Lucky Lilac

Lucky Lilac (Japanese: ラッキーライラック, foaled 3 April 2015) is a Japanese retired Thoroughbred racehorse and active broodmare. As a two-year-old in 2017 she was undefeated in three races including the Artemis Stakes and Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and took the JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Filly. In the following year she won the Tulip Sho and was placed in both the Oka Sho and the Yushun Himba. In 2019 she won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup and finished second in the Hong Kong Vase. As a five-year-old in 2020 she defeated male opponents to win the Osaka Hai and recorded a second victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup. She has earned more than $7 million in prize money.

Lucky Lilac is a chestnut mare with a narrow white blaze bred in Hokkaido by Northern Farm. She was sent into training with Mikio Matsunaga and raced in the black, red and yellow colours of Sunday Racing. She is an unusually large female Thoroughbred, weighing as much as 524 kg during her racing career.

She was from the first crop of foals sired by Orfevre, who was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2011 and whose wins included the Satsuki Sho, Tokyo Yushun, Kikuka Sho, Arima Kinen and Takarazuka Kinen. Orfevre's other progeny include the Satsuki Sho winner Epoca d'Oro. Lucky Lilac's dam, Lilacs And Lace showed to-class form as a three-year-old in the United States in 2011, winning the California Oaks and the Ashland Stakes. She was a granddaughter of the Acorn Stakes winner Stella Madrid who was in turn a daughter of the outstanding female sprinter My Juliet.

Lucky Lilac was ridden in most of her early races by Shu Ishibashi. On her racecourse debut she contested an event for previously unraced juveniles over 1600 metres at Niigata Racecourse on 20 August and won from Lavacourt and sixteen others. The filly was then stepped up in class for the Grade 3 Artemis Stakes over the same distance at Tokyo Racecourse on 28 October. Starting the 3.4/1 second favourite behind Tosen Bliss in a fifteen-runner field she won by three quarters of a length from Sayakachan.

On 10 December Lucky Lilac was moved up to the highest level to contest the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies over 1600 metres at Hanshin Racecourse and started the 3.1/1 second choice in the betting behind the Sapporo Nisai Stakes winner Rock This Town. The other fancied contenders in the eighteen runner field included Lily Noble, Mau Lea, Social Club, Cordierite, Tosen Bliss and Sayakachan. Lucky Lilac was settled in mid division towards the outside as the Las Emociones set the pace from Cordierite. Entering the straight the leaders began to fade and Lily Noble went to the front but Lucky Lilac produced a sustained run on the outside, gained the advantage in the last 200 metres and won by three quarters of a length with Mau Lea taking third place. After the race Ishibashi commented "She was a bit keen in her last start but was very relaxed today. We were in a good striking position at the top of the stretch which gave me all the confidence I needed. Her physical ability is extremely high and she is very intelligent too."

In the official ratings for Japanese two-year-olds, Lucky Lilac was rated the best juvenile filly of the year, two pounds ahead of Lily Noble and six pounds below the top-rated colt Danon Premium. In January 2018 Lucky Lilac was unanimously voted Best Two-Year-Old Filly at the JRA Awards for 2017.

Lucky Lilac began her second campaign in the Grade 2 Tulip Sho (a major trial race for the Oka Sho) over 1600 metres at Hanshin on 3 March. She was made the odds-on favourite and won by two lengths and a neck from Mau Lea and Lily Noble. Her trainer Mikio Matsunaga commented "she was able to demonstrate her strength and ability, and looking ahead we could take a lot from that. She has good natural speed, does her work well, and because she's relaxed we can train her as we'd like".

On 8 April the filly starts 4/5 favourite in a seventeen-runner field for the 78th edition of Oka Sho at Hanshin. After racing in fourth place she took the lead in the straight but sustained her first defeat as she was overtaken in the final strides and beaten a length and three quarters into second place by Almond Eye. Lucky Lilac was moved up in distance and started second favourite for the Yushun Himba at Tokyo on 20 May. She tracked the leaders before making steady progress in the straight and finishing third behind Almond Eye and Lily Noble.