IRL:Titleholder

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Spoilers ahead! This page contains real life information that may spoil any story or events related to the character. Read at your own discretion!

Titleholder
タイトルホルダー
Main
Titleholder winning the Tenno Sho (Spring) in 2022.
Silks
Romaji	taitoruhorudā
Foaled	February 10, 2018
Sire	Duramente
Dam	Mowen
Sex	Stallion
Color	Bay
Owner	Hiroshi Yamada
Trainer	Toru Kurita
Race Record	19: 7-3-1
Earnings	1,068,751,000 JPY
Major wins
Yayoi Sho (2021) Kikuka Sho (2021) Tenno Sho (Spring) (2022) Takarazuka Kinen (2022) Nikkei Sho (2022, 2023)

His name is Titleholder

His name is Titleholder

The resolve to bear that name.
To those who have overcome the pressure,
There is nothing left to fear.
JRA Hero Retsuden No.93, 2022

Titleholder is a Japanese racehorse that was active from 2020 to 2023. He was the first foal of Duramente to win a graded race. He is also the first horse in 23 years to win the Kikuka Sho as a front-running horse since Seiun Sky last did in 1998, which earned him the nickname of "Reiwa's Seiun Sky".

Name Origin

His name means “championship holder”. This name was decided because his sire, grandsire, and great-grandsire all won a Derby race.

Racing career

Two-year-old season (2020)

Titleholder made his debut on October 4th, in a 1,800-meter turf race on Nakayama Racecourse. As the overwhelming favorite, he won the race. On November 23rd, he then competed in the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes (G3), his first attempt at a graded race, but lost and placed 2nd to Danon the Kid. He lost to him once again on December 26th in the Hopeful Stakes, and placed 4th.

Three-year-old season (2021)

Months later, Titleholder started the year off with the Yayoi Sho (G2) on March 7th. He took the lead throughout the race, and held off the charging Schnell Meister and Danon the Kid. As he won his first graded race, Titleholder was granted priority entry into the Satsuki Sho on April 18th. While there were plans to have him avoid the Satsuki Sho and Japanese Derby and have him only enter the Kikuka Sho, but it was decided to have him challenge all three Triple Crown races. It was also decided to have him compete in the Tenno Sho (Spring) and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe when he would turn four.

Titleholder once again ran in the front, as Efforia was right behind him. While Titleholder was initially in the lead, Efforia began to catch up and overtake him, and continued to widen the gap. As Efforia won the race, Titleholder was left in 2nd place. He then competed in the Japanese Derby on May 30th, where Titleholder attempted to hold onto the lead once again, but lost momentum and placed 6th to Shahryar.

After taking a break in Hokkaido, Titleholder returned to compete in the St. Lite Kinen (G2) on September 20th. While he was the overwhelming favorite, he struggled during the race and placed 13th, the lowest in his career. Regardless, he was set for the Kikuka Sho as planned on October 24th, in which the race was held at Hanshin Racecourse for the first time in 42 years. Because Efforia was running in the Tenno Sho (Autumn), and Shahryar was going to run in the Japan Cup a month later, both of them were absent for the race.

During the race, Titleholder ran in the front and held the lead throughout. Though he briefly slowed his pace, he continued to hold onto his position, and by the final corner, he began to gradually widen the gap. As he accelerated towards the finish line, he won the race by five lengths. Not only was this his first G1 victory, it was also the first time in 23 years that a front-running horse won the Kikuka Sho since Seiun Sky in 1998. This was also a father-son victory between Titleholder's jockey Norihiro Yokoyama, as his father Tomio Yokoyama won the Kikuka Sho with Seiun Sky.

Because of this victory, plans to have him challenge the Tenno Sho (Spring) were further set in stone. Though it was planned to have him rest throughout the remainder of the year, it was decided to have him compete in the Arima Kinen on December 26th, where he once again faced off with Efforia. He led the race alongside Panthalassa, but Efforia had caught up to both of them, and Titleholder finished in 5th place. Shortly after the Arima Kinen, it was discovered that Titleholder had injured his right hind leg, but his condition improved in a week.

Four-year-old season (2022)

On March 26th, Titleholder competed in the Nikkei Sho (G2). Without losing momentum, he held onto the lead and won the race. On May 1st, he was then entered into the Tenno Sho (Spring) as planned. He started well during the race, and the race was ran at a fast pace. At the final corner, he started to lead and widen the gap. He won the race by seven lengths, and earned his second G1 victory.

Because of this victory, it was then announced that Titleholder was going to compete in the Takarazuka Kinen on June 26th. His team then discussed how they would go about entering him into the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe depending on how he does in the Takarazuka Kinen. As Efforia was going to enter the race, Titleholder's owner Hiroshi Yamada stated that it would be "presumptuous if Titleholder was going to Japan's representative but couldn't beat Efforia". Meanwhile, Makio Okada, the representative of Okada Stud, stated that it would be "difficult if Titleholder couldn't win by running in the lead". It was then decided that if Titleholder could pull off a front-running style during the race, he would go for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.

Titleholder had to face off with numerous strong competitors throughout the race that could have altered his plans to travel overseas. Daring Tact, the undefeated Triple Tiara winner of 2020, had recently made her return to racing as the 4th favorite after recovering from an injury for a year. The 6th favorite, Panthalassa, had won overseas in the Dubai Turf in a front-running style. Though Efforia had recently ran poorly in the Osaka Hai, he was the overwhelming favorite for the race. In spite of the strong field, Titleholder was the 2nd favorite.

Though Titleholder had started well, Panthalassa was the one who was setting the pace. The first 1,000 meters were ran at a high speed 57.6 seconds, and Titleholder was right behind him. However, at the 4th corner, Titleholder took the lead away from Panthalassa, and he widened the gap at the end, and won by two lengths. Not only did he win his third and final G1 victory, he had also won the race at a record time of 2:09.7. This time had beaten the record time that was held by Earnestly for 11 years, and it was also the first time in 16 years that a horse would win the Tenno Sho (Spring) and the Takarazuka Kinen consecutively since Deep Impact. Because of this successful victory, it was announced that Titleholder would be heading for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in the fall.

On September 17th, Titleholder arrived at Chantilly Racecourse in France to prepare for the race. On October 2nd, Titleholder competed in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as the overwhelming favorite. Though he attempted a grand escape throughout the race, he began to lose momentum and he placed 11th. As he struggled due to the heavy rain at the racecourse, his jockey Kazuo Yokoyama commented that "the rain from before must have made it tiring for him."

After two months of rest, Titleholder competed in the Arima Kinen on December 25th. He lost momentum at the fourth corner, and Equinox, who had won the Tenno Sho (Autumn) recently, took the lead and won the race, leaving Titleholder in 9th place. Despite the loss, Titleholder won the JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse for his victories throughout the year.

Five-year-old season (2023)

Titleholder once again won the Nikkei Sho (G2) on March 25th, and he was then entered into the Tenno Sho (Spring) for the second time on April 30th. As the overwhelming favorite, he ran in his usual style, when African Gold suddenly began to alter the pace. At the fourth corner, Titleholder began to lose speed, and Yokoyama made the decision to slow him down and stop him from continuing to run any further.

Though he did not sustain a catastrophic injury, it was discovered that he had suffered from lameness in his right front leg. Because of this, Titleholder was forced to rest for months until the fall back in Hokkaido. Other horses had also suffered from injuries throughout the race, as African Gold had also not finished the race due to atrial fibrillation, though he survived. Tosen Cambina, who had placed 15th, had ruptured his flexor tendon in his left front leg.

After months of rehabilitation, Titleholder made his return in the All Comers (G2) on September 24th, where he placed 2nd. Later, on November 26th, he was entered into the Japan Cup, where he initially showed agitation while in the gate. Though he ran hard in the straight, he had been overtaken by other horses, and he placed 5th. His final race of the year was the Arima Kinen on December 24th, where he took the lead throughout the race but got overtaken by Do Deuce and Stars on Earth, and he placed 3rd.

Shortly after the race, a retirement ceremony was held for him on the same day after all the races at Nakayama Racecourse were completed. Shortly after, he was deregistered as a racehorse on January 5th, 2024.

Retirement

Titleholder retired to perform stud duty at Lex Stud. He continues to work as a stallion.

Honors

• JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse (2022)

Race Records

Race data sourced from netkeiba.

Date	Racecourse	Race	Grade	Distance	Gate	Odds	Fav.	Fin.	Time	Margin	Jockey	Winner (Runner-Up)	Other Umamusume
2020/10/04	Nakayama	Two-Year-Old Newcomer	Maiden	T 1800m	5	2.3	1	1	1:51.4	-0.2	K.Tosaki	(No Double Dip)
2020/11/23	Tokyo	Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes	G3	T 1800m	2	16.6	5	2	1:47.7	0.2	K.Tosaki	Danon the Kid
2020/12/26	Nakayama	Hopeful Stakes	G1	T 2000m	11	19.5	7	4	2:03.3	0.5	K.Tosaki	Danon the Kid
2021/03/07	Nakayama	Yayoi Sho	G2	T 2000m	4	17.9	4	1	2:02.0	-0.2	T.Yokoyama	(Schnell Meister)
2021/04/18	Nakayama	Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas)	G1	T 2000m	13	17.0	8	2	2:01.1	0.5	H.Tanabe	Efforia
2021/05/30	Tokyo	Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby)	G1	T 2400m	14	30.4	8	6	2:23.1	0.6	H.Tanabe	Shahryar
2021/09/20	Nakayama	St. Lite Kinen	G2	T 2200m	7	2.9	1	13	2:13.6	1.3	T.Yokoyama	Asamano Itazura
2021/10/24	Hanshin	Kikuka Sho (Japanese St.Leger)	G1	T 3000m	3	8.0	4	1	3:04.6	-0.8	T.Yokoyama	(Orthoclase)
2021/12/26	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	16	10.2	5	5	2:32.5	0.5	K.Yokoyama	Efforia	Chrono Genesis, Kiseki
2022/03/26	Nakayama	Nikkei Sho	G2	T 2500m	11	1.6	1	1	2:35.4	-0.1	K.Yokoyama	(Boccherini)
2022/05/01	Hanshin	Tenno Sho (Spring)	G1	T 3200m	16	4.9	2	1	3:16.2	-0.9	K.Yokoyama	(Deep Bond)
2022/06/26	Hanshin	Takarazuka Kinen	G1	T 2200m	6	4.2	2	1	2:09.7	-0.3	K.Yokoyama	(Hishi Iguazu)	Daring Tact
2022/10/02	Longchamp	Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe	G1	T 2400m	11	4.8	1	11	2:38.12	2.4	K.Yokoyama	Alpinista
2022/12/25	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	13	3.6	2	9	2:34.1	1.7	K.Yokoyama	Equinox
2023/03/25	Nakayama	Nikkei Sho	G2	T 2500m	2	2.4	2	1	2:36.8	-1.3	K.Yokoyama	(Boccherini)
2023/04/30	Kyoto	Tenno Sho (Spring)	G1	T 3200m	3	1.7	1	DNF			K.Yokoyama	Justin Palace
2023/09/24	Nakayama	Sankei Sho All Comers	G2	T 2200m	2	2.5	1	2	2:12.2	0.2	K.Yokoyama	Rousham Park
2023/11/26	Tokyo	Japan Cup	G1	T 2400m	3	19.2	4	5	2:23.1	1.3	K.Yokoyama	Equinox
2023/12/24	Nakayama	Arima Kinen	G1	T 2500m	4	8.3	6	3	2:31.2	0.3	K.Yokoyama	Do Deuce

Relationships

• Duramente - Father

Pedigree

Horse pedigree of Titleholder (JPN)

Sire Duramente (JPN)	King Kamehameha (JPN)	Kingmambo (USA)	Mr. Prospector (USA)
			Miesque (USA)
		Manfath (IRE)	Last Tycoon (IRE)
			Pilot Bird (GB)
	Admire Groove (JPN)	Sunday Silence (USA)	Halo (USA)
			Wishing Well (USA)
		Air Groove (JPN)	Tony Bin (IRE)
			Dyna Carle (JPN)
Dam Mowen (GB)	Motivator (GB)	Montjeu (IRE)	Sadler's Wells (USA)
			Floripedes (FR)
		Out West (USA)	Gone West (USA)
			Chellinguoa (USA)
	Top Table (GB)	Shirley Heights (GB)	Mill Reef (USA)
			Hardiemma (GB)
		Lora's Guest (IRE)	Be My Guest (USA)
			Lora (GB), (Family: F9-c)

Trivia

• Titleholder's front-running win in the Kikuka Sho by his jockey Takeshi Yokoyama was actually inspired by his father - Norihiro Yokoyama, who had ridden on Seiun Sky during the 1998 Kikuka Sho.
• Titleholder's elder half-sister Melody Lane is notable for being the smallest horse to win a JRA race, at 338 kilograms. While she had no graded stakes wins, she was very popular for competing against horses 100 to 150 kg larger than her.
  • Titleholder and Melody Lane also raced with each other numerous times, and they have also trained with each other.
• During his retirement ceremony, Titleholder was seen to be urinating on the spot while related parties were taking a picture with him.
• According to Makio Okada, while Titleholder is kind to humans, he is very strict when it comes to other horses.
• Titleholder has been called the "Emperor of Nigawa" for his victories on Hanshin Racecourse.
• Erimo Farm - the farm that Titleholder grew up on, was infamous for its harsh conditions alongside the deer and bears that roamed around the area. However, both him and Melody Lane were able to withstand the conditions.
• Titleholder is a front runner, which is different from his sire Duramente's end closer running style. Similarly, Kitasan Black, a front-runner, produced Equinox, who was a late surger/end closer early in his career. This led to some farm staff to joke whether the two horses had mixed up their foals at birth.