King Kamehameha | Horse Racing Free Tips

Eleventh Japanese Title for Deep Impact

To a degree, when it comes to the Japanese sires' championship of 2022, one could resort to that old saying 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'. It holds good for now, as in the last three years the names filling the top three spots in the list have remained the same, in an unchanged order: Deep Impact (Jpn), Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), and Heart's Cry (Jpn).

But all things change eventually and, as we know, two of those stallions are no longer active, with Deep Impact gaining his last three championships posthumously. With his legend now fully appreciated worldwide, he was quick to make his mark in his home country after his retirement to the Shadai Stallion Station in 2007. The son of the hugely dominant Sunday Silence was Japan's champion first-season sire of 2010. He made his debut in the top 10 of the country's general sires' list the following year by finishing in fourth position when King Kamehameha (Jpn) was champion, but Deep Impact then wrested that title from his stud-mate in 2012 and has held it on an annual basis ever since.

The members of his final small crop of 14, conceived after covering 24 mares before his premature demise at the age of 17 in August 2019, are 3-year-olds this year. In Japan, where it is still considered desirable for the elite gallopers to race on as older horses, Deep Impact could maintain his supremacy for another year, but sooner or later his reign will come to an end. His stars of 2022 in Japan were the G1 Osaka Hai winner Potager (Jpn) and Ask Victor More (Jpn), who won the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger). He also featured as the broodmare sire of G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup victrix Geraldina (Jpn), a daughter of Maurice (Jpn) and perhaps Deep Impact's crowning glory, Gentildonna (Jpn), the Fillies' Triple Crown, Japan Cup and Arima Kinen winner who was Japan's Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2014.

Farther afield, he was represented by G1 Australasian Oaks winner Glint Of Hope (Jpn), while the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) gives Deep Impact a great chance of further European Classic success this year.

The top-class sprinter/miler Lord Kanaloa, a son of the late King Kamehameha, looks a champion sire in the making with a growing international reputation. He was the approximate equivalent of only £163,000 shy of Deep Impact in progeny earnings from 276 winners last year, the best of them being G1 NHK Mile Cup winner Danon Scorpion (Jpn) and G1 Dubai Turf dead-heater Panthalassa (Jpn). Not too many of his offspring have made it to Europe yet, but a notable winner in Ireland last season was 'TDN Rising Star' Beginnings, a daughter of dual Guineas heroine Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who now has Classic aspirations of her own.

Heart's Cry was absent from the covering shed in 2022, having been pensioned at Shadai the previous June at the age of 20. A contemporary of Deep Impact, he finished runner-up to him in the freshman championship of 2010 and, despite always being in his shadow, has enjoyed a sterling career of his own.

Heart's Cry sired the 2022 Japanese Derby winner Do Deuce (Jpn) and his previous best performers around the world include Japan Cup winner Suave Richard (Jpn), Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux (Jpn) and dual Grade 1 winner Yoshida (Jpn), who is now at WinStar Farm in Kentucky. In France this year, he was represented by the Aidan O'Brien-trained G3 Prix Thomas Bryon winner Continuous (Jpn), who is out of a full-sister to Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and thus bred on similar lines to Saxon Warrior (Jpn).

For the second year running Deep Impact's son Kizuna (Jpn), the second of his sire's Derby winners in 2013, was fourth in the general sires' table having been the leading first-season sire of 2019.

His highlight of the year came when Songline (Jpn) won the G1 Yasuda Kinen, having started 2022 with victory in the G3 1351 Turf Sprint at a Saudi Cup meeting which was dominated by Japanese runners. Kizuna's son Bathrat Leon (Jpn) won the G2 Godolphin Mile at Meydan the following month.

Duramente (Jpn), who sadly died after a bout of colitis in August 2021 at the age of just nine, looks an increasingly big loss to the Japanese ranks, having finished fifth in the table for 2022. Another son of King Kamehameha, and out of the dual Group 1 winner Admire Groove (Jpn) (Sunday Silence, Duramente was represented by the G1 Hopeful S. winner Dura Erede (Jpn) between Christmas and New Year, and his son Titleholder (Jpn) took last season's G1 Takarazuka Kinen having become a Classic winner the previous year in the Kikuka Sho. Another Classic winner came his way in 2022 in the form of the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) winner Stars On Earth (Jpn).

Having covered for just five seasons, Duramente leaves 725 registered offspring. His sire King Kamehameha was just behind him in sixth, and the influence of the former champion, who died in 2019, will start to wane in this table, though he will likely remain dominant through his daughters for a good while, and he was champion broodmare sire for 2022, ahead of Deep Impact, Kurofune (Jpn), and Sunday Silence.

The brilliant Triple Crown and dual Arima Kinen winner Orfevre (Jpn) managed a top-10 finish for the third year running from a personal best of fourth in 2020. On the international stage, he is best known for his 2021 GI Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Marche Lorraine (Jpn), one of his four Group/Grade 1 winners, including recent Tokyo Daishoten winner Ushba Tesoro (Jpn). That latest top-level winner came a day after he had notched a first Group I winner as a broodmare sire through the aforementioned Dura Ede.

Rulership (Jpn), too, is a perennial top-10 dweller and is the third of King Kamehameha's sons towards the top of the list. He appears to work well with mares by Sunday Silence and his sons–though they are not exactly in short supply–with all three of his Group 1 winners and 12 of his 16 group stakes winners having been bred on variations of this cross.

Maurice (Jpn), who spilt his six Group 1 wins equally between Japan and Hong Kong, has a similar record with his best runners. Having shuttled to Australia, he had two Group 1 winners there in 2022–Australian Derby winner Hitotsu (Aus) and Doomben 10,000 winner Mazu (Aus), along with two Group 1 winners in Japan. Arguably the most significant of these is Geraldina, the aforementioned daughter of Gentildonna.

Completing the top 10 is the veteran Daiwa Major (Jpn). The big success of 2022 for the 22-year-old son of Sunday Silence came through G1 Mile Championship winner Serifos (Jpn), giving Le Havre (Ire) a second top-level victory as broodmare sire, following his European strike in that category via Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}).

Biscuits Best Of The Youngsters

Three of the four leading first-season sires in Japan in 2022 were bred in America, though two of them, Shanghai Bobby in third and Declaration Of War in fourth, are only freshmen in Japanese terms, having started their careers in the US and Ireland before being exported.

Leading the group was Mind Your Biscuits, the dual G1 Golden Shaheen winner who also landed the GI Malibu S. and joined the Shadai Stallion Station upon retirement. From 76 runners last year, the son of Posse was represented by 28 winners, including the listed scorer Dermo Sotogake (Jpn) and the Group 2-placed Shomon (Jpn). Mind Your Biscuits is a great grandson of Deputy Minister, whose line has been ably represented in Japan, particularly by his son French Deputy and grandson Kurofune.

Of the homegrown young stallions in Japan, the G1 Dubai Turf winner Real Steel (Jpn) was best, finishing second behind Mind Your Biscuits with 21 winners from 67 starters but with an important Group 2 winner to his credit in All Parfait (Jpn). By Deep Impact, Real Steel owns a pedigree that will be all too familiar to breeders beyond Japan: his Niarchos-bred dam Loves Only Me (Storm Cat) has also produced Real Steel's treble Group/Grade 1-winning full-sister Loves Only You (Jpn). Their dam was unraced, but as a granddaughter of Miesque and half-sister to Group 1 winner Rumpelstiltskin (Ire) (Danehill), she was always going to be a valuable broodmare prospect and has already more than proved her worth at stud. Though the Niarchos family sold her for $900,000 to Katsumi Yoshida, their own support of Deep Impact through the same brilliant equine family was rewarded with a Classic winner in Study Of Man (Ire), who is out of Miesque's Storm Cat daughter Second Happiness and has his first-crop runners in Europe this year.

With this family also boasting Kingmambo, whose international influence stretches to Japan, largely through King Kamehameha, it is fair to expect to hear more of Real Steel and Study Of Man as the years progress.

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Deep Impact: Gone But Certainly Not Forgotten

The death of Deep Impact (Jpn) in July 2019 may have robbed Japan, and the wider breeding industry, of a phenomenally successful stallion but his dominance persists for now, with a tenth Japanese sires' championship going his way in 2021.

The most prolific son of Sunday Silence, who was just 17 when he died a few months after covering a final book of 24 mares, has held the title consecutively since 2012, the year in which his eldest runners were 4-year-olds. He had hit the ground running as the champion first-season sire in 2010.

From that final crop, members of which have just turned two, seven foals are listed as having been born in Japan, and another seven in Europe. As would be expected, they belong to some high-end breeders, and include the Aga Khan's half-sister to the five-time Group 1 winner and young stallion The Autumn Sun (Aus) (Redoutes's Choice {Aus}); Godolphin's half-sister to Prix Marcel Boussac and Breeders' Cup winner Wuheida (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}); a full-brother to Saxon Warrior (Jpn), and a filly out of the seven-time Group 1 winner Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose first foal born the previous year was a colt by Deep Impact. Also among the Galileo mares sent to Deep Impact in his final year by the Coolmore partners were the multiple Group 1 winners Hydrangea (Ire) and Rhododendron (Ire), both of whom foaled colts.

The Niarchos family, whose early patronage of Deep Impact resulted in his Classic-winning son Study Of Man (Ire), who is now his sole representative at stud in Britain, have a 2-year-old filly out of Malicieuse (Ire), a Galileo half-sister to Bago (Fr) and Maxios (GB).

With Snowfall (Jpn) having enhanced Deep Impact's record in the European Classics last year with her victories in the Oaks and Irish Oaks, it is not unreasonable, from this select clutch of youngsters, to imagine that his tally in this part of the world could be extended further still by his final two batches of 3-year-olds this year and next.

Deep Impact's progeny earnings for 2021 stood at ¥6,978,499,500 (approximately £44.5m/€53.3m) from 205 winners, led by Contrail (Jpn), who bowed out of his own magnificent racing career with victory in the Japan Cup the year after he completed the Triple Crown. Deep Impact was also represented by his seventh (and fourth consecutive) Japanese Derby winner in Shahryar (Jpn).

At a fee of ¥12 million (approximately £76,300/€91,500), Contrail is now one of six sons of Deep Impact at Shadai Stallion Station, where their sire stood his entire career and was routinely graced with big books of high-class mares. In all bar one of Deep Impact's full covering seasons he was sent in excess of 200 mares, reaching a high of 262 in 2013. Unsurprisingly, he is also an accomplished broodmare sire, a sphere in which his name will loom large for a good while to come, and was runner-up in that division in 2021.

For the second year running, fellow Shadai stallions Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) and Heart's Cry (Jpn) filled the second and third places on the Japanese sires' list. The former, a 14-year-old son of the late King Kamehameha (Jpn), has five Group 1 winners to his credit, including the outstanding Almond Eye (Jpn), and his leading performer last year was the 6-year-old Danon Smash (Jpn), whose top-flight wins have come in both Japan and Hong Kong. Lord Kanaloa also had a smart juvenile in 2021, the Group 2 winner King Hermes (Jpn), among his 247 winners overall–the highest number recorded by any of the stallions on the list.

Heart's Cry, another son of Sunday Silence and racing contemporary of Deep Impact, had the champion back in second when winning the G1 Arima Kinen in his final season on the track, and he has compiled his own impressive record at stud, albeit always in Deep Impact's shadow. Now 21, Heart's Cry is the sire of the globetrotting Lys Gracieux (Jpn) and Japan Cup winner Suave Richard (Jpn) among his 11 Group I winners.

Recording his highest place on the sires' list to date was Deep Impact's 12-year-old son Kizuna (Jpn), who was the leading first-season sire of 2019 and is looking a proper force to be reckoned with after just three crops of racing age. Kizuna was the second of his sire's Derby winners in 2013 and he ventured to France that same year to win the G2 Prix Niel before finishing fourth behind Treve (Fr) in the Arc.

With 155 winners in 2021, Kizuna was also represented by his first top-level winner in Akai Ito (Jpn), victrix of the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in November. His first-crop son Deep Bond (Jpn) won the G2 Hanshin Daishoten and G2 Prix Foy at Longchamp as well as finishing runner-up in both the G1 Tenno Sho and G1 Arima Kinen.

King Kamehameha (Jpn) died only a fortnight after a Deep Impact so his is another name who will gradually disappear from the stallion tables, if not from pedigrees. He was fifth overall in 2021, but he got the better of Deep Impact in one regard when finishing at the top of the broodmare sires' list.

Another of King Kamehameha's sons, the 15-year-old Rulership (Jpn), was just below him on the table, while with five crops of racing age under his belt, the former Japanese Triple Crown winner and dual Arc runner-up Orfevre (Jpn) was seventh.

The handsome Epiphaneia (Jpn), a son of Symboli Kris S and a contemporary of Kizuna, is doing well from his first three crops to be eighth overall. He is ahead of his young rival in one regard, however, as Epiphaneia is already the sire of three Grade I winners, including last year's Arima Kinen winner Efforia (Jpn) and this season's Classic prospect Circle Of Life (Jpn).

Drefong Leads The Japanese Freshman

Gio Ponti's multiple Grade I-winning son Drefong took up residence at the Shadai Stallion Station in 2018 and the Breeders' Cup Sprint hero is already making a mark on his adopted country, having claimed the first-season sires' championship in 2021.

He covered 207 mares in his first book, and of his 92 starters last year, he notched 31 winners, six clear of his nearest rival in that regard, Copano Rickey (Jpn), by Sunday Silence's son Gold Allure (Jpn), who was sixth overall. Drefong's leading runner was Northern Farm's Geoglyph (Jpn), whose two wins included the G3 Sapporo Nisai S.

Deep Impact's son Silver State (Jpn), who stands at the Yushun Stallion Station, was runner-up in the table with 22 winners, including the Group 3 winner Water Navillera (Jpn). The Japanese 2000 Guineas winner Isla Bonita (Jpn), by Fuji Kiseki (Jpn), also recorded 22 winners to be third.

The hugely talented Kitasan Black (Jpn), the leading son of Deep Impact's full-brother Black Tide (Jpn), was a seven-time Group 1 winner on the track and he is off to a decent start at stud, finishing fourth in the table with 13 winners from 44 starters.

Darley Japan's Grade 1-winning son of War Front, American Patriot, was fifth, represented by 18 winners, including the Group 3 runner-up Be Astonished (Jpn).

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Saudi Cup: Japanese Grade 1 Winner Chuwa Wizard ‘In Really Good Form’

Japan's challenger in Saturday's $20 million Saudi Cup has made his second visit to the Gulf region with hopes from connections that it will be more successful than his first.

Chuwa Wizard had started his 2020 term in flying form in the Grade 1 Kawasaki Kinen, with the son of King Kamehameha clinching a six-length win in what had looked to be a good preparation for the Dubai World Cup at Meydan last March.

However, the cancellation of the meeting from the Covid-19 pandemic saw a 20-strong Japanese contingent, including Chuwa Wizard, flying back home instead.

So Chuwa Wizard reappeared in June, with Christophe Lemaire partnering him to finish third behind Chrysoberyl, last year's Saudi Cup contender, in the 2000m (1 1/4-mile) Teio Sho at NAR-Oi.

In the following JBC Classic, at the same track in November, Lemaire had his mount sitting handily in the field on a rain-affected track but he finished third behind his biggest rival, Chrysoberyl, once again.

But in December, in the Champions Cup at Chukyo, he finally gained not only his first Grade 1 at the top-tier JRA level in Japanese racing, but the edge over Chrysoberyl as he came two and a half lengths clear in an ideal prep for his Saudi Cup challenge.

“He's a very talented horse,” said trainer Ryuji Okubo. “From the tactics we had in the JBC Classic, I decided to change the strategy again in the race. I wanted to make the most of what he had, so I told the jockey (Keita Tosaki) to settle him further back, targeting Chrysoberyl from behind.”

Bred by the Japanese leading breeding operation Northern Farm, Chuwa Wizard has barely put a foot wrong since winning a maiden at Kyoto in February 2018. Since his debut, he has been unplaced only once in his 18 career starts.

Tosaki has partnered Chuwa Wizard in his exercise since he arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday and is happy with what he has seen.

“He has matured a lot and showed lots of progress every time he races,” the jockey said. “I think he is in really good form and has been the same as how he is at home, feeling good.”

After helping his mount to his most significant victory to date in Japan, Tosaki is keen to make the most of their partnership in what will be a new experience.

“Having riding experiences overseas is nothing but very special for me,” he said. “My last trip to overseas was the Shergar Cup at Ascot (in 2017), and this is my first trip to Saudi Arabia.

“I have had a really good time and it is a great experience to ride here. Even under the difficult circumstances, I am very honored and grateful to have been invited.”

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She Stands Out: Undefeated Sodashi Tops Sunday’s Hashin Juvenile Fillies

This coming Sunday and next, the Japan Racing Association turns the spotlight onto the budding talent in this season's 2-year-olds and it's ladies first with the Grade 1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies on Dec. 13, followed by the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes the week after, also at Hanshin Racecourse.

The 72nd Hanshin Juvenile Fillies sees 20 fillies nominated for a full deck of 18 with many of those set to take on their first top-level race having only a few starts underneath their belts – some only one. The runners will carry 54kg over 1,600 meters (one mile) on the outer turf course at Hanshin, located west of Osaka in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture.

The early favorites for the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies are:

Sodashi: Don't let the looks fool you. There's more to Sodashi than the color of her coat – a lot more. The daughter of gray Japanese dirt legend Kurofune, Sodashi heads to the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies as the widely expected betting favorite. The Naosuke Sugai-trained filly, 3-for-3 since her July debut, is on the cusp of making unique history. Should she win on Sunday, Sodashi will become the first white-colored horse to win a Grade 1 race in Japan.

“The white really stands out on grass,” Sugai said. “I think she's turning into a real star.”

Out of the King Kamehameha dam Buchiko, Sodashi is already the first white to win a graded turf race and to have multiple graded victories. The trainer has kept her at the stable since her previous start on Oct. 31, the Grade 3 Artemis Stakes at Tokyo, and is pleased with the way Sodashi has been.

“We like to keep her close because she can be sensitive,” Sugai said. “But physically, she's very stable.”

The only jockey Sodashi knows, Hayato Yoshida, worked her himself in the three weeks leading up to the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies and is giving his partner a thumbs up.

“She took the bit on her own on the straight. She was the one leading me,” Yoshida said after last week's fast work. “She's been sharp since the week before and I think she'll be in similar form compared to her last race.”

Yoshida knows a thing or two about whites; he is the JRA's all-time leader with six wins aboard white horses. Sodashi has taken the race to the competition in all three of her races and Yoshida is expecting more of the same this weekend.

“They're all very sensitive and high maintenance,” he said of white horses. “You do need to be careful with them but with her, that sensitive side is bringing out the best in her. She breaks well and is super responsive when you tell her to go. She's really smart and a very complete racehorse.”

Working in Sodashi's favor is Sugai's track record; the trainer has won two of the three Hanshin Juvenile Fillies he entered in the past – with Robe Tissage and Red Reveur in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Victory for Sodashi would make her the race's 13th unbeaten champion. Sugai is optimistic that she will come through and then some.

“I hope she passes all the tests that are thrown at her, but one by one. She needs to go through that to become a better racehorse,” he said. “We just want her to race the way she's capable of and if she wins, great. And as a result of that, if interest in racing increases, you couldn't ask for more.”

Meikei Yell: Sodashi won't be the only horse in this year's field eyeing a fourth successive win. Coming off victory in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes last month after her August debut, Meikei Yell will be taking the first steps in following her dad – new stud Mikki Isle, the JRA's 2016 Sprinter of the Year – on what will hopefully be a path to future stardom.

“The performances have been good in all three wins,” trainer Hidenori Take said. “There was an unstable side to her at one point but ever since her last start, the appetite is there and she's added some weight. All in all, this is the best I've seen her yet.”

If Take's last name rings a bell, he is part of Japanese racing's royal family heralded by Yutaka – the great jockey and the trainer's parents are cousins. Yutaka, who has ridden Meikei Yell in her last two races, likes what he sees in the filly – and he has ridden his share of some really good ones, unquestionably – which must be sweet music to Hidenori's ears.

“The most important thing is she won both races. She had a hard time settling, especially in the last race. So that is an area she needs work. Your average horse though wouldn't have won – but she did. Which speaks to a lot about her quality, her upside. She just runs really hard. But as long as she can stay under control then she has every chance. I've known Hide since we were kids, our parents are cousins. Would be great to win a Grade 1 race together.”

As noted by Yutaka, the key for Meikei Yell will be patience. The filly has been a little over aggressive than one would like in her three victories, having yet to run longer than 1,400 meters. The 200 meters that will be added in the Hanshin Juvenile Fillies will likely not be an advantage but the trainer has been encouraged by what he has seen in the run-up to the race.

“She has looked good in the workouts,” he said. “We will push her over the weekend and breeze during the week as usual. I hope practice does translate into results. She's physically sound and a good all-round horse. She hasn't filled out yet but I'm excited by the prospect. She's classy and gorgeous – almost like an actress. A win here hopefully will really get her name out there.”

Satono Reinas: From the tag team of Sakae Kunieda and Christophe Lemaire that brought you Almond Eye brings you Satono Reinas, by Deep Impact out of Balada Sale – who captured the Argentinian equivalent of the Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) and Japanese Oaks in 2011. Satono Reinas, 2-for-2 going into this weekend including a win in the Saffron Sho, is the full sister to Satono Flag who placed third in this season's Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger) – won by then unbeaten Triple Crown winner Contrail.

While it would be downright unfair to compare the 2-year-old Satono Reinas to her former stablemate Almond Eye, you know you have something special on your hands when compliments come from the jockey who rode the winningest thoroughbred in JRA history.

“She was a little uncertain and childish on her debut but the second time, she was all business,” Lemaire said. “There was a lot we had to work through when she travelled but she finished the race very strongly. I wouldn't expect anything less from the Kunieda Stable. She gets better and better and this being her third race, I'm sure this will be the best of her yet. She seems to have a real upside and I'm sure she'll handle the outer course at Hanshin just fine. I'm looking forward to it.”

It goes without saying that it is hard to read into a horse after just two starts. Not to mention it will be the first time Satono Reinas will be traveling outside of greater Tokyo and racing at Hanshin. Kunieda, though, remains confident of his latest prodigy.

“She's come along nicely so far and I think she'll be in the form she needs to be in for a Grade 1 race,” the trainer said. “She shouldn't be too different on the scale but she'll look sharper because she's taller. She won a couple of races in a row at the mile but would be even better if she had an extra 200 meters. A slightly gentler pace will probably be perfect for her.”

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