Satono Reve

2022: Three-year-old season

Satono Reve's debut was late; he made his first appearance on April 10, 2022, at Nakayama on the turf over 1600 meters in a race for three-year-old maidens, ridden by Shu Ishibashi. He stayed in second place during the race, took the lead in the stretch, and held off a challenge from Iwakuni, who came from mid-pack, by half a length to win his debut. In the Nagamambe Tokubetsu on July 2, he stayed in mid-pack before making his move on the outside in the straight but was narrowly beaten by Rakiata, who went ahead, finishing second. After a one-week break, in the July 17 race at Hakodate on turf over 1200 meters for three-year-old and above, he saved his energy in third place and overtook Hinokuni, who tried to hold the lead, in the final stretch to secure his second win. On October 1, in the Katsuura Tokubetsu, he tracked in second, made his move in the straight, and pulled away to win his third race by two lengths.

2023-2024: Four to five-year-old season

In the Suzaku Stakes on April 29, 2023, which marked his first race as a four-year-old, he ran tenaciously from a good position and took the lead, ultimately winning his fourth race by half a length over Il Cuore who had set the pace, thereby entering the open class. However, he subsequently went on a long-term break due to injury.

Satono Reve returned in the GIII Hankyu Hai on February 25, 2024, and raced in second and third position but could not finish strongly in the stretch, ending up in fourth place. On April 14, in the listed Shunrai Stakes, he made a sharp move from mid-pack in the final stretch and narrowly defeated Thermal Wind, who was closing from a good position, to achieve his first open-class victory.^[5] On June 9, in the GIII Hakodate Sprint Stakes, he tracked in fourth or fifth position before breaking through from the inside in the stretch, ultimately winning comfortably by 1 1/4 lengths over Win Greatest [ja], marking his first graded race victory.^[6]

On August 25, in the Keeneland Cup, a trial race for the Sprinters Stakes, he ran in a good position and accelerated strongly in the final stretch, winning by 1 1/2 lengths over Eishin Spotter and achieving consecutive graded race victories.^[7] On September 30, in his first GI challenge at the Sprinters Stakes, he was the favourite but finished seventh due to a poor start. ^[8]

In his final race of the year on December 8, in the Hong Kong Sprint, he stayed in mid-pack on the inside and showed a strong finish in the stretch, but could not catch the overwhelming favourite Ka Ying Rising and was overtaken from the outside by Helios Express, finishing third.^[9]

2025: Six-year-old season

Satono Reve's six-year-old season began with the Takamatsunomiya Kinen on March 30. Staying in the middle of the pack during the race, he broke through the field in the final stretch and held off Namura Clair by three-quarters of a length to win. This marked his first Group One victory and the father-son triumph with his sire, Lord Kanaloa. ^[10][11]

However, jockey João Moreira received a warning for veering outward in the final straight, affecting Namura Clair.^[12] Next, he ran in the Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on April 27. Following closely behind Ka Ying Rising at the fourth corner, he tried to make a move but was overtaken in the straight, finishing second by two and a quarter lengths.^[13]

Afterward, it was decided to move on to the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in England on June 21. On May 3, Satono Reve arrived at Heathrow Airport from Hong Kong via Dubai and then moved to James Horton’s stable in Newmarket, Suffolk for his stay.^[14] In the race, continuing with the partnership with João Moreira, it started from the far outside gate 16 but delivered a strong performance, finishing second by half a length behind the winner, Lazaat. This was only the second time in 25 years that a Japanese horse finished in the top two at Royal Ascot since Agnes World (however, the King’s Stand Stakes in which Agnes World placed was classified as G2 at the time and was promoted to G1 only in 2008. Therefore, if limited to G1 races at Royal Ascot, Satono Reve is the first Japanese horse in history to achieve this).

Satono Reve's next race would be the 2025 Sprinters Stakes, where he started as the first favourite but came fourth behind Namura Clair, June Blair and Win Carnelian.^[15] In the end of the year, Satono Reve entered the Hong Kong Sprint for the second time but ended up in frustrating ninth place where the defending champion Ka Ying Rising defeated his competition and earned his 16th consecutive victory.^[16] His jockey, Ryan Moore, noted that the horse was in good condition and calm but the pace of the race increased rapidly, causing them to lose out early and thus not allowing them to finish in their usual style.^[17] At the end of the season, Satono Reve was awarded the JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler.^[18]

After that his trainer were thinking about Satono Reve becoming stallion at the end of the year, but at the end were decided to extend his career for one more year to win the titles that he couldn't win last year. As Kento Watanabe said during JRA Award Ceremony, January 26, 2026:

"Reflecting the trainer’s desire to keep him racing for another year, win the titles he missed out on last year, and pave the way for his career as a stallion, Satono Reve will continue to race this year as well." ^[c][19]

2026: Seven-year-old season

For his first race as a seven-year-old he ran in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, which he had won the previous year. It was his first partnership with Christophe Lemaire, and he became the race favorite.^[20][21]

Despite an extremely fast early pace of 32.5 seconds for the first three furlongs, he raced in middle of the pack as usual. Breaking away from the field in the home stretch, he powered home with a final three-furlong split of 32.4 seconds to win by two lengths in a race-record time of 1:06.3.^[22] That was first Takamatsunomiya Kinen victory for Christophe Lemaire on his fifth attempt.^[23]

Lemaire commented his first Takamatsunomiya Kinen victory with praise for Satono Reve:

"Once again, Satono Reve proved just how strong he really is. In the stretch, he took the bit himself, switched leads, and was fast from there on. He broke well and secured a good position. I expected a fast pace, but even from a midfield spot, I wasn't concerned. He relaxed nicely around the fourth turn and travelled in his own rhythm. He finished strongly in the stretch. He’s a top-level sprinter who has achieved results overseas and has a wealth of experience. Physically, he truly has the build of a sprinter. I think he can deliver more good results in G1 races this year. This was my first win in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen. It took some time, but I haven't had many chances to ride in this race. I'm very happy to win it with such a strong horse.”^[d][24][25]

He became only the second horse in history to win this race two years in a row, following Kinshasa no Kiseki, the horse who was also trained by Noriyuki Hori.^[26]

As it then was found that Satono Reve had lost a horseshoe on his left hind leg during race, but still managed to beat a race-record time.^[27]

About participating in Hong Kong race again this year Yu Yamashita said:

"It was discovered that he had lost a horseshoe on his left hind leg during the race, so a decision on whether to run in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize (April 26, Sha Tin, Hong Kong), for which an invitation has been accepted, will be made after assessing his condition."^[e][27]

Satono Reve did ran at the Chairman's Sprint Prize one month later. When the gate open, he ran well in the middle and accelerating after the final corner but he was no match for Ka Ying Rising once again, losing to him by four and quarter lengths behind.^[28] Moreira who was back jockeying him this time said after the race:

"He's a horse that runs with such effort, like a true warrior. This time he was up against what could be called the world's best sprinter, but I'm happy with his performance."^[f][29]

As his next international goal was chosen to participate in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in England on June 20, where he finished second last year. On May 3rd he arrived at Heathrow Airport via a direct flight from Hong Kong and was transferred to the Newmarket stable of James Horton.^[30][31] With other Japanese horse Lugal they both targeted the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes to possibly win it for the first time for Japan.^[32]

In the race he became the second favorite and got off to a good start and settled well off the pace in around fourth place. Regional and Overpass set the pace, with Australian mare Joliestar following them. With the late race approaching, Satono Reve, under Ryan Moore, rushed forward and accelerated sharply, overtaking the now leading Joliestar, ridden by James McDonald. At the same time local trained horse Almeraq overtook Joliestar from the other side, and the two horses finished side by side in an extremely close photo finish that turned into a four-way battle between horses representing different countries. It was announced that Almeraq had finished ahead of Satono Reve by a nose, while Joliestar finished head short behind Satono Reve and French-trained Stolen Kiss head behind Joliestar. Satono Reve had suffered a heartbreaking runner-up finish for the second straight year in this race.^{[33][34][35][36]}

Ryan Moore commented after the race:

"He ran a very good race. He was in excellent condition. We had to wait a while in the stalls, but he broke strongly and showed good speed. It was an unlucky defeat, but he fought all the way to the line."^[g][37][36]

After his participation in Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes he was offered a spot in The Everest (October 17, Randwick Racecourse, Australia), but the offer was declined.^[38] Instead, on July 6, it was announced that he would compete in the July Cup (July 11, Newmarket Racecourse, England), with Lemaire set to partner him.^[39]

In the July Cup he became the first favorite to win, and got off to a good start. After the first furlong he took the lead over the nine-horse pack in the center of the field,^[40] similar to how Agnes World ran this race 26 years ago.^[41] Long-shot Comanche Brave, ridden by Billy Loughnane, targeted Satono Reve and followed him in the early stages of the race.^[42] At the fourth furlong Satono Reve accelerated and moved into first place. However, on two final furlongs Comanche Brave surged decisively forward and overtook him. Satono Reve's early acceleration on a difficult uphill section of the course caused him to lose his strength toward the end,^[43] and he had to fight with everything he had to hold his position but was passed by the second favorite, Venetian Sun, and finished third, losing by just a neck.^[41][44][45]

About the race Lemaire said:

"He was a bit distracted by what was going on around him. Even so, he ran with a beautiful stride, and the race itself wasn’t bad, but he couldn’t shift into high gear as much as I’d hoped, and he lacked that final burst of speed."^[h][43]