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SARGA.CO - Nakayama Festa, the 2010 Takarazuka Kinen winner and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up, has died on 23 August 2026, at Urakawa Yushun Village AERU.
The 20-year-old son of Stay Gold had been unwell since early August. AERU reported on 20 August that he was receiving veterinary treatment and that his grazing was being carefully managed to reduce stress. Despite continued treatment, Nakayama Festa eventually became too weak to stand. He passed away at 12:54 AM on 23 August, with veterinarians and staff having done everything possible to save him.
His death marks the end of a gamble-like horse whose career was defined by improbable wins and one of the greatest near-misses in Japanese racing history.
 

Born on 5 April 2006 at Arai Farm, Nakayama Festa was from the fourth crop of Stay Gold, a legendary racehorse in his own right. He began his racing career in November 2008, winning his debut at Tokyo before running in the graded Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. Sent off as the ninth favourite, he produced an upset victory over the heavily favoured Break Run Out.

His three-year-old campaign was less straightforward. He finished second in the Keisei Hai, eighth in the Satsuki Sho and fourth in the Japanese Derby before finally returning to the winner's circle in the St Lite Kinen. 

But it was in 2010 that Nakayama Festa went from a talented yet temperamental horse into a national headline. He entered the Takarazuka Kinen as the eighth favourite against big names like defending champion Dream Journey, Buena Vista, Seiun Wonder and Logi Universe. Despite this, he surged past them to narrowly snatch the G1 win.

After the race, jockey Yoshitomi Shibata said, “He is a strong horse, and I was hoping that he would run seriously, but he gave me 100% of his power today,” as quoted by Radio Nikkei.

The Takarazuka Kinen victory earned Nakayama Festa a ticket to France and the biggest challenge of his life: the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which Japan had never won. The trip carried extra emotional weight beyond racing, as it was organised in memory of his late owner, Nobuko Izumi, who loved the Takarazuka Revue as well as Paris. 

After finishing second in the Prix Foy beforehand, he arrived at Longchamp for the big race on 3 October 2010, lined up as the 10th favourite. Despite this, he came astonishingly close to pulling off the impossible, only losing to Workforce by a neck.

His second-place finish remains one of the defining performances by a Japanese horse in the Arc, and has stood for years as the closest Japan had come to winning Europe's most famous race.

Returning home for the Japan Cup later that year, Nakayama Festa finished 14th after starting as the 2nd favourite. A shoulder and knee injury then ruled him out of the Arima Kinen. Nonetheless, his exploits during his 2010 season earned him the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse.

He returned to France in 2011, finishing fourth in the Prix Foy before making a second attempt at the Arc. This time, he could only manage 11th, retiring shortly after with a record of 5 wins from 15 starts, a single G1 to his name. 

Nakayama Festa entered stud at Breeders Stallion Station after retirement, where he briefly shared a stable with his sire, Stay Gold. His offspring enjoyed modest success, with his son Babbitt following in his footsteps by winning the St Lite Kinen in 2020.

In 2019, Nakayama Festa moved to Arrow Stud before eventually retiring from stallion duties in 2023. He then moved to Urakawa Yushun Village AERU, where he was reported to have mellowed out greatly, akin to a spoiled child who could become lonely. 

In contrast to the pressure of Longchamp, he enjoyed eating dandelions as staff decorated him with flowers, while calling him “Kiwi-kun” whenever his thick winter coat resembled the fruit’s fuzzy skin.

Nakayama Festa's career has always been difficult to separate from his sire. Stay Gold was famous for his own late-career international breakthrough, only winning the 2001 G1 Hong Kong Vase at age seven. His progeny repeatedly demonstrated a knack for performing extraordinarily when expectations were lowest, and Nakayama Festa followed that tradition to a tee.

In retirement, they both softened from their volatile racing days to be horses that people could simply visit, remember and love. They lived together once, similarly ate their hay and grass with water, and then passed away at the same age.