A racehorse's talent for losing has made it a star. David McNeill reports from Tokyo.
It's the story of a how a runty horse stole the heart of a depressed nation. But the nation is modern Japan, not the US of the depression-era 1930s, and the horse is not Seabiscuit, immortalised last year by Hollywood, but a nervy mare called Haruurara.
Seabiscuit became a symbol of the spiritual and economic revival of the US, the 100-1 outsider who overcame the odds to beat the nation's top thoroughbred. There seems little chance of Haruurara pulling off anything like that. Boasting a unique 106-race losing streak in a 106-race career, the seven-year-old has never placed higher than fourth, earning Haruurara a reputation as Japan's worst racehorse.
Ordinarily, such a miserable record might have meant the hapless nag ending up on a plate as basashi, or horse sashimi, but these are not ordinary times in Japan.
More than a decade of economic slump has sapped the confidence of a nation once tipped to overtake the US. The sight of Haruurara straining for the line one more time despite her terrible odds has cheered people up, according to her trainer, Dai Muneishi. "People come because they sympathise with her and admire her ability to keep going. She warms people's hearts."
Haruurara's heartwarming effect has made it an equine superstar. Already credited with saving the fortunes of Kochi Racecourse, where it built her inglorious career, the mare is the subject of CDs, beer commercials, documentaries and books, not to mention an upcoming film.
Haruurara charms, badges and T-shirts bearing the legend "Never Give Up!" sell all over Japan, and its track appearances draw record crowds.
Last month it was even eulogised by Junichiro Koizumi, Japan's prime minister, who said he thought the horse's story showed that "people shouldn't give up, even when they lose".
In a twist worthy of a Hollywood melodrama, Japan's top jockey, Yutaka Take, agreed to ride Haruurara in its 106th race, on March 22nd, in a bid to give the horse at least one victory before it hung up its saddle.
The prospect of Japan's most famous loser crossing the line first threw its legion of fans into confusion. "I don't really want her to win," said Koji Nakamura, a veteran punter. "Haruurara should leave the track with a perfect record of losses."
But even with the most respected name in Japanese racing on its back, Haruurara couldn't manage better than 11th place in a field of 12, despite the encouragement of a massive crowd that had bet a record 511 million yen (€3.9 million) on it. Since its début, in 1998, it has won just €8,000.
How long can Haruurara continue galloping at the back of the pack? With the normal rules of winning and losing suspended for the lovable loser, some commentators have predicted that it may keep running until its 150th race.
Whatever happens, her role as a national mascot has earned her a post-retirement paddock in an upmarket stable outside Tokyo. And like Seabiscuit's trainer, Tom Smith, who believed that every horse is good for something, Muneishi says he will keep backing the horse. "As long as a horse can run, then I want it to run."
