The right horse box trailer is essential to any successful equestrian business, but it is particularly important for horse racing.
Not only does it have to provide the right amount of support, protection and comfortable amenities for the horse, but it is also often a major component of your brand.
This is why trailers such as the Ifor Williams Eventa not only offer comfortable herringbone layouts to keep your horse safe, but also the option to customise the exterior through elaborate bespoke wrapping.
The trailer, much as it is in motorsport or any other business-in-a-box, is a key part of the brand, and this can be as important as winning in the world of horse racing.
The best example of this is how a horse managed to save horse racing in an entire country without winning a single meeting.
Is History Written By The Winners?
The most memorable racehorses and the ones that had the greatest branding and breeding potential were the winners, and the horse trailer was invented to make their lives more comfortable and increase their chances.
Legendary horses such as Eclipse, Secretariat and Red Rum will never be forgotten either because they always won or they won in the most dramatic circumstances, turning them into celebrities and folk heroes.
However, despite the hypercompetitive nature of horse racing and the money that flows in and out of it, not every legendary horse is a winner.
In fact, some horses become famous because they lose more than any other. A decade after Red Rum’s success, Quixall Crossett was famous for being one of the only horses in history to start 100 races without winning a single time, yet often got bigger cheers than the winner.
At around the same time, Zippy Chippy became famous as a lovable loser more notable for his odd antics on the racecourse, mean streak and unusual publicity stunts; he once raced against a baseball player and a horse pulling a chariot in two of the only wins of his career.
However, by far the greatest example of a horse winning by losing was the tale of Haru Urara, a horse that managed to save Japanese horse racing despite never recording a maiden win.
The Glorious Spring
Born in Hokkaido, Japan’s most prominent equestrian island, Haru Urara was considered to be rather small for a thoroughbred, and would take the long journey by trailer throughout the mountainous winding roads of Japan to Kochi Racecourse on the southern island of Shikoku.
There were three reasons why Nobuta Farm, Haru Urara’s birthplace, would send her there; it was the cheapest racecourse in Japan at the time, it was struggling due to the Lost Decade recession and had the weakest competition, making it the only course where the bay mare stood a chance of winning.
She hated training, did not like wearing a saddle, and it was difficult for trainer Dai Muneishi to get her ready for her maiden race.
She kept losing monthly or fortnightly for the better part of five years, from November 1998 until June 2003, when something rather remarkable happened and she inadvertently started a boom in Japanese horse racing.
Shining Star Of Losers
In 2003, after losing 87 races in a row, the national media began to pay attention to Haru Urara’s remarkable losing streak, as it is unusual for horses to run that many races, let alone without winning.
The national and later international attention led to record attendances and revenue, as attendees bought tickets and placed bets on a horse that had never won and often never came close.
The “Haru Urara Boom”, as it would later become known, managed to save Japanese horseracing, which had suffered immensely at the grassroots level due to a seemingly never-ending recession in Japan.
Haru Urara’s determination, distinctive Hello Kitty attire and underdog status would help turn this around.
Kochi Racecourse, in particular, was at risk of closing down completely, but with Haru Urara doubling ticket sales, it helped to buoy up the entire lower levels of Japanese horseracing.
At its peak, the inevitable lost betting tickets would become good luck charms, due in part to the fact that the word for losing a bet (atanari) also means avoiding being hit, so it was believed that they could ward off car accidents.
The absolute peak was on 22nd March 2004, where over half a million pounds were placed on Haru Urara bets at a special “commemorative ticket booth”, and 13,000 spectators gathered to watch one of Japan’s most successful jockeys, Yutaka Take, attempt to ride Urara to victory. He came tenth out of 11 riders.
Fame After Racing
Haru Urara would retire from racing in 2004, outside of one final race for retired horses in 2019 that she would ironically win.
She would take part in tours, be the face of a local traffic safety campaign and receive greater notoriety when a character based on her appeared in the franchise Umamusume, of which she is the only racehorse who never raced for the Japanese Racing Association.
She would retire to Matha Farm, where countless international fans would pay for ryegrass to be fed to her until she died of colic suddenly on 9th September 2025.
It highlights the importance of transportation, branding and love in the world of equestrian businesses, and having the right trailer for the right horse is a major part of this.