Costa Nova Earns Repeat Victory in the February Stakes

Second favorite Costa Nova became the third horse to win the February Stakes two years in a row on Sunday, February 22. The others: Copano Rickey (2014-15) and Cafe Pharoah (2021-22).

In 2025, the son of Lord Kanaloa registered back-to-back wins in the Negishi Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,400 meters) and this race. But he was winless in his next three starts — third in the Kashiwa Kinen (listed, dirt, 1,600 meters), 11th in the Sakitama Hai (listed, dirt, 1,400 meters) and second in the Musashino Stakes (G3, dirt, 1,600 meters) in November.

The 6-year-old bay now has seven wins and a second-place finish in eight starts on dirt at Tokyo Racecourse.

On Sunday at Tokyo Racecourse, trainer Tetsuya Kimura won his 15th Japan Racing Association Grade 1 title. It was his first G1 victory since the 2025 Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Regaleira.

Jockey Christophe Lemaire captured his 58th JRA G1 title. Before Sunday, his most recent G1 win was the 2025 Tenno Sho (Autumn) with Masquerade Ball.

Lemaire now has three victories in the February Stakes, including with Mozu Ascot (2020) and Cafe Pharoah (2021).

The Path to Victory for Costa Nova

Costa Nova was rated in mid-division between horses in around 11th and came into the homestretch still well behind among the 16-horse field before picking up speed going the uphill stretch. Reaching contention at the furlong pole and joining a four-horse rally with Wilson Tesoro (Yuga Kawada), Kizuna progeny W Heart Bond (Ryusei Sakai) and Brian Sense (Mirai Iwata) as the early runners began to tire from their early efforts, the defending champion grabbed a narrow lead in the last 100 meters.

Costa Nova continued to power on, outsprinting his rivals by half a length for a well-deserved victory. He completed the race in 1 minute, 35.4 seconds. (Watch the race on the JRA's YouTube channel.)

"I am happy to have won the first G1 [race] of this season with Costa Nova with whom I've partnered for some time," Lemaire said. "He broke nicely and we were able to relax during the trip behind Wilson Tesoro. I had a great response from the horse as soon as I shifted him to the outside for the stretch drive and, from then on, he was extremely strong up to the wire."

The 43rd Running of the February Stakes

Third favorite Wilson Tesoro raced in mid-field, about a length in front of the eventual winner and at the heels of the race favorite, W Heart Bond, keeping in touch with that foe as the two began to make their bid after the last corner.

Creeping up on the outside of W Heart Bond with 200 meters to go, the son of Kitasan Black managed to stick his neck in front of W Heart Bond. But he was soon overtaken by the winner and succumbed to second place but bested the rest by half a length.

W Heart Bond, aiming to become the first female to win the G1 February Stakes title, settled nicely in around fourth or fifth position and had a clear path along the center lane after rounding the final corner. She gained ground impressively to engage in a four-horse rally from the furlong pole to the wire. Though she had to settle for third, she managed to cross the wire 3/4 of a length in front of Brian Sense.

Omega Guiness (Yasunari Iwata) placed fifth.

Read the full report, including details on each of the February Stakes entrants, on JRA News.