The 2025 Indonesia's Horse Racing Season was the national-level Indonesian horse racing season in 2025. There were a total of nine events, held between the 16th of February to the 9th of November in 2025.[1] The events were sanctioned by the Equestrian Association of Indonesia (PORDASI) and ran by event organizers, SARGA.CO.[2] Their official website can be found at sarga.co.
King Argentin, a colt from King Halim Stable jockeyed by Jemmy Runtu, won the Triple Crown in the 2025 season.[3]
Overview
The 2025 Indonesia's Horse Racing season was the third horse racing season run by SARGA.CO. The original calendar had ten events planned for the year.[4] In the end, there were nine events held throughout 2025.
Jateng Derby incident
The Jateng Derby was the first event held in the 2025 season. The event was held at Tegalwaton Racecourse in Semarang Regency, Central Java. In the main race of the event, the 3-year-old Derby Division I race, known as the Jateng Derby, an incident occurred that resulted in the deaths of two horses, Milord and Salvator Minang. The accident happened after Salvator Minang's jockey, Yanni Rondowunu, fell from the horse in the first turn entering the homestretch, leaving the horse uncontrollable. Despite becoming an obstruction to the racing line, the race went on. As Milord, the North Sulawesian horse, re-entered the homestretch for the final spurt, he collided head-on with the loose Salvator Minang, who had gone running in the opposite direction. The impact threw Milord's jockey, Jones Paendong, from the saddle.[5] Both jockeys were taken to a nearby hospital for care, whilst the two horses died shortly after the race. The race, which had King Argentin cross the finish line first, was nullified with the prize being divided equally among the 11 racers.[6]
The Jateng Derby Incident led to many horse racing fans from North Sulawesi expressing regret and sadness over the incident and the death of their region's flagship race horse. Many online horse racing fans criticized the lack of competence of both PORDASI and SARGA.CO in organizing the event, and expressed the need for better attention to safety procedures.[citation needed] After the incident, PORDASI formalized a new rule stating that a jockey may not compete in more than six races in a single event to ensure better safety.[6]
King Argentin winning the Triple Crown
The first of the Indonesian Triple Crown races was held on 20 April 2025 in the event BNI Triple Crown Serie 1 & Pertiwi Cup 2025 at Sultan Agung Racecourse, Bantul Regency, DI Yogyakarta.[7] The event also included the Pertiwi Cup, a race exclusive for 3-year-old fillies. Princess Gavi, a horse from King Halim Stable, won the Pertiwi Cup by around 2½ lengths over Naura Ayu. In the 1200m first Triple Crown Race, King Argentin, also from King Halim Stable, won by around 2¼ lengths over Wonder Land.[8]
The second Triple Crown race was held on 18 May 2025, at the Tegalwaton Racecourse, in the Triple Crown Serie 2 2025 event. King Argentin won the 1600m Triple Crown II race in rainy conditions, again with Wonder Land in second place.[9]
Between Triple Crown II and the Indonesia Derby, the IHR Cup 2025 was held on 15 June 2025 at Sultan Agung Racecourse. Notable high stakes races were the 3y Derby Prospect and Open 2000m races, with Sidney All Star and Naga Sembilan winning them respectively.[10]
The main event of the season, The Indonesia Derby, was held on 27 July 2025 at Sultan Agung Racecourse. The race had the largest purse of IDR 900,000,000 with the winner receiving IDR 300,000,000. The Derby was the penultimate title deciding race of the Triple Crown. King Argentin, jockeyed by Jemmy Runtu, won by around 4 lengths over Pertiwi Cup winner Princess Gavi, thus earning him the Indonesian Triple Crown.[11] He is the fourth to achieve the title after Djohar Manik (2014), Manik Trisula (2002), and Mystere (1978)[note 1], and the second colt to do so.[12]
The Indonesia Derby event was also the 2025 Kejurnas Seri I, the first leg of the 2025 National Championships. After the event, the provincial contingent standings had West Java at first place with 50 points. Following them were Central Java, DK Jakarta, North Sulawesi, and West Sumatra with 41, 33, 23.5, and 15.5 points respectively.[13]
Rise in popularity after Umamusume global release
Umamusume: Pretty Derby, a Japanese gacha game from the franchise of the same name created by Cygames that centers on anthropomorphizedJapanese race horses, released globally in June 2025 and became trending internationally[14], including in Indonesia. The global release unexpectedly became a catalyst for the revival of the horse racing scene in Indonesia among younger, internet savvy, audiences.[15] The popularity surge introduced fan art of the Indonesian horses as anthropomorphized Umamusume girls, and cosplayers of the characters attending races. SARGA.CO aknowledged the franchise’s influence and has since partnered with several local Umamusume fan communities to promote the sport.[16][17]
Kejurnas Seri II 2025, the second leg of the 2025 National Championships, was held on 19 October 2025 at Sultan Agung Racecourse. Unlike the first leg which classifies races by both height and age, the second leg classifies purely by height (Class A-F).[20] There are two classic races held in the event, which are the Class A Super Sprint (1300m) and the Class A Star of Stars (2200m). The Super Sprint was won by Pertiwi Cup winner Princess Gavi, with the race ending in a photo finish between her and Jakartan race horse, Dominator. The Star of Stars race was won by Naga Sembilan of Red Stone Stable. Naga Sembilan was the first and only Classic race winner in 2025 not from King Halim Stable.[21]
DK Jakarta, who were third place in July, won 52.5 points in Kejurnas II and moved up to first place to win the President of the Republic of Indonesia Cup. The trophy is awarded to overall champions, which is the provincial contingent with the most points from Kejurnas I and II. Jakarta, with 85.5 points, won with a 0.25 margin above runner ups West Java, who had 85.25 points. The third, fourth, and fifth place contingents were Central Java, East Java, and North Sulawesi with 64, 46, and 24.75 points respectively.[22]
HBX Cup Open 2000m race (Triple's is seen leading the pack)
The final race of the season was the King Hamengku Buwono X Cup (HBX Cup for short). The event was sponsored by the sultan and governor of Yogyakarta, Hamengkubuwono X. The main race, awarding the HBX Cup and IDR 200,000,000, is the Open 2000m. The HBX Cup was won by Triple's, 3 to 4 lengths over King of Istana. The event also included a race of Umamusume cosplayers.[23]
Throughout the season, King Halim Stable won 5 out of 6 Classic races, whilst Eclipse Stable won 27 out of all 151 races.
The President of the Republic of Indonesia Cup (Piala Presiden RI) is given to the provincial contingent with the most points across Kejurnas Seri I and Kejurnas Seri II. DK Jakarta are victorious with 0.25 points over West Java.
The Sarga Indonesia's Horse Racing Award 2025 was part of the Indonesia Rising Stars Award 2025, an event from SARGA.CO awarding various achievements across equine sports.[33]
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