page_title: Isla Bonita
section_title: 2014: three-year-old season
hierarchical_section_title: Isla Bonita / Racing career / 2014: three-year-old season
caption_attribution_description: 日本語: 2014/4/20 皐月賞 イスラボニータ English: Japanese race horse Isla Bonita at Nakayama racecourse. Nakayama (JPN) 20 Apr 2014 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) (Grade 1) (3yo Colts &amp; Fillies) (Turf) 1m2f Firm RankHorse NameOddsAgeWgtTrainerJockey1stIsla Bonita (JPN)41/10C39-0Hironori KuritaMasayoshi Ebina2ndTo The World (JPN)5/2FC39-0Yasutoshi IkeeYuga Kawada3rdWin Full Bloom (JPN)239/10C39-0Hiroshi MiyamotoDaichi Shibata4th-18th/omission
context_page_description: Isla Bonita is a Japanese Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. As a juvenile in 2013 he showed very promising form as he won three of his four races including the Icho Stakes and the Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. In the following year he took the JRA Award for Best Three-Year-Old Colt after winning the Tokino Minoru Kinen, Satsuki Sho and St Lite Kinen as well as finishing second in the Tokyo Yushun and third in the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho. He failed to win in the net two years but ran well in several major races, being placed in the Tenno Sho and two runnings of the Mile Championship. In his final season he returned to winning form, taking the Yomiuri Milers Cup and the Hanshin Cup.
context_section_description: On 24 February Isla Bonita began his second campaign in the Kyodo News Service Hai (a trial race for the Satsuki Sho) over 1800 metres at Tokyo. He headed the betting at odds of 6/5 and won by one and a quarter lengths from Bell Canyon, with two lengths back to Satono Aladdin in third. On his next appearance Isla Bonita, with Ebina in the saddle, was made the 4.1/1 second choice in the betting for the 74th running of the Satsuki Sho over 2000 metres at Nakayama Racecourse. The Yayoi Sho winner To The World started favourite, with the other sixteen runners including Asia Express, Rosa Gigantea (Spring Stakes), Tosen Stardom (Kisaragi Sho), One And Only (Radio Nikkei Hai Nisai Stakes), Clarity City and Bell Canyon. After racing in mid-division Isla Bonita moved up on the outside on the final turn and moved up to dispute the lead with Win Full Bloom, To The World, and Asia Express 200 metres from the finish. He drew ahead in the closing stages to win by one and a quarter lengths and half a length from To The World and Win Full Bloom in a time of 1:59.6. After the race Ebina said "I tried to race him with his own pace until the first corner and took him to the outside to avoid the crowd. He was responding well, and as I was able to race him towards the front, I urged him to go earlier. Although he seemed a bit distracted, he was able rally strongly with the other horses. He is able to run a smooth race and I think the Tokyo racecourse, where the Japanese Derby is held, will suit him well".
  On 1 June Isla Bonita was stepped up in distance and was made the 1.7/1 favourite for the Japanese Derby over 2400 metres at Tokyo. After tracking the front-runners in third he moved up to dispute the lead in the straight but was outrun in the closing stages and beaten three quarters of a length into second place by One And Only.
  After a three and a half months Isla Bonita returned in autumn for the St Lite Kinen (usually a trial race for the Kikuka Sho) over 2200 metres at Niigata on 21 September. He started the 2/5 favourite in an eighteen-runner field and won by one and a quarter lengths from To The World. Isla Bonita bypassed the Kikuka Sho and was matched against older horses for the first time in the autumn edition of the Tenno Sho over 2000 metres at Tokyo on 2 November. Ridden by Christophe Lemaire he started favourite and finished a close third behind the five-year-olds Spielberg and Gentildonna. On his final run of the season four weeks later he came home ninth of the seventeen finishers behind Epiphaneia in the Japan Cup.
  In the 2014 World's Best Racehorse Rankings, Isla Bonita was given a rating of 117, making the 105th best horse in the world.
  In January 2015 Isla Bonita was named Best Three-Year-Old Colt at the JRA Awards for 2014 taking 170 of the 285 votes.
caption: Isla Bonita wins the Satsuki Sho
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