Danon The Kid

Danon The Kid (Japanese: ダノンザキッド foaled 29 January 2018) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the best two-year-olds in Japan in 2020 when he won all three of his races including the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes and the Hopeful Stakes.

Danon The Kid
SireJust A Way
GrandsireHeart's Cry
DamEpic Love
DamsireDansili
SexColt
Foaled29 January 2018[1]
CountryJapan
ColourBay
BreederNorthern Farm
OwnerDanox Co Ltd
TrainerTakayuki Yasuda
Record3: 3-0-0
Earnings¥179,092,000
Major wins
Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (2020)
Hopeful Stakes (2020)
Awards
JRA Award for Best Two-Year-Old Colt (2020)

Background

Danon The Kid is a bay colt bred in Japan by Northern Farm. As a yearling in 2017 he was consigned to the Select Sale and was bought for ¥108,000,000 by Danox Co Ltd.[2] The colt was sent into training with Takayuki Yasuda.

He was from the third crop of foals sired by Just A Way, who won the Tenno Sho, Dubai Duty Free Stakes and Yasuda Kinen and was rated the best racehorse in the world in 2014. His other progeny have included the Fillies' Revue winner Epos and Velox who was placed in all three legs of the Japanese Triple Crown.[3]

Danon The Kid's dam Epic Love was an Irish-bred mare who showed high-class form in France, winning the Prix Vanteaux and finishing second in the Prix Saint-Alary.[4] Her granddam Alcando was a very successful racemare who won the Firth of Clyde Stakes in Scotland, the Prix de Psyche in France and the Beverly Hills Handicap in California.[5] Alacndo was descended from the Irish broodmare Charwoman (foaled in 1933), making her a distant relative of May Hill.[6]

Racing career

2020: two-year-old season

Danon The Kid made his racecourse debut at Hanshin Racecourse on 28 June when he was ridden by Yuichi Kitamura in a race for newcomers over 1800 metres on good ground. Starting the 3.7/1 second favourite in a fourteen-runner field he raced in third place before taking the lead in the straight and drawing away to win by three lengths from Wonderful Town. After the summer break the colt returned to the track for the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes over 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse on 23 November and started the 0.7/1 favourite against nine opponents. Ridden by Yuga Kawada he was restrained in third place before making rapid progress to take the lead 300 metres from the finish and won by one and a quarter lengths from Titleholder with Jun Blue Sky in third.[7]

For his third and final run of the year Danon The Kid was stepped up in class and distance to contest the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes over 2000 metres at Nakayama Racecourse on 26 December. Ridden by Kawada he went off the 1.1/1 favourite in a fifteen-runner field which also included the undefeated colts Land of Liberty, Orthoclase and Yoho Lake. He raced just behind the leaders as Land of Liberty set the pace from Titleholder, Orthoclase and Vanishing Point before the complexion of the race changed abruptly on the final turn as Land of Liberty veered to the left and was pulled up by his jockey. Danon The Kid took the lead on the outside in the straight and rallied after being headed by Orthoclase to regain the advantage in the last 100 metres and win by one and a quarter lengths. Kawada said after the race "The stable staff did a great job in tuning up the colt and he ran much better than he did in his previous start but still, he couldn't find a good rhythm and was not steady in the last two corners today. There is still a lot of room for improvement and we intend to work hard so he can kick off a good three-year-old campaign."[8]

In January 2021 Danon The Kid was voted Best Two-Year-Old Colt at the JRA Awards for 2020, taking 262 of the 283 votes.[9] In the official Japanese rankings Danon The Kid was rated the best two-year-old colt of 2020, one pound ahead of Grenadier Guards.[10]

Pedigree
Pedigree of Danon The Kid (JPN), bay colt, 2018[1]
Sire
Just A Way (JPN)
2009		 Heart's Cry (JPN)
12001		 Sunday Silence (USA) Halo
Wishing Well
Irish Dance Tony Bin (IRE)
Buper Dance (USA)
Sibyl (JPN)
1999		 Wild Again (USA) Icecapade
Bushel-N-Peck
Charon (USA) Mo Exception
Double Wiggle
Dam
Epic Love (IRE)
2008		 Dansili (GB)
1996		 Danehill (USA) Danzig
Razyana
Hasili (IRE) Kahyasi
Kerali (GB)
Leopard Hunt (USA)
2001		 Diesis (GB) Sharpen Up
Doubly Sure
Alcando (IRE) Alzao (USA)
Kaniz (GB) (Family: 15-a)[6]

References
  1. "Grenadier Guards pedigree". Equineline.
  2. "Sales Results – Select Sale: Yearlings: Lot 323". JBIS.
  3. "Stallion reports - Just A Way". JBIS.
  4. "Epic Love Race Record & Form". Racing Post.
  5. "Alcando - Horse Profile - results". Equibase.
  6. "Venus - Family 15-a". Thoroughbred Bloodlines.
  7. "Race Records:Lifetime Starts Danon the Kid". JBIS.
  8. Takada, Junichi (26 December 2020). "Danon the Kid Scores Convincing Win in Hopeful Stakes". The Japan Racing Association (JRA). Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  9. "Winners of the 2020 JRA Awards announced". Horse Racing in Japan. 7 January 2021.
  10. "JPN Thoroughbred Rankings". Horse Racing in Japan. 26 January 2020.
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