Karasi’s stake money of $3,747, 283 is a world record for a jumper, thanks mainly to his three wins in the Nakayama Grand Jump.
Biography
TRAINER: Sir Michael Stoate, David Hall, Eric Musgrove
OWNERS: HH Aga Khan; D.J. Weeks, Ferncourt Pty Ltd, J.B. Weeks, R.G. Gerard; Mrs I. Musgrove, Mrs A. Snell, J.P. Morgan, P.J. Morgan and G.J. Morgan
RACE RECORD/STAKE MONEY: 16 wins, 9 seconds, 11 thirds/$3,747, 283
Major Wins
- Nakayama Grand Jump (three times) (2005, 2006, 2007)
About
Irish-bred Karasi was one of the great jumpers of the Australian turf. It was in Australia that he became a hurdler and steeplechaser, in Japan that he earned his enduring fame.
He was foaled in February 1995, a son of the Epsom Derby and Irish Derby winner Kahyasi. His dam Karamita won the Princess Royal Stakes at Ascot.
Small in stature at just 15.1 hands, Karasi always showed exceptional stamina. He won three flat races in the UK before being sent to Australia in 2000 to be trained by David Hall, with the Melbourne Cup in mind. His record in Australia on the flat over the next two years was excellent. He won the Geelong Cup, was second in the Adelaide Cup and twice third in the Brisbane Cup. He finished fourth in the 2001 Melbourne Cup behind Ethereal. Injury sidelined the horse for 12 months. His owners decided to put him in the hands of leading jumps trainer, Eric Musgrove.
Karasi won his first hurdle in 2003. After several wins including the Australian Hurdle in Victoria and the South Australia Grand National Hurdle he took to steeplechasing. With the increasing weights Karasi had to carry in Australia, Musgrove looked elsewhere, and the rich 2005 Nakayama Grand Jump, with its set weight scale, was an attractive alternative.
In taking up this challenge, Musgrove had to prepare the horse for the gruelling 4,250 metres of the race, with much of the home straight uphill, and fences appreciably higher than in Australia. The meticulous preparation ensured that Karasi was at his peak of fitness, and by running him in a lead-up race in Japan, the Pegasus Jump Stakes, he accustomed him to the bigger fences. Karasi handled the Grand Jump with true professionalism, and ran out a decisive winner.
Uniquely, Karasi won the race in three successive years (2005-07), each time after placing in the Pegasus Jump Stakes, each time ridden by New Zealander, Brett Scott. At 13 years of age, he was prepared again for a fourth attempt at the race. Only a last minute minor injury prevented him from running. He was retired to Australia with a career record of 16 wins in 97 starts. Over the jumps he was unplaced only once in 17 starts, and his stake winnings of A$3.7 million set a world record for a steeplechaser.
Karasi’s stake money of $3,747, 283 is a world record for a jumper, thanks mainly to his three wins in the Nakayama Grand Jump.
"So much credit needs to go to [trainer] Eric Musgrove and [jockey] Brett Scott: not only with getting the horse to Japan, but to win it. They developed a strategy, implemented it, and did it." (Part owner Pearse Morgan, 2006)
Image Source: Copyright: Japan Racing Association