Blast Onepiece

Blast Onepiece, (Japanese: ブラストワンピース, foaled 2 April 2015) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. After winning his only start as a two-year-old, he improved to become the best colt of his generation in Japan the following year. He recorded Grade 3 victories in the Mainichi Hai and the Niigata Kinen before ending his season with a win over a top-class field in the Arima Kinen. He won the Sapporo Kinen in 2019 and the American Jockey Club Cup in 2020.

Blast Onepiece is a bay horse bred in Japan by Northern Farm. During his racing career he has been owned by Silk Racing Company and trained by Masahiro Otake. He is an unusually large Thoroughbred who has weighed between 520 kg and 550 kg for his track appearances.

He was from the fourth crop of foals sired by Harbinger, a British horse who was rated the best racehorse in the world in 2010 when he won the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes by eleven lengths. Since retiring to stud in Japan his other foals have included Deirdre (Shuka Sho), Mozu Katchan (Queen Elizabeth II Cup) and Persian Knight (Mile Championship). Blast Onepiece is the first foal of his dam Tsurumaru Onepiece who showed some racing ability, winning three of her 21 races between 2010 and 2014. She was a distant descendant of the British broodmare Minaret (foaled 1948), the ancestor of many major winners including Indian Queen, See You Then and Sayyedati.

Blast Onepiece made his first and only appearance as a two-year-old in a contest for unraced juveniles over 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse on 19 November. He won by a length from Lord da Vinci.

On his 2018 debut Blast Onepiece was stepped up in distance for a minor event over 2400 metres at Tokyo on 4 February and came home three and a half lengths clear of his thirteen opponents. The colt was ridden in all of his subsequent races that year by Kenichi Ikezoe. On 24 March Blast Onepiece was stepped up in class for the Grade 3 Mainichi Hai at Hanshin Racecourse and started the 1.5/1 favourite in a field of ten. Racing on firm ground over 1800 metres he won by two lengths and a neck from Gibeon and Indy Champ. The Grade 1 Tokyo Yushun over 2400 metres at Tokyo on 27 May saw the colt start the 3.6/1 second choice in the betting behind Danon Premium in an eighteen-runner-field. The race resulted in a blanket finish with Blast Onepiece (who recovered from interference in the straight) coming home fifth behind Wagnerian, Epoca d'Oro, Cosmic Force and Etario, beaten less than a length by the winner.

After a break of over three months Blast Onepiece returned for the Grade 3 Niigata Kinen over 2000 metres at Niigata Racecourse in which he was matched against older horses for the first time. He was made the odds-on favourite ahead of thirteen opponents and won by one and three quarter lengths from the five-year-old Maitres d'Art. At Kyoto Racecourse on 21 October the colt started 2.4/1 favourite ahead of Etario and Epoca d'Oro for the Grade 1 Kikuka Sho over 3100 metres. In a slowly run race he came from well off the pace and made steady progress in the straight but failed to reach the leaders and finished fourth behind Fierement Etario and You Can Smile. Following the race Masahiro Otake said that the slow pace had not suited his trainee but pointed out that the colt had recovered very quickly from the race and was suffering less back pain than usual.

Blast Onepiece was one of sixteen horses invited to contest the 2500 metres Arima Kinen at Nakayama Racecourse on 23 December and was made the 7.9/1 third choice in the betting behind Rey de Oro and Kiseki. The other major winners in the race included Satono Diamond, Makahiki, Mozu Katchan (Queen Elizabeth II Cup), Oju Chosan (Nakayama Grand Jump), Mikki Rocket (Takarazuka Kinen) and Cheval Grand. After racing wide for most of the way, Blast Onepiece produced a sustained run in the straight, overtook the front-running Kiseki 100 metres from the finish and held off the late challenge of Rey de Oro to win by a neck. After the race Ikezoe said "I was a bit worried of being caught between horses, so I settled him toward the outside. He ran well, and though we were closed in by the race favorite at the end, he held on really well. I've been telling everyone that he is a Grade 1 horse, and I'm happy that I was able to prove it".

In January 2019 Blast Onepiece was named Best Three-Year-Old Colt at the JRA Awards for 2018 taking 114 of the 276 votes. In the 2018 World's Best Racehorse Rankings Blast Onepiece was rated the third best three-year-old colt in the world behind Roaring Lion and Justify and the twentieth best horse of any age or sex.