Justin Milano

Justin Milano (Japanese: ジャスティンミラノ, foaled April 9, 2021) is an active Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the Satsuki Shō (Japanese 2000 Guineas) in 2024.

He was named after Milan, a city in Italy, while "Justin" is the eponym used by the owner.

2023: two-year-old-season
Justin Milano debuted on November 11, 2023, at the Tokyo Racecourse in a two-year-old newcomer race on turf at a distance of 2,000 meters, ridden by Tom Marquand. He settled in front of the pack and pulled away fast at the final stretch to win his debut race.

2024: three-year-old season
Justin Milano would make his first graded stakes race debut at the Kyodo Tsushin Hai on February 11, 2024. Ridden by Keita Tosaki, he settled in just behind the leader and moved forward after entering the final stretch in response to Tosaki's urging to take the lead, managing to successfully hold off last year's Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner Jantar Mantar to win by one and a half horse lengths. On February 28, it was announced by his connections that he was registered to compete in the Epsom Derby.

Canceling the previous plan to enter the Epsom Derby, he was instead scheduled to race at the Satsuki Shō (Japanese 2000 Guineas) on April 14. He broke well off from the gates at the start of the race and settled in at the middle of the pack near the front. Entering into the final straight, he overtook Jantar Mantar who took the lead early and managed to hold off the fast-finishing Cosmo Kuranda, breaking the track record by 0.7 seconds at a time of 1:57.1 seconds. This was his first grade one stakes victory. A week before the race, jockey Kota Fujioka, who rode for him whenever he was training, died in a horseracing accident. His jockey, Keita Tosaki, said, "Kota was the one who trained with this horse a few weeks ago. He gave me the information I needed about the horse. I won this race because of him." His trainer, Yasuo Tomomichi, said with tears in his eyes, "I owe this victory to him (Kota)." This victory marked the first time that a Kizuna offspring won one of the eight major races in Japanese horseracing.

He ran in the Tōkyō Yūshun as scheduled on May 26. He was the most favored horse to win by post time. After settling in near the front throughout the early and middle parts of the race, he moved up in the final straight but failed to pass Danon Decile, who had burst out from the inner lane near the fence. He finished second place, trailing behind by two lengths.

Racing statistics
Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search, and NetKeiba.

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