Satono Reve

Satono Reve (サトノレーヴ, 里見夢境, born March 22, 2019) is a Japanese thoroughbred racehorse.^[1] His major victories include the 2025 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, the 2024 Hakodate Sprint Stakes, and the 2024 Keeneland Cup. The horse's name is derived from the prefix 'Satono' + 'dream' (French: rêve).^[2]

Satono Reve was born on March 22, 2019, at Shirai Farm in Hidaka, Hokkaido. Later that year, he was sold at the Japanese Select Sale for 54 million yen^[a] (excluding tax) to Satomi Horse Company Co., Ltd.

Afterwards, he was brought into training under Noriyuki Hori at Miho Training Center.

Satono Reve's debut was late; he made his first appearance on April 10, 2022, at Nakayama on the turf over 1600 meters in a race for three-year-old maidens, ridden by Shu Ishibashi. He stayed in second place during the race, took the lead in the stretch, and held off a challenge from Iwakuni, who came from mid-pack, by half a length to win his debut. In the Nagamambe Special on July 2, he stayed in mid-pack before making his move on the outside in the straight but was narrowly beaten by Rakiata, who went ahead, finishing second. After a one-week break, in the July 17 race at Hakodate on turf over 1200 meters for three-year-old and above, he saved his energy in third place and overtook Hinokuni, who tried to hold the lead, in the final stretch to secure his second win. On October 1, in the Katsuura Special, he tracked in second, made his move in the straight, and pulled away to win his third race by two lengths.

In the Suzaku Stakes on April 29, 2023, which marked his first race as a four-year-old, he ran tenaciously from a good position and took the lead, ultimately winning his fourth race by half a length over Il Cuore who had set the pace, thereby entering the open class. However, he subsequently went on a long-term break due to injury.

Satono Reve returned in the GIII Hankyu Hai on February 25, 2024, and raced in second and third position but could not finish strongly in the stretch, ending up in fourth place. On April 14, in the listed Harurai Stakes , he made a sharp move from mid-pack in the final stretch and narrowly defeated Thermal Wind, who was closing from a good position, to achieve his first open-class victory.^[3] On June 9, in the GIII Hakodate Sprint Stakes, he tracked in fourth or fifth position before breaking through from the inside in the stretch, ultimately winning comfortably by 1 1/4 lengths over Wing Greatest, marking his first graded race victory.^[4]

On August 25, in the Keeneland Cup, a trial race for the Sprinters Stakes, he ran in a good position and accelerated strongly in the final stretch, winning by 1 1/2 lengths over Eishin Spotter and achieving consecutive graded race victories.^[5] On September 30, in his first GI challenge at the Sprinters Stakes, he was the favourite but finished seventh due to a poor start. ^[6]

In his final race of the year on December 8, in the Hong Kong Sprint, he stayed in mid-pack on the inside and showed a strong finish in the stretch, but could not catch the overwhelming favourite Ka Ying Rising and was overtaken from the outside by Helios Express, finishing third.^[7]

Satono Reve's six-year-old season began with the Takamatsunomiya Kinen on March 30. Staying in the middle of the pack during the race, he broke through the field in the final stretch and held off Namura Claire by three-quarters of a length to win. This marked his first Group One victory and the father-son triumph with his sire, Lord Kanaloa. ^[8][9]

However, jockey João Moreira received a warning for veering outward in the final straight, affecting Namura Claire.^[10] Next, he ran in the Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin Racecourse in Hong Kong on April 27. Following closely behind Ka Ying Rising at the fourth corner, he tried to make a move but was overtaken in the straight, finishing second by two and a quarter lengths.^[11]

Afterward, it was decided to move on to the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Ascot Racecourse in England on June 21. On May 3, Satono Reve arrived at Heathrow Airport from Hong Kong via Dubai and then moved to James Horton’s stable in Newmarket, Suffolk for his stay.^[12] In the race, continuing with the partnership with João Moreira, it started from the far outside gate 16 but delivered a strong performance, finishing second by half a length behind the winner, Lazaat. This was only the second time in 25 years that a Japanese horse finished in the top two at Royal Ascot since Agnes World (however, the King’s Stand Stakes in which Agnes World placed was classified as G2 at the time and was promoted to G1 only in 2008. Therefore, if limited to G1 races at Royal Ascot, Satono Reve is the first Japanese horse in history to achieve this).

Satono Reve's next race would be the 2025 Sprinters Stakes, where he started as the first favourite but came fourth behind Namura Clair, June Blair and Win Carnelian.^[13] In the end of the year, Satono Reve entered the Hong Kong Sprint for the second time but ended up in frustrating ninth place where the defending champion Ka Ying Rising defeated his competition and earned his 16th consecutive victory.^[14] His jockey, Ryan Moore, noted that the horse was in good condition and calm but the pace of the race increased rapidly, causing them to lose out early and thus not allowing them to finish in their usual style.^[15] At the end of the season, Satono Reve was awarded the JRA Award for Best Sprinter or Miler.^[16]

Satono Reve had run in 16 races and win eight of them with four placed finish. This data is based on JBIS, netkeiba, SCMP and SkySports.^{[17][18][19][20][21][22]}

Legend:
  Turf