# Geraldina (horse)

Geraldina（ジェラルディーナ, foaled May 12, 2018）is a retired Japanese racehorse.
She was voted the Best Older Filly or Mare of 2022 following her major wins; the Queen Elizabeth II Cup Sankei Sho All Comers that year.

## Background

Geraldina's dam, Gentildonna, was the winner of the Triple Tiara in 2012 who went on to win a total of 7 Grade I races. Geraldina's sire, Maurice, also won 6 Grade I races including the Yasuda Kinen, Mile Championship, and the Hong Kong Mile.
Geraldina was owned by Sunday Racing [ja], a company that offers stakes in horse ownership (Hitokuchi Banushi; Japanese: 一口馬主), that offered a share for 1.75 million yen each for a total of 70 million yen.

## Racing career
### 2020: Two-year-old season

Geraldina started her racing career at a debut race held at Chukyo Racecourse in September, where she finished at third place. She finished second on her second race, and won her first race in her third race.
She would later run her first graded race, the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, that December, but finished seventh behind Sodashi.

### 2021: Three-year-old season

Geraldina started the season by contesting the Elfin Stakes [ja], where she finished 10th. Following this race, her original trainer, Sei Ishizaka [ja], retired on February 28 due to age restrictions, and the horse was transferred to Takashi Saito [ja]'s stable.
After switching trainers, Geraldina ran her first race with older horses at the Shirosaki Tokubetsu, held on June 27 at the Hanshin Racecourse. In that race, her right buckle came loose and finished at eighth place as a result. Saito was fined 200,000JPY following this incident.
Geraldina saw better success after this race, however. As she went on to win 3 races in a row. She did not run the Shuka Sho, but rather opted to enter the Challenge Cup held in December, where she finished fourth behind So Vailiant [ja].

### 2022: Four-year-old season

Geraldina continued to compete in races but was never able to secure a win, with her running in the Kokura Kinen where she finished 3rd behind Maria Elena [ja] despite being the most favored to win. However, in her next race, the Sankei Sho All Comers, she was able to run at a steady pace among the pack, placing herself in the inner side of the track, and overtook the rest of the pack, including favored Triple Tiara winner Daring Tact, and won her first graded race. This race also marked the first graded race victory for a Gentildonna foal.
* Sankei Sho All Comers
Following this victory, she entered the Queen Elizabeth II Cup with Cristian Demuro as her new jockey. She ran among the rear of the pack for most of the race, but quickly overtook the lead from the outside on the final stretch, securing her first Grade I victory.
Geraldina was then entered in to the Arima Kinen to finish off the season. However, she started late and trailed the pack third from last. Despite this she pushed hard to regain the lead, and tried to overtake the lead on the final stretch, only to finish third behind Equinox and Boldog Hos [ja].
* Queen Elizabeth II Cup

### 2023: Five-year-old season

Geraldina started the season with the Osaka Hai. She trailed Stars on Earth for most of the race, playing herself in the rear of the pack, and tried to take the lead on the final stretch, but finished sixth behind Jack d'Or [ja]. Following this race, she was entered in to her first race abroad, the Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin Racecourse, only to finish sixth there as well. After returning to Japan, she contested the 64th Takarazuka Kinen, but finished fourth behind Equinox.
After a Summer break, she was entered in to the All Comers to contest the race a second year in a row, but finished sixth. She was later also entered in to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup but couldn't win that race for a second year in a row either, finishing at 5th. On her last race, she returned to Hong Kong to run the Hong Kong Vase, but finished fourth behind Junko. Following this race, she was retired from racing to become a broodmare at Northern Farm.

## Racing statistics

The following racing form is based on information available in JBIS Search, netkeiba.com, and the Hong Kong Jockey Club.
| Date | Track | Race | Grade | Distance (condition) | Entry | HN | Odds (Favored) | Finish | Time | Margins | Jockey | Winner (Runner-up) |
| 2020 – two-year-old season |||||||||||||
| Sep 12 | Chukyo | Debut Race | | 1600 m (Good) | 16 | 1 | 4.4 (3) | 3rd | 1:35.8 | 0.3 | Yasunari Iwata | Satono Luce |
| Oct 3 | Chukyo | Maiden Race | | 1600 m (Firm) | 10 | 8 | 3.7 (2) | 2nd | 1:34.5 | 0.2 | Yasunari Iwata | Sparkle |
| Nov 23 | Hanshin | Maiden Race | | 1800 m (Firm) | 16 | 9 | 3.4 (2) | 1st | 1:46.7 | -0.0 | Yuichi Kitamura | (Toshin Mont Blanc) |
| Dec 13 | Hanshin | Hanshin Juvenile Fillies | 1 | 1600 m (Firm) | 18 | 3 | 30.7 (8) | 7th | 1:33.6 | 0.5 | Yasunari Iwata | Sodashi |
| 2021 – three-year-old season |||||||||||||
| Feb 6 | Chukyo | Elfin Stakes | L | 1600 m (Firm) | 12 | 4 | 5.7 (2) | 10th | 1:36.6 | 0.6 | Yuichi Kitamura | Sulphur Cosmos |
| Jun 27 | Hanshin | Shirosaki Tokubetsu | 1-win | 1800 m (Firm) | 9 | 8 | 5.0 (4) | 8th | 1:49.4 | 3.5 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Geofront |
| Jul 10 | Kokura | Macau JCT | 1-win | 1800 m (Firm) | 13 | 4 | 4.1 (2) | 1st | 1:45.3 | -0.4 | Yuichi Fukunaga | (Toshin Mont Blanc) |
| Sept 5 | Kokura | Chikugogawa Tokubetsu | 2-win | 1800 m (Firm) | 11 | 11 | 1.7 (1) | 1st | 1:47.8 | -0.3 | Yuichi Fukunaga | (Jun Blue Sky) |
| Oct 17 | Hanshin | Nishinomiya Stakes | 3-win | 1800 m (Firm) | 15 | 9 | 2.4 (1) | 1st | 1:46.1 | -0.3 | Yuichi Fukunaga | (Izu Jo no Kiseki) |
| Dec 4 | Hanshin | Challenge Cup | 3 | 2000 m (Firm) | 11 | 1 | 3.9 (2) | 4th | 2:01.8 | 0.8 | Yuichi Fukunaga | So Valiant |
| 2022 – four-year-old season |||||||||||||
| Feb 13 | Hanshin | Kyoto Kinen | 2 | 2200 m (Good) | 13 | 9 | 7.5 (4) | 4th | 2:12.2 | 0.3 | Yuichi Fukunaga | African Gold |
| Apr 9 | Hanshin | Hanshin Himba Stakes | 2 | 1600 m (Firm) | 11 | 9 | 4.0 (3) | 6th | 1:33.2 | 0.4 | Hideaki Miyuki | Meisho Mimoza |
| Jun 4 | Chukyo | Naruo Kinen | 3 | 2000 m (Firm) | 10 | 9 | 5.4 (4) | 2nd | 1:57.8 | 0.1 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Weltreisende |
| Aug 14 | Kokura | Kokura Kinen | 3 | 2200 m (Firm) | 15 | 4 | 3.2 (1) | 3rd | 1:58.2 | 0.8 | Yuichi Fukunaga | Maria Elena |
| Sept 25 | Nakayama | All Comers | 2 | 2200 m (Firm) | 13 | 2 | 19.5 (5) | 1st | 2:12.7 | -0.2 | Takeshi Yokoyama | (Robertson Quay) |
| Nov 13 | Hanshin | Queen Elizabeth II Cup | 1 | 2200 m (Soft) | 18 | 18 | 8.1 (4) | 1st | 2:13.0 | -0.3 | Cristian Demuro | (Win Marilyn) (Lilac) |
| Dec 25 | Nakayama | Arima Kinen | 1 | 2500 m (Firm) | 16 | 5 | 7.4 (3) | 3rd | 2:33.1 | 0.7 | Cristian Demuro | Equinox |
| 2023 – five-year-old season |||||||||||||
| Apr 2 | Hanshin | Osaka Hai | 1 | 2000 m (Firm) | 16 | 1 | 8.5 (5) | 6th | 1:58.0 | 0.6 | Mirai Iwata | Jack d'Or |
| Apr 30 | Sha Tin | Queen Elizabeth II Cup | 1 | 2000 m (Good) | 7 | 7 | 8.2 (4) | 6th | 2:02.74 | 0.82 | Cristian Demuro | Romantic Warrior |
| Jun 24 | Hanshin | Takarazuka Kinen | 1 | 2200 m (Firm) | 17 | 11 | 13.8 (3) | 4th | 2:11.4 | 0.2 | Yutaka Take | Equinox |
| Sept 24 | Nakayama | All Comers | 2 | 2200 m (Firm) | 15 | 6 | 5.1 (3) | 6th | 2:12.5 | 0.5 | Taisei Danno | Rosham Park |
| Nov 12 | Kyoto | Queen Elizabeth II Cup | 1 | 2200 m (Firm) | 15 | 7 | 4.6 (2) | 5th | 2:12.9 | 0.3 | Ryan Moore | Brede Weg |
| Dec 10 | Sha Tin | Hong Kong Vase | 1 | 2400 m (Good) | 9 | 7 | 17.0 (5) | 4th | 2:30.73 | 0.61 | William Buick | Junko |
* The Hong Kong odds are based on those by the Hong Kong Jockey Club

## Pedigree

Pedigree of Geraldina, bay mare, 2018 :
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Screen Hero 2004 ch. | Grass Wonder | Silver Hawk |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Screen Hero 2004 ch. | Grass Wonder | Ameriflora |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Screen Hero 2004 ch. | Running Heroine | Sunday Silence |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Screen Hero 2004 ch. | Running Heroine | Dyna Actress |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Mejiro Frances 2001 b. | Carnegie | Sadler's Wells |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Mejiro Frances 2001 b. | Carnegie | Detroit |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Mejiro Frances 2001 b. | Mejiro Monterey | Mogami |
| Sire Maurice 2011 b. | Mejiro Frances 2001 b. | Mejiro Monterey | Mejiro Quincey |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Deep Impact 2002 b. | Sunday Silence | Halo |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Deep Impact 2002 b. | Sunday Silence | Wishing Well |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Deep Impact 2002 b. | Wind in Her Hair | Alzao |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Deep Impact 2002 b. | Wind in Her Hair | Burghclere |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Donna Blini 2003 ch. | Bertolini | Danzig |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Donna Blini 2003 ch. | Bertolini | Aquilegia |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Donna Blini 2003 ch. | Cal Norma's Lady | Lyphard's Special |
| Dam Gentildonna 2009 ch. | Donna Blini 2003 ch. | Cal Norma's Lady | June Darling (Family: 16-f) |
* Geraldina is inbred 4×3 to Sunday Silence, meaning that this mare appears both the fourth and third generations of this pedigree.