Air Messiah


Air Messiah was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and a broodmare. She was one of the best fillies in 2005 when she snatched both Rose Stakes and Shuka Sho. Her name came from the crown name Air and Messiah which meant saviour in English.

Racing career

She only raced once in her debut and manage to win it. The next year, she placed second in Shiraume Sho and gone back to winning ways in the Elfin Stakes. Then, she went onto the preparation race in the Fillies' Revue, a major trial race for the Oka Sho, over 1400 metres at Hanshin on 19 February. She battled mostly with the eventual winner, Rhein Kraft and finished in third, a neck behind her. She also lost to Rhein Kraft in the Oka Sho where she ineffectively tried to run on the outside track but failed to catch up and ended up in fourth place. The next month in the Yushun Himba, she ran closely to the lead and only got caught up by Cesario near the end and only lost to her by a neck. In the autumn campaign, she opened this section with a comfortable win in the Rose Stakes over Rhein Kraft when she overtook her just before the finish line. She repeated this feat again in the Shuka Sho wherein she chased the middle of the pack throughout the race, then took the lead early in the straight and won by a neck ahead of Rhein Kraft. She finished her season this year with a fifth-place finish in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, ended the winning streak of Yutaka Take in this competition.
The next season, she started her year early in the Nakayama Kinen. Balance of Game ran out early in that race and win it by five lengths over Daiwa Major whilst Air Messiah herself ended up in third place, one and three quarters length behind him. She had another battle with Rhein Kraft in the Hanshin Himba Stakes in which she lost by a neck to the line. In the inaugurated race of Victoria Mile, she ran mostly at the back and chased at the end of the race but just a bit short of Dance in The Mood and finished second, one and a quarter length behind. Air Messiah suffered an ingrown nail injury after the race and she got sidelined for the whole year. Her condition never improved and she had to be retired on 28 February 2007.

Racing form

Air Messiah won four races and placed in another six out of 12 starts. All the data available is based on JBIS and Netkeiba.
Legend:

Broodmare career and death

She entered broodmare duty in Shadai Farm in 2007 and foaled her first progeny in 2008 which was Air One Piece. Her fourth progeny, had a good career when he won three graded stakes race whilst her final foal, was the winner of the Challenge Cup. She died in an accident whilst grazing around on 12 September 2014.

Pedigree

An anthropomorphized version of Air Messiah appears as a character in the media frachise Umamusume: Pretty Derby.