Lani

Details

Name / Japanese	Lani / ラニ
Birth Year	2013
Sex	horse
Earnings	31,285,000 yen
Races-Wins / G1-Wins	17-3 / 6-0
Sire	Tapit
Dam (Sire)	Heavenly Romance (Sunday Silence)
Other site link	JBIS / Umanity / en.netkeiba

All grade races + Hyacinth Stakes + Brazil Cup

Y D/M	Track	Race	No.	Pl.
2016 21/02	Tokyo D1600	Hyacinth Stakes	6	5
2016 26/03	Meydan D1900	UAE Derby (G2)	3	1	G
2016 07/05	Churchill Downs D10F	Kentucky Derby (G1)	8	9	G
2016 21/05	Pimlico D9.5F	Preakness Stakes (G1)	6	5	G
2016 11/06	Belmont Park D12F	Belmont Stakes (G1)	10	3	G
2016 23/10	Tokyo D2100	Brazil Cup	15	3	G
2016 06/11	Kyoto D1800	Miyako Stakes (G3)	1	13	G
2016 04/12	Chukyo D1800	Champions Cup (G1)	7	9	◆
2017 04/03	Meydan D2000	Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3 (G1)	8	6	G
2017 25/03	Meydan D2000	Dubai World Cup (G1)	4	8	G
2017 28/05	Tokyo T2500	Meguro Kinen (G2)	8	17	G

• He won two dirt races as a 2-year-old in 2015.
  In 2016, his connections made a startling announcement.
  They announced that Lani would run in the U.S. Classic Triple Crown races.
  The UAE Derby in Dubai was their first target to earn the right to run in the Kentucky Derby.
• In the Hyacinth Stakes, he got off to a slow start and finished 5th.
  Gold Dream, who would later become the dirt champion, finished 1st.
  After this race, Lani continued to show good potential, but also a rough temperament and slow starts.
  Some feared he might not be invited to the UAE Derby because of this loss, but he was invited.
• In the UAE Derby, he stumbled at the start and got off to a slow start.
  On the backstretch he tried to take the lead, but on the final turn he was forced to run on the outside of the pack and entered the homestretch in 2nd place.
  He took the lead with about 100 meters to go and crossed the finish line.
  There were concerns that he might run out of energy, but his speed did not slow at all, and with about 100 meters to go, he took the lead and crossed the finish line.
  It was the first UAE Derby victory by a Japanese-trained horse.
• He did not return to Japan and went directly to the United States.
• In the Kentucky Derby, he got off to a slow start, chased up from the back of the pack, and finished 9th.
  It was the first time in 21 years that a Japanese-trained horse had run in the Kentucky Derby since Ski Captain in 1995.
• In the Preakness Stakes, he again got off to a slow start.
  He finished 5th partly due to the small number of horses in the race.
• In the Belmont Stakes, he ran the race at the back of the pack.
  He moved up to 3rd place in the homestretch and crossed the finish line.
• He was quarantined for 100 days after returning to Japan.
  He then ran in the Brazil Cup, Miyako Stakes, and Champions Cup, but failed to win.
  (In addition, he ran in the Champions Cup with his brother, Awardee.)
• He went to Dubai again in 2017 but did not win.
• He eventually retired in October 2017 and became a stallion at Arrow Stud.

Evaluation of him

• The only graded race he has won is the UAE Derby, which is not very good if we look at his racing results alone.
  He had good potential as a racehorse, but his temperament and clumsy racing skills prevented him from achieving very good results.
• He was the first Japanese-trained horse to run in all three Classic Triple Crown races in the United States.
• Stallions for dirt racing will gain more and more status as the 3-year-old dirt Triple Crown races begins in Japan in 2024.
  The speed of growth will be especially more important, although it has not been emphasized in Japanese dirt horses up to now.
  He is a winner of the UAE Derby and it will be remarkable if he can pass on his fast growth to the foals.
  (Described in July 2022)

His maverick episodes and the popularity that comes with them

• His handler said he thought he was the “strongest” and would get angry, bark, and bite other horses.
• His “rambunctious daredevil” and “egotistical” charm, which comes from his large body and temperament, has earned him a cult following among some people and made him famous.
• There are pictures on the Internet of him walking proudly in the Japanese paddock with his genitals erect.
  In the UAE, he also had his genitals erect and people around him amused at him.
• He barked and threatened when he encountered California Chrome in the UAE.
  California Chrome barked as much as he did, but finally backed off.
  Just three years old, he overwhelmed American superstar California Chrome.
  He then went to the U.S. on the same plane as California Chrome.
  California Chrome also became a stallion at the same Arrow Stud as him in 2020.
  California Chrome is closely related to Lani.
  Here is a video of them together.
  It is said that since becoming a stallion, Rani has become more docile.
• While in the U.S., he was also violent and threatening to other horses.
  The nickname the American media gave him was Godzilla partly because he came from Japan.
  Perhaps that is why Lani is also popular in the U.S. There was also fan art of him fighting Godzilla, King Ghidorah.
  He has even been passed over to enter the paddock because he threatens other horses and they delegate.