"A BILLION SURE AIN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE"

The Japanese Breeders’ Championship
(Image :  OCW/SHorse/JRArch)

THE JAPANESE BREEDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

Those were the words of Texan oilman, Nelson Bunker-Hunt when his silver empire collapsed in 1987, forcing his bankruptcy and the sale of his breeding stock, which had earned him five Eclipse Awards as America’s Champion Breeder.

We turn now to a billion of a different kind, half of which and more is what it takes to win a Japanese Breeders’ Championship. Readers will have seen our piece yesterday on the state of affairs a week ago, and here we illustrate the subtle change at the top of the log following Saturday’s Arima Kinen (Gr1). What hasn’t changed is the family origins of the leaders : it’s simply a matter of one Yoshida replacing another. In South African terms, the margin would be material, irrecoverable at this time of the year. In Japanese terms however, you can see just how close things are, and there are still a couple of days left. This must surely be a world record in terms of the intensity of the battle, the earnings of the two protagonists, and the narrowness of the margin.

Japan Racing Association
Purse Rating / Breeder

#	Breeder	# of start (head)	# of start (race)	win (head)	win (race)	Total Purse (ZAR)	Recent Winner
1	Shadai Farm	740	3362	279	393	594,728,478	Victoire Pisa
2	Northern Farm	701	3178	259	353	593,326,739	Rose Kingdom
3	Shiraoi Farm	230	1161	70	103	145,792,899	Aliseo
4	Chiyoda Farm	170	744	39	53	86,020,072	Birdie Birdie
5	Shimokobe Farm	150	674	40	48	85,288,768	Dasher Go Go
6	North Hills Management	104	484	33	44	84,441,884	Transcend
7	Big Red Farm	143	668	37	45	64,917,464	Meiner Kitz
8	Mishima Farm	67	367	21	26	43,628,478	Meisho Beluga
9	Oiwake Farm	90	392	21	26	42,742,391	Golski
10	Yanagawa Farm	64	369	25	33	42,156,522	Kopano Gingu

Courtesy of JRA 28 December 2010

Japan Racing Association
Leading Sire

#	Stallion	# of start (head)	# of start (race)	win (head)	win (race)	Total Purse (ZAR)	Recent Winner
1	KING KAMEHAMEHA	313	1551	129	179	269,224,348	Rose Kingdom
2	FUJI KISEKI	283	1262	89	119	178,989,130	Kinshasa no Kiseki
3	SYMBOLI KRIS S	296	1381	90	118	172,785,072	Aliseo
4	KURUFUNE	299	1492	112	154	171,916,304	Whale Capture
5	MANHATTAN CAFE	269	1130	79	111	166,108,623	Gestalt
6	AGNES TACHYON	252	1028	79	101	155,602,101	Reve d’Essor
7	SPECIAL WEEK	237	1104	67	83	150,924,275	Buena Vista
8	SAKURA BAKUSHIN O	245	1156	86	107	145,624,058	Grand Prix Boss
9	NEO UNIVERSE	239	1067	64	96	135,115,000	Victoire Pisa
10	JUNGLE POCKET	220	950	55	74	126,197,029	Jaguar Mail

Courtesy of JRA 28 December 2010

Japan Racing Association
Leading Sire of 2 Year Olds

#	Stallion	# of start (head)	# of start (race)	win (head)	win (race)	Total Purse (ZAR)	Recent Winner
1	DEEP IMPACT	74	187	34	41	38,916,159	Real Impact
2	SAKURA BAKUSHIN O	51	159	19	24	26,539,783	Grand Prix Boss
3	KING KAMEHAMEHA	82	213	30	32	22,667,391	Belshazzar
4	AGNES TACHYON	57	133	18	21	22,511,812	Reve d’Essor
5	FUJI KISEKI	56	139	22	23	19,847,319	Sadamu Patek
6	HEART’S CRY	50	131	16	18	18,074,855	Win Variation
7	KUROFUNE	51	147	13	16	18,475,145	Whale Capture
8	JUNGLE POCKET	74	191	11	12	15,968,551	Magical Pocket
9	MANHATTAN CAFE	52	125	16	19	13,945,580	Shonan Mighty
10	NEO UNIVERSE	73	185	12	13	13,604,928	All As One

Courtesy of JRA 28 December 2010

Comments

[Alan M.]

I have just read "SECRETARIAT" by William Nack ( the book on which the forthcoming film based on that great horse's racing career is based) & was interested to learn that one of the first applicants for a share in the Syndicate to control his breeding career was one Zenya Yoshida of Fountainebleu Farm. I assume he was the father (or possibly the grandfather) of the present all- powerful Yoshida family. The syndication occurred in 1973 before the "BIG RED' horse had even run in the Kentucky Derby, let alone winning the Triple Crown in record times. His Belmont record winning distance (31 lengths) & time (2min.&24 sec.) still sstand, nearly 40 years later. As a matter of interest, does Secretariat feature (although now some generations back) in any of the top Japanese horses? A.M.