Hall of Fame - Bishoujo Senshi

Original article written by J K Rowling posted 13 years 1 week ago

There is a short list of fillies and mares in SIM history that can compete against males in graded stakes company, and an even shorter list that can beat them at the highest level possible. Bishoujo Senshi rocked onto the scene during year 7 and never looked back, winning some of the most prestigious races in the game. The dominance over her own sex left her searching for competition among the boys and created an extraordinary rivalry with fellow Hall of Famer Tremendous. Her passion for running stamped her as one of the wealthiest mares of all time.

Bishoujo Senshi won her first start at just 4 ½ furlongs, proving her a rare example of a router with the class and speed of a sprinter. Her next start she finished second to two year old champion The Look in the G3 Nursery Stakes. Three weeks later she won her first stakes in the G2 Silverbulletday before closing out her 2 year old campaign finishing second to Fading Star in the Demoiselle.

It would take owner Jess Paquette six weeks to get Bishoujo Senshi back to the track, but the wait was well worth the reward. She stormed home in the Lexington Stakes, her first start against males, earning an easy win. Two weeks later she entered the starting gate with nineteen other horses in the biggest race in the game: the Louisville Derby. Sadly, Bishoujo Senshi found herself in over her head and finished ninth. The black filly was still game to compete in the Triple Crown and ran in the final leg, the Long Island Classic. She finished a game second but was no match for Triple Crown winner Tremendous. A few short weeks later she tackled three year old males again and dug in for a game win in the Midsummer Classic. This win was the turning point for Bishoujo Senshi’s career, marking her first grade 1 win and her first win in the toughest division in horse racing. Whether through injury or exhaustion, week 9 marked the end of her 3 year old campaign and the last seven weeks of year 8 were spent resting.

Bishoujo Senshi returned to the races the first week of year 9 with a game win in an allowance for fillies and mares. In a major step up for second start off the layoff, Paquette shipped the filly off to Dubai. The World Cup had only garnered four entrants that year, only one of which was a filly. With raw talent and a little luck, Bishoujo Senshi pulled out a win over her rival and Triple Crown winner Tremendous. Riding high on her Dubai triumph, the black filly shipped to New York and scored a powerful win in the Go For Wand. In week 10, Tremendous and Bishoujo Senshi faced off once again in the Woodward where she finished a game second. In the final race of her career, she ran third in the Steward’s Cup Classic to Five Circles and Ichi Forever but managed to best Tremendous for the last time before retirement. Bishoujo Senshi’s four year old campaign earned her Champion Older Mare honors.

Bishoujo Senshi’s sire, Fusaichi Pegasus, became a very successful stud within the SIM. He sired ten millionaires and three Hall of Famers: Loki Masterpiece, Gaze Unwavering, and Bishoujo Senshi. Her dam, Soldier Girl, is a champion and member of the Hall of Fame herself. After a slow two year old campaign, Soldier Girl exploded as a three year old and won the Louisville Derby and later on the Steward’s Cup Distaff as a four year old. Soldier Girl’s pedigree traces back to Personal Ensign, a real life champion. In the early years of the sim, mares were allowed to have multiple foals each year. Soldier Girl was no exception and produced fourteen foals. Four of these foals became millionaires, including Change the Past, Okibi Senshi, Immortal, and Bishoujo Senshi.

After retiring to the shed, Bishoujo Senshi had trouble producing the brilliance that she herself possessed. Her first foal, Greatest Triumph, was by her long time rival Tremendous and went on to earn over $2 million. Of her seven other foals, four went on to become stakes winners, but none achieved what Bishoujo Senshi had done. Sadly, her influence didn’t shine as a grand-dam either, with only a handful of descendants managing to achieve $100,000 in earnings.

What Bishoujo Senshi lacked in breeding power she made up with her legacy as an astounding filly. The rivalry between her and Tremendous spanned two years and offered some of the most stunning races in early SIM history and will not soon be forgotten. Her passion for racing against the boys left her one of the wealthiest and most successful mares in the game.

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