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Marvelous Sunday

Japanese thoroughbred racehorse

Image credit is listed at the end of this article.

Marvelous Sunday (Japanese: マーベラスサンデー, Hepburn: Māberasu Sandē; 31 May 1992, 30 June 2016) was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse and Stallion.

He is most known for winning the 1997 Takarazuka Kinen and Sankei Osaka Hai. He was awarded the JRA Award for Best Male Horse Aged 4-and-Up that same year. During his racing career, he suffered four different fractures, yet was affectionately referred to as the "Model Student" due to his consistent record and mild-mannered behaviour.

01Background

Marvelous Sunday's name is a combination of his owner's crown name, "Marvelous", as well as an homage to his sire, Sunday Silence. Additionally, Marvelous Sunday was born on a Sunday.

02Early Years

Marvelous Sunday was born in Hayada Farm, in Niikappu, Hokkaido. He was from the first crop of Sunday Silence, a stallion who would go on to lead the sire rankings 12 times. Despite his strong pedigree, he was considered quite a weak foal; eventually he was purchased by Sadao Sasahara, the owner of Marvelous Crown. In March of 1994, having reached racing age, Marvelous Sunday was transported to Rittō Training Center, training with the goal of a fall debut.

Sometime in August, the decision was made to have Yutaka Take be his jockey. That same month however, a fracture to his right knee was discovered during training, and he was sent out to pasture. While resting, he developed a severe case of Colic. His weight plummeted from a healthy 480-kilogram range, down to 390 kilograms. Stable-hand Furukawa remarked, "I was astonished to see a horse in such a state. Usually, the flesh on the face is the one thing that doesn't waste away, but even his face looked gaunt; his body was truly nothing but skin and bones."

Early treatment saved his life, but as a result of his critical condition, his planned debut was significantly delayed.

03Racing career

Marvelous Sunday's first race was the Four-Year-Old Newcomer at the Kyoto Racecourse on February 4, 1995, which he won. He would compete in his first Grade 3 race, the Epsom Cup, on June 30, 1996, resulting in a victory. He would then go on to win two more G3 Races that year, the Sapporo Kinen and the Asahi Challenge Cup. He would compete in his first Grade 2 race, the Kyoto Daishoten on October 6 that same year, resulting in another win. He would finally compete in his first Grade 1 race, the Autumn Tenno Sho on October 27, 1996, placing fourth. His only G1 Victory was the 1997 Takarazuka Kinen. His final race was the Arima Kinen on December 21, 1997, where he placed second behind Silk Justice.

04Racing Statistics

The following racing statistics were taken from JBIS.

Date Race Class Distance Racecourse Track Finish Entry Time Jockey Winner
(2nd Place)
1995 , four-year-old season
Feb 04Four Year Old NewcomerMaiden1800mKyotoDirt1st21:55.8Y. Take(Yagura Graviton)
Mar 05Yukiyanagi ShoPre-OP2000mKyotoTurf1st132:02.6Y. Take(Daitaku Surgeon)
1996 , five-year-old season
Apr 13Akashi TokubetsuPre-OP2000mHanshinTurf4th62:01.5Y. TakeMiller's Eight
May 5Komogawa TokubetsuPre-OP1800mKyotoTurf1st21:48.1Y. Take(First Sonia)
May 18Okehazama StakesPre-OP1800mChukyoTurf1st21:48.3Y. Take(Nishino Daio)
Jun 01Epsom CupG31800mTokyoTurf1st101:45.7Y. Take(Yu Sensho)
Jun 30Sapporo KinenG32000mSapporoTurf1st132:01.6Y. Take(Maillot Jaune)
Sep 08Asahi Challenge CupG32000mHanshinTurf1st11:59.5Y. Take(Star Man)
Oct 10Kyoto DaishotenG22400mKyotoTurf1st52:25.1Y. Take(Minamoto Marinos)
Oct 27Tenno Sho (Autumn)G12000mTokyoTurf4th111:58.9Y. TakeBubble Gum Fellow
Dec 22Arima KinenG12500mNakayamaTurf2nd112:34.2Y. TakeSakura Laurel
1997 , six-year-old season
Mar 30Sankei Osaka HaiG22000mHanshinTurf1st72:02.0Y. Take(Yutosei)
Apr 27Tenno Sho (Spring)G13200mKyotoTurf3rd143:14.7Y. TakeMayano Top Gun
Jul 06Takarazuka KinenG12200mHanshinTurf1st82:11.9Y. Take(Bubble Gum Fellow)
Dec 21Arima KinenG12500mNakayamaTurf2nd32:34.8Y. TakeSilk Justice

05Stud career and death

After his final race in 1997, Marvelous Sunday became a stallion. He sired a total of 946 children, including King Joy and Marvelous Kaiser who both won the G1 Nakayama Daishogai in 2008 and 2012 respectively. He fully retired from the stud duty in 2014 and spent the rest of his years at Yushun Stallion Station before moving to Oda Yoneharu Farm in Shinhidaka Town in 2016. He died in the same year due to old age.

07Pedigree

Pedigree of Marvelous Sunday (JPN), 1992
Sire
Sunday Silence (USA)
1986
Halo
1969
Hail to Reason
1958
Turn-to
1951
Nothirdchance
1948
Cosmah
1953
Cosmic Bomb
1944
Almahmoud
1947
Wishing Well
1975
Understanding
1963
Promised Land
1954
Pretty Ways
1953
Mountain Flower
1964
Montparnasse
1956
Edelweiss
1959
Dam
Momiji Dancer
1980
Viceregal
1966
Northern Dancer (CAN)
1961
Nearctic
1954
Natalma
1957
Victoria Regina
1958
Menetrier
1944
Victoriana
1952
Momigi (CAN)
1972
Laugh Aloud
1961
Tom Fool
1949
Gloria Nicky
1952
Hold Me Close
1963
Native Dancer
1950
Sticky Case
1958
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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Marvelous Sunday, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Images, from Wikimedia Commons:

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