Palace Malice

The Tomokazu Takano-trained Jantar Mantar cemented his status as Japan's outstanding performer over 1,600 metres with victory in the G1 Mile Championship at Kyoto on Sunday, beating old rival Gaia Force (Kitasan Black) by a length and three-quarters in a near carbon copy of the result from June's G1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo. Becoming just the ninth horse to win both the Yasuda Kinen and Mile Championship in the same year, Jantar Mantar raced in third behind tearaway leader Toshin Macau (Big Arthur) through the first half of the race....

Jantar Mantar kicked off his four-year-old campaign in the best possible fashion when running out a comfortable winner of Sunday's G1 Yasuda Kinen at Tokyo, a 'Win and You're In' for the GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Sidelined since a down-the-field finish in December's G1 Hong Kong Mile at Sha Tin, the son of Palace Malice showed no signs of rustiness on his belated return with a sharp exit from the stalls in the hands of Yuga Kawada. Never far away from the pace set by Mad Cool (Dark Angel), the...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Saturday running at Kyoto Racecourse: Saturday, May 31, 2025 3rd-KYO, ¥10,600,000 ($74k), Maiden, 3yo, 1800m BIG BAND BEAT (JPN) (c, 3, McKinzie--Cast in Silver, by City Zip) is a half-brother to the stakes-winning Guanare (Runhappy) and was purchased in utero for $80,000 at...

8-year-old mare Kona Kai (Palace Malice) delivered surprise twin fillies by Oscar Performance Monday for Surfside Stables. "They're doing well and getting stronger every day," said breeder Debbie Appel. Kona Kai and her fillies are currently at Rood & Riddle in Kentucky where they will stay under observation for the near future. The mare was purchased as a yearling at Keeneland September by Surfside for $70,000 in 2018 and broke her maiden at Horseshoe Indianapolis in 2020, retiring after 11 starts with earnings of over $68,000. Kona Kai, a half-sister...

Paul F. Oreffice, who spoke fewer than 50 words of English when he arrived in America in the mid-1940s and went on to become a partner in multiple Classic-winning Thoroughbred horses in addition to a successful career in the business world, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, at his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He was 97 years old. Born in Venice, Italy, on Nov. 29, 1927, Oreffice moved with his family to Quito, Ecuador, and came to the U.S. in 1945, attending Purdue University...

Lemon Pop, who recently became the first dual winner of the G1 Champions Cup for over a decade, has been introduced at a fee of ¥5 million (€30,615) for 2025, identifying him as the most expensive stallion on the Darley Japan roster. The six-year-old son of Lemon Drop Kid, who was crowned the JRA Best Dirt Horse in 2023, will embark on his first season in Hokkaido following his Chukyo swansong which saw him retire as the winner of 13 of his 18 career starts. Trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka, he...

Laughing Boy (Distorted Humor) got the last laugh-again-in the featured race on the 26th annual Claiming Crown program Saturday at Churchill Downs. The 6-year-old, who hadn't raced since April, led Saturday's $225,000 Jewel at nine furlongs for most of the trip and then again inside the sixteenth pole. But the no-quit grinder required a stewards' disqualification of the rival who had passed him at both the quarter pole and at the wire to elevate his second-across-the-wire finish to a by-decision victory. That's the second time in three races that Laughing...

Recent Japanese transplant Palace Malice covered 262 mares in his first season at Darley Japan, the stud announced. The 2013 GI Belmont Stakes-winning son of Curlin has already enjoyed success in the Land of the Rising Sun with his progeny. Jantar Mantar (Jpn) is a winner of the G1 NHK Mile Cup this year and the 2023 G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes the same term he was crowned Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt. Palace Malice, who stood for ¥3,500,000 (€22,139) in 2024, also has the Japanese Group 3 winner Noble Roger...

Fierceness (City of Light), the beaten favorite in the GI Kentucky Derby, is scheduled to make his next start in the GI Belmont S. on June 8 in Saratoga. "He has settled in well and we are pointing to the Belmont," trainer Todd Pletcher said in a text. Sent off at 3-1, Fierceness finished 15th, beaten 24 1/2 lengths in the Derby. When asked if his colt had any excuses in the Derby, Pletcher replied: "Perhaps too close to a fast pace? Stuck a little wide on both turns?" Following...

Jantar Mantar (Jpn) (Palace Malice), who was crowned Japan's champion two-year-old colt in 2023, resumed winning ways with a decisive defeat of the unlucky-in-running Ascoli Piceno (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in Saturday's G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo Racecourse, his fourth win from six career starts. Unbeaten in three starts at two, culminating with a first top-level win in the Asahi Hai Futurity S. at Hanshin, Jantar Mantar had been forced to settle for minor honours on his first two starts as a three-year-old, including when finishing a close-up third...

The Japanese stallion studs are in the midst of hosting their annual parades in Hokkaido and there will doubtless be plenty of interested onlookers at Darley Japan, where the stallion yard has been boosted by a quartet of new recruits for the 2024 season. Two of the four are brand new to stud and have arrived from Britain with pretty lofty reputations, and rightly so. Both Adayar (Ire) and Hukum (Ire) are winners of the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S., while Adayar, more pertinently, is a Derby...

Having been announced as one of the newest members of the stallion roster at Darley Japan, Palace Malice remained in a rich vein of form with his young progeny, as US-bred Noble Roger was given a perfect steer by Yuga Kawada to take out Monday's G3 Shinzan Kinen at Kyoto. It was the sire's second pattern winner in the last month, adding to the success of the American-conceived, but Japanese-foaled Jantar Mantar (Jpn) in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity. Looking to build on a smart debut victory going a mile...