Ecoro Duel

Ecoro Duel
エコロデュエル
Ecoro Duel; エコロデュエル;
	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	Masatoshi Haramura
Racing colours
Trainer	Makoto Saito; Takaki Iwato;
Jockey	Taro Kusano
Record	27: 7-6-3; (10 flat: 1-1-1; 17 jump: 6-5-2)
Earnings	¥412,296,000
Major wins
	Nakayama Grand Jump (2025, 2026); Nakayama Daishogai (2025); Kyoto Jump Stakes (2023);
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. He is the third horse in JRA history to win three J-GI steeplechase races. He was named Best Steeplechase Horse at the 2025 JRA Awards. His racing name combines "Ecoro," the owner's prefix, with "Duel" (決闘).

Background

Ecoro Duel is a dark bay colt bred in Hidaka, Hokkaido, by Shimokobe Farm. He was sired by Kitasan Black, a son of Black Tide, and his dam was Clarinet, an American-bred mare by Giant's Causeway. He is owned by Masanori Hara and was initially trained by Makoto Saito at the Miho Training Center before being transferred to Takaki Iwato.

Racing career

2022: three-year-old season

Ecoro Duel debuted on 23 January 2022 in a maiden race on the turf at Kokura Racecourse, finishing seventh. He finished unplaced in three subsequent maiden races before winning his fifth start at Tokyo Racecourse on 5 June. He did not win again on the flat, finishing the season with one win from ten starts.

2023: four-year-old season

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. He won a jump open race at Chukyo Racecourse on 22 July. He finished tenth in the Hanshin Jump Stakes (J-GIII) on 16 September. On 11 November, he won the Kyoto Jump Stakes (J-GIII) at Kyoto, defeating Asakusa Genki by 0.1 seconds. He finished third in the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) on 23 December.

2024: five-year-old season

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. He finished second in the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) on 13 October and second in the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) on 21 December.

2025: six-year-old season

Ecoro Duel finished fourth in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 15 March. 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. After a break, he finished second in the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) on 19 October. On 27 December, he won the Nakayama Daishogai (J-GI) at Nakayama as the 1.5 favourite, recording his second J-GI victory.

2026: seven-year-old season

Ecoro Duel finished second in the Hanshin Spring Jump (J-GII) on 14 March. 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. 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. Ecoro Duel made his comeback in the autumn session at the Tokyo High Jump (J-GII) in October, in which he finished in third place seven lengths behind the winner, June Velocity.

Statistics

Record current as of 18 October 2026.

Date	Distance (Condition)	Race	Class	Course	Odds (Favourite)	Field	Finish	Time	Jockey	Winning (Losing) Margin	Winner (2nd Place)
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
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
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
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
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)
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
Sep 3	Turf 2200 m (Good)	Hyoko Tokubetsu	Allowance	Niigata	17.1 (5th)	12	5th	2:14.9	Yukito Ishikawa	0.8	Justin Ver
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
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
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
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
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)
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)
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
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)
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
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
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
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
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
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
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)
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
Dec 27	Jump 4100 m (Good)	Nakayama Daishogai	J-GI	Nakayama	1.5 (1st)	10	1st	4:46.8	Taro Kusano	–0.8	(Neviim)
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
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)
Oct 18	Jump 3110 m (Good)	Tokyo High Jump	J-GII	Tokyo	1.7 (1st)	9	3rd	3:24.4	Taro Kusano	1.2	June Velocity

Pedigree

Pedigree of Ecoro Duel (JPN)
Sire Kitasan Black (JPN) 2012	Black Tide (JPN) 2001	Sunday Silence	Halo
		Sunday Silence	Wishing Well
		Wind in Her Hair	Alzao
		Wind in Her Hair	Burghclere
	Sugar Heart (JPN) 2005	Sakura Bakushin O	Sakura Yutaka O
		Sakura Bakushin O	Sakura Hagoromo
		Otomegokoro	Judge Angelucci
		Otomegokoro	Tizly
Dam Clarinet (USA) 2007	Giant's Causeway (USA) 1997	Storm Cat	Storm Bird
		Storm Cat	Terlingua
		Mariah's Storm	Rahy
		Mariah's Storm	Immense
	Legs Lawlor (USA) 2002	Unbridled	Fappiano
		Unbridled	Gana Facil
		Evil Elaine	Medieval Man
		Evil Elaine	Distinctive Elaine

Ecoro Duel is inbred 5 × 5 to Lyphard (sire side).
His sire Kitasan Black won the 2016 Kikuka Shō and 2017 Tennō Shō (Spring).
His dam Clarinet was imported from the United States.

References

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.
↑ 【東京ハイJ結果】ジューンベロシティが3連覇達成！マイネルグロン復活の2着、王者エコロデュエル3着 [[Tokyo High Jump Results] June Velocity achieves its third consecutive victory! Meiner Grand makes a comeback in second place, and champion Ecoro Duel finishes third.]. netkeiba (in Japanese). 18 October 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.
1 2 "Tokyo High-Jump (JG2) Full Result | R9". netkeiba. 18 October 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.

[jbis-1] 1 2 3 4 5 "エコロデュエル". JBIS Search (in Japanese). Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association. Retrieved 2 August 2026.

[netkeiba_gj2026-2] 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.

[jbis_ped-3] 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.

[jbis_rec-4] 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.

[sanspo_kjs2023-5] 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.

[6] 【東京ハイJ結果】ジューンベロシティが3連覇達成！マイネルグロン復活の2着、王者エコロデュエル3着 [[Tokyo High Jump Results] June Velocity achieves its third consecutive victory! Meiner Grand makes a comeback in second place, and champion Ecoro Duel finishes third.]. netkeiba (in Japanese). 18 October 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.

[thj26-7] 1 2 "Tokyo High-Jump (JG2) Full Result | R9". netkeiba. 18 October 2026. Retrieved 18 October 2026.