Panja Tower (Japanese: パンジャタワー, Hepburn: Panja Tawā; foaled February 21, 2022) is an active Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2025 NHK Mile Cup.
He was named after his sire while bearing his owner's crown name.
Background
Panja Tower was born at Champions Farm in Hokkaido, Japan. His dam, Clarksdale, was an unraced mare purchased for ¥1.5 million (excluding tax) at the 2019 Northern Farm Broodmare Sale. Akihito Nakamura, president of Champions Farm, remarked on the colt’s early development: "He wasn’t particularly striking at birth, but his exceptional movement on Champion Hills’ training slopes made people around him say, ‘This horse runs incredibly well."
Racing career
2024: two-year-old season
Panja Tower debuted on September 8, 2024, in a 2-year-old maiden race at Chukyo Racecourse over a distance of 1200 meters on turf. He won the race by a half length victory as the favorite.
On November 2, he contested the Keio Hai Nisai Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse. Racing mid-pack under jockey Kohei Matsuyama, he swung wide into the stretch and unleashed the fastest closing speed in the field to win by a neck. This victory marked the first graded stakes win for a foal sired by Tower of London, a freshman stallion and son of Raven's Pass.
Panja Tower at Asahi Hai FS Paddock
In his next race, he was targeted to the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes on December 15 at Kyoto Racecourse as his first grade one stakes challenge. Starting as the fourth favorite, he finished 12th, unable to reproduce his devastating turn of foot. Two days later, his connections announced that he is targeted to NHK Mile Cup on spring with a warm-up race in between.
2025: three-year-old season
Panja Tower began his classic campaign in the Falcon Stakes on March 22, ridden by Yusuke Fujioka. He broke well and traveled mid-pack; he got a clear lane swinging to the home straight and chased with great speed but was unable to catch the winner. He finished fourth by three-quarters of a length to the winner.
On May 11, he ran his target race, the NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo Racecourse over a distance of 1600 meters. Starting as the 9th favorite with Kohei Matsuyama back on his saddle, he settled in the mid-pack as in his previous races. Swinging the widest in the final stretch, he unleashed his devastating speed, easily overtaking the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes winner, Admire Zoom. He held off the fast-finishing Magic Sands to win the race by a head, securing his first grade one stakes victory. Notably his sire, Tower of London, ran the same race in 2018 as the favorite and lost the race to 12th place. He is the first grade one stakes winner for Tower of London as a sire.
On August 24, Panja Tower won the Keeneland Cup. He was then sent to contest his first race abroad, the Golden Eagle in Australia, on November 1, where he finished 5th behind the local filly Autumn Glow.
2026: four-year-old season
Panja Tower started his season with an overseas G2 race, which was the 1351 Turf Sprint at King Abdulaziz Racetrack in February. He made a good run by holding on in early phase, moved to the outside track and accelerated further up reaching the third place before gassed out and finished in fifth on the line. Then, he returned to Japan and tried his luck on the Takamatsunomiya Kinen in late March as his groom, Igarashi noted that the horse suited for the sprint distances referring to his win back in the Keeneland Cup. He was touted as a third favourite of the race behind reigning champion, Satono Reve and Namura Clair. When the race began, Panja Tower positioned himself amongst the leading pack in fourth position. He joined the final rally for the win but weakened in the final strides and remained in fourth position at the wire, losing the final podium position by a neck over Win Carnelian and two and half lengths behind the eventual back to back winner, Satono Reve. In June, Panja Tower alongside Matsuyama as his rider was well prepared for the Yasuda Kinen. Breaking out from gate 16, he settled on the middle pack and pace chasing at sixth position. He gradually went up the order as the race went on and battled to the line alongside Sixpence, World's End, Gaia Force and Seiun Hades in which he finished in fifth place behind all those other horses.
In the summer, he had a run at the Keeneland Cup, a race in which he won the previous year. Out of the gate, he sprinted on the outside track in the leading group. Reaching the final corner, he swooped from the outside and gained speed but was unable to extend enough to reach the eventual winner, Sound Moryana. Matsuyama said the horse showed its strength, well-positioned, but the winner just edged them on the track. Her second race for the second half of the campaign would be in the Sprinters Stakes at the end of September. In this race, he was unable to perform well, racing mainly in eighth position before dropping down as they approached the finish line. He finished 15th, his worst finish of the career since the 2024 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes. Post race, Matsuyama commented that the track conditions made him slipping his footsteps during the race, which in turn demotivated the horse to run well on the day.
Racing statistics
Below data is based on data available on JBIS Search, NetKeiba, and Jockey Club Saudi Arabia.
↑"日本から6競走に計20頭出走 サウジカップデーの見どころ | 競馬ニュース"[A total of 20 horses from Japan will compete in 6 races: Highlights of Saudi Cup Day]. netkeiba (in Japanese). NET DREAMERS, Co., Ltd. 14 February 2026. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
↑【キーンランドC】松山弘平騎手「この馬の力は示してくれたのでは」パンジャタワー2着でレース史上初の連覇逃すも[[Keeneland Cup] Jockey Kohei Matsuyama: "I think this horse showed its strength." Panja Tower finished second, missing out on becoming the first horse in the race's history to win back-to-back titles.]. netkeiba (in Japanese). 23 August 2026. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
↑【札幌11RキーンランドC】1番人気パンジャタワーが2着 松山「この馬の力を示してくれました」[[Sapporo 11R Keeneland Cup] Favorite Panjatower finishes second. Matsuyama: "This horse showed its strength."]. netkeiba (in Japanese). 23 August 2026. Retrieved 23 August 2026.
↑【スプリンターズS】2番人気パンジャタワー15着大敗 松山「ノメって馬の気持ちが切れてしまった」[[Sprinters Stakes] Second favorite Panjatower finishes a disappointing 15th. Matsuyama: "The horse slipped and lost its motivation."]. netkeiba (in Japanese). 27 September 2026. Retrieved 27 September 2026.
