IRL:El Condor Pasa

Main

Gallery

IRL

Game

Party Dash

El Condor Pasa
エルコンドルパサー
Main
El Condor Pasa winning the 1998 Japan Cup.
Silks
Romaji	Eru Kondoru Pasā
Foaled	March 17, 1995
Died	July 16, 2002
Sire	Kingmambo
Dam	Saddlers Gal
Sex	Stallion
Color	Dark Bay
Trainer	Yoshitaka Ninomiya
Race Record	11: 8-3-0
Earnings	376,078,000 JPY 3,800,000 franc
Major wins
Kyodo News Hai Yonsai Stakes (1998) New Zealand Trophy (1998) NHK Mile Cup (1998) Japan Cup (1998) Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (1999) Prix Foy (1999)

The Major Achievement

The Major Achievement

So El Condor Pasa flew to France, aiming for the autumn.
Running at some races, gradually getting used to there, and tried Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
This is not easy. It costs high for the expedition, and risks increased if environments are changed.
But, owner Takashi Watanabe, and his team made their minds, and completed what they have to do,
That's why he achieved the second place at l'Arc, enough to be applauded by overseas media.
― You can feel like understanding a bucephalus in three minutes, by Junko Hosoe

El Condor Pasa was an American-bred, Japanese-trained racehorse that was active from 1997 to 1999. He became the beacon of hope for all Japanese racehorses to run at the prestigious Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after placing 2nd against Montjeu in 1999.

Name Origin

El Condor Pasa's name comes from the Peruvian zarzuela song, El Cóndor Pasa. Owner Watanabe named him that after an upperclassmen he looked up to who lived in Peru, and expanding his sire's name "Mambo" to wider South American music. This is the owner's 2nd horse named El Condor Pasa, the first one was euthanized before debut from a fracture.

Racing career

Two-year old season (1997)

El Condor Pasa made his debut on November 8th in a 1,600-meter dirt race on Tokyo Racecourse. Dirt was chosen because Ninomiya Yoshitaka believed that it was too soon to have him challenge turf races since he was still developing. Despite a late start, he won the race by taking the lead and holding off the horses charging from behind. This was his only race in the year, and he won it by seven lengths.

Three-year old season (1998)

Two months later on January 11th, he won another race once again, where he won by nine lengths despite suffering from a late start. He then competed in the listed Kyodo News Hai on February 15th, where he won the race by two lengths after escaping from the pack in the final straight. After the race, El Condor Pasa won the New Zealand Trophy (G2) on April 26th, his first graded victory and his 1st victory on a turf track.

Challenge the NHK Mile Cup on May 17th, El Condor Pasa ran within the pack, and broke out in the final corner. Holding off the horses from behind, he won by three-quarters of a length, making the race not just his first G1 victory, but Ninomiya's as well. It was also decided to have his jockey switch from Hitoshi Matoba to Masayoshi Ebina since Grass Wonder, a horse he also jockeyed at the time, may compete with El Condor Pasa soon.

After that, it was initially planned to have him challenge the Mile Championship in the autumn, but this plan was later changed to having him compete in the Japan Cup. Months later, on October 11th, El Condor Pasa suffered his first defeat when he placed 2nd to the runway horse Silence Suzuka. Worried about this loss, Takashi Watanabe, his owner, wondered if it would be selfish to enter him in the Japan Cup. When he talked to Ninomiya about his concerns for El Condor Pasa, he responded "he can win no matter where he goes."

With this reassurance in mind, it was decided to have him challenge the Japan Cup on November 29th. Running within the pack, El Condor Pasa waited patiently until he reached the final corner, where he immediately began to surge past the horses in front and take the lead. Continuing to widen the gap, he held off Special Week and Air Groove who were chasing him from behind, and he won the race by two lengths and a half. That race marked the first time the top three winners are Japanese-trained horses.

For his victories throughout the year, El Condor Pasa received the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt.

Four-year old season (1999)

It was announced by Watanabe that El Condor Pasa would challenge races overseas in France, in order to prepare for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Arriving to France on April 15th, he prepared for the Prix de Ispahan coming up on May 23rd, his first G1 race in France. Despite placing 2nd in the race by a small margin, it was believed that he could still challenge the l'Arc.

On June 2nd, it was then announced that El Condor Pasa would retire by the end of the year to perform stud duty at Shadai Stallion Farm. Though he was set to compete in the Prince of Wales Stakes, a G2 race in England, it was decided to have him stay in France. A month later, on July 4th, El Condor Pasa challenged another G1 race, the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud. Running within the pack, he began to break out of the pack in the final straight and won by two lengths, making the race his first overseas victory.

However, shortly after the race, it was discovered that not only did El Condor Pasa have two wounds on his right leg, but those wounds were also infected by bacteria, causing inflammation. Because of this, his training continued in August instead of late July as planned. He then competed in the Prix Foy (G2) on September 12th, where due to the poor track condition, only three horses, himself included, participated in the race. He overtook Borgia who was ahead of him and won the race by a neck, achieving his final overseas victory.

On October 3rd, El Condor Pasa challenged his final race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. At the time of the race, the track's condition was at its worst as holes were sighted over the racecourse but it didn't stopped the horses from racing. Leading the pack, El Condor Pasa continued to accelerate throughout the race. However, Montjeu, who was behind him, gradually began to advance and overtake the other horses. Despite widening the gap, Montjeu quickly caught up to him in the homestretch, causing El Condor Pasa to lose by half a length. Despite this loss however, non-Japanese fans cheered him on from the stands for his efforts against Montjeu. Montjeu's trainer, John E. Hammond, also stated that El Condor Pasa would have won if the track was firm since Montjeu's specialty was soft or heavy tracks.

He returned to Japan on October 11th. When he arrived at the airport, he was greeted with a banner that read "Congratulations to the World's Stayer, El Condor Pasa". Though the Japan Racing Association wanted Watanabe to enter him in the Japan Cup, he refused the offer. On the day of November 28th, after the Japan Cup where Special Week defeated Montjeu, a retirement ceremony was held for him at Tokyo Racecourse. Deregistered on the same day, he then retired to perform stud duty.

El Condor Pasa was awarded the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse and Japanese Horse of the Year. Years later in 2014, he was posthumously inducted into the JRA Hall of Fame.

Retirement and Death

After retirement, El Condor Pasa became a stud horse, resting at Shadai Stallion Station in Hayakita (now Abira), Hokkaido, and began breeding in 2000. His first crop of offspring were born in 2001 and became eligible to race in 2003. On December 25th, 2004, Vermilion won the Radio Tampa Hai Nisai Stakes, becoming the first graded stakes winner among his progeny. On October 22th, 2006, Song Of Wind claimed victory in the Kikuka Sho, becoming the first G1 winner among El Condor Pasa's offsprings.

El Condor Pasa died on July 16th, 2002 due to colic at the age of 7.

Honors

• JRA Best 3-year-old Colt (1998)
• JRA Best Older Colt or Horse (1999)
• JRA Horse of the Year (1999)
• JRA Hall of Fame (inducted in 2014)

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
1997/11/08	Tokyo	Three-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	D 1600m	6	2.5	1	1	1:39.3	-1.1	H.Matoba	(Mandarin Star)
1998/01/11	Nakayama	Four-Year-Old Pre-OP	Pre-OP	D 1800m	11	1.3	1	1	1:52.3	-1.5	H.Matoba	(Taiho Unryu)
1998/02/15	Tokyo	Kyodo News Hai	Listed	D 1600m	8	1.2	1	1	1:36.9	-0.3	H.Matoba	(Hyper Nakayama)
1998/04/26	Tokyo	New Zealand Trophy	G2	T 1400m	17	2.0	1	1	1:22.2	-0.3	H.Matoba	(Sugino Cutie)
1998/05/17	Tokyo	NHK Mile Cup	G1	T 1600m	9	1.8	1	1	1:33.7	-0.3	H.Matoba	(Shinko Edward)
1998/10/11	Tokyo	Mainichi Okan	G2	T 1800m	4	5.3	3	2	1:45.3	0.4	M.Ebina	Silence Suzuka	Silence Suzuka, Grass Wonder
1998/11/29	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	11	6.0	3	1	2:25.9	-0.4	M.Ebina	(Air Groove)	Air Groove, Special Week, Stay Gold
1999/05/23	Longchamp	Prix d'Ispahan	G1	T 1850m	2			2		0.0	M.Ebina	Croco Rouge
1999/07/04	Saint-Cloud	Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud	G1	T 2400m	1			1	2:28.8	0.0	M.Ebina	(Tiger Hill)
1999/09/12	Longchamp	Prix Foy	G2	T 2400m	1			1	2:31.4	0.0	M.Ebina	(Borgia)
1999/10/03	Longchamp	Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe	G1	T 2400m	2			2		0.0	M.Ebina	Montjeu	Montjeu

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of El Condor Pasa (USA)

Sire Kingmambo (USA)	Mr. Prospector (USA)	Raise a Native (USA)	Native Dancer (USA)
			Raise You (USA)
		Gold Digger (USA)	Nashua (USA)
			Sequence (USA)
	Miesque (USA)	Nureyev (USA)	Northern Dancer (CAN)
			Special (USA)
		Pasadoble (USA)	Prove Out (USA)
			Santa Quilla (FR)
Dam Saddlers Gal (IRE)	Sadler's Wells (USA)	Northern Dancer (CAN)	Nearctic (CAN)
			Natalma (USA)
		Fairy Bridge (USA)	Bold Reason (USA)
			Special (USA)
	Glenveagh (USA)	Seattle Slew (USA)	Bold Reasoning (USA)
			My Charmer (USA)
		Lisadell (USA)	Forli (ARG)
			Thong (USA), (Family: 5-h)