2019: Two-year old season

Panthalassa made his debut with Ryusei Sakai　as his jockey at a mile-long maiden race held at the Hanshin Racecourse on September 21, where he came in 6th place behind Lotus Land. After coming in 2nd place at another maiden race at Hanshin behind Akai Ito, his first victory came at a 2000-meter long maiden race held at the Kyoto Racecourse on October 12. Panthalassa would race his first group race at the end of the year at the Hopeful Stakes, but wound up finishing at 6th place behind Contrail, who was from the same stable.

2020: Three-year old season

Panthalassa started his three year old season with the Wakagoma Stakes, but finished 4th. He then went on to compete in the Yayoi Sho Deep Impact Kinen but lost at 9th place. Panthalassa was able to clinch his 2nd victory on June 20 at an allowance race held at the Hanshin Race Course, and came in 2nd place at the Radio Nikkei Sho two weeks later. In Autumn, the horse entered the Kobe Shimbun Hai but once again lost to Contrail at 12th place. Panthalassa would then run in three other listed races but could not finish first in any of those races. Panthalassa finished off the season by attempting to run his first dirt race at the Shiwasu Stakes, where he was the most favored, but came in at 11th place.

2021: Four-year old season

Panthalassa returned to the turf once again with his first race being the Kammonkyo Stakes on February 7; where he came in 2nd place by a neck behind World Winds. He then entered the Nakayama Kinen but finished 7th, and was scratched from the Yomiuri Milers Cup after he was seen limping.^[5]

On October 17, he made his first victory in over a year at the October Stakes (Tokyo, 2000m turf) with Yutaka Yoshida as his jockey, who took a front-running approach in this race. Four weeks later on November 14, Panthalassa was sent to the Fukushima Kinen (Fukushima, 2000m turf), this time with Yuji Hishida as his jockey. He started the race as the front runner, setting the pace of 57.3 seconds for the first 1000 meters, and kept the lead until finishing the race with a four lengths gap; marking his first win at a group race. His victory coincided with the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, where Akai Ito, the same horse that beat him in his second race, won.

2022: Five-year old season

For his first race of the season, Panthalassa once again entered the Nakayama Kinen. He was the 2nd most favored, and after once again taking the lead from the start and setting a pace of 57.6s/1000m he kept the lead to the finish line, marking his second group race victory.^[6]

Panthalassa then was sent to his first race abroad to Dubai, where he entered the Dubai Turf. He made a good start at the beginning and kept a horse-length lead until the final stretch, where Lord North came up and closed the gap. The race finished with the two horses and Vin de Garde finishing at almost the same time. The race came to a photo finish, with Panthalassa and Lord North both being declared the winner, giving Panthalassa his first GI victory.^[7] This was also the first GI victory for the horse's owner, Hiroo Racing. For Panthalassa's jockey, Yutaka Yoshida, this was the first foreign GI title he won, and his first GI title since he won the Mile Championship Nambu Hai in 2010 with Oro Meister. After the race, Yahagi commented that he was planning to send Panthalassa to the Prince of Wales's Stakes, as Lord North was also being planned to race there as well.^[8]

However, Panthalassa did not enter the British race, and instead entered the Sapporo Kinen on August 21. This race saw the horse become the most favored over other contenders such as Jack d'Or, who had won that year's Kinko Sho at record time, as well as last year's winner Sodashi. Panthalassa could not take the lead at first and started the race at second, but quickly took the lead. He could not lead by a wide margin, and the race progressed with a narrow gap. Panthalassa attempted to widen the gap at the final stretch but was caught by Jack d'Or and finished the race behind him at second place.

On October 26, Yoshito Yahagi announced that he had accepted the invitation to that year's Hong Kong Cup, and that the horse would head to Sha Tin after the Tenno Sho.^[9]

Four days after the announcement was made, the horse competed in the Autumn edition of the Tenno Sho, held at the Tokyo Racecourse. Panthalassa, who was the 7th most favored, started from gate #3, and quickly took the lead. He covered the first 1000m in 57.4 seconds, the same time that Silence Suzuka made in his ill-fated race in 1998.^[10] He kept a wide lead of about 15 to 20 lengths even in the final stretch, only for Equinox, who was the most favored to win the race, to catch him at the final stretch as he covered the last 3 furlongs in 32.7 seconds, finishing second place behind the horse.

Panthalassa finished the season with the Hong Kong Cup as previously announced, but finished in 10th place.

2023: Six-year old season

It was announced at the end of 2022 that the horse would be sent to the Saudi Cup as his next race,^[11] and the horse was entered as planned. This was the first dirt GI race for Panthalassa, but the horse was able to make a good start from the inside and took the lead. He ran the first 800 meters at a high pace of 45 seconds, but the other horses followed him close by as they entered the final stretch. The horse was struggling in the final furlong but was able to persist, winning the race with a 3/4-length lead against Country Grammer who was coming in from the outside. His victory marked the first Japanese-trained horse ever to win the Saudi Cup, earning him the US$10 million, which is the highest purse of any race in the world.^{[12][13][14][15]} This race also made Panthalassa the only japanese horse to win both dirt and turf international GI races.^{[Note 1]}

With the victory at Saudi Cup, Panthalassa was then sent to the Dubai World Cup. However, he started from the furthest outside gate and he was unable to take the lead from Remorse, resulting in the horse sinking in to the pack by the fourth corner; finishing at 10th place.

It was then announced that the horse was going to be sent to the Sussex Stakes and later the International Stakes in the United Kingdom, but the plan was scrapped after it was revealed that the horse had contracted desmitis.

The horse returned to the turf for the Japan Cup on November 26. The horse took the lead in the race and ran the first 1000 meters in 57.6 seconds and held a 20 length lead at one point, but lost momentum and finished at 12th place.^[16] On the day after the Japan Cup, it was announced that that race was going to be Panthalassa's last race.^[17] Trainer Yoshito Yahagi commented "The horse showed no problems after the race, but we had already planned to retire him by the end of this year, so perhaps this was a good stopping point. Otherwise there wouldn't be one if we want more and more. We learned a lot (from Panthalassa). We can never understand horses. He was very different from Contrail (the winner of 5 GI races including the Japanese Triple Crown, also trained by Yahagi) who is the same age as him, but we never thought he'd go this far".^[18]

Currently, a retirement ceremony is planned to be held on December 23 at Nakayama Racecourse,^[19] and after retiring from racing the horse will stand stud at the Arrow Stud in Shinhidaka, Hokkaido starting from 2024 for a service fee of 3,000,000JPY.^[20][21] In addition, he will also be a shuttle stallion; where he would stand stud in the Southern Hemisphere as well as in Japan.^[22]

Notes

References