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Costa Nova Accomplish Repeat Victory in February Stakes

Second favorite Costa Nova became the third horse to claim the February Stakes two years in a row after Copano Rickey (2014-2015) and Cafe Pharoah (2021-2022). Last year, the son of Lord Kanaloa registered back-to-back wins in the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400m) and this race but was winless in the following three starts—third in the Kashiwa Kinen (Listed, dirt, 1,600m), 11th in the Sakitama Hai (Listed, dirt, 1,400m) and second in his previous Musashino Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,600m) in November. The six-year-old bay now has seven wins and a second in eight starts on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse. Trainer Tetsuya Kimura won his 15th JRA-G1 title, first since last year’s Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Regaleira. Jockey Christophe Lemaire marked his 58th JRA-G1 title after his victory in last year’s Tenno Sho (Autumn) with Masquerade Ball and third February Stakes win since Mozu Ascot (2020) and Cafe Pharoah (2021).

Costa Nova was rated in mid-division between horses in around 11th and came into the homestretch still well behind among the 16-horse field before picking up speed going the uphill stretch. Reaching contention at the furlong pole and joining a four-horse rally with Wilson Tesoro, W Heart Bond and Brian Sense as the early runners began to tire from their early efforts, the defending champion grabbed a narrow lead in the last 100 meters and continued to power on, out-finishing his rivals by half a length for a well-deserved consecutive victory.

“I am happy to have won the first G1 of this season with Costa Nova with whom I’ve partnered for some time. He broke nicely and we were able to relax during the trip behind Wilson Tesoro. I had great response from the horse as soon as I shifted him to the outside for the stretch drive and, from then on, he was extremely strong up to the wire,” commented Christophe Lemaire.

Third favorite Wilson Tesoro raced in mid-field, about a length in front of the eventual winner and at the heels of the race favorite, keeping in touch with that foe as the two began to make their bid after the last corner. Creeping up on the outside of W Heart Bond with 200 meters to go, the son of Kitasan Black managed to stick his neck in front of W Heart Bond but was soon overtaken by the winner and succumbed to second place but bested the rest by 1/2-length.

Other Horses:
4th: (3) Brian Sense—hugged rail around 11th, launched 2nd fastest late drive
5th: (1) Omega Guiness—saved ground in 4th, showed tenacious run while overtaken by top 4 finishers
6th: (15) Peptide Nile—chased leaders in 3rd, led 300m out, weakened in last 100m
7th: (13) Natural Rise—sat wide in 13th, passed tired rivals
8th: (6) Ramjet—broke poorly, trailed in rear, showed belated charge
9th: (5) Sixpence—set pace after 300m, ran gamely until 100m out
10th: (4) Perriere—took economic trip around 7th, lacked needed kick
11th: (10) Lord Couronne—stalked leader in 2nd, sustained bid until 100m out
12th: (11) Sunrise Hawk—settled near rear, angled out, had too much ground to cover
13th: (8) Sakura Toujours—positioned around 11th, never fired at stretch
14th: (7) Long Run—raced 3rd from rear, unable to reach contention
15th: (16) Saimon Xanadu—traveled wide around 8th, failed to respond
16th: (2) Happy Man—ran near pace around 4th, outrun in stretch

THE 43RD FEBRUARY STAKES (G1)
4-year-olds & up, 1,600 meters (about 8 furlongs), dirt, left-handed
Sunday, February 22, 2026        Tokyo Racecourse        11th Race         Post time: 15:40
Total prize money: ¥ 260,400,000 (about US$ 1,669,000 <US$1=¥156>)
4-y-o & up: 58kg (about 128 lbs), 2kg allowance for Fillies & Mares,
1 kg allowance for Southern Hemisphere-bred born in 2022
Course record: 1:32.9                Race record: 1:33.8 [Cafe Pharoah (USA, by American Pharoah), 2022]
Safety factor: 16 runners            Going: Standard            Weather: Fine

Turnover for the Race alone: ¥ 17,366,790,800       Turnover for the Day: ¥ 29,682,163,500       Attendance: 58,224

Winner= 14 starts: 8 wins, 2 seconds & 1 third / Added & stakes money: ¥ 153,486,000 / Career earnings: ¥ 426,545,000

* February Stakes (G1)

Japanese horse racing, which is influenced by British racing, is held mainly on turf. However, dirt tracks that were popular in the U.S., quickly became widely used around the country since the Tokyo Racecourse implemented a new dirt track in 1960. While the mainstream of major JRA races remained over turf, the February Stakes (then called February Handicap), which was established in 1984 in conjunction with the new grading system, was one of just three graded dirt races at the time—the current number of graded dirt events is 15. The race was upgraded to G2 in 1994 and then to G1 in 1997, and stood as the highest-prized event until the Japan Cup Dirt (called the Champions Cup from 2014) took over in 2000. The race also joined the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series in 2016, enabling its winners to earn automatic starting position in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1, dirt, 2,000m).
Past winners include Wing Arrow (JPN, by Assatis; ’00), Agnes Digital (USA, by Crafty Prospector; ’02), Gold Allure (JPN, by Sunday Silence; ’03), Admire Don (JPN, by Timber Country; ’04), Kane Hekili (JPN, by Fuji Kiseki; ’06), Vermilion (JPN, by El Condor Pasa; ’08), Espoir City (JPN, by Gold Allure; ’10), Transcend (JPN, by Wild Rush; ’11), Copano Rickey (JPN, by Gold Allure; ’14&’15), Gold Dream (JPN, by Gold Allure; ’17), Cafe Pharoah (USA, by American Pharoah; ’21&’22) and Lemon Pop (USA, by Lemon Drop Kid; ’23)—all twelve are winners of multiple-G1 races as well as JRA Award winners.
Defending champion Costa Nova was winless in three starts following his victory last year and had come off a second in the Musashino Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,600m; Nov.15). W Heart Bond was highly backed as the 2025 Champions Cup (G1, dirt, 1,800m; Dec.7) winner, the race in which Wilson Tesoro registered his third consecutive runner-up in the race with the 2024 Tokyo Derby (Listed, dirt, 2,000m) victor Ramjet in third and three-time turf graded winner Sixpence and 2024 February Stakes champion Peptide Nile finishing 11th and 12th, respectively. The field also included Lord Couronne, winner of the Procyon Stakes (G2, dirt, 1,800m; Jan.25), and Natural Rise who dominated two of the Dirt Triple Crown series—the Haneda Hai (Listed, dirt, 1,800m) and the Tokyo Derby last year.