Even though she didn’t go out in a blaze of glory like we had all hoped, she did make it home safely.

After the Arima Kinen, the JRA held a retirement ceremony were a reported 60,000 people stuck around, out of the 115,000 who came for the main race, to say goodbye to the super mare.

It was a touching ceremony, where each member of team Buena got to say some words about the mare they loved. HERE is the article written by the JRA. I wanted to tell you in my own words what this mare meant to me.

Unlike Vodka, who I only got to see the last half of her career, I watched the 2008 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies (G1, 1600m) live on TV. I have been in Japan for her entire career. I have to admit that I wasn’t the first on her band wagon. I was a Red Desire fan during their Triple Crown rivalry. I had a lot of respect for the filly after her win in the Japanese Oak (G1, 2400m). In my experience a filly didn’t just go from mile long races to a mile and a half and still win. But of course I was thinking like an American racing fan.

The race that really got me though was her prep race for the Shuka Sho (G1, 2000m). Instead of a number of filly races she could have been entered in, her connections entered her into the Sapporo Kinen. A race for 3yo+ horses of both sexes. She ran amazing in this race, finishing just a nose behind Yamanin Kingly (who oddly enough is now running on dirt!). What an amazing performance for a 3 year old filly against older males. This is during the heyday of Rachel Alexandra, so my mind was buzzing with the possibilities. Seeing a filly work so hard every time out of the gate was really inspiring. I was thrilled when Red Desire beat her to the wire in the final leg of the crown, the Shuka Sho. But part of me was sad, Buena had run so hard, she really did deserve the crown.

She came back strong as a four year old though, in arguably her best year. Winning the Kyoto Kinen (G2, 2000m) before being sent to Dubai where she just barely lost the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1, 2410m). She came back to Japan and won the Victoria Mile (G1, 1600m) in her thrilling last minute fashion. Her next race was in the Takarazuka Kinen where she was second to Nakayama Festa. She made her fall debut with one of her greatest races, the 2010 Emperor’s Cup Fall where she cruised to an easy win over her male rivals. She ran the exact same race a month later in the Japan Cup, cruising to an easy win, but was disqualified to 2nd. I don’t believe her “interference” in the stretch altered the outcome at all. I still get amazingly angry every time it is mentioned. She ended the year with a painfully close second place finish in the Arima Kinen. She was flying down that stretch when she hit the wire with Victoire Pisa.

She didn’t have the greatest of year’s this year. She didn’t like Meydan’s synthetic track at all and came in 8th, a career worst, in the Dubai World Cup, then was a narrow second to Apapane in the Victoria Mile and Earnestly in the Takarazuka. She suffered her second worst finish in the Emperor’s Cup, coming in 4th. But this year’s Japan Cup will be carved into my memory for ages. Everyone thought she was finished, and ready for the breeding shed, but some how she managed to run down all of her opponents and FINALLY and OFFICIALLY claim the Japan Cup title that was rightfully her last year. Had to have been one of the best come back races of all time. As I was shooting her I was crying with joy that she had done it. To me she will ALWAYS be the first female to win back to back Japan Cups. Even if the history books wont have it written that way.

Her last run was doomed from the post position drawing. She got the rail, which is a hard place to run from when you come from behind. She was blocked in and never got a chance to get out between tiring horses in front of her and other closers blocking her in sideways. But she made it home safe, and in the end that is all that seemed to matter.

This mare has had an amazing career. Over the past 4 years she has thrilled us to the max with her last minute, come from behind running style. She didn’t always get there, but she always tried. I have seen some good horses, in my day here in Japan. Buena Vista will always be the best. Better than Vodka and most of the boys of her generation, even Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa. She rules the roost. I hope I am here to see her first baby by leading sire King Kamehameha hit the track in 2015.

She ended her career with 22 starts, 9 wins, 8 seconds, 3 thirds, and only 3 finishes out of the money. Total earnings of 1,386,433,000 yen ($17,819,674), making her the richest mare in the world.

Below are two slideshows. One of my photos of her from her Oaks win to her retirement ceremony. Below that are videos of all 23 of her career starts. You can see just how full of heart this mare really was. Enjoy your new life Buena!