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Nice Nature (Japanese: ナイスネイチャ, April 16, 1988 – May 30, 2023) was a Japanese thoroughbredracehorse. From his debut in 1990 to his retirement in 1996, Nice Nature had a record of 41 starts and 7 wins, including 4 major wins. With a long GI racing career and often placing third, Nice Nature gained popularity as the "Bronze Collector". Nice Nature consecutively placed third in the 1991, 1992, and 1993 Arima Kinen. Before his death, Nice Nature was the oldest living stallion to have a JRA major win.[1]
Background
Nice Nature was born in 1988 at the Watanabe Ranch in Urakawa, Hokkaido. His sire, Nice Dancer, had six major wins in Canada, and his dam, Urakawa Miyuki, had three wins, including the 1984 open of what would become the Tulip Sho. Nice Nature's to-be owner Toyoshima Masao[a] made a deposit at Watanabe Ranch.[2] According to the owner of the ranch Watanabe Kazuma,[b] Nice Nature was average as a foal, nor did he stand out in the training ranch. However, Watanabe vaguely alluded that he felt that Nice Nature might be just as good as Nice Nice Nice, also out of Nice Dancer and the winner of the 1989 Kisaragi Sho and 1990 Kyōto Kinen.[2] Nice Nature's to-be trainer Matsunaga Yoshiharu quickly embraced the impression of a "good horse", saying that he felt that things were moving in a "good direction" as he looked at Nice Nature's growth.[3]
After reaching the racing age of three years in 1990, Nice Nature transferred to the Rittō Training Center in Rittō, Shiga under Matsunaga.[2] After Nice Nature's older sister suffered a career ending injury, Nice Nature was trained cautiously[2] and debuted relatively late in December.
Racing career
Nice Nature won 4 major races, the Kokura Kinen, the Kyoto Shimbun Hai, and Naruo Kinen, all in 1991, as well as the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in 1994. Nice Nature has also started in a total of 34 group races throughout his career, including 16 GI races, which was a record at the time.[4]
Post-retirement
Nice Nature was retired from racing in late 1996 in spite of initial plans to have the horse run in that year's Arima Kinen due to problems on his right forearm. The horse was sent to Hidaka Stallion Station to stand at stud, but retired in 2001 after siring a total of 17 registered horses.[5] Alongside standing at stud, Nice Nature also became the poster character announcing the introduction of Quinella Place betting in JRA races in 1999.
Nice Nature spent the remainder of his life pensioned at the Watanabe Ranch, the same farm where he was bred.[6][7][8]
Popular culture
Nice Nature was the inspiration for the character of the same name in the franchise Uma Musume Pretty Derby.[9] Consequently, players of Uma Musume have raised tens of millions of yen each year in celebration for Nice Nature's birthday donation.[10][11] The developers of the Uma Musume game, as well as Kaori Maeda, who voiced Nice Nature in the franchise, were among those who sent their condolences upon Nice Nature's passing.[12][13]
Death
Nice Nature died on May 30, 2023, at the age of 35.[6][14][8]
Racing statistics
Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search[15] and netkeiba.com.[16]
Nice Nature's dam Urakawa Miyuki died on June 2, 2017, at the age of 36, making her the longest lived female thoroughbred in Japan to have been properly documented.[17]
Note: No authors were listed on Amazon. The authors listed here are taken from the bibliography section of the Japanese Wikipedia and are presumably the authors of sections in the book.
