moved to Kyoto Racecourse. This race would later become the modern Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks). On good turf over 2,400 metres, Kurifuji once again destroyed her rivals, winning by an officially recorded ten lengths.

After another pair of comfortable wins against older horses in open company, she lined up for the autumn target: the Kyoto Norinsho Shoten 4-Year-Old Stakes, over 3,000 metres at Kyoto. This race is now known as the Kikuka Sho, the Japanese St. Leger and the final leg of the modern Triple Crown. Facing a field that included high-priced colt Hirosakura, Kurifuji simply ran away from them. She won by what the official record calls “a wide margin” (ōsa, 大差), the largest winning distance in the history of the race, and set a new race record of 3:19 3/5. It is remembered as one of the most overwhelming victories ever seen in a Japanese classic.

By the end of 1943, Kurifuji had:

• Won the Tokyo Yūshun (Japanese Derby), normally a colts’ classic.
• Won the Hanshin Yūshun Himba (wartime version of the Oaks).
• Won the Kyoto Norinsho Shoten 4-Year-Old Stakes (later the Kikuka Sho, Japanese St. Leger).

At the time, these three races were not yet linked under an official “Triple Crown” concept. Only in the post-war years, after horses like St. Lite were retrospectively recognised as Triple Crown winners, did writers and historians look back and describe Kurifuji’s feat as an “irregular Triple Crown” – a filly sweeping three different classic-level races across both colts’ and fillies’ divisions in the same season.

Wartime Racing in 1944 and an Unwanted Farewell

Japan’s war situation deteriorated rapidly in 1944. The government suspended normal horse-race betting, and what racing remained was run as “ability test races” with no wagering, reduced programmes and limited crowds.

Kurifuji did race again that year, winning several such ability-test events at Tokyo, including the spring running of the Yokohama Kinen. Official records list these as victories, but because they were held as non-betting tests under special wartime rules, they are often treated by historians as unofficial performances rather than normal stakes wins. Even in this reduced context, her superiority was obvious: she kept finishing in front, often by multiple lengths.

Plans were then made to send Kurifuji to Kyoto for the Teishitsu Goshōten (Spring Imperial Prize), the predecessor of today’s Tenno Sho (Spring). But during the long rail journey to Kyoto she developed a fever and had to be withdrawn from the race. Given the worsening war and the risks of further travel, her owner and trainer decided to retire her unbeaten, sending her back to the Imperial ranch as a broodmare.

Her final official record: 11 starts, 11 wins. Most of those victories were by more than three lengths; seven were by margins of ten lengths or more. To this day, this undefeated record remains unmatched among horses who have won Japan’s major races.

From Champion Racer to Foundation Broodmare

Back at her birthplace, Kurifuji reverted to her broodmare name Toshifuji and resumed life as a broodmare. In July 1945, Allied bombing raids struck the Chiba area, and the Shimousa ranch relocated many of its horses north to Hokkaido’s Hidaka region to escape the air raids. Kurifuji survived the war and went on to produce a long sequence of foals. According to studbook records, her progeny won a total of 55 races between them.

Among her most notable offspring were:

• Ichijiyo (1950 filly, by Theft): winner of the Kumohata Kinen, and later dam of Shimofusa Homare, who captured the Yasuda Kinen and Swan Stakes. The surviving female line that descends directly from Kurifuji today runs through Ichijiyo; it is effectively the only major branch of her family still active in modern pedigrees.
• Yamaichi (1949 filly, by Toshishiro): registered as “Asafuji” as a broodmare, she won both the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and the Yushun Himba (Oaks), becoming the first filly ever to complete a mother–daughter Oaks double with Kurifuji. She also finished third in the Kikuka Sho, running in all three classic-distance events. Sadly, her branch of the family later died out.
• Homaremon (1953 colt, by Greylord): winner of the eastern division of the Kinpai (New Year’s Cup), runner-up in the Tenno Sho (Spring) and fifth in the Satsuki Sho. A tough, versatile runner who inherited much of his dam’s stamina.

Through Ichijiyo’s daughters, Kurifuji’s female line continued into the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Among her more distant descendants are:

• Samson Big, winner of the Kisaragi Sho (G3).
• Shimofusa Homare, winner of the Yasuda Kinen (G1) and Swan Stakes (G2).
• Shinpū Raiden, winner of the Nagoya Yushun in regional racing.
• Ooe Raijin, 2011 NAR (National Association of Racing) Champion 3-Year-Old Colt, and his full sister Angel Tweet, NAR Champion 2-Year-Old Filly of the same year.

Kurifuji herself died of old age on 10 September 1964, aged 25, at a farm in Hokkaido. Her grave is not a major tourist spot like some modern champions’, but her genetic legacy still quietly surfaces in racecards, especially in regional dirt racing.

How Strong Was She? – Reputation and Modern Evaluation

In 1984, the Japan Racing Association inaugurated its official Hall of Fame. Kurifuji was among the early inductees, recognised for her perfect record and for being a defining horse of the pre-war era. Her lifetime earnings were officially recorded as 73,200 yen – a large fortune in the 1940s. Direct comparisons are difficult due to wartime inflation, but looking at average wages and prize structures, her earnings correspond to at least many tens of millions of yen in today’s money.

Beyond numbers, though, it is her aura of invincibility that fascinates fans and historians. She was undefeated; most of her wins were by wide margins; she beat high-class colts at their own distances; and she did all of this in a single compressed campaign under the pressures of war.

In a special feature on “The Strongest Horse in Japanese Racing History” published by the magazine Yushun in February 1985, many experts naturally pointed to icons like Shinzan and Symboli Rudolf. Yet trainer Yuji Nohira, the man who trained Triple Crown hero Symboli Rudolf himself, chose a different answer: “Kurifuji.” For those who saw the old films and heard the wartime stories first-hand, she remained the standard against which all later champions were measured.

Legacy – A Beam of Light in a Dark Time

Kurifuji raced at a time when newspapers were filled with war reports, cities were under blackout, and the future of the country – and of racing itself – was uncertain. In that gloomy landscape, an undefeated filly who kept winning by daylight became something more than just a racehorse. She was a brief, brilliant reassurance that excellence, beauty and courage could still exist in the middle of chaos.

Today, footage of her races is scarce, and most fans know her only from still photos and written accounts. But the bare facts are enough to keep the legend alive: a filly bought for a record price, unbeaten in 11 starts, conqueror of the Derby and classic races against both colts and fillies, and the quiet ancestress of modern stakes winners on Japanese tracks.

As long as people talk about the greatest horses in Japanese history, the name Kurifuji—the wartime queen who never lost—will continue to be spoken with a special kind of respect.