Lion Race Horse-owned Levante Lion (Pioneerof the Nile), sent off as the 6-1 second choice behind 4-5 favorite Monde Can Know (Jpn) (Kinshasa no Kiseki {Aus}), captured the G3 Hakodate Nisai S. by a half-length over that foe at Hakodate, Japan Sunday. The juvenile was the first stakes winner for WinStar-based Pioneerof the Nile in the Land of the Rising Sun and marks the ninth graded/group winner overall for the son of Empire Maker.
A winner at first asking over course and distance June 26, Levante Lion broke alertly and tracked from a three-deep third, as The Best Ever (Jpn) (Kinshasa No Kiseki {Aus}) covered the first 400 metres in :22 4/5, while Rush Out (Jpn) (Came Home) applied steady pressure to ensure a fast pace. Sidling up to even terms with The Best Ever leaving the bend as Rush Out faded, although still covering extra real estate from his wide perch, Kosei Miura gave the dark bay strong encouragement, and he responded with gusto, seizing command from the tiring The Best Ever in midstretch. Levante Lion fended off the late charge of Monde Can Know and was always holding that rival safe, to set a new stakes record in the process. Time Trip (Jpn) snuck up the fence and completed the trifecta.
Pedigree Notes:
By Pioneerof the Nile, who is best known as the sire of U.S. Horse of the Year, 2- and 3-year-old champion male and Triple Crown hero American Pharoah, Levante Lion becomes his sire’s 16th black-type winner. The first foal out of Ghostly Darkness (Ghostzapper), who visited the winner’s circle four times (all at a mile or more) in 11 career starts and was fifth twice at the Grade III level–in Woodbine’s GIII Mazarine S. in 2010 and in Gulfstream Park’s GIII Sabin S. in 2012–Levante Lion has a yearling half-brother by WinStar stallion Gemologist. Ghostly Darkness, out of MSW Dark Hours (Dynaformer) and a half-sister to GSW Hour of Justice (Lit de Justice) and SW Sensational Score (Wild Rush), was covered by new WinStar resident Constitution this spring. This is the same family as Chilean Group 1 hero Conquer (Chi) (Lookin At Lucky).
