Kitasan Black’s Equinox Named 2022 Japanese Horse Of The Year

Dual Group 1 winner Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) followed in his sire's footsteps and claimed the 2022 Japanese Horse of the Year crown with 282/288 votes, according to published reports. The son of G3 Mermaid S. heroine Chateau Blanche (Jpn) (King Halo {Jpn}) raced for trainer Tetsuyama Kimura in the colours of Silk Racing Company, Ltd.

Also named the Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Male with 285/288 votes, the Northern Farm-bred was second in both the G1 Japanese 2000 Guineas and G1 Japanese Derby, but added his name to the roll of honour of the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) and G1 Arima Kinen in the second half of the year. Kitasan Black, who stands at Shadai Stallion Station, was a two-time Japanese Horse of the Year in 2016/2017.

The severity of the blow to the Japanese breeding industry with the premature loss of King Kamehameha (Jpn)'s son Duramente (Jpn) continues to deepen, as no less than three of his progeny were named year end champions for 2022. A champion 3-year-old in his native land in 2015 and the Japanese Champion First-Season Sire in 2020, the dual Classic winner was fifth on the year-end sire tables in Japan.

Leading the charge for their Kingmambo sire line was Japanese Champion Older Male Titleholder (Jpn), who rattled off a trio of wins starting with the G2 Nikkei Sho in March, and then made Hanshin his playground with a brace of Group 1 wins in May and June, with the Tenno Sho (Spring) going his way followed by the Takarazuka Kinen, the former over two miles, the other over 11 furlongs. Nabbing 280 of the 288-vote total, the Okada Stud-bred Toru Kurita trainee carried the Hiroshi Yamada silks in 2022.

A Classic winner, just like Titleholder, Shadai Race Horse Company's Stars On Earth (Jpn) was named the Japanese Champion 3-Year-Old Filly (286/288 votes) for a five-race campaign last year. Second in a pair of Group 3s in January and February, she clawed out a nose victory in the G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas and added the G1 Japanese Oaks in quick succession in the spring for trainer Mizuki Takayanagi. Bred by Shadai Farm, the February foal was an unlucky third when trying for the Japanese Triple Tiara in October. Her German female family stood her in good stead in 2022, as her second dam is champion Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), the winner of five top-level races overall. Stacelita, in turn, is the dam of 2016 Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Soul Stirring (Jpn) (Frankel {GB}), who would go on to take the G1 Japanese Oaks.

Duramente's 2-year-old daughter Liberty Island (Jpn) was awarded the Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Filly title. The G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies victress was also second in the G3 Artemis S. after winning her debut. Bred by Northern Racing and raced by Sunday Racing Company, the Mitsumasa Nakauchida charge is the only horse of 2022 to be a unanimous champion with 288 votes. Liberty Island's dam, the All American (Aus) mare Yankee Rose (Aus), thrived at both two and three and was named champion Down Under both years, as well as taking second in the G1 Golden Slipper to boot.

The title of Japanese Champion 2-Year-Old Male went to the three-for-three Dolce More (Jpn), who is by another son of King Kamehameha in Rulership (Jpn). Trained by Naosuke Sugai for Three H Racing Company, Ltd., the son of the Classic-winning Ayusan (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) took both the Oct. 8 G3 Saudi Arabia and the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. in December. Bred by Shimokobe Farm, he accrued 279 of the 288 votes.

Third in Equinox's G1 Arima Kinen, G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Geraldina (Jpn) (Maurice {Jpn})'s 2022 track record was deemed enough to defeat the white wondermare Sodashi (Jpn) (Kurofune) in the year-end category for top distaffer, with 239 votes to Sodashi's 32. Placed in another two group races during a busy campaign, the then-4-year-old is another Sunday Racing colourbearer after Liberty Island. Bred by Northern Racing, the mare is out of two-time Japanese Horse of the Year and superstar Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and is trained by Takashi Saito.

Crack miler Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}–Sea Front {Fr}, by Le Havre {Ire}) made headlines as the victor of Hanshin's G1 Mile Championship in November after an earlier tally in the G2 Fuji S., and those two wins, on the back of a pair of fourths in the G1 NHK Mile Cup in May and the G1 Yasuda Kinen a month later, were enough to see him wear the champion sprinter laurels for G1 Racing Company and trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida (156/288). Bred by Oiwake Farm, the 4-year-old is the second foal of the Listed Prix Maurice Zilber heroine Sea Front, who also ran third in a French Group 3 and was sold for €135,000 to Haruya Yoshida at the 2016 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale. The late Le Havre's daughters have also thrown additional Japanese Group 2 winner Des Ailes (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Excelling on dirt, just like his American Triple Crown-winning sire American Pharoah, Café Pharoah claimed all bar four votes to be named the Japanese Champion Dirt Horse. Seen in action three times last term for trainer Toru Kurita, the Koichi Nishikawa-owned bay won his second consecutive G1 February S., as well as the Listed Mile Championship Nambu Hai in October. The 6-year-old is a product of the breeding programme of the late Paul Pompa, and was selected as a juvenile out of the OBS March Sale for $475,000 in 2019. His dam, Mary's Follies (More Than Ready), made $500,000 when bought by BBA Ireland in foal to Curlin at the 2021 Keeneland January Sale; while his Animal Kingdom half-sister Regal Glory–picked up by Peter Brant's White Birch Farm for $925,000 at the same sale–has continued to embellish her race record and is now a three-time Grade I winner on grass.

Iconic Japanese jumper Oju Chosan (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}–Shadow Silhouette {Jpn}, by Symboli Kris S.) was named champion steeplechaser for the fifth time (2016-2018, 21/22), but managed that feat by only a single vote at 138, as Nishino Daisy (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}) earned 137. Aged 11 when racing to his title, the Naoyoshi Nagayama-bred represented Chosan Company and trainer Shoichiro Wada.

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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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International Threads in NHK Mile Cup Tapestry

Narrowly leading the market for the G1 NHK Mile Cup at Tokyo on Sunday is 4-1 shot Serifos (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}). A winner of the G3 Niigata Nisai S. and G2 Daily Hai Nisai S. at two, the relative of GI Pacific Classic hero Go Between (Point Given) lost his unbeaten tag when second in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. to Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) last December and makes his 3-year-old bow in this competitive contest from stall four.

“He ran solo in his last piece of work on the woodchip course over five furlongs, but he went quickly,” said trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida of the G1 Racing Company runner. “He looks good, and I can see the difference from when he was a 2-year-old. I think the distance of the race will be fine for him, and racing left-handed at Tokyo shouldn't be a problem either.”

Third in that feature was Danox Company Ltd.'s Danon Scorpion (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}). Successful in the G3 Arlington Cup at Hanshin in April, the colt is a son of Canadian Horse of the Year and three-time Classic victress Lexie Lou (Sligo Bay {Ire}), a $1-million purchase by K I Farm out of the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale.

Conditioner Yakayuki Yasuda said, “He is in good condition, and he's like Lord Kanaloa in the way that he races in a relaxed way. He is looking well in his coat, and hopefully things will go smoothly now right up to the race. A mile is probably his best distance, so I think he can run well.”

Lending strong American flavour to Sunday's event is American-bred transplant Jean Gros (More Than Ready), who hit a career high with an Apr. 9 defeat of Group 3 winner Matenro Orion (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) in the G2 New Zealand Trophy S. over this trip at Nakayama. A full-brother to dual graded winner Tom's Ready (More Than Ready) who was also third in the GI Forego S., the Susumu Fujita silksbearer was a $130,000 Keeneland September RNA turned $265,000 OBSMAR 2-year-old acquisition by Hideyuki Mori after breezing a furlong in :10 flat. Mori and Take combined to win the 1997 edition of this race with Seeking the Pearl (Seeking the Gold), who would also strike in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest one year later. Jean Gros and his veteran reinsman exit lucky gate 13.

Mori said, “He is developing well, and although quite a small horse, he is getting bigger gradually. If another horse doesn't want to make the running, I think he's capable of going forward and making his own pace.”

One of five members of the fairer sex signed on, Sonnet Phrase (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) is extremely light on starts, but after breaking her maiden at Niigata in August, she did finish second to Serifos in the Daily Hai Nisai S. in November. The Carrot Farm runner would be the first filly or mare to take this race since Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune) in 2017 and she leaves from stall two.

Said trainer Takahisa Tezuka, “The Tokyo mile should suit her, and there's no reason why she can't do well with the ability she has. The pace should be strong this time, and it'll be a full field of eighteen horses, but unless we try, we won't know. I would like her to show her potential here.”

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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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