Killer Ability (Japanese: キラーアビリティ, foaled 27 January 2019) is a Japanese

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 Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. He was one of the best two-year-olds in Japan in 2021 when he won two of his four races including the

Grade 1 First grade (also 1st Grade or Grade 1) is the first year of formal or compulsory education. It is the first year of elementary school, and the first school year after kindergarten. Children in first grade are usually 6–7 years old. Examples ...

Hopeful Stakes The Hopeful Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. Open to two-year-old horses, the Hopeful is the first Grade I stakes for two-year-olds each season and historically has ...

Background

Killer Ability is a brown colt with a white star and snip and white

socks A sock is a piece of clothing worn on the feet and often covering the ankle or some part of the Calf (leg), calf. Some types of shoes or boots are typically worn over socks. In ancient times, socks were made from leather or matted animal hair. ...

on his hind legs bred in Japan by Northern Farm. During his racing career he was trained by Takashi Saito and raced in the green, white and red colours of the Northern Farm associate Carrot Farm. He was from the twelfth crop of foals sired by Deep Impact, who was the

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 2005 and 2006, winning races including the

Tokyo Yushun Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

Tenno Sho The is a horse race held twice a year in Japan, once in the spring and once in the autumn. "Tenno" means "Emperor of Japan". The races are both International Grade 1 races. Prior to the 2007 races, both Tenno Sho races were Japanese domestic Gr ...

Arima Kinen The Arima Kinen (有馬記念) is a Conditions races, Grade I Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Japan open to Thoroughbreds three-years-old and above and the world's largest betting horserace. It is run in late December each year, over ...

and

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 ...

. Deep Impact's other progeny include

Gentildonna is a retired Japanese thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. In 2012 she won the Japanese Fillies Triple Crown and was voted Japanese Horse of the Year. She was also the first three-year-old filly to win the Japan Cup, in 2012, and the following ...

Loves Only You Loves Only You (, foaled 26 March 2016) is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. She showed promise as a two-year-old when she won both her races. In the following spring she took the Wasurenagusa Sho before extending her unbeaten run to four by wi ...

, Kizuna,

A Shin Hikari A Shin Hikari (japanese language, Japanese エイシンヒカリ, foaled 3 May 2011) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He began his racing career as a three-year-old in 2014 when he won his first five races including the Listed Irela ...

Contrail Contrails (; short for "condensation trails") or vapour trails are line-shaped clouds produced by aircraft engine exhaust or changes in air pressure, typically at aircraft cruising altitudes several kilometres/miles above the Earth's surface. ...

and

Saxon Warrior Saxon Warrior (foaled 26 January 2015) is a Japanese-bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse. As a two-year-old in 2017 he was one of the best colts of his generation in Europe, winning all three of his races including the Beresford Stakes a ...

. Killer Ability's dam Killer Graces was bred in Kentucky and raced with considerable success in the United States where she won three races including the

Hollywood Starlet Stakes The Starlet Stakes is a Grade II American Thoroughbred horse race for two-year-old fillies run over a distance of one and one sixteenth miles ( furlongs) on the dirt held annually in early December at Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress, California ...

and ran second in the

Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint The Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint is a 7-furlong (1408 m) Weight for Age stakes race for thoroughbred fillies and mares three years old and up. As its name implies, it is a part of the Breeders' Cup World Championships, the ''de facto'' year- ...

. In November 2012 she was bought by Katsumi Yoshida and exported to Japan. She was descended from the American broodmare Regal Gleam who also produced Royal Glint and the dam of

Caerleon Caerleon ( ; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable ...

Racing career

2021: two-year-old season

Killer Ability began his racing career in a contest for previously unraced juveniles over 1800 metres on firm ground 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 27 June 2021. Ridden by

Christophe Lemaire Christophe Patrice Lemaire (Japanese:, born 20 May 1979) is a French-born jockey. He has enjoyed much of his success on the Japanese flat racing circuit, with the most wins at Japan Racing Association racetracks for five consecutive years sin ...

he started the 2.9/1 second favourite but came home fifth of the eleven runners, three

lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Interna ...

behind the winner Red Belle Ame. Mirai Iwata was in the saddle two months later when the colt started 0.5/1 favourite for a

maiden race In horse racing, a maiden race is an event for horses that have not won a race. Horses that have not won a race are referred to as maidens. Maiden horse races are held over a variety of distances and under conditions with eligibility based on the s ...

over 2000 metres at

Kokura Racecourse is located in Kokura Minami-ku Kitakyushu, Japan. It is used for horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set ...

and scored his first success as he took the lead early in the straight and drew right away to win by seven lengths from Personal High in a record time of 1:59.5. Iwata took the ride again when Killer Ability was stepped up in class and started favourite for the Listed Hagi Stakes over 1800 metres at Hanshin on 30 October. He took the lead in the straight and looked the likely winner before being run down in the final strides and beaten a neck into second place by Danon Scorpion. His trainer commented "He was tense the whole time... he's still immature and he has a somewhat difficult temperament". On 28 December at

Nakayama Racecourse was built in 1990 in Funabashi, Chiba, Japan, for horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for c ...

, Killer Ability was stepped up to

class to contest

over 2000 metres and went off the 2.1/1 second choice in the betting behind Command Line (winner of the Saudi Arabia Royal Cup) in a fifteen-runner field. Ridden by

Takeshi Yokoyama Takeshi Yokoyama (; born December 22, 1998) is a Japanese jockey. Takeshi was born to a family heavily involved in horse racing. His grandfather , father Norihiro, and elder brother Kazuo, are all jockeys. When he entered the Horse Racing Sch ...

he settled in third place behind Grand Line and Born This Way before switching to the outside approaching the final turn. He gained the advantage from Born This Way entering the last 200 metres and won by one and a half length with a length and a quarter back to Lagulf in third. After the race Yokoyama commented "Sitting in the saddle in his workouts two weeks in a row convinced me that he was going to run and run fast. We sat in a good position and when the colt was able to relax in the backstretch, I had all the confidence I needed that he was going to win. I'm sure he will go on to improve further and become stronger". In the official Japanese rankings Killer Ability was rated the second-best two-year-old of 2021, one pound behind the top-rated

Do Deuce Do Deuce (Japanese: ドウデュース, foaled 7 May 2019) is a retired Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse. He was the best two-year-old colt in Japan in 2021 when he was undefeated in three races including the Ivy Stakes and the Asahi Hai Futurity ...

. In January 2022, at the

JRA Award The is given annually since 1987 by the Japan Racing Association (JRA) to the outstanding horses and people in Japanese Thoroughbred horse racing. The awards originally started as the in 1954 and since 1972 the {{Nihongo, Yūshun Awards, 優駿� ...

s, Killer Ability finished second to

in the poll to determine the Best Two-Year-Old Colt.

2022: three-year-old season

On his first appearance as a three-year-old Killer Ability started the 6.6/1 fourth favourite for the

Satsuki Sho Satsuki is a traditional Japanese name for the month of . It is commonly used as a feminine given name and, more rarely, as a surname or a masculine name. Possible spellings Satsuki can be spelled using different ''kanji'' characters and can mean ...

over 2000 metres at

Hanshin Racecourse is located in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan. It has a capacity of 139,000 and is used for horse racing. The land was originally owned by Kawanishi Aircraft Company, which manufactured combat planes during World War II. After World War II, GHQ orde ...

on 17 April. He started poorly before settling in mid-division and faded in the closing stages to come home thirteenth of the eighteen runners, beaten just over six lengths by the winner

Geoglyph A geoglyph is a large design or motif – generally longer than – produced on the ground by durable elements of the landscape, such as stones, stone fragments, gravel, or earth. A positive geoglyph is formed by the arrangement and alignment ...

. After the Satsuki Sho, Killer Ability was entered in to the

Tōkyō Yūshun The , also called the is a Conditions races, Grade 1 Flat racing, flat Horse racing, horse race in Japan for three-year-old thoroughbred Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run over a distance of 2,400 metres (approximately 1 mile 4 fur ...

held on May 29, where he finished sixth behind Do Deuce. Killer Ability took the summer off before returning to the turf by being entered in his first race with older horses, which was the GII Copa Republica Argentina held on November 6, but finished 8th. The following month, Killer Ability was entered in to the GIII Chunichi Shimbun Hai with as his jockey. At that race, Killer Ability was able to make his way through a small gap in the pack, passing over just before the finishing line, clinching his second group race victory.

2023-25: four-to-six-year-old seasons

Killer Ability was entered in to multiple graded races as an older horse. However, he was unable to win any single one of them. His best showing was at the 2024 Neom Turf Cup, held at

King Abdulaziz Racetrack King Abdulaziz Racetrack, officially named King Abdul Aziz Equestrian Square () is a horse racing venue in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. The current track opened in January 2003. The richest thoroughbred horse race, the Saudi Cup, is held at the track ...

in Saudi Arabia, where he finished second behind the English Spirit Dancer. In May 2025, after returning from that year's Neom Turf Cup whre he finished last, his owner, Carrot Farm, announced that the horse would be retired to stand stud in India.

Racing Form

The following form is based on information available on JBIS-Search, netkeiba.com, and

Racing Post ''Racing Post'' is a British daily horse racing, greyhound racing, and sports betting publisher published in print and digital formats. It is printed in tabloid format from Monday to Sunday. , it has an average daily circulation of 60,629 ...

. * The "R" indicates that a track record had been set by the horse.

Pedigree

References

{{Reflist 2019 racehorse births Racehorses bred in Japan Racehorses trained in Japan Thoroughbred family 1-x