Durandal

Background

Durandal was born on May 25, 1999, at Shadai Farm in Chitose, Hokkaido. His dam, Sawayaka Princess, one of Northern Taste's foals, had won four races on both turf and dirt at short distances during her racing career, His sire, Sunday Silence, had already been named Japan’s Leading Sire at that time, and this was his fifth mating with Sawayaka Princess. The horse’s name was inspired by the royal connotations of his dam’s name, and the majestic image of his sire. He was named “Durandal” after the sacred sword bestowed upon the hero Roland by Charlemagne in the French epic poem, the Song of Roland.

Racing career

2001–2002: two & three-year-old seasons

In December 2001, Durandal made his debut in a maiden race at Hanshin Racecourse. Ridden by Yutaka Take, he lived up to his status as the favorite (win odds of 1.4) and secured the victory. However, he subsequently developed osteochondroma and, with no clear prospect of recovery, was sidelined for an extended period. He returned in August 2002 and, starting with his second race back—the Chikushi Tokubetsu—won three consecutive conditional races.

In his first-ever GI start, the Mile Championship on November 7, 2002, he ran as the seventh favorite at 19.5-to-1 odds. Although he showed a strong late charge from the back of the pack in a tightly contested race, he finished in 10th place. In light of this defeat, Durandal’s team concluded that “he is not a horse capable of competing in GI races” and decided to enter him in two open races. In the December Stakes on December 14, jockey Masayoshi Ebina rode him in a relatively forward position, but he finished fourth.

2003: four-year-old season

In the New Year’s Stakes in January 2003, Ebina remained in the saddle; however, unlike in his previous race, Durandal made a late charge from the back of the pack to win the race, securing his first victory in an open race. In the subsequent Nakayama Kinen on March 2, with Yoshitomi Shibata taking over as jockey, he started as the fifth favorite but suffered a crushing defeat, finishing ninth in a field of 11.

After the defeat in the Nakayama Kinen, the horse was given a rest and returned to racing in the Centaur Stakes on September 14, switching to jockey Kenichi Ikezoe, who would ride him until his retirement. Durandal started as the fourth favorite, while his full sister, Maruka Sawayaka, started as the tenth favorite. In the race, he ran from the back of the pack, biding his time, and in the final stretch, he closed in on the front-runners Tenshi no Kiseeki and Believe from behind but finished in third place.

In the wake of this defeat, trainer Masahiro Sakaguchi had been considering entering the horse in the Port Island Stakes, an Open race, for its next start, but jockey Ikezoe suggested, “Let’s go for the Sprinters’ Stakes,” urging him to enter the Grade I race. Ikezoe reasoned, “Since we lost the Centaur Stakes due to my own mistake, if I can ride him well, we might have a chance in a GI race,” and appealed directly to Sakaguchi; the team accepted this and decided to enter the race. However, leading up to the race, Sakaguchi remained concerned about Durandal’s temperament and stated, “Just making the board would be enough.”

In the Sprinters’ Stakes on October 5, Believe—a two-time GI winner making her retirement race—was the favorite at 2.2-to-1 odds, while Durandal was the fifth favorite at 8.1-to-1 odds. In the race, he started from the very back of the field, with Tenshin no Kiseeki and Believe leading the front group, followed by popular contenders such as Lady Blonde and Admire Max. As the field entered the home stretch from the final turn, Believe broke away to take the lead, but Durandal made a furious charge from the far outside and overtook Believe just before the finish line to claim his first graded stakes and Grade I victory. In this race, he recorded a final three-furlong split of 33.1 seconds, the fastest among the 15 runners. After the race, Ikezoe commented, “This horse’s second and third strides are a bit slow. After that, it was business as usual. The response when I gave the go-ahead was incredible. (Omitted) His finishing kick is top-class. I definitely don’t think he’s just a 1,200-meter horse, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he does next,” while Sakaguchi remarked, “On a course with a hill, 1,200 meters is fine, but on a flat course, I think a slightly longer distance would suit him better,” hinting at their confidence in his finishing kick and their intention to challenge him at even longer distances.

2004: five-year-old season

In 2004, the campaign began with the Takamatsunomiya Kinen held at Chukyo Racecourse. At that time, Chukyo Racecourse had not yet undergone renovations, so it featured conditions often considered disadvantageous for closing horses—a “flat” track and a “tight” turn—and Sakaguchi cited this as a cause for concern. Furthermore, this was Durandal’s first race on a left-handed course, and the short 314-meter home stretch was also problematic for his running style. On the other hand, in the day’s odds, Durandal was the favorite at 3.6-to-1 for the win, followed by Sunningdale as the second favorite at 4.3-to-1. In the race, Durandal closed from the back of the pack down the stretch but fell just a neck short of Sunningdale, finishing second. After the race, jockey Ikezoe said, “It’s frustrating. My horse showed the best speed. My horse is the strongest. It’s just that a horse that raced more skillfully (Sunningdale) won today; it was by no means a loss due to a lack of ability,” he said, revealing his frustration while showing absolute confidence in the horse’s ability. Later, Ikezoe spoke about this race in relation to Durandal’s temperament, noting that because Durandal was a horse that only needed to accelerate in the home stretch, he was not well-suited to the Chukyo Racecourse before its renovation, where the home stretch was short.

After finishing second in the Takamatsunomiya Kinen, the team had planned to run in the Yasuda Kinen next, but the horse developed a cracked hoof on his right front leg and was withdrawn from the race. As a result, he was sent to Shadai Farm for pasture rest a little earlier than planned, and a farrier was flown in from the United States to treat the cracked hoof by securing it with wire.

Thanks in part to the efforts of Durandal’s team, a return to racing was on the horizon by fall, and he entered the Sprinters’ Stakes on October 3 without any preparatory races following his long layoff. On race day at Nakayama Racecourse, rain fell, resulting in a heavy track; furthermore, for Durandal—whose strength lay in making his move down the stretch from the far outside—starting from gate 1 in the first stall made positioning particularly difficult. In the race, the fifth-favorite, Carston Light O, broke away from the inside gate, while the top favorite, Sunningdale, and the second favorite, Durandal, settled in at the back of the pack. Durandal moved up along the far outside with 600 meters to go. However, in contrast to the horses behind him who struggled on the heavy track, he was unable to close the gap on Carston Light O, who continued to lead. Durandal was the only horse to surge from the far outside and break away from the second-place group to close in on the leader, but he ultimately finished second, four lengths behind Carston Light O.

2005: six-year-old season

In 2005, Durandal developed laminitis, one of the most fatal diseases for horses. Although it was thought he would be unable to continue his racing career and he entered a long layoff, he made his comeback on October 2 of that year in the Sprinters’ Stakes—his first race in 10 months. Despite the long layoff, he was the second favorite at 3.8-to-1 odds, while the favorite was Silent Witness—the two-time consecutive winner of the Hong Kong Sprint—at 2.0-to-1 odds. In the race, he stayed in the rear before unleashing the fastest final three-furlong split of his career at 32.7 seconds, but fell just short of Silent Witness, finishing in second place. Notably, this final three-furlong time remains the fastest in the history of the Sprinters Stakes as of 2026. Looking back on the race years later, Ikezoe remarked, “Even though it was his first race in about 10 months, he finished second right off the bat behind Silent Witness. I was truly impressed—he really was a remarkable horse.”

He then competed in the Mile Championship on November 20, aiming to become the first horse in history to win three consecutive Group 1 races organized by the Japan Racing Association. He was the overwhelming favorite at 1.5-to-1 odds on race day and recorded the fastest final stretch time among the field but finished eighth behind Hat Trick. He retired from racing after this race and began his career as a stallion at Shadai Stallion Station.

Racing Record

Durandal's racing statistics taken from both netkeiba and JBIS are shown below.

Stud career

Durandal became a stud at the Shadai Stallion Station in Abira, Hokkaido. From 2005 until 2013, he bred with 857 mares, produced 513 foals, registered 488 out of them, and earned ¥5,616,913,000 in progeny winnings with AEI of 0.95.

On July 7, 2013, he was found dead in his stall. Miki Endo of Thoroughbred Breeders’ Club Co., Ltd. announced that the cause of death was suspected to be a heart attack.

Notable progeny

Below data is based on JBIS Stallion Reports.

bold = grade 1 stakes

c = colt, f = filly

In popular culture

An anthropomorphized version of Durandal appears as a character in the Japanese multimedia franchise Umamusume: Pretty Derby, voiced by Kana Nogi.She is depicted as a knightly, chivalrous girl, as well as the roommate and rival of Calstone Light O, who models herself after medieval knights and views her races as “wielding a holy sword,” seeking to develop her late-race spurt into a “keenly-cutting blade.” In reality, her knightly persona developed from her early childhood of reading about knighthood from adventure tales, which gradually developed into a means to receive praise from those closest to her, such as the player trainer.

Pedigree

Durandal's half-brother, Saikyo Sunday, won a graded stakes race, the Chunichi Sports Award 4-Year-Old Stakes.

Durandal's half-sister, Maruka Sawayaka, recorded five wins in 39 starts, primarily in short-distance races.