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| Staff Writer |
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Ushba Tesoro, Japan's all-time highest money earner, has raced for the final time, bowing out with an admirable sixth place finish at Meydan last Saturday - the very track where he enjoyed his greatest triumph in winning the 2023 Gr.1 Dubai World Cup.
The 7YO son of the madcap champion Orfevre gained a cult following with his distinctive drop-out-then-charge run style, showcasing a determination that made him one of the most recognisable horses on the international stage.
While his legs may no longer have possessed the speed and power needed to reproduce his greatest victories, Ushba Tesoro remained true to his characteristic style right to the end, running his own race in his own way as he has done throughout his illustrious career.
"Definitely," was trainer Noboru Takagi's firm reply when asked if this was truly the end of his star's racing career, confirming the retirement of a horse who leaves the sport having amassed a remarkable record both at home and abroad.
It was only fitting that the bay should complete his career at Meydan, scene of his greatest triumph when winning the Dubai World Cup in March 2023 - a victory that Takagi described as "the best feeling I've ever had."
Purchased by owner Kenji Ryotokuji out of the JRA Select Foal Sale in 2017 for approximately US$224,000, Ushba Tesoro's career took seven attempts to yield a maiden victory, which finally came in April 2020 as a 3YO over 2400m at Tokyo.
For two seasons he plodded along as a turf runner, securing just three wins from 22 starts before a career-defining surface switch in April 2022 yielded immediate results with victory in the Yokohama Stakes over 2100m at Tokyo.
What followed was a remarkable transformation, with the horse winning eight from 10 on dirt between that first attempt and his second consecutive win in the storied Gr.1 Tokyo Daishoten in December 2023.
His record expanded to include not only his Dubai World Cup triumph but also second place in the 2024 Meydan feature, as well as second and third in the 2024 and 2025 runnings of the world's richest race, the Gr.1 Saudi Cup, fifth in the Gr.1 Breeders' Cup Classic, and wins in the JPN1 Kawasaki Kinen and the JPN2 Nippon TV Hai.
Before Ushba Tesoro, Tokyo native Takagi's only top-class horse was the 2014 Gr.1 Sprinters Stakes winner Snow Dragon, though he has since trained champion steeplechaser Nishino Daisy.
The 59-year-old handler, who began his racing industry career in 1988 as a groom with trainer Masanori Ito before obtaining his own licence in 2007, acknowledged the pressure of training such a high-profile horse.
"When he raced in Dubai for the first time, we received the invitation quite late and we saw ourselves as the challengers, so I didn't feel any pressure then. His owners might have had high expectations for him, but I just did my thing casually," Takagi told Idol Horse at Meydan.
"Last year, in Dubai, I did feel the pressure, everybody was watching him."
Takagi revealed that his star's determined temperament was evident from the beginning. "When he was young, his ego was very strong," he said. "With our training, and as he got older, he became a little bit easier to handle, but he is still a handful."
That headstrong nature was perhaps inherited from his sire Orfevre, infamous for powering through to lead in the final stages of the Gr.1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, only to throw the race away.
This temperament shaped his distinctive running style, which regular rider Yuga Kawada had previously described with a knowing laugh: "He makes everything trouble," adding warmly, "My job is to persuade him to do his job."
Ushba Tesoro's owner had initially planned to retire the horse at the end of 2024 after the Tokyo Daishoten, but a rethink resulted in a two-race international farewell tour taking in Riyadh and Dubai.
Though his final race didn't yield the fairytale ending many had hoped for, the admirable sixth-place finish was a fitting conclusion to a career that has left an indelible mark on the international racing scene.