Second favorite Costa Nova claimed this year’s February Stakes for his first G1 title. The Lord Kanaloa horse now scores six wins in as many starts on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse including his previous start, the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400m) just three weeks earlier.
Trainer Tetsuya Kimura registered his 12th JRAG1 title, his first since the Arima Kinen with Regaleira. Australian-based jockey Rachel King, who rode under a short-term license since January 5, registered her fourth graded and first G1 victory in JRA.
King also became the first female jockey to win a flat G1 race in JRA. Rochelle Lockett was the first female jockey to win JRA’s jump G1 event in the 2002 Nakayama Daishogai with Gilded Age.
Costa Nova was a fraction slow out of the gate but quickly found his rhythm to position himself among the front between rivals and not far from the leaders in sixth position. Continuing to travel smoothly behind a moderate pace led by Mitono O and closing in on the leader with several other rivals towards the final corner, Rachel King urged the son of Lord Kanaloa into contention with 400 meters to go and edged forward to take command passing the furlong pole.
Strongly driven to the wire, Costa Nova sustained his bid and successfully held off a strong challenge by Sunrise Zipangu from the inside to a 3/4-length victory.
“I’m very proud to be the first female jockey (to have won a G1 title) but also proud that Japan has welcomed me as a jockey and not just a “female” jockey—something that I’ve always strive to be—I’m one of everyone and we’re treated the same, so I’m always thankful to the Japan and all the supporters for welcoming me like that. They’ve given me huge support last year and also this year so it’s nice to be able
to repay them with a group one (victory),” commented Rachel King.
Fifth choice Sunrise Zipangu was unhurried out of the gate and continued to travel off the pace along the backstretch while shifting to the inside before the third corner. Hugging the rails and taking an economic route to move up rounding the final corner, the Kizuna colt waited patiently behind a crowd of horses rallying for the lead while still stuck along the rails, then swiftly advanced through an opening with the fastest finishing speed to finish 3/4-length short of the winner but out-finishing the rest of the field by 1-
1/4 lengths.
Race favorite Mikki Fight was sharp out of the gate and appeared very keen while being held back in midfield by Keita Tosaki. Traveling wide throughout, the Drefong colt had much ground to cover, just managing to reach contention at the furlong pole and, while continuing to show good effort to the wire and overtaking a couple of rivals for third, was unable to cause a serious threat to the winner.
THE 42ND FEBRUARY STAKES (G1)
4-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), dirt, left-handed
Sunday, February 23, 2025 Tokyo Racecourse 11th Race Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 260,400,000 (about US$ 1,659,000 <US$1=¥157>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2021
Course Record: 1:33.5 Race Record: 1:33.8 [Cafe Pharoah (USA, by American Pharoah), 2022]
Safety factor: 16 runners Going: Standard Weather: Fine
FP BK PP Horse Jockey S&A Color Wgt Odds (Fav) Margin (L3F) Sire Dam (Dam’s Sire) Owner Breeder Trainer
1 5 9 Costa Nova (JPN) Rachel King H5 b. 58.0 4.3 (2) 1:35.5 (35.6) Lord Kanaloa Colorful Blossom (Heart’s Cry) Katsumi Yoshida Northern Racing Tetsuya Kimura
2 6 12 Sunrise Zipangu (JPN) Hideaki Miyuki C4 b. 58.0 7.0 (5) 3/4 (35.2) Kizuna Saimaa (Zoffany) Life House Co., Ltd. Oiwake Farm Hidetaka Otonashi
3 7 14 Mikki Fight (JPN) Keita Tosaki C4 ch. 58.0 3.3 (1) 1-1/4 (35.8) Drefong Special Groove (Special Week) Mizuki Noda Northern Racing
Hiroyasu Tanaka
Other Horses:
4th: (11) Peptide Nile—ran behind winner, responded inside Mikki Fight but neck short to finish 4th
5th: (1) Emperor Wakea—raced inside winner, failed to find another gear in last 200m
6th: (6) Meisho Hario—sat in 15th, launched 2nd fastest late kick but belatedly
7th: (15) Gaia Force—settled around 11th, switched to outside at early stretch, needed more
8th: (2) Tagano Beauty—saved ground around 11th, angled out rounding final corner, lacked needed kick
9th: (5) Ater Astraea—unhurried and trailed in rear, circled wide, passed tired rivals
10th: (7) Sunday Funday—tracked leaders around 3rd, remained in contention until 200m pole
11th: (8) Dura Erede—hugged rails around 7th, unable to reach contention
11th: (16) Helios—ran around 13th, turned wide, showed little
13th: (4) William Barows—chased leader in 2nd, rallied for lead until 200m pole
14th: (13) Derma Sotogake—raced wide around 7th, gradually dropped position
15th: (3) Mitono O—set pace, faded after 400m pole
16th: (10) Ammothyella—traveled wide around 4th, outrun by rivals after final corner
Fractional time (sec./furlong): 12.2 – 11.1 – 11.7 – 12.2 – 12.2 – 12.2 – 11.7 – 12.2
Last 4 furlongs: 48.3 Last 3 furlongs: 36.1
Positions at each corner: 3rd corner 3(4,7)(1,9,10)(8,11,13,14)(2,15)(12,16)-6-5
4th corner 3(4,7)1(9,10)(8,11,14)(2,13)(12,15,16)6,5