Wajima (horse)

Wajima
Wajima at Spendthrift Farm in 1981
Sire	Bold Ruler
Grandsire	Nasrullah
Dam	Iskra
Damsire	Le Haar
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	1972
Country	United States
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Claiborne Farm
Owner	East-West Stable
Trainer	Stephen A. DiMauro
Record	16: 9–5–0
Earnings	US$537,837
Major wins
Marylander Handicap (1975) Monmouth Handicap (1975) Travers Stakes (1975) Governor Stakes (1975) Marlboro Cup (1975)
Awards
American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Horse (1975)

Wajima (Mar 8, 1972 – August 27, 2001) was an American Champion Thoroughbred racehorse.

Wajima was bred by Bull Hancock's renowned Claiborne Farm of Paris, Kentucky. He was out of the French mare Iskra, a daughter of Le Haar, the Leading sire in France in 1963. Wajima was a son of one of America's greatest sires, Bold Ruler. Sold as a yearling for a then-record $600,000 ($3.2 million inflation adjusted), he was purchased by a four-man syndicate comprising James Welch of Alexandria, Louisiana, James A. Scully of Lexington, Kentucky, Harold I. Snyder of Dover, Ohio, and leading Japanese breeder Zenya Yoshida. The partners named the colt after Japanese sumo wrestler Wajima Hiroshi. They raced him under their nom de course, East-West Stable.

Wajima was conditioned for racing by trainer Stephen A. DiMauro,

Wajima made four starts at age two in 1974, winning twice. His best result in an important stakes race was a second to L'Enjoleur in track record time in the November 3rd running of the Grade 1 Laurel Futurity.

As a three-year-old in 1975, Wajima suffered leg problems at the beginning of the year and did not run in the U.S. Triple Crown series. He made his first start in June, finishing second in both the Saranac Stakes and the Dwyer Handicap. He got his first stakes race win on July 19, 1975, setting a track record for a mile and an eighth in winning the Marylander Handicap at Bowie Race Track. Wajima then won four more important stakes races in a row, next taking the Monmouth Handicap and the Travers Stakes. He next defeated that year's Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure, plus the 1974 American Horse of the Year, Forego, and future Hall of Fame inductee Ancient Title to win the Governor Stakes at Belmont Park. In the most important race of his career, on September 13 Wajima defeated Forego again in winning the 1¼ mile Marlboro Cup at Belmont Park, which prompted a New York Times article titled Wajima Now Rated A $600,000 Bargain.