Japanese champion Transcend retired to stud

Transcend, a champion dirt horse in Japan and runner-up in the 2011 Dubai World Cup, has been retired from racing and will stand at Arrow Stud in Hokkaido, Japan, reports Japan Racing Network.

The 7-year-old Wild Rush horse was one of Japan’s top runners on dirt over the past few years, highlighted by his consecutive wins in the Group 1 Japan Cup Dirt in 2010 and 2011. He also won the Group 1 February Stakes in 2011 to help secure champion dirt horse honors from the Japan Racing Association for that year.

Arguably the most globally recognized effort of Transcend’s 2011 campaign, though, came in the Dubai World Cup, where he led at long odds until the final 200 meters and was bested by Victoire Pisa to complete a Japan-based exacta. He was campaigned during his racing career by Koji Maeda and trained by Takayuki Yasuda.

Transcend retired after four seasons of racing with 10 wins from 23 starts for earnings of $9,660,647. Six of those wins came in stakes company.

Bred in Japan by North Hills Management, Transcend is out of winning Tony Bin mare Cinema Scope, who has produced seven winners from eight to start. He is a half-brother to Japanese stakes winner Cendrillon.