DEEP IMPACT SERVES NOTICE

World Ace (JPN) - The Kisaragi Sho (G3)
(Photo : Japan Racing Association)

THE KISARAGI SHO (Group 3)
Kyoto, Turf, 1800m
5 February 2012

The naming of racehorses is quite an involved process, because no two horses in the same country, are allowed the same name. It’s further complicated by the fact that the names of previous greats are reserved in perpetuity (including the greats from abroad), so that no horse can aspire to being a “Sea Cottage” again, for example.

It’s an arguable proposition that the most appropriately named horse in the world right now is Deep Impact, multiple Horse Of The Year in Japan, and now looking the likely stallion successor to his own great sire, Sunday Silence. There are parallels in what Deep Impact is doing in emulating his father in the European version of Galileo and Sadler’s Wells, yet it was a brave man who bet on either of Sadler’s Wells or Sunday Silence having anything remotely resembling themselves in any one of their sire sons.

Galileo has already surpassed the achievements at the same stage of Sadler’s Wells (and let’s not forget, Sadler’s Wells won a record 14 premierships in Europe), and while Deep Impact has a long furrow to plough yet before we can call him the “second coming”, he couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. The Champion Sire of Juveniles with his first crop in his native Japan, and threatening his barnmate King Kamehameha, with usurping his mantle at the head of their stallion log as his sophomores turn three, Deep Impact served notice again this weekend that his first runners were no fluke.

At Kyoto on Sunday, the first of the three-year-old classic trials, the Kisaragi Sho (G3) was a warning not only to his colleagues in Japan, but to the world at large, that Deep Impact has arrived, and he is here to stay. The race was “trifected” by his three sons, World Ace, Historical and Veiled Impact, the first two bred by Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm, and the third by Teruya Yoshida’s Shadai Farm. In the case of the winner, World Ace, his victory by 2,5 lengths was a compliment to his breeding. He’s out of a mare called “Mandela”, and he ran like he knew it.

The other Group race on the card was another endorsement of Sunday Silence. First and third past the post were both grandsons, and reminded us again how lucky we are in our international friends. The best son of Sunday Silence of his generation in Japan, Admire Main is here courtesy of the Yoshida family.

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.

A FORCE FOR RECKONING

Click above to watch the 2010 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe
(Image : Zimbio - Footage : Dubai Racing)

“WORKFORCE HEADING TO JAPAN”

I first met Teruya Yoshida, the present master of his family’s famous Shadai Farm, when we were fellow speakers at an Asian Racing Conference in India in 1995. As we embarked on our aeroplane, he asked me about several aspects of my speech relating to South Africa. In the course of the conversation, we got onto the topic. Starting with his father, of how Zenya had so influenced breeding affairs in Japan to the degree that it had become a world force. I probed him on the subject of what instigated their purchases of the mile and a half winners of the English Derby, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which were fundamental elements in the Shadai stallion band. Teruya was quick to respond. For centuries, these races were the proving grounds for the great stallions of Europe, but since the advent of the likes of Sir Ivor and Nijinsky from America, the emphasis among European breeders was on speed. These “Derby” types, whose metier was a mile and a half, and which had served as the foundations of the breed for so long, became surplus to their requirements.

In other words, the Japanese simply stepped into the space so long occupied by the best breeders in Britain, Ireland and continental Europe. However, the Japanese needed as a result to re-write a race programme which would suit the progeny of these horses, and so they came to revere the 2400m plus event as the testing ground for the best horses in Japan. At a time when the third leg of the British Triple Crown, the St Leger (contested at 2800m or a mile and three quarters) had so lost its lustre that few horses which had completed the Guineas / Derby double, even bothered to subscribe for it, the Japanese developed a new and healthy respect for the winner of their St Leger, and even for those horses that excelled in their Group Ones at 3000m, such as the excellent Sunday Silence stallion, Manhattan Café. The key is class, and most good horses, whatever their stamina attributes, have the speed that goes with it. Witness Americain, last year’s winner of the Melbourne Cup, who despite being beaten in this year’s event, still posted the best speed figures in the race.

That the strategy worked, is evident in the many fine Japanese horses which grace the racetracks of the world today, and which are undoubtedly, by any measure, world-class.

No surprise then, that the highest rated horse in Europe last year, the runaway hero of the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Harbinger, was bought by Shadai when his career came to a sad and abrupt end after the King George. And now we have the news that the English Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe ace, Workforce, is the next excellent horse to leave British shores for Japan. Yoshida commented “the sire line of Kingmambo is enjoying success in Japan, as seen in the favourable results by King Kamehameha. The maternal line of King’s Best is also very good (that of Galileo and Sea The Stars). His performance as a racehorse was extraordinary. Not only the record breaking victory in the Derby, but also the fact that he drew clear of his field, these were keys in deciding the purchase”.

That the moment Teruya and I alighted the aircraft in India has turned out to be fortuitous, is evident in the relationship we have forged with his brother, Katsumi and his Northern Farm. The only son in Africa of Japan’s greatest-ever stallion, Sunday Silence, (great by the standards of any country anywhere), Admire Main is here courtesy of that meeting.

DANEDREAM : BREEZE-UPS DELIVER PRIX DE L'ARC DE TRIOMPHE

Click above to watch Danedream winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe…
(Photo : The Telegraph - Footage : Horse Course Int)

QATAR PRIX DE L’ARC DE TRIOMPHE (Group 1)
Longchamp, Turf, 2400m
2 October 2011

It was a case of Deutsch and distaff delight at Longchamp yesterday after Gestut Berg Eberstein and Teruya Yoshida’s Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas) streaked to a five-length win in the G1 Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in record time. Sent off at 27-1, the 3-year-old led home a 1-2-3 for the fillies to register a second success for Germany - the first since 1975.

Having won the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden on testing ground last time September 4, the bay - who was supplemented this week - showed her versatility on this fast surface. She was not for catching after streaking by fellow sophomore Shareta (Ire) (Sinndar) approaching the furlong marker, and stretched away to provide trainer Peter Schiergen and jockey Andrasch Starke with the fairytale outcome. It was left to Snow Fairy (Ire) (Intikhab) to complete the female trifecta.

Danedream has been brought along the hard way by Peter Schiergen, but instead of backing off a busy campaign, improved with experience. As early as last August, she showed her class in this country when finishing first - before being DQ’d and placed third - in the Listed Criterium de FEE at Deauville. Sixth in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac on this card 12 months ago, she returned to her native land to run third in the prestigious G3 Preis der Winterkonigin over a mile at Baden-Baden later in October, before returning with a fourth in the Listed Premio Seregno over a mile at the San Siro April 10. The bay was third in the G2 Derby Italiano May 7, and gave every indication of her prowess with a 6 1/2-length success in the G2 Oaks d’Italia May 29. Fifth when giving winner Testosterone (Ire) (Dansili) too much rope under a five-pound penalty in the G2 Prix de Malleret at Saint-Cloud June 26, she progressed again to beat the 2010 German champion Scalo (Ger) (Lando) by five lengths in the G1 Deutschland-Preis at Hoppegarten July 24. That form had been underestimated by many, as was the case after her six-length defeat of reigning heroine Night Magic (Ger) (Sholokhov) in the Grosser Preis von Baden. But she had decent rivals strung out like jumpers that day, and the shrewd Teruya Yoshida was the prime beneficiary, purchasing a half share in the filly from Heiko Volz’s Gestut Burg Eberstein this week.

Danedream, advantageously drawn in stall two for the Arc, was settled in seventh against the rail as Treasure Beach (GB) (Galileo) set off in isolation. Shareta, tracked by St Nicholas Abbey (Ire) (Montjeu), took control in the home straight and, with the favorites failing to pick up with any relish from the back of the pack, Danedream had dead aim on the leaders. Once she was given the command, the diminutive raider settled the result before she reached the furlong pole, and the bargain €9,000 BBAG Breeze-Up purchase cracked the track record set by Peintre Celebre in 1997.

“It was a dream for me just to ride in the race,” jockey Andrasch Starke said. “It was a great performance. In the last two furlongs, she gave me a great feel, and when she kicked I knew she would win and was just dreaming.”

“The Arc is a race I have dreamt of for a long time, first as a jockey and then during my career as a trainer,” Peter Schiergen said. “It is an unbelievable moment, and I have thought for a long time that she is the best I have trained. To win by five lengths here at this track with that great ambience is the greatest moment in my life.” He added, “I have trained some nice horses, but she is by far the best, and I had great confidence in her. There was no hesitation to supplement her, as she was coming into the race beautifully. I also had confidence in Andrasch, and he rode a great race, so we’ll now savor the moment.”

Patrick Barbe, representing Teruya Yoshida, said, “Mr. Yoshida has watched the race from Japan and is absolutely delighted. We don’t know yet what we will do with her now, but she stays in training and has already run quite a lot this year already. If she is well, she could run in the G1 Japan Cup (at Tokyo November 27).”

Co-owner Volz owns a furniture store in Germany. Introduced to racing by his father, who also owned horses, he started going to the races at age three.

Extract from Thoroughbred Daily News

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