Success Brocken

Foaled by Success Beauty on 5 May 2005, Success Brocken was sired by Symboli Kris S, the winner of Autumn Tennō Shō and Arima Kinen in both 2002 and 2003, and was also the Japanese Horse of the Year in the same years.

He was foaled at the Tanikawa Stud, which is located in Hokkaido, Japan.^[3] He was named after the stable name - Success and the Brocken spectre - Brocken.^[4]

Success Brocken made his debut on 17th of November, 2007. Eiji Nakadate who was his jockey this time, took the lead from the start and extended his lead over the rest of the field in the straight, winning by a large margin of 3.1 seconds over the fourth favourite Kurino Kobu O.^[5] Into the new year, his jockey switched over to Norihiro Yokoyama. This switch worked wonders as he recorded three straight wins at the Kurochiku Sho, Hyacinth Stakes and Tango Stakes to remain undefeated ^[6][7][8] This feat qualified him for the major classics in May, the Tokyo Yushun.^[9] He was the third favourite for the race but unfortunately, the race did not went well for him as he finished in the last place.^[10] Then, the horse pivoted back towards the dirt track, joined the Japan Dirt Derby in July.^[11] Sticking with Yokoyama this time, he rode the horse and tracked in the second position all the way before pulling away in the straight, beating the third favourite Smart Falcon by three and a half lengths to get his first graded race win.^[12] For the autumn campaign, Success Brocken restarted his season with a run at the Japan Breeding Farms' Cup Classic, carrying his five out of five form on the dirt races.^[13] In the race, Success Brocken ran well in the lead before Vermilion, jockeyed by Yutaka Take advanced from third position, overtook him near the line to win just by a neck.^[14] This lost affected his form at the end of the season when he finished in eighth place at the Japan Cup Dirt and third at the Tokyo Daishoten with the new jockey (Hiroyuki Uchida), both behind the returning Kane Hekili.^[15] Speaking about the losses he got at the end of the season, Yokoyama admitted that the horse was eager but lack of experience due to young age which became a hindrance for him. Regardless, he remained positive with the horse's future.^[16]

In 2009, Success Brocken started the season with a run at the Kawasaki Kinen with Uchida at the saddle. He managed to enter this race due to late withdrawal from Smart Falcon and Wonder Speed.^[17] When the race began, Uchida rode the horse well enough at the leading pack but lack of final speed caused them to finish in third place behind Kane Hekili and Furioso.^[18] The next race he participated was the February Stakes.^[19] At the beginning of this race, Espoir City took charge early on and lead for the majority of it. Entering the final straight, Success Brocken alongside Casino Drive and Kane Hekili chased down the leaders, and eventually overtook Espoir City, resulting in a three-way battle. With 50 meters to go, Success Brocken on the outside pulled away and crossed the finish line first, a neck ahead of Casino Drive.^[20] This win was his first JRA Grade 1 race win and also he broke the record by 0.1 seconds faster over Meisho Bowler, who set it back in 2005.^[15][20] After this race, he would be rested for eight months and only rejoined the season at the Mile Championship Nambu Hai in October.^[21][22] This race was considered not a good one for the horse despite hitting the podium as he finished in second place four lengths behind Espoir City who runaway with the win comfortably from the start.^[23] He was put on a reserve in the Japan Breeding Farms' Cup Classic this time around, ended up being scratched so his trainer, Fujiwara decided to try him at the Musashino Stakes. He got his worst finish on the dirt track this time, finishing tenth. Fujiwara claimed that he was struggled with his fitness and carrying a 59 kg load was too heavy at that day.^[24] He did better at his next race, the Japan Cup Dirt in which he placed fourth behind Espoir City, Silk Moebius and Wonder Acute.^[25] He closed the season with a second attempt at the Tokyo Daishoten. This time, he was the second favourite at 3.5 to 1 odds to win behind Vermilion, who got 2.6 to 1 odds.^[26] As the gate opened, Furioso bursted out early for the lead while Success Brocken and Vermilion tracked him down the stretch.^[27] In the straight, Vermilion pulled ahead first, and Success Brocken chased from the outside. With 100 meters to go, the two horses were neck and neck and crossed the finish line in a close battle. Success Brocken won by a nose, securing his third Grade 1 race victory.^[28] Uchida who was elated stated "I'm relieved that we were able to finish with a good result. When Christophe Lemaire (Vermilion's jockey) made his move, I thought we were done for, but I felt good about the horse's response, so I went for it in the final straight. I was disappointed last year (3rd place), so I'm really glad that we were able to get revenge."^[29]

When the new season kicked on, There was a plan for Success Brocken to go for the Dubai World Cup.^[30][31] As he failed to win at the February Stakes in which he only finished in third place, his trainer decided to pull the plug and focused on the domestic races which would be the Kashiwa Kinen.^[32] He finished in fourth place in this race and his form did not improve in the next Teio Sho as he finished in eighth-place at the line even though he took the lead for the majority of the race.^[33][34] After this race, he was rested and released to the pasture. Fujiwara said, "He seems to be accumulating fatigue from the tough races he's been in so far. I'd like to run him in the February Stakes, though."^[35] Seven months later, Success Brocken would be back at the Negishi Stakes in January as a preparation for the February Stakes.^[36] It was a crushing defeat as he finished way out of contention at 13th-place.^[37] Due to his struggling form and lack of fitness, Hideaki Fujiwara made a tough decision to retire him from racing.^[37] He was being deregistered on 3rd of February and assigned to be a riding horse at Tokyo Racecourse.^[37][38]

Success Brocken won nine races and struck podium five more times out of 19 starts. This data is available based on JBIS and netkeiba.^[15][2]

Notes:

When he retired, he was gelded and became a riding horse at the Tokyo Racecourse.^[39] He became a lead horse started from 2012.^[40] He was mostly assigned for the February Stakes which was the race he won back in 2009. In 2020, he became the lead horse of the Tokyo Yushun for the first time.^[41]

On 21st of February 2021, he retired from the lead horse assignment after leading the February Stakes for the last time. He was moved to a horse trust farm at Kagoshima where he lived out his remaining years as a retired horse.^[42]

Success Brocken died on 22nd of December, 2022. He was 17 years old.^[43]

• Success Brocken was an inbred by 4 x 4 x 5 to Hail to Reason (Water Cress's sire)