Justin Milano

 ( 2021 Racehorse Births ) 

Justin Milano (Japanese: ジャスティンミラノ, foaled April 9, 2021) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the Satsuki Shō (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in 2024.

His name is a combination of the Italy city Milan, and "Justin", the eponym used by the owner.

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Racing career

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2023: two-year-old-season Justin Milano debuted on November 11, 2023, at the Tokyo Racecourse in a two-year-old Maiden race race on turf at a distance of 2,000 meters, ridden by Tom Marquand. He settled in front of the pack and pulled away fast at the final stretch to win his debut race. File:Justin_Milano_20231118.jpg|Justin Milano winning his race debut

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2024: three-year-old season Justin Milano would make his first graded stakes race debut at the Kyodo Tsushin Hai on February 11, 2024. Ridden by Keita Tosaki, he settled in just behind the leader and moved forward after entering the final stretch in response to Tosaki's urging to take the lead, managing to successfully hold off the previous year's Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner Jantar Mantar to win by one and a half horse length. On February 28, it was announced by his connections that he was registered to compete in the Epsom Derby.

Canceling the previous plan to enter the Epsom Derby, he was instead scheduled to race at the Satsuki Shō (Japanese 2000 Guineas) on April 14. He broke well off from the gates at the start of the race and settled in at the middle of the pack near the front. Entering into the final straight, he overtook Jantar Mantar who took the lead early and managed to hold off the fast-finishing Cosmo Kuranda, breaking the track record by 0.7 seconds with a time of 1:57.1 seconds. This was his first grade one stakes victory. A week before the race, jockey Kota Fujioka, who rode for him whenever he was training, died in a horseracing accident. His jockey, Keita Tosaki, said, "Kota was the one who trained with this horse a few weeks ago. He gave me the information I needed about the horse. I won this race because of him." His trainer, Yasuo Tomomichi, said with tears in his eyes, "I owe this victory to him (Kota)." This victory marked the first time that a Kizuna offspring won one of the eight major races in Japanese horseracing.

He ran in the Tōkyō Yūshun as scheduled on May 26. He was the most favored horse to win by post time. After settling in near the front throughout the early and middle parts of the race, he moved up in the final straight but failed to pass Danon Decile, who had burst out from the inner lane near the fence. He finished in second place, trailing by two lengths. File:2024年皐月賞ゴール直後.jpg|Justin Milano wins the Satsuki Sho with Cosmo Kuranda finishing second. File:2024年皐月賞.jpg|Justin Milano with his connections right after winning Satsuki Sho. After the Tōkyō Yūshun, it was initially announced that the horse would be entered into the Tenno Sho rather than the Kikuka-shō, the third leg of the Triple Crown. However, while the horse was being prepared for the race, it was discovered that the horse had developed tendinitis, leading to the plan being scrapped. It was ultimately decided on November 14 that the horse would be retired to stand stud at the in Hidaka, Hokkaido.

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Racing statistics Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search, and NetKeiba.

2023 – two-year-old season

Nov 18

Tokyo Racecourse

Maiden race

2,000 m (Firm)

14

11

3.5 (2)

2:02.0

-0.3

Tom Marquand

(Redentor)

2024 – three-year-old season

Feb 11

Tokyo

Kyodo Tsushin Hai

3

1,800 m (Firm)

10

8

6.6 (4)

1:48.0

-0.2

Keita Tosaki

(Jantar Mantar)

Apr 14

Nakayama

Satsuki Shō

1

2,000 m (Firm)

17

13

4.8 (2)

0.0

Keita Tosaki

(Cosmo Kuranda)

May 26

Tokyo

Tōkyō Yūshun

1

2,400 m (Firm)

17

15

2.2 (1)

2:24.7

0.4

Keita Tosaki

Danon Decile

Legend:

Notes

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Pedigree

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Footnotes

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Notes

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