// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Ecoro Duel say to its opponent? "You're duel-ying with the wrong eco.
| Ecoro Duel | |
|---|---|
 Ecoro Duel at the 2025 Nakayama Daishogai | |
| Breed | Thoroughbred |
| Sire | Kitasan Black |
| Grandsire | Black Tide |
| Dam | Clarinet |
| Damsire | Giant's Causeway |
| Sex | Colt |
| Foaled | 4 May 2019 |
| Country | Japan |
| Colour | Dark bay |
| Breeder | Shimokobe Farm |
| Owner | Masanori Hara |
| Trainer |
|
| Jockey | Taro Kusano |
| Record | 26: 7-6-2 (10 flat: 1-1-1; 16 jump: 6-5-1) |
| Earnings | ¥401,251,000 |
| Major wins | |
| |
| Awards | |
| JRA Award for Best Steeplechase Horse (2025) | |
Ecoro Duel (Japanese: エコロデュエル, Ecoro Duel; foaled 4 May 2019) is a Japanese Thoroughbred steeplechase racehorse. He has competed since 2022, recording seven wins from twenty-six starts, including the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-GI) in 2025 and 2026, the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) in 2025, and the Kyoto Jump Stakes (J-GIII) in 2023.[1] He is the third horse in JRA history to win three J-GI steeplechase races.[2] He was named Best Steeplechase Horse at the 2025 JRA Awards.[1] His racing name combines "Ecoro," the owner's prefix, with "Duel" (決闘).[1]
Background
[edit source]Ecoro Duel is a dark bay colt bred in Hidaka, Hokkaido, by Shimokobe Farm.[1] He was sired by Kitasan Black, a son of Black Tide, and his dam was Clarinet, an American-bred mare by Giant's Causeway.[3] He is owned by Masanori Hara and was initially trained by Makoto Saito at the JRA's Miho Training Center before being transferred to Takaki Iwato.[1]
Racing career
[edit source]2022: three-year-old season
[edit source]Ecoro Duel debuted on 23 January 2022 in a maiden race on the turf at Kokura Racecourse, finishing seventh.[4] He finished unplaced in three subsequent maiden races before winning his fifth start at Tokyo Racecourse on 5 June.[4] He did not win again on the flat, finishing the season with one win from ten starts.[4]
2023: four-year-old season
[edit source]Ecoro Duel was switched to steeplechase racing in May 2023. He finished seventh in his first jump race at Niigata Racecourse on 7 May, then won a jump maiden race at Kyoto Racecourse on 28 May by 2.2 seconds.[4] He won a jump open race at Chukyo Racecourse on 22 July.[4] He finished tenth in the Hanshin Jump Stakes (J-GIII) on 16 September.[4] On 11 November, he won the Kyoto Jump Stakes (J-GIII) at Kyoto, defeating Asakusa Genki by 0.1 seconds.[5] He finished third in the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) on 23 December.[4]
2024: five-year-old season
[edit source]Ecoro Duel finished second in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 9 March and fourth in the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-GI) on 13 April.[4] He finished second in the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) on 13 October and second in the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) on 21 December.[4]
2025: six-year-old season
[edit source]Ecoro Duel finished fourth in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 15 March.[4] On 19 April, he won the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-GI) at Nakayama Racecourse in a race-record time of 4:50.5, recording his first J-GI victory.[4][2] After a break, he finished second in the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) on 19 October.[4] On 27 December, he won the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) at Nakayama as the 1.5 favourite, recording his second J-GI victory.[4]
2026: seven-year-old season
[edit source]Ecoro Duel finished second in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 14 March.[4] On 18 April, he won the Nakayama Grand Jump (J-GI) at Nakayama in a race-record time of 4:49.0, defeating Dinasta by 2.0 seconds and recording his third consecutive J-GI victory.[2] He is the third horse in JRA history to win three J-GI steeplechase races, and the fifth to win the Nakayama Grand Jump in consecutive years.[2]
Statistics
[edit source]Record current as of 18 April 2026.
| Date | Distance (Condition) | Race | Class | Course | Odds (Favourite) |
Field | Finish | Time | Jockey | Winning (Losing) Margin |
Winner (2nd Place) |
Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 – three-year-old season (flat) | ||||||||||||
| Jan 23 | Turf 1800 m (Heavy) | 3-Y-O Newcomer | Maiden | Kokura | 42.9 (11th) | 16 | 7th | 1:53.6 | Akatsuki Tomita | 1.7 | Tsutchi Faith | [4] |
| Feb 5 | Turf 2000 m (Good) | 3-Y-O Maiden | Maiden | Kokura | 80.7 (11th) | 14 | 11th | 2:03.4 | Akatsuki Tomita | 1.4 | Licancabur | [4] |
| Apr 24 | Turf 1800 m (Good) | 3-Y-O Maiden | Maiden | Tokyo | 42.8 (7th) | 17 | 7th | 1:48.5 | Yukito Ishikawa | 1.2 | Spider Gold | [4] |
| May 15 | Turf 2000 m (Good) | 3-Y-O Maiden | Maiden | Tokyo | 117.7 (9th) | 11 | 2nd | 2:01.0 | Yukito Ishikawa | 0.0 | Simon Baron | [4] |
| Jun 5 | Turf 2000 m (Good) | 3-Y-O Maiden | Maiden | Tokyo | 3.7 (2nd) | 10 | 1st | 2:01.9 | Yukito Ishikawa | 0.0 | (High Esteem) | [4] |
| Jun 19 | Turf 2000 m (Good) | 3-Y-O+ 1-Win | Allowance | Tokyo | 28.1 (5th) | 9 | 5th | 1:59.5 | Yukito Ishikawa | 1.5 | Parallel Vision | [4] |
| Sep 3 | Turf 2200 m (Good) | Hyoko Tokubetsu | Allowance | Niigata | 17.1 (5th) | 12 | 5th | 2:14.9 | Yukito Ishikawa | 0.8 | Justin Ver | [4] |
| Sep 17 | Turf 2000 m (Good) | 3-Y-O+ 1-Win | Allowance | Nakayama | 19.9 (8th) | 12 | 11th | 2:01.8 | Arata Saito | 2.1 | Success Shoot | [4] |
| Nov 12 | Turf 1800 m (Good) | 3-Y-O+ 1-Win | Allowance | Tokyo | 117.1 (14th) | 15 | 14th | 1:47.9 | Yukito Ishikawa | 1.4 | Seraphinite | [4] |
| Nov 26 | Turf 2400 m (Good) | 3-Y-O+ 1-Win | Allowance | Tokyo | 35.7 (6th) | 7 | 3rd | 2:27.0 | Ryuto Yokoyama | 0.9 | Struve | [4] |
| 2023 – four-year-old season (jump) | ||||||||||||
| May 7 | Jump 2890 m (Soft) | Jump 4-Y-O+ Maiden | Maiden | Niigata | 13.3 (7th) | 8 | 7th | 3:20.5 | Taro Kusano | 1.4 | Shonan Baldi | [4] |
| May 28 | Jump 2910 m (Good) | Jump 4-Y-O+ Maiden | Maiden | Kyoto | 10.1 (4th) | 9 | 1st | 3:14.5 | Taro Kusano | –2.2 | (Grand Shark) | [4] |
| Jul 22 | Jump 3330 m (Good) | Jump 3-Y-O+ Open | Open | Chukyo | 2.9 (1st) | 9 | 1st | 3:42.3 | Taro Kusano | –0.5 | (Hoshi Lumiere) | [4] |
| Sep 16 | Jump 3140 m (Good) | Hanshin Jump Stakes | J-GIII | Hanshin | 6.2 (2nd) | 14 | 10th | 3:31.7 | Taro Kusano | 6.0 | June Velocity | [4] |
| Nov 11 | Jump 3170 m (Yielding) | Kyoto Jump Stakes | J-GIII | Kyoto | 6.5 (4th) | 12 | 1st | 3:38.7 | Taro Kusano | –0.1 | (Asakusa Genki) | [5] |
| Dec 23 | Jump 4100 m (Good) | Nakayama Daishogai | J-GI | Nakayama | 9.6 (4th) | 12 | 3rd | 4:40.9 | Taro Kusano | 2.8 | Meiner Grand | [4] |
| 2024 – five-year-old season (jump) | ||||||||||||
| Mar 9 | Jump 3900 m (Good) | Hanshin Spring Jump | J-GII | Hanshin | 16.7 (5th) | 10 | 2nd | 4:25.1 | Taro Kusano | 1.2 | Meiner Grand | [4] |
| Apr 13 | Jump 4250 m (Good) | Nakayama Grand Jump | J-GI | Nakayama | 14.7 (4th) | 12 | 4th | 4:48.6 | Yuta Onodera | 1.6 | Irogotoshi | [4] |
| Oct 13 | Jump 3110 m (Good) | Tokyo High Jump | J-GII | Tokyo | 6.9 (3rd) | 9 | 2nd | 3:25.1 | Taro Kusano | 0.3 | June Velocity | [4] |
| Dec 21 | Jump 4100 m (Good) | Nakayama Daishogai | J-GI | Nakayama | 5.9 (3rd) | 9 | 2nd | 4:41.2 | Taro Kusano | 0.8 | Nishino Daisy | [4] |
| 2025 – six-year-old season (jump) | ||||||||||||
| Mar 15 | Jump 3900 m (Good) | Hanshin Spring Jump | J-GII | Hanshin | 2.3 (1st) | 8 | 4th | 4:32.6 | Taro Kusano | 0.9 | Veil Nebula | [4] |
| Apr 19 | Jump 4260 m (Good) | Nakayama Grand Jump | J-GI | Nakayama | 6.2 (5th) | 12 | 1st | R4:50.5 | Taro Kusano | –1.3 | (Neviim) | [4] |
| Oct 19 | Jump 3110 m (Good) | Tokyo High Jump | J-GII | Tokyo | 3.1 (2nd) | 10 | 2nd | 3:26.8 | Taro Kusano | 0.0 | June Velocity | [4] |
| Dec 27 | Jump 4100 m (Good) | Nakayama Daishogai | J-GI | Nakayama | 1.5 (1st) | 10 | 1st | 4:46.8 | Taro Kusano | –0.8 | (Neviim) | [4] |
| 2026 – seven-year-old season (jump) | ||||||||||||
| Mar 14 | Jump 3900 m (Good) | Hanshin Spring Jump | J-GII | Hanshin | 1.5 (1st) | 10 | 2nd | 4:30.7 | Taro Kusano | 0.0 | Dinasta | [4] |
| Apr 18 | Jump 4260 m (Good) | Nakayama Grand Jump | J-GI | Nakayama | 1.5 (1st) | 10 | 1st | R4:49.0 | Taro Kusano | –2.0 | (Dinasta) | [2] |
Pedigree
[edit source]| Sire Kitasan Black (JPN) 2012 |
Black Tide (JPN) 2001 |
Sunday Silence | Halo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wishing Well | |||
| Wind in Her Hair | Alzao | ||
| Burghclere | |||
| Sugar Heart (JPN) 2005 |
Sakura Bakushin O | Sakura Yutaka O | |
| Sakura Hagoromo | |||
| Otomegokoro | Judge Angelucci | ||
| Tizly | |||
| Dam Clarinet (USA) 2007 |
Giant's Causeway (USA) 1997 |
Storm Cat | Storm Bird |
| Terlingua | |||
| Mariah's Storm | Rahy | ||
| Immense | |||
| Legs Lawlor (USA) 2002 |
Unbridled | Fappiano | |
| Gana Facil | |||
| Evil Elaine | Medieval Man | ||
| Distinctive Elaine |
- Ecoro Duel is inbred 5 × 5 to Lyphard (sire side).[3]
- His sire Kitasan Black won the 2016 Kikuka Shō and 2017 Tennō Shō (Spring).[3]
- His dam Clarinet was imported from the United States.[3]
See also
[edit source]References
[edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 "エコロデュエル". JBIS Search (in Japanese). Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "【中山GJ】エコロデュエル圧勝で史上5頭目連覇! 自身のコースレコード1秒5更新". netkeiba (in Japanese). 18 April 2026. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "エコロデュエル - 5代血統表". JBIS Search (in Japanese). Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 "エコロデュエル 競走成績". JBIS Search (in Japanese). Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
- 1 2 "【京都ジャンプS】エコロデュエルが接戦制す！障害転向5戦目で初の重賞タイトル奪取". Sankei Sports (in Japanese). 11 November 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2026.