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" ().

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.

Statistics 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) Ref2022 – three-year-old season (flat) Turf 1800 m (Heavy) 3-Y-O Newcomer Maiden Kokura 42.9 (11th) 16 7th 1:53.6 Akatsuki Tomita 1.7 Tsutchi Faith Turf 2000 m (Good) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Kokura 80.7 (11th) 14 11th 2:03.4 Akatsuki Tomita 1.4 Licancabur Turf 1800 m (Good) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Tokyo 42.8 (7th) 17 7th 1:48.5 Yukito Ishikawa 1.2 Spider Gold Turf 2000 m (Good) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Tokyo 117.7 (9th) 11 2:01.0 Yukito Ishikawa 0.0 Simon Baron Turf 2000 m (Good) 3-Y-O Maiden Maiden Tokyo 3.7 (2nd) 10 2:01.9 Yukito Ishikawa 0.0 (High Esteem) 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 Turf 2200 m (Good) Hyoko Tokubetsu Allowance Niigata 17.1 (5th) 12 5th 2:14.9 Yukito Ishikawa 0.8 Justin Ver 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 Turf 1800 m (Good) 3-Y-O+ 1-Win Allowance Tokyo 117.1 (14th) 15 14th 1:47.9 Yukito Ishikawa 1.4 Seraphinite Turf 2400 m (Good) 3-Y-O+ 1-Win Allowance Tokyo 35.7 (6th) 7 2:27.0 Ryuto Yokoyama 0.9 Struve2023 – four-year-old season (jump) 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 Jump 2910 m (Good) Jump 4-Y-O+ Maiden Maiden Kyoto 10.1 (4th) 9 3:14.5 Taro Kusano –2.2 (Grand Shark) Jump 3330 m (Good) Jump 3-Y-O+ Open Open Chukyo 2.9 (1st) 9 3:42.3 Taro Kusano –0.5 (Hoshi Lumiere) Jump 3140 m (Good) Hanshin Jump Stakes J-GIII Hanshin 6.2 (2nd) 14 10th 3:31.7 Taro Kusano 6.0 June Velocity Jump 3170 m (Yielding) Kyoto Jump Stakes J-GIII Kyoto 6.5 (4th) 12 3:38.7 Taro Kusano –0.1 (Asakusa Genki) Jump 4100 m (Good) Nakayama Daishogai J-GI Nakayama 9.6 (4th) 12 4:40.9 Taro Kusano 2.8 Meiner Grand2024 – five-year-old season (jump) Jump 3900 m (Good) Hanshin Spring Jump J-GII Hanshin 16.7 (5th) 10 4:25.1 Taro Kusano 1.2 Meiner Grand Jump 4250 m (Good) Nakayama Grand Jump J-GI Nakayama 14.7 (4th) 12 4th 4:48.6 Yuta Onodera 1.6 Irogotoshi Jump 3110 m (Good) Tokyo High Jump J-GII Tokyo 6.9 (3rd) 9 3:25.1 Taro Kusano 0.3 June Velocity Jump 4100 m (Good) Nakayama Daishogai J-GI Nakayama 5.9 (3rd) 9 4:41.2 Taro Kusano 0.8 Nishino Daisy2025 – six-year-old season (jump) Jump 3900 m (Good) Hanshin Spring Jump J-GII Hanshin 2.3 (1st) 8 4th 4:32.6 Taro Kusano 0.9 Veil Nebula Jump 4260 m (Good) Nakayama Grand Jump J-GI Nakayama 6.2 (5th) 12 Taro Kusano –1.3 (Neviim) Jump 3110 m (Good) Tokyo High Jump J-GII Tokyo 3.1 (2nd) 10 3:26.8 Taro Kusano 0.0 June Velocity Jump 4100 m (Good) Nakayama Daishogai J-GI Nakayama 1.5 (1st) 10 4:46.8 Taro Kusano –0.8 (Neviim)2026 – seven-year-old season (jump) Jump 3900 m (Good) Hanshin Spring Jump J-GII Hanshin 1.5 (1st) 10 4:30.7 Taro Kusano 0.0 Dinasta Jump 4260 m (Good) Nakayama Grand Jump J-GI Nakayama 1.5 (1st) 10 Taro Kusano –2.0 (Dinasta)

Pedigree

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.

See also Thoroughbred racing in Japan Nakayama Grand Jump Nakayama Daishogai

References