THE SUN HAS RISEN

Japan Racing Association Leading Breeder and Sire
(Courtesy of JRA - Correct as at 14 May 2012)

“JAPAN HORSERACING STATISTICS”

Heavens knows, Japan and its economy have had some bumpy rides in recent years. Earthquakes, tsunamis, deflation, you name it, the Japanese have known it, yet they’re an amazing nation. Devastated in the wake of the Second World War, flattened by the tragedy of a nuclear proliferation, they must rank with the most tenacious people on earth. Just a week ago, after all their reverses, Toyota Motor Corporation announced record profits, and were once again elevated to the status of Number One automobile manufacturer in the world.

Yet they’re not the only Japanese entity that’s best in the world: look at the earnings logs of their top breeders and their leading stallions, and you begin to understand why Japanese racing thrives, and thrives better than anywhere else in the world. The Yoshida family’s dominance of Japanese racing’s affairs is immediately apparent: Northern Farm, the guys that sent us Admire Main (let me reword that, the guys who could afford to send us Admire Main), have earnings already approaching R300 million this season, while their brother farm, Shadai ranks second on R264 million. The family conglomerate Shiraoi, with a fraction of the runners, sits on R78 million, and ranks third on the log. In order to put all of this into perspective, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Japan Farm ranks ninth on R30million. Imagine that: the year is only four-and-a-half months old, and a single breeder has already totted up close to R300 million in earnings! At the rate we pay them, that would amount to R18 million in premiums!

Now turn to the stallion log, where every one of the top ten stands at the Yoshida family’s Shadai Stallion Station. Nowhere else in the world, not even in Ireland where Coolmore stands alone, is the dominance so complete. Reassuringly, for South African breeders who understand the line and who’ve patronised Admire Main, seven of the top ten sires are sons of Sunday Silence.

ALI VS FRAZIER : KATSUMI VS TERUYA

JAPANESE BREEDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP

Time was when the late Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali met in what was dubbed in the “thrilla in Manila” and when George Foreman took on Ali the “rumble in the jungle”, we all thought we’d never see the likes of it again.

Yet, students of the Japanese breeding scene will know that the struggle for local supremacy is a straight-out slugfest between the brothers Yoshida, with Katsumi on our left, and Teruya on our right. Sandwiched in-between is the third umpire, the family-owned Shiraoi Farm, a co-operative venture which suggests that despite their internecine rivalry, the Yoshidas share a mutual admiration, manifested again in their famous Shadai Stallion Station.

The battle for top dog has raged as furiously as ever in 2011, but here it’s not a case of running with the big boys, and having to play dead. The heat is on from the word go, and while there’s some R70 million separating Katsumi’s Northern Farm from Teruya’s Shadai Farm this year, it’s a “mere” R70 million in almost R750 million.

What clinched it for Katsumi’s operation this year was his Northern Farm exacta in Japan’s most celebrated event, the Japan Cup (Gr1), which returned the championship to his operation again after an interlude of a year for Shadai; prior to that there were Summerhill parallels in six consecutive championships for Northern Farm. The extent of the Yoshida domination on Japanese breeding affairs is clear from the table above. Sitting where we are (or anywhere else in the world for that matter) it’s difficult to conceive of the prize money involved, let alone the massive premiums these achievements attract; the second last column expresses the total earnings in Rands; almost three-quarters of a billion to the top farm!

Turning to the sires’ logs, the striking item is the presence of six sons of Sunday Silence in the first ten on the General Sires’ List, while the Juvenile Sires’ Log tells us it’s by no means the end of the story. The first three in that list are all young sons of the greatest stallion Asia has ever known, and arguably one of the best the world has known. All of Daiwa Major, Deep Impact and Agnes Tachyon are by Sunday Silence, and they’ve only just kicked off their careers. It’s entirely conceivable that Japanese breeding can look forward to a rivalry between the top two, of proportions hitherto unwitnessed since the era of Frazier and Ali.

DUBAI WORLD CUP : VIVA JAPAN

Admire Main
(Photo : Summerhill Stud)

“IGNORE THE JAPANESE AT YOUR PERIL”

If ever a country needed a morale booster, it was the Land of the Rising Sun, and nothing could’ve been more timely than the closing burst of Victoire Pisa in the dying strides of the world’s richest horse race, the Dubai World Cup, on Saturday evening. Sensing a crawler of a pace, jockey Mirco Demuro sent his horse to the head of affairs, where he joined his fellow countryman, Transcend, and it was going to take a very good horse to beat these two once they turned for home, as they were bound to have plenty in reserve when it mattered most. In the wake of the tsunami which hit Fukushima earlier in the month, here was a country desperate for good news, and the son of Neo Universe could not have served up a better tonic for his ailing people.

The spectacular victory of the Crusaders over the Sharks at Twickenham on Sunday evening, was another telling example of the impact natural disasters have on the spirit of a nation. Featured as a home game for the men from Canterbury, the New Zealanders delivered their greatest ever performance to take the laurels 44-28, and they did it against a Sharks side that was just as valiant in defeat.

There were some good horses behind Victoire Pisa on Saturday, not the least of whom was the highest rated middle distance horse in Europe, Twice Over, who’d put up such a blinder in the third round of the Al Maktoum Challenge, a few weeks before, and looked a cinch for the laurels with the scratching of South Africa’s Bold Silvano. Twice Over was not alone among the vanquished however; they included American Grass Champion, Gio Ponti, Irish Derby winner, Cape Blanco and Japanese Champion, Buena Vista.

“The image of Japan has recently been darkened, and the people have been put down, but, thanks to the invitation of Sheikh Mohammed, we were able to come here for the Dubai World Cup and give some smiles to the Japanese people,” trainer Katsuhiko Sumii said through an interpreter of his troubled homeland.

We’ve said it often enough, but you ignore the Japanese at your peril. They’ve cornered the market in quality stamina horses, entering the gap the Europeans and the British were once famous for, when they eschewed those that had traditionally forged their breed. These were the horses that could stay the true test of a properly run mile and a half, in the wake of was popularly known as the “American invasion”, headed by the likes of Sir Ivor and Nijinsky in the 1970’s. Since then, Japanese horses have run proud the world over, and this was by no means the first time they’ve shone at the Dubai World Cup meeting.

Pedigree pundits will ask themselves who the hero’s sire, Neo Universe is, and the answer is axiomatic. He’s yet another Japanese Guineas and Derby winning son of the legendary Sunday Silence, which provides South Africans with of an idea of the source of our enthusiasm for our own Admire Main.

Victoire Pisa’s breeder, Shadai Farm, is the founding property of the celebrated Yoshida family’s remarkable turf holdings on Hokaido in Northern Japan, and while our affiliations with the family come via Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm, Admire Main himself is a graduate of the Shadai Stallion Station.

"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

JAPAN BREEDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP : INTERNECINE COLLISION

Click above to watch Victoire Pisa winning the
Arima Kinen (Gr1)
(Photo : Racing Post)

“IT’S OPEN WARFARE…”

The Yoshidas have long been the dominant force in Japanese breeding. That’s clear from their latest statistics, which have three family entities at the head of breeding’s affairs, and each and every one of the top ten sires on the General and Juvenile Sires’ logs, residing at their Shadai Stallion Station.

For all that though, when it comes to the Champion Breeders title, it’s open warfare. And it’s about as tight at the top as you can get, the lead changing with the passing of each weekend.

Last weekend, Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm (with whom we have Admire Main,) grabbed the lead for the first time in 2010, overcoming a huge mid-year deficit, only to have older brother, Teruya’s Shadai Farm take the Group One Arima Kinen on Sunday with Victoire Pisa. And you might’ve guessed it, 2^nd and 3^rd were Northern Farm graduates.

This was the position last week : we’ll provide an update tomorrow on the latest from the “Land Of The Rising Sun,” and the domain of the late, great Sunday Silence.

Editor : Just have a peek at the earnings schedule, converted to Rands (ZAR). Imagine we could play for those stakes!

Japan Racing Association
Purse Rating / Breeder

#	Breeder	# of start (head)	# of start (race)	win (head)	win (race)	Total Purse (ZAR)	Recent Winner
1	Northern Farm	694	3097	254	346	575,991,001	Rose Kingdom
2	Shadai Farm	731	3281	274	383	569,617,489	Victoire Pisa
3	Shiraoi Farm	228	1132	67	99	142,932,656	Aliseo
4	Shimokobe Farm	149	662	40	48	85,027,939	Dasher Go Go
5	North Hills Management	104	473	32	43	84,034,688	Transcend
6	Chiyoda Farm	168	723	36	50	83,376,705	Birdy Birdy
7	Big Red Farm	143	652	37	44	61,903,701	Meiner Kitz
8	Oiwake Farm	88	386	21	26	42,601,234	Golski
9	Yanagawa Farm	64	365	25	33	41,923,803	Kopano Gingu
10	Mishima Farm	67	358	20	25	41,891,945	Meisho Beluga

Courtesy of JRA 20 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	308	1520	128	177	262,431,785	Rose Kingdom
2	FUJI KISEKI	283	1232	87	116	175,713,280	Kinshasa no Kiseki
3	SYMBOLI KRIS S	292	1354	89	117	171,244,848	Aliseo
4	KURUFUNE	298	1459	109	148	166,986,938	Whale Capture
5	MANHATTAN CAFE	266	1106	77	109	163,911,393	Gestalt
6	AGNES TACHYON	251	1006	76	98	153,748,766	Reve d’Essor
7	SPECIAL WEEK	236	1085	65	80	143,911,684	Buena Vista
8	SAKURA BAKUSHIN O	244	1127	85	105	143,395,138	Grand Prix Boss
9	JUNGLE POCKET	213	917	52	71	121,713,570	Jaguar Mail
10	NEO UNIVERSE	235	1042	63	93	117,913,425	Victoire Pisa

Courtesy of JRA 20 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	73	169	33	37	33,550,653	Real Impact
2	SAKURA BAKUSHIN O	51	154	19	24	26,483,962	Grand Prix Boss
3	AGNES TACHYON	56	122	15	18	21,035,051	Reve d’ Essor
4	KING KAMEHAMEHA	77	200	29	30	20,502,903	Tsurumaru One Piece
5	FUJI KISEKI	55	129	21	22	19,382,656	Sadamu Patek
6	HEART’S CRY	46	121	14	16	16,497,315	Lift The Wings
7	KUROFUNE	50	139	11	13	15,040,421	Whale Capture
8	JUNGLE POCKET	67	174	9	10	14,518,578	Magical Pocket
9	MANHATTAN CAFE	49	111	14	17	12,761,176	Shonan Mighty
10	NEO UNIVERSE	70	172	12	13	12,249,347	All As One

Courtesy of JRA 20 December 2010