Dantsu Flame
Japanese thoroughbred who won the 2002 Takarazuka Kinen.
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Dantsu Flame (19 April 1998 – 28 August 2005) was a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse who competed from 2000 to 2005. He recorded six wins in twenty-six starts, including the Takarazuka Kinen in 2002. Bred in Urakawa, Hokkaido, by Nobuoka Bokujo, he was sired by Brian's Time out of Inter Pyrenees. Purchased for ¥25 million at the Hokkaido Select Sale in August 1999 by Tetsuji Yamamoto, he was trained by Kenji Yamauchi at the JRA's Ritto Training Center.
His career spanned both turf and dirt, with his biggest victory coming by a nose in the 2002 Takarazuka Kinen. After a tendonitis diagnosis in 2003, he returned to racing on the regional NAR circuit before retiring for good in 2005. He died later that year from pneumonia at age seven.
Racing career
Dantsu Flame, a bay thoroughbred, was bred in Urakawa, Hokkaido, and purchased for 25 million yen at a 1999 sale. He began racing in June 2000, placing second in a dirt maiden race at Hakodate before winning his next start there. Switching to turf, he took the Kikyo Stakes and the Nojigiku Stakes that September. In 2001, he finished second in the Kisaragi Sho, then won the Arlington Cup by a nose over Kitasan Channel.
2001: Three-year-old season
He placed second in the Satsuki Sho and the Tokyo Yushun, behind Agnes Tachyon and Jungle Pocket respectively. After a break, he was fourth in the Kobe Shimbun Hai and fifth in both the Kikuka Sho and the Mile Championship. Returning in May 2002, he was fourth in the Keio Hai Spring Cup and second by a nose in the Yasuda Kinen. On June 23, 2002, he won the Takarazuka Kinen by a nose over Tsurumaru Boy, his first Grade I victory.
2003: Five-year-old season
Later that year, he finished fifth in the Mainichi Okan, fourteenth in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), and seventeenth in the Mile Championship. In 2003, he was fourth in the Yomiuri Milers Cup and fifth in the Tenno Sho (Spring). He then won the Niigata Daishoten under top weight of 59 kg, beating Toughness Star by 0.2 seconds. He placed fifth in the Yasuda Kinen and seventh in the Takarazuka Kinen.
2004–2005: Regional racing and retirement
That September, he was diagnosed with superficial flexor tendonitis in his right foreleg and retired from JRA racing. Initially set to become a breeding stallion, his tendonitis healed enough for a return to regional NAR racing. He moved to stables at Arao and later Urawa racecourses. His NAR debut came in October 2004 at Arao, where he finished second.
He then ran in three dirt graded races: the Urawa Kinen, Tokyo Daishoten, and Kawasaki Kinen, finishing ninth, fourteenth, and eleventh. He was retired for good in June 2005 and sent to a training center to become a riding horse. Shortly after arriving, he developed severe pneumonia and died on August 28, 2005, at age seven. A tombstone was placed there, but it is not open to public visits.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Dantsu Flame (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Currency conversion: European Central Bank euro reference rates, rates of 2 November 2026.
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