Lord Kanaloa

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Lord Kanaloa

Lord Kanaloa at Kyoto in January 2012
Sire King Kamehameha
Grandsire Kingmambo
Dam Lady Blossom
Damsire Storm Cat
Sex Stallion
Foaled 11 March 2008[1]
Country Japan
Colour Bay
Breeder K I Farm
Owner Lord Horse Club
Trainer Takayuki Yasuda
Record 19-13-5-1
Major wins
Keihan Hai (2011)
Silk Road Stakes (2012)
Sprinters Stakes (2012, 2013)
Hong Kong Sprint (2012, 2013)
Hankyu Hai (2013)
Takamatsunomiya Kinen (2013)
Yasuda Kinen (2013)
Awards
JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler (2012,2013)
Japanese Horse of the Year (2013)

Lord Kanaloa (ロードカナロア, foaled 11 March 2008) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. A specialist sprinter he recorded his first important success in 2011 when he won the Grade 3 Keihan Hai at Kyoto Racecourse. In the following year he won once from his first four starts but then emerged as a world-class performer with wins in the Sprinters Stakes and the Hong Kong Sprint, becoming the first Japanese horse to win the latter race. Lord Kanaloa was even better in 2013 winning the Takamatsunomiya Kinen before stepping up in distance to take the Yasuda Kinen. In the autumn he repeated his wins in the Sprinters Stakes and the Hong Kong Sprint and ended the year rated as one of the best racehorses in the world.

Background

Lord Kanaloa is a bay horse with no white markings bred in Hokkaido, Japan by the K I Farm. His sire, King Kamehameha was one of the best Japanese colts of his generation, beating a field including Heart's Cry and Daiwa Major in the 2004 Japanese Derby. His other winners as a breeding stallion include Rose Kingdom (Japan Cup), Belshazzar (Japan Cup Dirt), Rulership (Queen Elizabeth II Cup) and Apapane (Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown).[2] Lord Kanaloa's dam, Lady Blossom, won five of her twenty-four races between 1998 and 2001,[3] and was a descendant of Somethingroyal, the dam of Secretariat and Sir Gaylord.[4]

In July 2008, Lord Kanaloa was sent to the JRHA Select Foal Sales but was not sold.[5] Lord Kanaloa entered the ownership of the Lord Horse Club and was sent into training with Takayuki Yasuda. The horse is named after a figure in Hawaiian mythology.

Racing career

2010: two-year-old season

Lord Kanaloa began his racing career on 5 December 2010 when he won a race at Kokura Racecourse

2011: three-year-old season

After finishing second on his three-year-old debut in January, Lord Kanaloa contested a race over 1200 metres at Kokura Racecourse on 16 April 2011 and won by three and a half lengths from fifteen opponents. In the following month he finished second when tried over a mile but then reverted to sprinting and won over 1200m at Kyoto Racecourse. After the summer break he returned to Kyoto to win the Kyoraku Stakes on 6 November and was then moved up to Grade 3 class for the weight-for-age Keihan Cup over the same course and distance twenty days later. Ridden by Yuichi Fukunaga he started the 3/5 favourite and won by one and a half lengths from the five-year-old mare Grand Prix Angel.[6]

2012: four-year-old season

Lord Kanaloa was campaigned exclusively over 1200m in 2012, beginning with a win in the Grade 3 Silk Road Stakes at Kyoto in January by two and a half lengths at odds of 2/5.[7] He then sustained three consecutive defeats. Moving up to Grade 1 class for the first time he finished third to the mare Curren Chan (also trained by Yasuda) in Takamatsunomiya Kinen at Chukyo Racecourse and in June he was beaten by Dream Valentino when odds-on favourite the Grade 3 Hakodate Sprint Stakes. By the time Lord Kanaloa returned in autumn Yasunari Iwata had replaced Fukunaga as the horse's regular jockey. In the Grade 2 Centaur Stakes at Hanshin Racecourse in September he started favourite but was beaten a head by the three-year-old filly Epice Arome.

On 30 September at Nakayama, Lord Kanaloa contested the Grade 1 Sprinters Stakes in which he was opposed by Curren Chan, Epice Arome and Dream Valentino as well as the leading Hong Kong sprinters Lucky Nine and Little Bridge. The race was run in high winds caused by the approach of Typhoon Jelawat.[8] Starting at odds of 17/5, Lord Kanaloa raced behind the leaders before making progress in the final quarter mile taking the lead inside the last 100m and winning by three-quarters of a length from Curren Chan in a course record time of 1:06.7.[9] On his final appearance of the season, Lord Kanaloa was sent to Sha Tin Racecourse on 9 December for the Hong Kong Sprint. The local runners included Lucky Nine, Flying Blue and Joy And Fun while the international challenge was augmented by Curren Chan and the Manikato Stakes winner Sea Siren from Australia. Lord Kanaloa was always among the leaders before taking the lead in the straight and drawing away to win by two and a half lengths from the locally-trained gelding Cerise Cherry.[10] No horses from Japan had won the Hong Kong Sprint before.[11][12][13][14] After the race Yasuda said that Lord Kanaloa would be "a pioneer for Japanese sprinters" and could compete anywhere in the world.[15]

2013: five-year-old season

On his debut as a five-year-old, Lord Kanaloa carried top weight of 128 pounds in the Grade 3 Hankyu Hai at Hanshin on 24 February. Racing over a longer distance of 1400m he started the 3/5 favourite and won by three quarters of a length from Majin Prosper. On 24 March, the horse made a second attempt to win the Takamatsunomiya Kinen and was made the 30/100 favourite against sixteen opponents. He recorded his third Grade 1 victory, going clear in the straight and holding the late run of Dream Valentino by one and a quarter lengths.[16] The winning time of 1:08.01 was a new course record.[17] After the race Iwata commented "I think he is the strongest sprinter in the world, so I thought he should not be beaten against domestic rivals like this".[18] Lord Kanaloa's connections then moved the horse up in distance to 1600m (one mile) for the first time to contest the Grade 1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo Racecourse. He started the 3/1 favourite in a field which included Verxina (Victoria Mile), Grand Prix Boss (2011 NHK Mile Cup), Curren Black Hill (2012 NHK Mile Cup) and Glorious Days (Hong Kong Stewards' Cup). Racing down the centre of the track, he took the lead 100m from the finish and won by a neck and three-quarters of a length from Shonan Mighty and Danon Shark.[19][20]

On his return from the summer break, Lord Kanaloa returned to sprinting when he ran for the second time in the Centaur Stakes on 8 September. He started the 2/5 favourite but was beaten a neck by the four-year-old Hakusan Moon, to whom he was attempting to concede five pounds. On 29 September, Lord Kanaloa met Hakusan Moon at level weights in the Sprinters' Stakes and started the 30/100 favourite in a field which also included Majin Prosper and Grand Prix Boss. He won the race for a second time, beating Hakusan Moon by three quarters of a length with the 159/1 outsider Mayano Ryujin a neck away in third place.[21] On 8 December, Lord Kanaloa ended his career as he attempted to repeat his 2012 success in the Hong Kong Sprint. He started the 11/8 favourite against the leading local sprinters Lucky Nine, Sterling City and Frederick Engels, with a strong European challenge headed by Sole Power and the Nunthorpe Stakes winner Jwala. Iwata restrained the horses in the early stages before making progress in the straight. He overtook Rich Tapestry 200m from the finish and accelerated clear of the field to win impressively by five lengths from Sole Power.[22]

Assessment

In the 2012 World Thoroughbred Rankings Lord Kanaloa was rated the tenth best sprinter in the world and the fifty-seventh best horse in any category.[23] At the JRA Awards in January 2013, Lord Kanaloa was named Japanese Champion Sprinter or Miler of 2012, receiving 283 of the 289 votes. At the same ceremony he finished second in the voting for the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse and fourth in the poll for Japanese Horse of the Year behind Gentildonna, Gold Ship and Orfevre.[24]

Following his win in the 2013 Hong Kong Sprint the Racing Post rated Lord Kanaloa the joint-third best racehorse of the year, behind Treve and Wise Dan, and level with Black Caviar and Toronado.[25]

In January 2014 he was named Japanese Horse of the Year for 2013 (receiving 209 out of 280 votes), Japanese Champion Sprinter or Miler (receiving all 280 votes). He become the first sprinter/miler to receive Japanese Horse of the Year since Taiki Shuttle in 1998. However, he lost to Orfevre in JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse.

Pedigree

Pedigree of Lord Kanaloa (JPN), bay horse, 2008[1]
Sire
King Kamehameha (JPN)
2001		 Kingmambo (USA)
1990		 Mr Prospector Raise A Native
Gold Digger
Miesque Nureyev
Pasadoble
Manfath (IRE)
1991		 Last Tycoon Try My Best
Mill Princess
Pilot Bird Blakeney
The Dancer
Dam
Lady Blossom (JPN)
1996		 Storm Cat (USA)
1983		 Storm Bird Northern Dancer
South Ocean
Terlingua Secretariat
Crimson Saint
Saratoga Dew (USA)
1989		 Cormorant His Majesty
Song Sparrow
Super Luna In Reality
Alada (family: 2-s)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Lord Kanaloa pedigree". equineline.com. 2012-05-08. Retrieved 2013-12-11. 
  2. ↑ "King Kamehameha Stud Record". Bloodstock.racingpost.com. 2012-02-15. Retrieved 2013-12-11. 
  3. ↑ "Lady Blossom race record". www.jbis.or.jp. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  4. ↑ "Thoroughbred Bloodlines - Orville Mare - Family 2-s". Bloodlines.net. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  5. ↑ "JRHA Select Foal Sales 2008t". Bloodstock.racingpost.com. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  6. ↑ "Keihan Hai result". Racing Post. 26 November 2011. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  7. ↑ "Silk Road Stakes result". Racing Post. 28 January 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-12. 
  8. ↑ Myra Lewyn (30 September 2012). "Lord Kanaloa Sets Nakayama Course Record". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  9. ↑ "Sprinters Stakes result 2012". Racing Post. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-12. 
  10. ↑ "Hong Kong Sprint result 2012". Racing Post. 9 December 2012. Retrieved 2013-12-12. 
  11. ↑ Paul Eacott (2012-12-09). "HONG KONG Lord Kanaloa gives Japan first Sprint winner". Racing Post. Retrieved 2013-12-16. "LORD KANALOA became the first Japanese-trained winner of the Hong Kong Sprint as he slammed his rivals with an impressive win." 
  12. ↑ "2012 Longines Hong Kong Sprint Results". Cindy Pierson Dulay. 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2013-12-16. "Lord Kanaloa's parades for the fans. He is the first Japanese-trained horse to win the Hong Kong Sprint." 
  13. ↑ Mark Smith (2012-12-09). "Japan Strikes for the First Time in Hong Kong Sprint". Breednet. Retrieved 2013-12-16. "If Japan needed to prove it can breed more than world-class stayers it did it here by capturing the race for the first time." 
  14. ↑ "JAPAN CLAIM THEIR FIRST HONG KONG SPRINT TITLE AS LORD KANALOA BLITZES HIS RIVALS". Horse Racing Only. 2012-12-09. Retrieved 2013-12-16. "Japan claimed its first Hong Kong International Sprint win at Sha Tin today and did so in emphatic fashion with the four-year-old Lord Kanaloa blitzing his rivals in the Longines Hong Kong Sprint." 
  15. ↑ Bob Kieckhefer (9 December 2012). "Japanese Runner Breaks Through in HK Sprint". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  16. ↑ "Takamatsunomiya Kinen result". Racing Post. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  17. ↑ Lewyn, Myra (24 March 2013). "Champ Lord Kanaloa Sets Chukyo Course Record". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  18. ↑ Nicholas Godfrey (24 March 2013). "JAPAN Lord Kanaloa stamps sprint class". Racing Post. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  19. ↑ "Yasuda Kinen result". Racing Post. 2 June 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  20. ↑ Lewyn, Myra (2 June 2013). "Lord Kanaloa Shines at Mile in Yasuda Kinen". BloodHorse.com. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  21. ↑ "Sprinters' Stakes result 2013". Racing Post. 29 September 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  22. ↑ "Hong Kong Sprint result 2013". Racing Post. 8 December 2013. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
  23. ↑ "The 2012 World Thoroughbred Rankings". Horseracingintfed.com. Retrieved 2013-01-19. 
  24. ↑ "2013.01.09 Winners of the 2012 JRA Awards announced". Japanracing.jp. 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2013-01-09. 
  25. ↑ Sam Walker (9 December 2013). "World Class Kanaloa catches people out with Hong Kong blitz". Racing Post. Retrieved 2013-12-13. 
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