‘We Still Don’t Know How Good She Is’: Japan’s Triple Tiara Winner Liberty Island Heads to Dubai

Back in 2000, the amateur rider Mr Mitsumasa Nakauchida rode the first of what would be two eventual winners from just 10 rides on the Flat in Britain, following three appearances in Irish bumpers a couple of years earlier. 

Having left Japan at the age of 16 to study initially in Ireland, the young would-be jockey had just turned 22 at the time of his first victory for Richard Hannon aboard Dolphinelle (Ire), beating Eve Johnson Houghton, on her father's Corn Dolly (Ire), by a head. 

That was half a lifetime ago for Nakauchida, who, 21 years later was crowned champion trainer in Japan. A year after that he took charge of the filly who will take some beating in the race to be his horse of a lifetime. Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) wasn't just the best filly in Japan last year, she was the top-rated three-year-old filly in the world on a mark of 121, and she is set to head a star-studded cast on Dubai World Cup night on March 30.

Bred by Northern Farm and campaigned in the colours of Sunday Racing, she has amassed four Grade 1 victories from only seven lifetime starts. At two, Liberty Island won the GI Hanshin Juvenile Fillies before returning the following April to sail through the Fillies' Triple Crown of the Oka Sho, Yushun Himba and Shuka Sho. Only one horse could get the better of her last year, and that was the mighty Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), to whom she finished second in the Japan Cup. Next, she will aim to emulate his international smash and grab on the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic.

Liberty Island is on course for the Dubai Sheema Classic | Scoop Dyga

 

We've seen plenty of Japanese trainers at the top meetings around the world over the years. Nakauchida is one who won't be calling on the excellent translating skills of Naohiro Goda or Mariko Seki as he is a fluent English speaker, having completed a thorough grounding in international racing since flying the nest at such a tender age. His list of former bosses reads like's a who's who of the Turf and includes Richard Hannon, Criquette Head and Bobby Frankel. 

“As a student I wanted to learn equine science at college or university in Europe and I decided to go to Ireland first,” says Nakauchida, who also rode out for trainer JJ Lennon in Ireland and later for Sylvester Kirk in the UK. “Then I found a course in Witney in England which specialised in Thoroughbreds. It's thanks to my parents for letting me do that.”

His parents' way of life had no doubt ignited the flame as Nakauchida was born at Shigaraki Farm, a pre-training yard run by his father Katsuzi and based close to the JRA's famous Ritto training centre where he is now based.

After eventually returning to Japan and initially assisting Mitsuru Hashida, Nakauchida started training in his own right in 2014 and, now 45, is a permanent fixture in the JRA's list of top ten trainers. Liberty Island could yet bring his name and talents to even wider prominence. 

“It's such an honour to have a horse like her,” he says. “Her racetrack record is incredible. She's just a natural in her races and she has such talent. It's a pleasure to have her in my stable.

“After the Japan Cup she had a little rest and she was actually tired after the race so it took her a little while to recover. After that she bounced back and she did quite well during the winter. She looks much stronger now and she looks like she is starting to fill out.”

Liberty Island, a product of the mating between dual Japanese Classic winner Duramente, who died woefully young at the age of just nine, and champion Australian filly Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}), will travel to Dubai 10 days prior to what will be her 2024 debut. She follows in the footsteps of the great Japanese fillies Gentildonna (Jpn) and Almond Eye (Jpn), both of whom were crowned Horse of the Year in their native country. The Sheema Classic has been a happy hunting ground for Japanese raiders, with the fourth running in 2001 going to Stay Gold (Jpn). Since then Heart's Cry (Jpn), Gentildonna, Shahryar (Jpn) and Equinox have all joined the roll of honour. 

Liberty Island will be the red-hot favourite to bring up a third consecutive win for Japan in the mile-and-a-half contest and, should she prevail, she would become the first major international winner for her trainer. 

“Considering the international racing programme, we look throughout the year to choose which horses we can take to Dubai or Saudi or Europe, even Hong Kong and Australia. All around the world there are great races and I am always looking for an opportunity to run in them,” he says.

Nakauchida was represented in Dubai and Hong Kong last year by the Grade 1 winner Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}), and he came close in Sha Tin's G1 FWD QEII Cup with Prognosis (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who was runner-up to Romantic Warrior (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}). He also managed to call in on family when represented at Royal Ascot in 2022 by Grenadier Guards (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}), who was stabled in Newmarket with his brother-in-law Roger Varian. Nakauchida and Varian are married to the sisters Yoko and Hanako (née Sonobe) respectively.

Through his experience working for trainers in Britain, Ireland, France and America, Nakauchida has accrued vital knowledge of the aspects of different racecourses and racing styles.

“That's why I can't take anything and everything overseas,” he says. “I have to think very carefully. You cannot take light-footed horses to Europe. You have to think of the suitable track for each horse.

“We are planning to take Prognosis to Hong Kong this year again. He likes Sha Tin and performs well there. We tried to run Serifos in Dubai and Hong Kong but we didn't get the result we wanted so, this is another good example. He's good in Japan, he's well built and a muscular horse, and you'd think he would run well overseas but we tried and it didn't work. So we will concentrate on Japan for him this spring.”

In the past, Nakauchida has spoken of having to relearn about training on his return to Japan, and he outlines the differences between his overseas experience, were he recalls “every person was good to me”,  and the way he now operates back at home, where he has 20 boxes at Ritto.

“The whole system in Japan is different to any other country,” he says. “Each trainer is allocated a certain number of boxes in the training centre but you obviously have more horses than the number of stables, so we shuffle the horses around a lot, which is quite different. The racing style is different too. [The going is] like concrete here and the racing time is different, much faster than any other country. You have to jump off well, settle down, then you have to finish strong. Even the top level of races, they jump off fast and then there is no slowing down in the middle part of the race, but then you still need to quicken at the end. The races are very tough.”

On the home front this year his main Classic hopes appear to rest on Queen's Walk (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), the winner of last month's G3 Daily Hai Queen Cup, whose brother, the aforementioned Grenadier Guards, won the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity for the stable in 2020. The latter has just commenced his first covering season at Shadai Stallion Station. Their dam is the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue (Harlington).

“We are lucky to have a filly going to the Classics this year,” says Nakauchida. “She is a half-sister to Grenadier Guards, who has just become a stallion this year. We really liked him and took him to Royal Ascot. Actually it was the other way round: he took us to Royal Ascot. That's the way I look at it.”

Now it is the turn of Liberty Island to take her trainer and owners to Meydan for Dubai's biggest meeting of the year. Whether that will be her only overseas trip of 2024 is yet to be decided. 

He says, “With Liberty Island we still don't know how good she is. So we will just see how she performs in Dubai against the top international horses, then she will probably open the door for other options. It's nice to be in this position.”

 

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Duramente’s Liberty Island Romps In Japanese Oaks

The G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) was not without its challenges for last month's G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas heroine Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) as she was trying a distance beyond a mile for the first time, but ultimately the 2400 metres held no fears, as she strolled home a sixth-length winner in 2:23.10 in Tokyo.

Sunday Racing's imperious dame became the 17th filly–following her paternal half-sister Stars On Earth (Jpn) in 2022–to win the first two legs of the Japanese Fillies' Triple Crown. It was the largest winning margin in the Oaks since 1975.

Bet down to 2-5 favouritism, the Mitsumasa Nakauchida trainee strode out to a dramaless beginning to sit in midfield as Light Quantum (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) clicked off fractions of :22.80 and :47.70 and 1:00 flat while stalked by Kiminonawa Maria (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) and Ravel (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}). The strong pace saw the field well spaced out, and, the 2-year-old star had a fair amount of distance to make up as noses pointed toward home. Predictably, the pacesetter came under pressure from the stalkers with 600 metres left to run, and pilot Yuga Kawada was poised aboard an enthusiastic Liberty Island as the leading trio began to come back to the field.

Swung out into the six path to obtain a clear run, Liberty Island loomed up into contention at the quarter pole as Ravel took up the running on the front end, and finally Kawada asked his filly for her bid after remaining motionless for the previous 2000 metres. Generous when asked, Liberty Island collared Ravel at the furlong grounds and dashed away to a stylish victory. Harper (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) and Dura (Jpn) both closed well to take second and third, by six lengths, and a neck, respectively. Group winner Ravel hung on gamely in fourth, another three-quarters of a length back.

“Having run the Oka Sho and being transported here to Tokyo for another big race, the filly was quite tense coming into this race, so I had to make an effort to reserve her energy and calm her down before the race,” said jockey Yuga Kawada, who was winning his 23rd top-level race. “She settled well once in the gate, allowing us to make a safe start, and we were able to race in good rhythm while I still had the task of keeping her under control up to the critical stages. I knew we were already in a position to finish clear of the other horses once taking the lead, but I wanted her to finish off the race strongly to the wire so I kept driving her to the wire which led to a big margin.”

A winner of a Niigata newcomer affair over a mile last July, Liberty Island suffered her only defeat at the hooves of Sunday's fourth-place finisher Ravel (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the G3 Artemis S. going that trip in Tokyo in October. Kept in training through December, she swept the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies by 2 1/2 lengths, and was named the 2022 Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly. The Northern Racing-bred bay made her 3-year-old bow a winning one in the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) in early April, and the Yushun Himba was her first start beyond a mile.

Pedigree Notes

With every season that passes, the loss of dual Classic-winning sire Duramente to the Japanese industry and wider bloodstock world becomes more apparent. Liberty Island is one of five Group 1 winners for the 2015 Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Colt. His stakes winners number 14, 10 of them at group level. Besides Liberty Island, Stars On Earth and Titleholder (Jpn) have also claimed Classic laurels in the Land of the Rising Sun.

The second foal out of Australian Champion 2-Year-Old Filly and Champion 3-Year-Old Filly Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}), Liberty Island's year-older half brother Romneya (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is a winner, and her dam produced a colt by Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) in 2021 and a filly by Kizuna (Jpn) last year. A winner of the G1 Inglis Sires and G1 Spring Champion S., she was covered by Japanese Triple Crown Winner Contrail (Jpn) last spring.

A half-sister to Group 3 winner Miravalle (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}), Yankee Rose traces her damline to 1981 G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner and G1 Irish Oaks runner-up Condessa (Ire), by the Luthier (Fr) horse Condorcet (Fr).

 

Sunday, Tokyo, Japan
YUSHUN HIMBA (JAPANESE OAKS)-G1, ¥325,180,000, Tokyo, 5-21, 3yo, f, 2400mT, 2:23.10, fm.
1–LIBERTY ISLAND (JPN), 121, f, 3, by Duramente (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Yankee Rose (Aus), by All American (Aus)
                2nd Dam: Condesaar (Aus), by Xaar (GB)
                3rd Dam: Condescendance, by El Gran Senor
O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Mitsumasa
Nakauchida; J-Yuga Kawada; ¥177,426,000. Lifetime Record:
Ch. 2yo Filly-Jpn, 5-4-1-0, ¥429,472,000. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Harper (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Heart's Cry (Jpn)–Seresta (Arg), by
Jump Start. 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. (¥86,000,000 Wlg '20
JRHAJUL). O-M's Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥67,830,000.
3–Dura (Jpn), 121, f, 3, Duramente (Jpn)–Isis (Jpn), by King Halo
(Jpn). 1ST GROUP 1 BLACK TYPE. O-Cypress Holdings;
B-Grande Farm (Jpn); ¥41,918,000.
Margins: 6, NK, 3/4. Odds: 0.40, 7.80, 102.40.
Also Ran: Ravel (Jpn), Shinryokuka (Jpn), Hip Hop Soul (Jpn), Kona Coast (Jpn), So Dazzling (Jpn), Doe Eyes (Jpn), Remige (Jpn), Golden Hind (Jpn), Perifania (Jpn), Emu (Jpn), Mikki Gorgeous (Jpn), Kita Wing (Jpn), England Eyes (GB), Light Quantum (Jpn), Kiminonawa Maria (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video.

 

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Serifos Bests Elders In Mile Championship

G1 Racing's Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) steamed home impressively from near the back of the pack to take the G1 Mile Championship at Hanshin on Sunday. Sent off at 8-1, he is the first 3-year-old colt to defeat his elders in the race since Stelvio (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in 2018.

Caught in midfield Serifos relaxed beautifully under Damian Lane as Piece Of Eight (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}) raced hard on the steel while shadowed by Falconia (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), with that duo swapping positions in the backstretch. The pace remained hot, with Falconia covering the first 1000 metres in a blistering :58.5, and he continued to hold the advantage on the bend. Fanning across the track for the stretch drive, Falconia still led under pressure, but his position appeared tenuous, as Danon The Kid (Jpn) (Just A Way {Jpn}) and Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) were winding up with their runs. Lane had Serifos over nine paths off the fence, but once he saw daylight a furlong from home, he picked up the field in a matter of strides to win going away by 1 1/4 lengths.

His rivals played bumper cars in late stretch, with 2020 Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Colt Danon The Kid best of the remainder, a half-length to the good of 2020/21 Japanese filly champion Sodashi, who was seeking her fourth crown at the top table. She, in turn, was a nose ahead of Group 2 scorer Soul Rush (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) in a bunched finish.

“I'm very happy, the horse was super today,” said jockey Damian Lane. “He's very consistent and I knew he would improve after watching his videos. I wanted to show how really competitive he is. The pace was good and he was a bit keen early but I was always confident.”

A winner of his first three starts as a juvenile including the G3 Niigata Nisai S. and the G2 Daily Hai Nisai S., he ran second to subsequent 2022 G1 Japanese Derby hero Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. last December. Benched until the G1 NHK Mile Cup in May, he ran fourth, and filled that spot again in June in the G1 Yasuda Kinen. Given some time on the sidelines, he returned to take the G2 Fuji S. by a neck as the 6-5 crowd's pick on Oct. 22.

 

Pedigree Notes

Daiwa Major's stakes winners stand at 42, and Serifos is one of 19 group scorers for the 21-year-old. With his Mile Championship victory, the 3-year-old is his seventh Group 1 winner, anchored by three-time Group 1 winner Admire Mars (Jpn), who did his best running over a mile in Hong Kong and Japan. The much lamented Le Havre (Ire) is still in the early stages of his broodmare sire career, but three of his four stakes winners have struck at group level. Pyledriver (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), successful in the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Coronation Cup, was Le Havre's first top-level scorer, and Serifos is his second.

Sea Front took time to come to hand, placing at two, wining twice at three, and then taking her first listed victory, the Prix Maurice Zilber at four. Also stakes placed twice more that year, she returned at five to take third in the G3 Prix Bertrand du Breuil. Picked up for just €135,000 out of the 2016 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale by Haruya Yoshida, Sea Front was sent to Japan and covered by Orfevre (Jpn), who despite his slew of Japanese accolades, is best known for finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe twice. The resulting foal, the three-time winner Forte Dei Marmi (Jpn), won over 2400m on turf at three, and added a brace of wins on dirt at 1800m and 1900m at the tail end of last year and in January of 2022. Serifos is her second foal. The best foal out of the unraced Freedom Herself (Fr) (Freedom Cry {GB}), she has not produced a foal since.

Serifos's third dam, the multiple stakes-placed Redeem Herself (Ire) (General Assembly), threw Irish listed winner and triple group-placed Mediation (Ire) to the cover of Caerleon. That mare would go on to account for a brace of stakes winners led by GI Pacific Classic S. victor Go Between (Point Given), as well as the winning dam of the GI Chandelier S. and GI Starlet S. third K P Dreamin (Union Rags).

 

Sunday, Hanshin, Japan
MILE CHAMPIONSHIP-G1, ¥347,100,000, Hanshin, 11-20, 3yo/up, 1600mT, 1:32.50, fm.
1–SERIFOS (JPN), 123, c, 3, by Daiwa Major (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Sea Front (Fr) (SW & GSP-Fr, $217,499),
                                by Le Havre (Ire)
                2nd Dam: Freedom Herself (Fr), by Freedom Cry (GB)
                3rd Dam: Redeem Herself (Ire), by General Assembly
1ST GROUP 1 WIN. O-G1 Racing; B-Oiwake Farm (Jpn);
T-Mitsumasa Nakauchida; J-Damian Lane; ¥183,570,000.
Lifetime Reoprd: 8-5-1-0. Click for the
   free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. Werk Nick
   Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Danon the Kid (Jpn), 126, c, 4, Just a Way (Jpn)–Epic Love
(Ire), by Dansili (GB). (¥100,000,000 Wlg '18 JRHAJUL).
O-Danox Inc.; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥73,020,000.
3–Sodashi (Jpn), 121, f, 4, Kurofune–Buchiko (Jpn), by King
Kamehameha (Jpn). O-Makoto Kaneko Holdings; B-Northern
Farm (Jpn); ¥45,510,000.
Margins: 1 1/4, HF, NO. Odds: 8.20, 25.00, 3.40.
Also Ran: Soul Rush (Jpn), Schnell Meister (Ger), Justin Café (Jpn), Air Lolonois (Jpn), Lotus Land, Piece of Eight (Jpn), Matenro Orion (Jpn), Danon Scorpion (Jpn), Win Carnelian (Jpn), Falconia (Jpn), Salios (Jpn), Ho O Amazon (Jpn), Happy Hour (Jpn), Besten Dank (Jpn). Click for the JRA chart & video.

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Unbeaten Serifos Tries for Group 1 Glory

Undefeated Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}), coming off a last out win in the G2 Daily Hai Nisai S. Nov. 13, will try to give trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida his second consecutive victory in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. at Hanshin Sunday. Leading the trainers' table this year, Nakauchida won the race last year with Grenadier Guards (Jpn). A debut winner at Chukyo last June, the chestnut returned to score in the G2 Niigata Nisai S. in August.  Visiting jockey Christian Demuro will be on board.

Also undefeated, Geoglyph (Jpn) (Drefong) kicked off with a first-out win at Tokyo in June before exhibiting late speed to take the G2 Sapporo Nisai S. by four lengths in September. Returned from a pre-training farm to Miho Training Centre in November, he worked six furlongs over woodchip course at Miho Dec. 15, completing the final furlong :11.9.

Yu Ota, assistant to Tetsuya Kimura said, “He ran well in the Sapporo Nisai S., even though he was a bit too relaxed. Returning from the farm recently, he looks sharp, and the jockey reports the horse to be in good shape in training. With two wins over 1,800 meters, there shouldn't be any problem over a mile.”

Geoglyph will be accompanied by Christophe Lemaire, who has ridden the colt in both prior starts.

Looking for his first group title, Danon Scorpion (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) graduated at Hanshin in June before adding that track's Listed Hagi S. (1800m) in October. Trainer Takayuki Yasuda explained, “He is a very talented horse. He also has lots of scope.”

In a recent work over the woodchip course at Ritto Training Centre, the bay covered six furlongs, with the final furlong completed in :12.1 seconds under jockey Kohei Matsuyama.

“He moved better than last week. He showed great acceleration and he is fit going into the race,” said Matsuyama.

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