Redentor (horse)

Redentor was foaled out of Corcovado, a mare who won five races and placed in another seven out of 16 races in her career.^[4][5] Her sire was Stay Gold, who won the 2001 Dubai Sheema Classic and Hong Kong Vase. His sire was Rulership, who was 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner.^[6] Rulership was sired by King Kamehameha, the leading sire in Japan in 2010 and 2011.^[7]

Redentor's name is derived from the Portuguese word for redeemer, referring to the Christ the Redeemer statue in Corcovado.^[8]

Redentor made his debut with Christophe Lemaire as his jockey in a 2000 metre turf race at Tokyo Racecourse. In this race, he stayed calm at the back until the fourth corner where he sprinted, but was ultimately beaten by future Satsuki Sho winner, Justin Milano to the line.^[9]

In his second race, Redentor raced in a 2000 metre turf race at Nakayama Racecourse. Utilizing a similar strategy as before, he settled calmly in the back and broke away at the final stretch to secure his first career victory.^[10] He repeated this success again in his next race with a victory of three lengths ahead of his competitors.^[11] He then entered in his first graded race, the Aoba Sho, jockeyed by UAE champion jockey, Tadhg O'Shea. They aimed for a gate-to-wire finish but ran out of steam in the final straight and finished eighth.^[12] Redentor was with Lemaire for the next two races, winning both the Machida Tokubetsu and Nihonkai Stakes convincingly.^[13][14] These two wins qualified Redentor for open class and earned him a spot in the Kikuka Sho.^[14][15] In that race, Redentor was paired with Keita Tosaki, starting slowly and chasing early on, but gradually made steady progress as the race went on and ended up second, two and a half lengths behind Urban Chic.^[16] Meanwhile, Keita Tosaki stated that his preparations and conditions were excellent, and he regretted that he could not get the victory.^[17]

Redentor made his season debut on February 22 in the Diamond Stakes, a 3400 metre turf race held in Tokyo Racecourse. He maintained a good position throughout before fully accelerating on the third bend to pull away from his competitors for his fifth career win.^[18] This win established him as a heavy contender for the Tenno Sho (Spring) that year.^[19] Partnered with Damian Lane, who was riding on a short-term license from JRA, they settled mostly between sixth and seventh place. Lane kept Redentor inside on the fence until the final 1000 metres where he shifted to the outside and improved his position to join the front group. In the final stretch, he battled against Byzantine Dream, jockeyed by Andrasch Starke. Redentor took the lead over Byzantine Dream at the 200 metre mark and held on to secure his first Grade 1 career victory.^[20] Following this win, Redentor gained entries for several international races, including the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Juddmonte International. However, he had to pull out from both due to several factors such as bone fractures and lameness.^[21][22] These injuries sidelined Redentor for the rest of the season.^[23] Despite his injuries, Redentor's name was registered for the Arima Kinen, securing him a spot as the tenth highest voted horse, and earning an automatic qualification into the race.^[24] This event caused an uproar among the community as Redentor's qualification blocked out several horses from competing, notably Lilac, who was sat in eleventh in the vote and had to qualify via prize money, where she sat far below several other horses.^[25]

After a long layoff since last May, Redentor was prepared for his season opener at the Kyoto Kinen.^[26] In the race, Redentor stayed mostly at the back and managed to mark the lead pack, but he was not sharp as expected and he failed to accelerate well in the final straight. He finished in eighth place, his first time he finished outside the podium since the 2024 Aoba Sho.^[27] Lemaire, who returned as his jockey, noted that Redentor ran a good race, but the pack made him unstable on the third and fourth corner, although he was gaining momentum towards the end.^[28]