Satono Crown

Satono Crown
Satono Crown in February 2016
Sire	Marju
Grandsire	Last Tycoon
Dam	Jioconda
Damsire	Rossini
Sex	Stallion
Foaled	10 March 2012
Country	Japan
Colour	Bay
Breeder	Northern Racing
Owner	Hajime Satomi
Trainer	Noriyuki Hori
Record	12: 6-0-1
Earnings	£725,150
Major wins
Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (2014) Yayoi Sho (2015) Kyoto Kinen (2016, 2017) Hong Kong Vase (2016)

Satono Crown (Japanese サトノクラウン foaled 10 March 2012) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He showed promiing form as a two-year-old in 2014, winning both of his races including the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. As a three-year-old he won the Yayoi Sho, finished sixth when favourite for the Satsuki Sho, and ran third in the Tokyo Yushun. In 2016 he won the Kyoto Kinen but then displayed indifferent form before defeating a top-class international field in the Hong Kong Vase to establish himself as one of the best horses in the world over 2,400 metres.

Satono Crown is a dark bay or brown horse bred in Japan by Norther Farm. In 2013 he was entered in the Japan Select Yearling Sale and was bought for 60,900,000 JPY Hajime Satomi. The colt was sent into training with Noriyuki Hori.

He was sired by the Irish stallion Marju who finished second in the Epsom Derby and won the St James's Palace Stakes in 1991. Marju sired several other major winners including Soviet Song, My Emma, Viva Pataca and Indigenous.

Satono Crown's dam Jioconda showed good form as a racemare in Ireland, winning two of her eight races including the Listed Silken Glider Stakes in 2005. She was a descendant of Pato, a mare whose other foals included My Emma and Classic Cliche. Jioconda also produced Satono Crown's full sister Lightening Pearl.

Satono Crown made a successful racecourse debut when he won a race for previously unraced two-year-olds over 1800 metres at Tokyo Racecourse on 25 October 2014. One month later the colt was stepped up in class for the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes over the same course and distance. Ridden by Ryan Moore he started at odds of 7.1/1 and won by a neck from the favourite Avenir Marcher.