Tag: Northern Farm

Contrail Steals the Show as Maeda’s Gift Horse Tops JRHA

HOKKAIDO, Japan–Don't say we didn't warn you. Contrail (Jpn) has been the name on most people's lips around the sales ground at the JRHA Select Sale and when the first foals by the Triple Crown-winning son of Deep Impact (Jpn) took to the ring on Tuesday it wasn't long before the hype became reality.

What's really important, of course, is what happens in two or three years' time when these youngsters make it to the track, but the first test, on the commercial market, has been passed with flying colours. Graduating at the head of his class was lot 360, the Northern Farm-bred colt out of Argentinean Grade I winner Conviction (Arg) (City Banker {Arg}), who made Monday's yearling trade look almost abstemious when bringing a sale-topping price of ¥520 million ($3.7m).

“This is my gift to the new trainer,” said buyer Koji Maeda of North Hills, who bred the sleek, near-black Contrail and posed with the trainer-to-be, Yuichi Fukunaga, who is better known for now as the jockey who steered Maeda's star Contrail to five Grade I victories, consisting of the Japanese Triple Crown, the Japan Cup, and the Hopeful S. as a two-year-old.

A brother to two winners to date, the Contrail colt became the third-most expensive foal ever to be sold at the JRHA Select Sale and he was not the only foal by the Shadai stallion to carry a hefty price tag.

With an average of ¥128.6m ($915,000) for 20 foals sold, Contrail's offspring at the Northern Horse Park included eight who changed hands for more than $1 million. Shinji Maeda, the brother of Koji in whose name Contrail raced, bought lot 329, who was consigned by Grand Stud and is out of Bye Bye Baby (Ire), a Group 3-winning daughter of Galileo (Ire) and sister to the Derby winner Serpentine (Ire). His second dam Remember When (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) is closely related to Dylan Thomas (Ire) and Homecoming Queen (Ire).

With several hours of trade left on Monday a new record aggregate for the foal session had been set, and by the time the 219 foals to have changed hands had all been rung through the till, the tally came in at ¥14.78 billion (£81.5m/€95.6m/$105.2m), which was up 11.5% on last year's trade. The day's clearance rate was 94.8%.

It follows then, with records achieved in each individual session, that the overall turnover was also at a new high of ¥28.1 billion (£155.2m/€182.1m/$200.4m)), from ¥25.8 billion last year. The average of ¥64.7 million (£356,820/€418,738/$460,793) was up from ¥57.6 million in 2022, and the clearance rate for the two days was 96%.

Throughout both sessions, only four horses were sold to non-Japanese owners. A new buyer from Hong Kong, Karson Ka Ching Cheng, signed for two foals, and Sheikh Fahad of Qatar Racing, bought a yearling filly by Suave Richard (Jpn). The extraordinary level of trade for both yearlings and foals is yet another emphatic indication of the extraordinary interest and investment in racing and breeding in Japan.

Another Commercial St Leger Winner…

There were of course plenty of other stallions of note besides Contrail represented at the sale, and those with the most significant results were almost all racehorses who plied their trade at the highest level at a mile and a half-plus. 

The Japanese St Leger and Japan Cup winner Epiphaneia (Jpn) now has not just his half-brother Saturnalia (Jpn) but also his son, the 2021 JRA Horse of the Year Efforia (Jpn), alongside him at the Shadai Stallion Station. Epiphaneia proved from the outset that he could get a good one when his first-crop daughter Daring Tact (Jpn) won the Fillies' Triple Crown, and he remains popular in Hokkaido. 

Among his best-selling foals was lot 417, a half-brother to the Grade I-winning miler Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) out of the G1 Preis der Diana winner Serienholde (Ger), a daughter of Soldier Hollow (GB).

Oh to live in a country where you can send an Oaks winner to a St Leger winner and have a hugely commercial foal. That's not uncommon in Japan, and Serienholde's colt sold for ¥300 million ($2.1m) to Tabata Toshihiko. He wasn't the most expensive foal by Epiphaneia, however. That honour went to lot 332, Northern Farm's son of Pixie Hollow (Jpn) (King Halo {Jpn}) who is already the dam of champion sprinter Pixie Knight (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}). He was sold for ¥330 million ($2.3m) to Susumu Fujita.

…And Another 

Kitasan Black (Jpn) played a leading role in Monday's yearling session, and he opened the batting for the foals in similar style when his elegant young son out of the Monsun (Ger) mare Fadillah (Ger) sold for ¥280 million ($2.65m). 

The 10-year-old mare, a dual winner in England, was bought from the Tattersalls December Sale by Katsumi Yoshida for 700,000gns and her family continues to thrive. Her second dam Sacarina (GB) (Old Vic {GB}) established a notable dynasty in Germany where she is the dam of the Classic winners Samum (Ger), Schiaparelli (GB) and Salve Regina (Ger), who are all by Fadillah's sire Monsun. Another of their full-siblings is Sanwa (Ger), the dam of German Derby winner Sea The Moon (Ger), who last weekend sired the winner of that same race, Fantastic Moon (Ger). The family has also been represented this season by the Derby Italiano winner Goldenas (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}), a great grandson of Sacarina.

The final foal of the day to breach the million-dollar mark came when lot 499, the last by Kitasan Black to grace the ring, was knocked down after a boisterous exchange of shouting bid-spotters at ¥290 million ($2m). The colt in question is out of the treble winner War Chronicle (Jpn) (War Emblem), whose half-siblings Chrono Genesis (Jpn) and Normcore (Jpn) are both Grade I winners.

She Still Reigns

The aforementioned Saturnalia, the half-brother to Epiphaneia whose win in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) earned him the title of champion three-year-old of his generation, had his first yearlings on sale on Monday.

From his second crop came a filly foal out of the Golden Slipper winner and Australian champion juvenile filly, She Will Reign (Aus). The daughter of Manhattan Rain (Aus) has had just one foal to race to date, and that is the G2 Kyoto Shimbun Hai runner-up Danon Tornado (Jpn). Her youngest daughter will eventually race in the same colours, having been bought for ¥200 million ($1.4m) by Masahiro Noda of Danox Co Ltd.

Gentildonna's Sister for HK Owner

If you're planning to get involved at the pricey JRHA Select Sale, it helps if your name is Ka Ching. Karson Ka Ching Cheng, to use the new buyer's full name, is no stranger to top-class winners on the track as his father Keung Fai Cheng raced the Hong Kong Derby winner Designs On Rome (Ire), whose success on the island was legion.

Cheng Jr made his first visit to the sale worthwhile with the purchase of a filly foal with one of the best pedigrees in the book. He bought the half-sister to dual Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) for ¥210 million ($1.5m). The daughter of Drefong is the final foal of Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), winner of the G1 Cheveley Park S. in her racing days in England and also the dam of G3 Sekiya Kinen winner Donau Blue (Jpn). The latter is a full-sister to the six-time Group 1 winner Gentildonna and both sisters are now stakes producers. Gentildonna's daughter Geraldina (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn}) won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup in November. The family also includes Japanese Derby winner Roger Barows (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who is out of Donna Blini's half-sister Little Book (GB) (Librettist).

Cheng, who plans to race the Drefong filly in Japan eventually, said, “I was underbidder on Donna Blini's yearling yesterday. I liked her on type and I love the foal, too.”

The mare's yearling filly from the final crop of Duramente sold for the same price (¥210m) to TN Racing. 

Cheng returned later to buy a Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) half-brother to G2 Kinko Sho winner Gibeon (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) from Shadai Farm for ¥200 million ($1.4m). The colt's dam Contested (Ghostzapper) won the GI Acorn S. and is out of a half-sister to the GI King's Bishop S. winner Pomeroy.

That's a Wrap

Teruya Yoshida, acting chairman of the JRHA and head of Shadai Farm, was out photographing foals during the inspection session at 8am, and almost 12 hours later he gave a televised address to the media as two days of frenetic action came to a close.

“The market was surprisingly strong and we welcome the many new buyers,” he said. “The yen is quite weak at the moment, which was why some more foreign visitors attended, and we hoped that they would be more involved, but I think that the increased prices were beyond what they were expecting.”

Thirty-five foals sold for more than a million dollars on Tuesday, including six by Kitasan Black and eight by his younger stud-mate Contrail. Across the sale as a whole, 63 horses surpassed that mark.

Yoshida continued, “Kitasan Black has of course had the champion Equinox and Satsuki Sho winner Sol Oriens this season, so that has enhanced his popularity.

“Contrail is not a big stallion but his foals are well balanced with good conformation, and in addition to that many people think favourably of him as a Triple Crown winner, so that has increased their desire to buy his stock.”

In an earlier interview with TDN, Yoshida had spoken of Deep Impact's great influence in succeeding his own dominant sire Sunday Silence at Shadai Stallion Station.

“Maybe Contrail will come next,” he said. Maybe he's right.

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Kitasan Black in Demand at Record JRHA Sale, 97% Clearance

HOKKAIDO, Japan–“Welcome from the USA, from Europe, from Down Under,” said Naohiro Goda at Sunday evening's party on the eve of the JRHA Select Sale. The welcome in Japan is always warm, but what is clear is that the extraordinary demand for racehorses in the country makes it difficult for those overseas visitors to make much of a mark in the ring where, once again, new record prices for turnover and average were set on Monday. 

The names on the list of buyers were exclusively Japanese, bar that of David Redvers, who signed for a filly from the second crop of Suave Richard (Jpn). Encouragingly for breeders in Japan, that list included a number of new buyers at the top end of the market. 

Various factors are at play, and they should be the envy of every other major racing nation in the world. The success of Japanese horses worldwide has been written about at length in recent years, and we can only expect to see more runners from this country tackle the global festivals, particularly those in the Middle East with vast sums on offer in prize-money. But vast sums are also the reward for staying at home, and the purses in Japan, along with mass engagement with racing fans of all ages, are elements which are not unrelated and which have driven turnover at this sale to have doubled in a decade. 

It is easy for people unfamiliar with the Japanese currency on a daily basis to look at the string of noughts after a number and think, “Ah well, that's yen.” But with a useful dollar conversion on the bid board for each lot one suddenly realises that almost all of the 222 yearlings offered were making six-figure dollar prices (only six did not reach that mark on Monday, and a further six were unsold) and 19 of those  sold for more than a million dollars. Of course, this is a select sale featuring the elite of the Japanese Thoroughbred crops of 2022 and 2023, or at least those that are offered for sale, but the sheer breadth of the domestic buying bench, which includes plenty of racing clubs, and a clearance rate of 97.3% are both noteworthy.

When speaking to the TDN on Friday, Teruya Yoshida, the owner of Shadai Farm and president of the JRHA sale company, referred to the strength of the racing clubs, which have been a feature in Japan for around 40 years, long before other countries followed suit.

“As you know, our prize-money is so good,” he said. “So not only do [the members] enjoy racing but they get a good return on their money, so why not? Racing has been very popular in Japan for many years but still now the number is increasing. Many young people come to the racetrack, and I think this is quite different from Europe. They bet a huge amount and that returns to the purses. That's the biggest advantage for Japan: that way we can afford to buy plenty of mares for many years, and that's why we have become so successful. 

“Japanese owners have a tendency to race their horses as much as possible. In Europe they are racing for breeding in the future but our goal is racing. That's the biggest concern for our owners.”

From wealthy individuals to the collective buying power of the club, a wide range of purchasers drove the demand for yearlings from many of those top-class mares sourced from around the globe into new record territory. The day's aggregate stood at ¥13.36 billion ($93.75m/£73.3m/€85.6m) and the average at ¥61.88 million ($434,509/£339,411/€396,279).

 

 

The Main Talking Points

  • Masahiro Noda's Danox Co Ltd is a familiar name on the buyers' sheet at JRHA and was prominent once more. Noda signed for seven yearlings, including the day's co-topper, lot 4, the ¥310 million ($2.2m) colt by Kitasan Black (Jpn) out of the GI Mother Goose S. winner Include Betty (Include), who was bred and sold by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm.
  • Kitasan Black, a brilliant racehorse himself with seven top-level wins including the Japan Cup and Arima Kinen, is now known as much for being the sire of the world's top-rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn). The Shadai Stallion Station resident had six yearlings offered on Tuesday, sold for a collective ¥977 million ($6.8m) at an average of ¥163 million ($1.14m).
  • European sires did not, understandably, feature in abundance in the catalogue, but one of the highlights of the day came with the sale of the sole Wootton Bassett (GB) yearling in the catalogue, a full-brother to Alison Swinburn's GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf and G1 Prix Jean Romanet winner Audarya (Fr).  Teruya Yoshida had bought her dam, the Doumen-bred and-trained Green Bananas (Fr) (Green Tune), in a private transaction and sent the mare on a return visit to Wootton Bassett at Coolmore before bringing her to Japan. From the family of top world travellers Jim And Tonic (Fr) and Mauralakana (Fr), the colt (lot 102) was bought by Makoto Kaneko, former owner of Deep Impact (Jpn), for ¥270 million ($1.9m).
  • There was similar success for Shunsuke Yoshida's colt by Kingman (GB) out of the Littleton Stud-bred Cosmopolitan Queen (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a full-sister to G1 Juddmonte International winner Arabian Queen (GB). The mare had been bought carrying this colt (lot 16) at Tattersalls for 320,0000gns. She is already the dam of a dual winner by Frankel (GB) and this grandson of the G2 Lancashire Oaks winner Barshiba (GB) (Barathea {Ire}), from a family synonymous with Jeff Smith and the stable of David Elsworth, duly fetched ¥300 million ($2.1m) to a bid from TN Racing.
  • The businessman behind the relatively new outfit TN Racing prefers not to be named but he nevertheless made a significant impact at the sale on Monday. His eight purchases totalled ¥1.2 billion ($8.5m) and included one of the day's co-top lots (20), a Silver State (Jpn) half-brother to the G1 Belmont S. winner Palace Malice (Curlin) and three-parts-brother to GI Tenno Sho (Spring) winner Justin Palace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). TN Racing currently campaigns the 3-year-old colt Photon Blue (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), a ¥135 million Select Yearling purchase in 2021 and third in the Listed Principal S. at Toyko this past May.
  • Monday marked the last time the late Duramente (Jpn) would feature among the Select Sale yearlings. The sire of this season's dual Classic-winning filly Liberty Island (Jpn) sits in second place in the sires' list and his 14 yearlings to pass through the ring returned an average price of ¥105 million ($737,000). These included the half-sister to dual Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who sold as lot 94 from Northern Farm and was among the TN Racing purchases at ¥210 million ($1.5m).
  • Bricks and Mortar, a son of Giant's Causeway and a champion on the turf in America, has his first runners this season and has been represented by two winners to date. He was well represented by members of his second crop during the yearling session, with 13 sold for an average ¥63 million ($442,000). Two of those made in excess of a million dollars, including lot 75, a colt out of the Group 2-winning sprinter Solveig (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) who was bought from Shadai Farm for ¥220 million ($1.5m) by Susumu Fujita.
  • Unusually for bloodstock sales, the reserve prices for the yearlings in Japan are published ahead of the sale, though it is traditional for the first and last lot though the ring to be offered without reserve. There was little danger that the sale would start with a whimper rather than a bang, however, as first up was a colt by the popular Kizuna (Jpn) out of the G1 Queensland Oaks victrix Youngstar (Aus) (High Chaparral {Aus}). He got the day off to a successful start when selling for ¥210 million ($1.5m) and was another on the list of Susumu Fujita.
  • Suave Richard (Jpn) has made a positive start with his first juvenile runners this year and already has four winners on the board, to put him in second place behind the dirt miler Moanin. David Redvers, who has been at the sale with the Qatar Racing team of Sheikh Fahad, Hannah Wall and Peter Molony, was the sole overseas purchaser listed on Monday when signing at ¥50 million ($350k) for a yearling by Suave Richard, who was ridden to glory in the Japan Cup by Qatar Racing's jockey Oisin Murphy. The filly (lot 202), a half-sister to the shuttle sire Tosen Stardom (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), will be trained by Mitsumasa Nakauchida.

 

 

 

View From Yoshida

Katsumi Yoshida, director of the JRHA and the sale's leading consignor through his Northern Farm, addressed the large press pack in attendance at Northern Horse Park at the close of the day's trade.

He said, “It was a very strong market this year again. I think every year this is the strongest market in the world. The horses sold well within every price range and there were some new buyers who were very active and bought some of the expensive horses.”

Yoshida continued, “I am especially pleased with the results because there are none of the 'big three' stallions now–Deep Impact, King Kamehameha and Heart's Cry–but all the stallions were well received across the range of stud fees. 

“We had seven yearlings by Duramente that were sold for over ¥100 million today. This is his last crop, so they had a premium on them, but they had good pedigrees top and bottom. 

“We are looking forward to tomorrow. The foals are very good and the market should be strong again.”

The foal session gets underway at 9.30am local time after a 90-minute viewing session of the youngsters and their dams within the park.

 

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Could Another Double Triple Crown Be On The Cards in Japan?

We are poised midway between Japan's Oaks (Yushun Himba), which took place last Sunday, and Derby (Tokyo Yushun) this coming Sunday. What is not in doubt in the country that has led the way at so many international meetings in recent years, is that those two races over 2,400m are still very much targeted and revered by owners and breeders. In Japan, there is no shortage of horses bred specifically for that distance, or further. 

In any country, it takes a special horse to win the Triple Crown. For the first time ever in Japan, there was a colts' and a fillies' Triple Crown winner in 2020, courtesy of Contrail (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). For the fillies, that special quest does not end in the Japanese St Leger in late October, but a week earlier in the Shuka Sho, in which they return to 2,000m.

This year, the Triple Crown is already on the cards again for one filly, with the vaunted Liberty Island (Jpn) having blasted past her rivals to a six-length victory in Tokyo on Sunday after taking the Oka Sho (1,000 Guineas) at Hanshin in April. 

The unbeaten Sol Oriens (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), winner of the Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas), is almost certain to start favourite for the Derby on Sunday for what will be just the fourth run of his life. His name, incidentally, translates from Latin to 'Rising Sun', an apposite moniker for a top-class Japanese galloper if ever there was one.

Both Liberty Island and Sol Oriens exemplify what has become a common theme in Japanese breeding in that they are by domestic stallions who are proven at the top level over a number of seasons, and often with form up to two miles, and out of classy international race mares. It is no accident that Japan has become a dominant force in world racing: they set out to breed horses with that all-important blend of class and stamina, prizing form highly for both stallions and broodmares.

Yankee Rose (Aus), by Red Ransom's son All American (Aus), may have had humble origins, and was famously bought for just  A$10,000 at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, but she earned her way to the top. Following her Group 1 victories at two and three, not to mention her runner-up finish in the prized Golden Slipper, she was duly bought privately by Katsumi Yoshida. Mated initially to two Derby winners in her first two seasons in Deep Impact (Jpn) and Duramente, she has struck gold with her second foal, Liberty Island. 

In the case of Skia (Fr) (Motivator {GB}), the dam of Sol Oriens and his Grade 2-winning half-brother Vin De Garde (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), her final start brought victory in the G3 Prix Fille de l'Air for Leonidas Marinopoulos. She was later bought by French bloodstock agent Patrick Barbe, who has done plenty of business in Japan over the years, for €320,000 at Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale.

Sol Oriens's sire Kitasan Black, a son of Deep Impact's full-brother Black Tide (Jpn), is also responsible for the exciting Equinox (Jpn) and was himself an accomplished galloper who didn't race until he was three. He made up for that with 20 starts over three seasons, his final appearance coming when he won the G1 Arima Kinen as a five-year-old, to seal a quintet of Grade 1 victories which included the Japan Cup and the Tenno Sho (Spring) over two miles. Kitasan Black was also third in the Satsuki Sho behind the Liberty Island's sire Duramente, with the latter, by King Kamehameha (Jpn), then going on to win the Derby. He had sired just five crops of foals when he died in 2021 at the age of nine. With five Grade 1 winners to his name already, Duramente looks a considerable loss.

Deep Impact, the most celebrated Japanese horse in recent history, and a Triple Crown winner himself who also landed the two-mile Tenno Sho, was another to have been the offspring of an imported mare, and of course he was by Japan's most famous equine import, Sunday Silence. Deep Impact's dam Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao), who, remarkably, is still alive at the age of 32 in retirement at Northern Horse Park, is a grand-daughter of the late Queen's dual Classic winner Highclere (GB) (Queen's Hussar {GB}). Second to Balanchine in the Oaks and a Group 1 winner in Germany the following year, Wind In Her Hair was another private purchase by Katsumi Yoshida. Her legacy in his country is now immense.  

Deep Impact's Triple Crown-winning daughter Gentildonna (Jpn), who was twice voted Horse of the Year in Japan, follows a similar pattern, being out of the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), who was bought by Northern Farm for 500,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale of 2006.

Little wonder, then, that such time and money is spent by Japanese breeders and their operatives in plucking some of the best race mares in Europe, America, Australia and beyond to bolster the home broodmare bands, whether through private purchases or at auction.

The extent of the former we can only guess at, but in the last four years at Keeneland's November Sale, for example, Japanese buyers have spent $59.3 million on 152 horses, and that was through a pandemic, don't forget. During that timeframe, €8.5 million has been spent at Arqana on 19 broodmare prospects, while at Goffs there's been an outlay of €2.1 million, and at Tattersalls another £14.2 million on 53 fillies and mares during the last four December Sales. And those figures are just from the breeding stock sales. Many millions more have been spent on foals and yearlings. 

In the last four years at Keeneland's November Sale, for example, Japanese buyers have spent $59.3 million on 152 horses

It is an eye-watering level of investment, primarily but not solely from the brothers Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya Yoshida. They respectively own Shadai, Northern and Oiwake Farms, and are collectively responsible for a power-packed roster at Shadai Stallion Station, which is currently home to 32 stallions. Of these, seven were bred in the USA, including last year's leading freshman, Mind Your Biscuits (Posse), and the Arkansas Derby winner Nadal (Blame).

The latter brings yet another branch of the Hail To Reason sireline into the country, which was enjoying great success there even before the Halo stallion Sunday Silence arrived. Nadal descends via Hail To Reason's Derby-winning son Roberto, whose son Real Shadai was champion sire in Japan in 1993, two years before Sunday Silence won the first of his 13 championships. More recently, Roberto's line has been well represented by Symboli Kris S and his son Epiphaneia. Jim Bolger's brilliant Poetic Flare (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) was another recent overseas recruit to a line-up which boasts 26 homegrown sires. 

On Monday, the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) released the catalogue for its Select Sale in July, which sells yearlings on one day followed by the rather charming session of foals offered alongside their dams. Once sold, the foals return to farms where they were born to be weaned, and only later join their new owners. 

It offers an extraordinary opportunity for sale attendees to see some of these grand old girls in the flesh, and what a line-up it will be again this year, in the shade of the trees of the Northern Horse Park, as the morning inspection session takes place prior to the start of the sale. 

In a veritable international who's who of broodmares, those present alongside their foals will include former champion race fillies from America, Australia, Argentina, and Canada, including She Will Reign (Aus) and Caledonia Road, along with Classic winners from France, Germany and Italy in Dream And Do (Fr), Feodora (Ger) and Dionisia. Then there's dear old Donna Blini, who is represented by both yearling and foal half-sisters to her greatest creation, Gentildonna. 

It is a catalogue that is almost impossible to preview in short form, containing as it does a deep, global representation of top-class form on both sides of each youngster's pedigree. But in short, it can be viewed as a set text for a lesson from a country which continues to prioritise form and longevity, with a long-term eye on the middle-distance horse. A land where, whatever the outcome for Sol Oriens, the sun continues to shine brightly on the breeding industry. 

 

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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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