The famous horse Nice Nature, which has been loved by many fans, has departed for heaven. In this “Keiba Rhapsody”, reporter Maiku Fujimoto, also known as Mike, interviewed Ryuji Wada (45), a veteran jockey for 28 years since his debut, who said that he loved the horse the most. We asked him to look back on his boyhood encounters, and also paid attention to the mysterious connection between Deep Bond (6, Okubo) on which the same jockey rides and Nature.
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Nice Nature passed away at the age of 35 on May 30th. While he won four graded races, he was undefeated in G1, finishing third for three consecutive years (1991-93) at the Arima Kinen. Even so, his dedication to running hard touched the hearts of his fans, and he was immensely popular from his time until after his retirement.
Ryuki Wada, a veteran who made his debut 28 years ago, was also one of the people who was drawn to the charm. “Nice nature was my ‘youth’. He was a hero and my favorite horse.” It is said that the existence of the same horse was also a big reason for aiming to be a jockey.
The fateful encounter was over 30 years ago. At that time, “Ryuji Wada boy”, who was in the 6th grade of elementary school, was often taken to the stables by his father, Mamoru, who was a stable attendant at the Yoshiharu Matsunaga stable. What I saw there was Nice Nature.
“He’s a cool horse, and I got to pet him a lot. Mr. Baba, who was in charge of the horse, also gave me pocket money and sweets, and he loved me (laughter).”
I was fascinated by the way he always ran hard, and often visited the racetrack. “The same goes for Oguri Cap, but the idol horse in me was a nice nature.” Last year, she was so important to me that I went to see her at Watanabe Ranch in Urakawa, where she spent the rest of her life. Such a nature has set out on a journey.
“It was a great death”
Wada Ryuki said that, but it must have brought back many memories. Her expression looked somewhat sad.
There is a horse called Deep Bond whose main fight is Ryuki Wada. He is a popular horse that won 3rd place in last year’s Idol Horse Audition sponsored by Kyoto Racecourse. While he has won 4 graded races in Japan and overseas, he has not won the G1. He has narrowly lost to second place in the Emperor’s Award Spring for three consecutive years, 2009, 2010, and this year. He ends up looking like a nice nature.
In fact, Bond had beaten Nature’s great record. This year’s Tenno-sho Spring 2nd place earns JRA prize money of 636,540,600 yen, surpassing Nice Nature (623,585,600 yen), making him No. 1 in JRA all-time prize money earned by horses that have not won a G1 race. It has become (excluding overseas G1 and 1-win stay gold).
“Because it’s a good horse to be able to do even in G1”. Ryuki Wada has been saying this for a long time. With Bond, who takes the reins himself, the G1 domination that Nice Nature could not achieve. It would be nice to have such a drama at the Takarazuka Kinen on the 25th, when Jinba will next challenge.
(Nikkan Sports.com/Horse Racing Column “Keba Rhapsody -Fun Horse Racing-“)
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- Nice Nature in 1991
