El Condor Pasa (, March 17, 1995 – July 16, 2002) was an American-bred, Japanese-trained

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

racehorse and breeding stallion. In 1998 he won the

NHK Mile Cup The is a Grade 1 flat horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies, run over a distance of 1,600 metres (approximately one mile) on the turf at Tokyo Racecourse in May. The NHK Mile Cup is sponsored by the Japanese p ...

and the

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

. In the following year he was campaigned in Europe where he won the

Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is ...

and the

Prix Foy The Prix Foy is a Group 2 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbred colts and fillies aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and ...

before finishing second in the

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe () is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris over a distance ...

. He was retired to stud but died after three seasons following unsuccessful

colic Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content ou ...

surgery. El Condor Pasa has been described as the best Japanese racehorse of the 20th century.

Background

El Condor Pasa was a dark bay horse with a large white

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

bred in

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

by his Japanese owner Takashi Watanabe. His sire,

Kingmambo Kingmambo (February 19, 1990 – January 20, 2016) was an American-bred, French-trained thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and sire (horse), sire. Background He was sired by the leading stallion, Mr. Prospector, who in turn was a son of Raise ...

was a highly successful breeding stallion. His progeny included the British Classic winners

Light Shift Light Shift (22 March 2004 – 28 March 2014) was an American-bred, British-bred Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare best known for winning the 2007 Epsom Oaks. In a racing career which lasted from June 2006 to October 2007 the filly ran nine t ...

, Russian Rhythm,

King's Best Kings Best (24 January 1997 – 16 April 2019) was an American-bred Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2000 Guineas Stakes. He was described by his trainer Michael Stoute as the best miler he'd ever trained. Background King's Best ...

Henrythenavigator Henrythenavigator (foaled February 28, 2005) is an American-bred and Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. He won the 2000 Guineas, the Irish 2,000 Guineas, the St. James's Palace Stakes and the Sussex Stakes in 2008. After he finished second i ...

Virginia Waters Virginia Waters (foaled 15 February 2002) is an American-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. In a racing career which lasted from September 2004 to October 2005 she ran twelve times and won three races. After winning once from four star ...

and

Rule of Law The essence of the rule of law is that all people and institutions within a Body politic, political body are subject to the same laws. This concept is sometimes stated simply as "no one is above the law" or "all are equal before the law". Acco ...

as well as major winners in Japan, France (

Divine Proportions Divine Proportions (born 13 March 2002 in Kentucky) is a champion Thoroughbred race horse and winner of two French classics. Background Divine Proportions was bred by the Niarchos family. She was sired by the American-bred stallion Kingmamb ...

) and the United States (

Lemon Drop Kid Lemon Drop Kid (May 26, 1996 – December 13, 2024) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Best known for winning the 1999 Belmont Stakes, he was also the champion older horse of 2000 after winning the Brooklyn, Suburban, Whitney H ...

). Watanabe sent the horse into training with Yoshi Ninomiya, who operated a small stable with only ten horses. El Condor Pasa was named after the Peruvian musical play of the same name, as Watanabe had a peer in his alma meter (

Keio University , abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university located in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally established as a school for Rangaku, Western studies in 1858 in Edo. It was granted university status in 1920, becomi ...

) that he respected that spent time in Peru; as well as expanding his sire's partial name (

Mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

) to mean "South American music" in general. This was the not the first horse Watanabe named "El Condor Pasa", as he owned another horse of the same name several years prior although he suffered a fatal injury that required euthanization before he could make his debut.

Racing career

El Condor Pasa won his only race as a two-year-old in 1997. In the following year he won his first four races culminating in a win in the Group One NHK Mile Cup at

Tokyo Racecourse is located in Fuchū, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1933 for horse racing, it is considered the "racecourse of racecourses" in Japanese horseracing. It has a capacity of 223,000, with seating for 13,750. Tokyo Racecourse hosts numerous G1 (Grade 1) ...

on 17 May. After a summer break he returned in October and was tried beyond a mile for the first time when finishing second to

Silence Suzuka Silence Suzuka (Japanese language, Japanese : サイレンススズカ; May 1, 1994 - November 1, 1998) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse who won the Graded stakes race, Grade I Takarazuka Kinen in 1998. In the same year, his career and life ...

in the Mainichi Okan. Despite losing his unbeaten record he started 5/1 third favourite for the Japan Cup over one and a half miles on 29 November. Ridden by Masayoshi Ebina, he took the lead in the straight and won by two and a half lengths from the mare Air Groove and the favourite

Special Week Special Week (, 2 May 1995 – 27 April 2018) was a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire (horse), sire. From 1997 to 1999, he won ten of his seventeen races including four at Graded stakes race, Grade I level. After winning his only start as ...

. His win was enthusiastically received by the crowd of 146,879 and his trainer described the winner as "a hero... he has a huge heart". In 1999 El Condor Pasa was sent to France where he was trained with the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe as his objective. On his first European outing he finished second to Croco Rouge in the

Prix d'Ispahan The Prix d'Ispahan is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Longchamp over a distance of 1,850 metres (about 1 mile and 1¼ furlongs), ...

Longchamp Racecourse The Longchamp Racecourse (, ) is a 57 hectare horse-racing facility located on the Route des Tribunes at the Bois de Boulogne in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. It is used for flat racing and is noted for ...

in May. Two months later he faced opponents from France, Germany and Britain in the

. Ebina sent the colt into the lead in the straight and he drew clear to win by two and a half lengths from

Tiger Hill The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

and Dream Well, with Sagamix and

Borgia The House of Borgia ( ; ; Spanish and ; ) was a Spanish noble family, which rose to prominence during the Italian Renaissance. They were from Xàtiva, Kingdom of Valencia, the surname being a toponymic from the town of Borja, then in the Cro ...

among those unplaced. On his final trial for the Arc he defeated Borgia and Croco Rouge in the

at Longchamp in September. On 3 October, El Condor Pasa started the 18/5 second favourite for the Arc behind

Montjeu Montjeu (4 April 1996 – 29 March 2012) was an Irish-bred, French-trained thoroughbred horse racing racehorse and sire. In a racing career which lasted from September 1998 to November 2000, he ran sixteen times and won eleven races, including ...

, the three-year-old winner of both the

Prix du Jockey Club The Prix du Jockey Club, sometimes referred to as the French Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Chantilly ov ...

and

Irish Derby The Irish Derby ( Irish: Dearbaí na hÉireann) is a Group 1 flat horse race in Ireland open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at the Curragh over a dista ...

. El Condor Pasa led from the start and broke clear of the field in the straight to establish a three length advantage. Montjeu emerged as his only challenger, and although El Condor Pasa rallied when the French colt drew alongside him he was overtaken in the last hundred metres and beaten by half a length. The first two were six lengths clear of the third placed Croco Rouge.

Assessment and honours

El Condor Pasa was named Japanese Champion Three-year-old Colt for 1998. Despite never running in Japan during the following year, El Condor Pasa's performances in France led to his being voted the 1999 Japanese Champion Older Horse and

Japanese Horse of the Year The Japanese Horse of the Year is the highest honor given to the most outstanding horse in Japanese thoroughbred horse racing. It is awarded annually by the Japan Racing Association (JRA). Since 1987 the honor has been part of the JRA Awards. This ...

. In their book, ''A Century of Champions'', based on the Timeform rating system, John Randall and Tony Morris rated El Condor Pasa the best racehorse trained in Japan in the 20th century.

Stud record

El Condor Pasa was retired from racing to become a breeding stallion at the

Shadai Stallion Station is a thoroughbred breeding facility located in Abira on the island of Hokkaido in Japan. The farm was begun in the late 1970s to early 1980s by the late Zenya Yoshida, and is now run jointly by his sons (Katsumi, Haruya, and Teruya Yoshida), know ...

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

. In July 2002 the horse became gravely ill with

horse colic Colic in horses is defined as abdominal pain, but it is a clinical symptom rather than a diagnosis. The term colic can encompass all forms of gastrointestinal conditions which cause pain as well as other causes of abdominal pain not involving th ...

. El Condor Pasa underwent surgery but died at 9.10 p.m. on 16 July. His three crops of foals contained several major winners including Vermilion (

Japan Cup Dirt The Champions Cup ( JPN G-1, formerly the ''Japan Cup Dirt'' until 2013) is a horse race for thoroughbreds aged three and above contested in Japan in early December. Organized by Japan Racing Association The Japan Racing Association () is a pub ...

, February Stakes), Song of Wind ( Kikuka Shō) and Alondite (Japan Cup Dirt).

Pedigree

* El Condor Pasa was

inbred Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders an ...

3 × 4 to the stallion Northern Dancer, meaning that Northern Dancer appears once in the third generation and once in the fourth generation of his pedigree.

References

{{JRA Hall of Fame Horse 1995 racehorse births 2002 racehorse deaths Racehorses bred in Kentucky Racehorses trained in Japan Thoroughbred family 5-h Japan Cup winners Japanese Thoroughbred Horse of the Year