Satono Reve Shines in the 2026 Takamatsunomiya Kinen

On Sunday, March 29, Satono Reve, a 7-year-old stallion and champion sprinter trained by Noriyuki Hori, won the Grade I Takamatsunomiya Kinen, a highly prestigious sprint race run over 1200 meters of turf and held at Japan’s Chukyo Racecourse. Ridden by veteran French jockey Christophe Lemaire, the horse pushed forward in an incredible late burst to claim victory by two lengths over Red Mon Reve, who finished second, and 2025 Sprinters Stakes winner Win Carnelian, who finished third, crossing the winning post with a time of 1:06.3 (a stakes record) amidst fine weather and on a good-to-firm track surface, starting as the 3.5-to-1 overall favorite out of a large eighteen-horse field. This marked Satono Reve’s second consecutive Takamatsunomiya Kinen title after winning last year’s running, making him only the second horse to win the race back-to-back after Kinshasa no Kiseki accomplished the achievement in 2010 and 2011.

Satono Reve and Lemaire started in stall 9, breaking smoothly out of the gate and settling mid-pack at a reasonable pace behind the runners at the front. 5-year-old stallion Invincible Papa gained an early lead at the start, leading by about five lengths, but Reve and Lemaire continued to stay amongst the pack throughout the race, maintaining speed comfortably past the 800-meter mark. Past the final corner, Lemaire and Reve began to move to the outside, coming into the stretch from about 10th place and rapidly building up speed down the home straight near the 200-100 meter mark, surging forward to pass the other runners and emerging victorious.

The horse, homebred in Japan and owned by billionaire Japanese businessman and founder of Sega Sammy Holdings Hajime Satomi’s thoroughbred horse racing operation Satomi Horse Company, has been one of Japan’s top sprinters, having been named Japan’s champion sprinter last year. His sire is multiple Grade I winner and prominent sire Lord Kanaloa, who won the same race in 2013. He came into the Takamatsunomiya Kinen off strong performances, including multiple runner-up finishes overseas. His connections had initially planned for a campaign in Dubai, but it was ultimately decided that he would instead prepare for the spring season in Japan, which paid off with his record-setting win in the race. He currently boasts a record of nine wins out of 17 starts and earned over ¥544 million (about 3.4 million US dollars based on the exchange rate as of April 9, 2026). Besides his previous win of the Takamatsunomiya Kinen last year, his major wins domestically included the Grade III Hakodate Sprint Stakes and the Grade III Keeneland Cup. Other notable achievements overseas include a second-place finish in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong and another second-place finish in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Royal Ascot in Britain, showing excellent overall seasonal form. His jockey, Lemaire, said following the race, “I’m glad Satono Reve was able to win the race for two consecutive years. He’s a very strong horse. Once we entered the stretch, he really accelerated…it was my first time riding him, but I knew him well.”

With Satono Reve’s great performance so far, fans and racing experts alike will be watching very closely to see where he is going to compete next and whether he can add on to his remarkable progress right now. His next start has not been announced officially yet, but he is likely going to target more Grade I sprint races later in the season, possibly during the summer and autumn.

Sources: Official JRA English site (japanracing.jp), netkeiba.com, Thoroughbred Daily News, official JRA race replay