CLOUD CUCKOO LAND

Admire Main (JPN)
(Photo : Greig Muir)

“It’s difficult to comprehend, but the prize money generated by runners
bred at Northern Farm is very nearly R800million.”

We just received the year end breeding statistics from our friends and fellow investors in Admire Main, Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm. It’s difficult to comprehend, but the prize money generated by runners bred at Northern Farm is very nearly R800million, while Katsumi’s brother Teruya’s Shadai Farm lies second, with earnings not far short of R700million. The family’s Shiraoi Farm ranks third, with almost a quarter of a billion in stakes. Between them, they have generated close to R1.7billion in total stakes, and to put that into perspective, while they obviously have fewer runners, Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Japan Farm, has earnings of “only” R90million.

In the general sires log, all ten of the Top 10 stand at the Yoshida family’s Shadai Stallion Station (we thought Coolmore were dominant in Europe!), while eight of the Top 10 juvenile sires (all eight of the Top 8) are also Shadai inmates. Interestingly, 7 of the Top 10 sires in the nation are sons of the great Sunday Silence, and in the light of the success of Japanese runners across the world, that’s about the best alarm signal South Africans can get. There’s only one source in our country, and he’s right here at Summerhill.

2012 JRA Purse Rating / Breeder

#	Breeder	Total Purse (ZAR)
1	Northern Farm	781 162 767
2	Shadai Farm	663 784 970
3	Shiraoi Farm	223 144 321
4	Oiwake Farm	95 192 058
5	Darley Japan Farm	88 914 005
6	Chiyoda Farm	87 297 865
7	North Hills Management	83 426 473
8	Big Red Farm	81 058 753
9	Shimokobe Farm	80 628 779
10	Mishima Farm	56 901 110

2012 JRA Leading Sire

#	Stallion	Total Purse (ZAR)
1	Deep Impact	429 687 703
2	King Kamehameha	381 567 635
3	Stay Gold	208 642 186
4	Symbol Kris S	196 796 840
5	Kurofune	178 559 949
6	Fuji Kiseki	168 066 524
7	Daiwa Major	162 453 886
8	Agnes Tachyon	147 004 184
9	Heart’s Cry	140 103 160
10	Manhattan Café	136 895 559

2012 JRA Leading Sire of 2-Year-Olds

#	Stallion	Total Purse (ZAR)
1	Deep Impact	36 482 750
2	Daiwa Major	29 788 471
3	King Kamehameha	25 043 638
4	Heart’s Cry	23 502 306
5	Symbol Kris S	23 412 212
6	Neo Universe	22 929 291
7	Kurofune	21 864 646
8	Agnes Tachyon	20 442 015
9	Admire Moon	16 593 766
10	War Emblem	14 865 329

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.

THE BATTLE OF THE YOSHIDA FAMILY

Waging battles on two fronts that took them down to the proverbial finish line last year, brothers Teruya and Katsumi Yoshida continued to dominate racing in Japan unlike any other familial dynasty in the world.

Thoroughbred Owner & Breeder reports that for the fifth consecutive year, Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm scooped the title of leading breeder with 617 runners garnering 310 wins and earning the equivalent of a mind-boggling £54,088,324. Northern-bred runners included three champions: juvenile filly Buena Vista, sprintermiler Sleepless Night and dirt horse Kane Hekili.

Horses bred by Teruya Yoshida’s Shadai Farm, which has earned 13 leading breeder titles since 1990, collected £53,093,275 and boasted 337 wins.

Screen Hero, winner of the Japan Cup and champion older horse, led the Shadai-breds. No other farm was even close to Northern and Shadai in the ranks of leading breeders, and the power of the Yoshidas is illustrated further by the fact that third-ranked Shiraoi Farm, which was represented by 83 wins and earnings of £12,493,647, is also owned by the family. The Oiwake Farm of brother Haruya Yoshida ranked tenth among breeders with earnings of £4,594,656.

The story is much the same when it comes to Japan’s top owners. Shadai Race Horse, a syndicate group led by Teruya Yoshida, claimed the leading owner crown for the 17th time over the past two decades, turning back the Sunday Racing group affiliated with Northern Farm that had led all owners in 2005 and 2007.

With 238 runners who made 1,181 starts, Shadai Race Horse notched 144 wins with 100 winners that earned a whopping total of £23,525,424.

Another 64 runners competed under Teruya’s personal name, winning 37 more races and an additional £7,550,359, which was enough to rank him seventh on the top owners’ list.