Danon Scorpion
| Danon Scorpion | |
|---|---|
Danon Scorpion at the 2022 NHK Mile Cup | |
| Sire | Lord Kanaloa |
| Grandsire | King Kamehameha |
| Dam | Lexie Lou |
| Damsire | Sligo Bay |
| Sex | Stallion |
| Foaled | 22 February 2019[1] |
| Country | Japan |
| Colour | Bay |
| Breeder | K I Farm |
| Owner | Danox Co Ltd |
| Trainer | Takayuki Yasuda ->Yuichi Fukunaga |
| Record | 26: 4-0-2[2] |
| Earnings | ¥249,652,400 |
| Major wins | |
| Hagi Stakes (2021) Arlington Cup (2022) NHK Mile Cup (2022) | |
Danon Scorpion (Japanese: ダノンスコーピオン foaled 22 February 2019) is a former Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the leading two-year-old colts in Japan in 2021 when he won his first two races including the Hagi Stakes and then ran third in the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. As a three-year-old he ran poorly on his seasonal debut but then recorded victories in the Arlington Cup and NHK Mile Cup.
Background
Danon Scorpion is a bay horse with a narrow white blaze bred in Japan by K I Farm. During his track career he carried the red and white colours of Danox Co Ltd the business software enterprise of his owner Masahiro Noda, and was trained by Takayuki Yasuda.
He was from the first crop of foals sired by Lord Kanaloa, an outstanding sprinter-miler who was the 2013 Japanese Horse of the Year. Lord Kanaloa's other progeny include Almond Eye, Saturnalia and Tagaloa.[3] Danon Scorpion is the second foal of his dam Lexie Lou, an outstanding Canadian racemare whose wins included the Queen's Plate and two legs of the Canadian Triple Tiara.[4] At the 2016 Keeneland November Sale she sold for $1 million to KI Farm and after being bred to Frankel in 2017 she was exported to Japan.[5][6]
Racing career
2021: two-year-old season
Danon Scorpion began his racing career in a contest for previously unraced juveniles over 1600 metres on good ground at Hanshin Racecourse on 20 June 2021. Ridden by Yuga Kawada he started the 0.3/1 favourite and won by a neck from the filly Rouge La Terre. Kawada was again in the saddle when the colt returned from a four-month break and was stepped up in class to contest the Listed Hagi Stakes over 1800 metres at Hanshin on 30 October. He started second choice in the betting and prevailed by a neck from the favourite Killer Ability after taking the lead in the straight.[7]
On 19 December at Hanshin, Danon Scorpion was stepped up to Grade 1 class to contest Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes over 1600 metres and went off the 8.7/1 fourth choice in the betting. After settling in eighth place he made steady progress on the outside to take third place behind Do Deuce and Serifos.[8]
In the official Japanese rankings Danon Scorpion was rated the fourth-best two-year-old of 2021, behind Do Deuce, Serifos and Killer Ability.[9]
2022: three-year-old season
Danon Scorpion began his second campaign in the Grade 3 Tokinominoru Kinen (a trial race for the Satsuki Sho) over 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse on 13 February. Ridden by Yuga Kawada he started the 4.3/1 fourth choice in the betting but came home seventh of the eleven runners behind Danon Beluga, beaten six lengths by the winner. The colt bypassed the Satsuki Sho and was dropped back in distance for the Arlington Cup over 1600 metres at Hanshin on 16 April when he started 1.5/1 favourite in an eighteen-runner field. After being settled in mid-division by Kawada he produced a sustained run on the outside in the straight, overtook the leader Taisei Divine in the final strides and won by a neck.[10]
On 8 May at Tokyo, Danon Scorpion returned to Grade 1 class for the NHK Mile Cup in which he was partnered by Kawada and went off the 6.1/1 fourth choice in the betting behind Serifos, Industria and Matenro Orion (Shinzan Kinen). The other fourteen runners included Jean Gros (New Zealand Trophy), Purpur Ray (Falcon Stakes), King Hermes (Keio Hai Nisai Stakes) and Taisei Divine. Danon Scorpion raced on the outside in mid-division as Toshin Macau set the pace but closed on the leaders approaching the final turn. He moved up to dispute the lead in the straight, gained the advantage from Serifos 100 metres from the finish and held off the late challenge of Matenro Orion to win by a neck with the 228/1 outsider Kawakita Reverie the same distance away in third place. Kawada commented “I knew that the horses on the outside route were all coming up with a lot of force, so although I felt we had won crossing the wire, I had to be sure by watching the vision after the race. Danon Scorpion was in perhaps his best condition coming into this race so I had a lot of confidence... he was in good rhythm and balance so I had no worries.... The colt has great potential."[11]
He started the autumn campaign with a run in the Fuji Stakes on October 22. He was in the middle of the pack and looked to catch up with the leaders as he entered the straight but was outdone by both Soul Rush and Serifos in the final phase and finished third.[12] He targeted for the Mile Championship next. He managed to ran wide at sixth position at best before fell out and ended up in eleventh place behind the winner, Serifos.[13] After the race, Kawada commented that "His body had grown and the balance has changed. I'll have to wait until he developed more instead."[14] Danon Scorpion finished the season with a sixth place finish in the Hong Kong Mile, ridden by William Buick.[15]
2023 – 2025: Later seasons and retirement
In 2023, he started the season in the Keio Hai Spring Cup. He did not perform well as he gassed out in the final straight and finished 11th.[16] His bad form continued for the whole 2023 when he finished in the bottom ten in every four races after that.[2] The next year, he started the season with the same race again which was the Keio Hai Spring Cup. This year, with a change of trainer to Yuichi Fukunaga and jockeyed by Keita Tosaki this time, he ran well in the middle pack and stretched his legs well to finish in fourth place. Tosaki said after the race that Danon Scorpion might shown good signs of recovery after poor season the previous year.[17] This did not reflected well in his next appearance on the Yasuda Kinen. He ran wide on the course, spent out most of his energy and slowed down at the end phase to finish in fifteenth place behind the first Hong Kong horse to win in Japan after 18 years, Romantic Warrior.[18] For the rest of the year, he finished unplaced in the next four race whereas his best finish came at the Swan Stakes where he ended up in ninth place.[19]
Danon Scorpion started poorly in the 2025 season opener as he only placed in eighth under Ryuji Wada ride in the Hankyu Hai.[20] Due to poor string of results on the turf track, Danon Scorpion switched to dirt track for the rest of the year. This move also fail to revitalized his performance as he failed to podium in all five dirt races after the Hankyu Hai.[2] His final race would be the Musashino Stakes, a G3 dirt mile races on Tokyo Racecourse where he finished in 11th.[21][22] On the 7th of January, 2026. Danon Scorpion would retire from racing and transferred to South Africa for his stud duty. Fukunaga describe Danon Scorpion as the horse that taught him much in his time as a trainer and glad that he could be a stud despite not scoring much big results in his career.[23] His racehorse registration also terminated by the JRA on the same day.[21]
Racing form
Danon Scorpion won four races in 26 starts. This data is available in JBIS, netkeiba and HKJC.[7][2][15]
| Date | Track | Race | Grade | Distance (Condition) |
Entry | HN | Odds (Favored) |
Finish | Time | Margins | Jockey | Winner (Runner-up) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 – two-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Jun 20 | Hanshin | 2yo Newcomer | 1,600 m (Good) | 7 | 7 | 1.3 (1) | 1st | 1:38.7 | 0.0 | Yuga Kawada | (Rouge la Terre) | |
| Oct 30 | Hanshin | Hagi Stakes | L | 1,800 m (Firm) | 6 | 5 | 3.0 (2) | 1st | 1:48.5 | 0.0 | Yuga Kawada | (Killer Ability) |
| Dec 19 | Hanshin | Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes | 1 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 15 | 7 | 9.7 (4) | 3rd | 1:33.7 | 0.2 | Kohei Matsuyama | Do Deuce |
| 2022 – three-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Feb 13 | Tokyo | Kyodo Tsushin Hai | 3 | 1,800 m (Good) | 11 | 11 | 5.3 (4) | 7th | 1:48.8 | 0.9 | Yuga Kawada | Danon Beluga |
| Apr 16 | Hanshin | Arlington Cup | 3 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 18 | 10 | 2.5 (1) | 1st | 1:32.7 | –0.1 | Yuga Kawada | (Taisei Divine) |
| May 8 | Tokyo | NHK Mile Cup | 1 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 18 | 18 | 7.1 (4) | 1st | 1:32.3 | 0.0 | Yuga Kawada | (Matenro Orion) |
| Oct 22 | Tokyo | Fuji Stakes | 2 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 15 | 14 | 3.6 (2) | 3rd | 1:32.1 | 0.1 | Yuga Kawada | Serifos |
| Nov 20 | Hanshin | Mile Championship | 1 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 17 | 15 | 7.3 (4) | 11th | 1:33.3 | 0.8 | Yuga Kawada | Serifos |
| Dec 11 | Sha Tin | Hong Kong Mile | 1 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 9 | 10 | 10.2 (4) | 6th | 1:34.8 | 1.4 | William Buick | California Spangle |
| 2023 – four-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| May 13 | Tokyo | Keio Hai Spring Cup | 2 | 1,400 m (Firm) | 18 | 1 | 3.6 (1) | 11th | 1:20.8 | 0.5 | Yuga Kawada | Red Mon Reve |
| Jun 4 | Tokyo | Yasuda Kinen | 1 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 18 | 6 | 67.1 (14) | 13th | 1:32.4 | 1.0 | Mirco Demuro | Songline |
| Jul 23 | Chukyo | Chukyo Kinen | 3 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 16 | 12 | 9.1 (4) | 12th | 1:34.2 | 1.2 | Kazuo Yokoyama | Selberg |
| Nov 19 | Kyoto | Mile Championship | 1 | 1,600 m (Firm) | 16 | 3 | 191.8 (15) | 13th | 1:34.0 | 1.5 | Taisei Danno | Namur |
| Dec 23 | Hanshin | Hanshin Cup | 2 | 1,400 m (Firm) | 17 | 1 | 81.1 (12) | 13th | 1:20.0 | 0.7 | Taisei Danno | Win Marvel |
| 2024 – five-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| May 11 | Tokyo | Keio Hai Spring Cup | 2 | 1,400 m (Firm) | 15 | 9 | 18.6 (6) | 4th | 1:20.2 | 0.5 | Keita Tosaki | Win Marvel |
| Jun 2 | Tokyo | Yasuda Kinen | 1 | 1,600 m (Good) | 18 | 18 | 36.9 (11) | 15th | 1:33.6 | 1.3 | Keita Tosaki | Romantic Warrior |
| Sep 8 | Chukyo | Centaur Stakes | 2 | 1,200 m (Firm) | 18 | 14 | 9.0 (5) | 12th | 1:08.3 | 0.6 | Keita Tosaki | Toshin Macau |
| Sep 29 | Nakayama | Sprinters Stakes | 1 | 1,200 m (Firm) | 16 | 11 | 158.7 (16) | 15th | 1:07.8 | 0.8 | Keita Tosaki | Lugal |
| Oct 26 | Kyoto | Swan Stakes | 2 | 1,400 m (Firm) | 17 | 12 | 31.6 (11) | 9th | 1:20.9 | 0.4 | Andrasch Starke | Danon McKinley |
| Dec 21 | Hanshin | Hanshin Cup | 2 | 1,400 m (Firm) | 18 | 2 | 120.4 (14) | 10th | 1:20.6 | 0.5 | Taisei Danno | Namura Clair |
| 2025 – six-year-old season | ||||||||||||
| Feb 22 | Kyoto | Hankyu Hai | 3 | 1,400 m (Firm) | 18 | 15 | 58.0 (13) | 8th | 1:22.1 | 0.4 | Ryuji Wada | Kanchenjunga |
| Mar 30 | Nakayama | March Stakes | 3 | 1,800 m (Good) | 15 | 11 | 72.9 (13) | 8th | 1:52.4 | 0.9 | Takuya Ono | Brian Sense |
| Apr 16 | Oi | Tokyo Sprint Race | JPN3 | 1,200 m (Good) | 15 | 9 | 20.3 (6) | 6th | 1:11.6 | 0.3 | Tsubasa Sasagawa | A Tracks |
| Jul 27 | Chukyo | Tokai Stakes | 3 | 1,400 m (Fast) | 16 | 6 | 56.0 (12) | 9th | 1:24.0 | 1.8 | Hideaki Miyuki | Yamanin Ours |
| Aug 11 | Morioka | Cluster Cup | JPN3 | 1,200 m (Good) | 14 | 9 | 15.7 (4) | 5th | 1:10.6 | 1.4 | Toshiya Yamamoto | Sunrise Amour |
| Nov 15 | Tokyo | Musashino Stakes | 3 | 1,600 m (Fast) | 16 | 10 | 139.8 (14) | 11th | 1:36.4 | 1.2 | Ryoya Kozaki | Luxor Cafe |
Legend:
Turf
Dirt
Pedigree
| Sire Lord Kanaloa (JPN) 2008 |
King Kamehameha (JPN) 2001 |
Kingmambo (USA) | Mr Prospector |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miesque | |||
| Manfath (IRE) | Last Tycoon | ||
| Pilot Bird (GB) | |||
| Lady Blossom (JPN) 1996 |
Storm Cat (USA) | Storm Bird (CAN) | |
| Terlingua | |||
| Saratoga Dew (USA) | Cormorant | ||
| Super Luna | |||
| Dam Lexie Lou (CAN) 2011 |
Sligo Bay (IRE) 1998 |
Sadler's Wells (USA) | Northern Dancer (CAN) |
| Fairy Bridge | |||
| Angelic Song (CAN) | Halo (USA) | ||
| Ballade (USA) | |||
| Oneexcessivenite (USA) 2000 |
In Excess (IRE) | Siberian Express (USA) | |
| Kantado | |||
| Favored One | Son of Briarctic | ||
| Highly Favored (Family: 9-f)[6] |
References
- ^ a b "Danon Scorpion pedigree". Equineline.
- ^ a b c d "Danon Scorpion Race Record and Form | Horse Profile". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Lord Kanaloa – Stud Record". JBIS.
- ^ "Lexie Lou Profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
- ^ "NEW LIFE". Horse Canada. 9 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ^ a b "Toxophilite Mare – Family 9-f". Thoroughbred Bloodlines. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
- ^ a b "Race Records:Lifetime Starts Danon Scorpion(JPN)". www.jbis.jp.
- ^ "Do Deuce Puts Away Favorite in Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes". Horse Racing in Japan. 19 December 2021.
- ^ "JPN Thoroughbred Rankings". Horse Racing in Japan. 23 January 2022.
- ^ "Arlington Cup result". Racing Post. 16 April 2022.
- ^ "Danon Scorpion Claims Narrow Victory in NHK Mile Cup". Horse Racing in Japan. 8 May 2022.
- ^ "Fuji Stakes (G2) Full Result | R11". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Three-Year-Old Serifos Beats Favorites in Mile Championship". japanracing.jp. Japan Association for International Racing and Stud Book (JAIRS). 20 November 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "【マイルCSレース後コメント】セリフォス D.レーン騎手ら | 競馬ニュース" [Comments after the Mile Championship Race: Jockey D. Lane of Serifos and others]. netkeiba (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ a b "The Longines Hong Kong Mile Results - Race 7". racing.hkjc.com. The Hong Kong Jockey Club. 11 December 2022. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "【京王杯ＳＣ】１番人気ダノンスコーピオンは１１着 川田将雅騎手「次につながると思います」" [[Keio Cup SC] The favorite, Danon Scorpion, came in 11th. Jockey Yuga Kawada said, "I think this will help me in the next race."]. スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). The Hochi Newspaper. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "【京王杯スプリングＣ】Ｇ１馬ダノンスコーピオンが力強く伸びて４着 戸崎圭太騎手「復活の兆しを見せてくれた」" [Keio Hai Spring Cup: G1 horse Danon Scorpion finishes fourth with a strong showing. Jockey Keita Tosaki said, "He showed signs of recovery."]. スポーツ報知 (in Japanese). The Hochi Newspaper. 11 May 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Romantic Warrior Takes First Yasuda Kinen Title in 18 Years for Hong Kong". japanracing.jp. Japan Association for International Racing and Stud Book (JAIRS). 2 June 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "MBS Sho Swan Stakes (G2) Full Result | R11". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. 26 October 2024. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Hankyu Hai (G3) Full Result | R11". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. 22 February 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ a b "22年NHKマイルC覇者ダノンスコーピオンが競走馬登録抹消、南アフリカで種牡馬入りへ" [2022 NHK Mile Cup winner Danon Scorpion has been removed from racing registration and will become a stud in South Africa]. 東スポ競馬 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports. 7 January 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Musashino Stakes (G3) Full Result | R11". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. 15 November 2025. Retrieved 12 February 2026.
- ^ "Danon Scorpion, 2022 NHK Mile Cup champion, retires to begin stud career in South Africa". netkeiba. NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. 8 January 2026. Retrieved 12 February 2026.