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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‘The Luckiest Moment In My Life’: Yoshida on Sunday Silence

HOKKAIDO, Japan–In the bloodstock world, the battle for succession does not come down to unseemly squabbles in the boardroom. What matters first is what happens on the track, and even when all goes right there, success in the breeding shed is far from guaranteed.

Smallish in stature but a Goliath in influence and reputation, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Northern Dancer gave the European breeding industry many stars including, crucially, Sadler's Wells, whose line holds strong predominantly through Galileo (Ire) and his heir apparent, Frankel (GB). Northern Dancer also blessed Japan with an important influence in Northern Taste, bought as a yearling at Saratoga in 1972 by Zenya Yoshida before winning the G1 Prix de la Foret and then establishing a formidable stud career as the most successful stallion Japan had ever seen. Until Sunday Silence came along.

The latter, who inherited the feisty temperament of his sire Halo and was handed far-from-perfect conformation, had a storyline that was as chequered as it is fabled. Sunday Silence famously found little favour with American breeders when he retired from racing, despite having won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness S. and Breeders' Cup Classic, all the while engaging in a gripping two-season battle with Easy Goer. His part-owner Arthur Hancock III decided, wisely at the time, to quit while he was ahead with the near-black horse who had played a significant part in saving his Stone Farm from bankruptcy. With Sunday Silence already part-owned by Zenya Yoshida, who had bought into him at the end of his three-year-old season, the rest of the stallion was offered for sale to stand in Japan without ever covering a mare in Kentucky. It was very much America's loss.

Yoshida, whose sons Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya now dominate Japanese racing and breeding, died when members of Sunday Silence's first crop were still yearlings. Little could he have envisaged the influence the horse would have 30 years later, not just within the Shadai Stallion Station, where 14 of the 32 resident stallions are his male-line descendants, but across Japan and beyond. This year, on the Epsom Downs and the Curragh, his grandson Auguste Rodin (Ire) has given a mighty last shake of the rattle to Sunday Silence's most powerful son, Deep Impact (Jpn), who died woefully early at just 17, in 2019. Who now will pick up the baton for this line of succession?

Kizuna (Jpn), the second of Deep Impact's seven winners of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), started well by becoming the champion first-season sire of 2019, and he is currently sitting in third place in the Japanese sires' table behind Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) and the late Duramente (Jpn), both of whom are sons of King Kamehameha (Jpn), who himself died just a fortnight after Deep Impact. It is quite clear, however, which horse Teruya Yoshida, head of Shadai Farm, wishes to see take up the mantle. 

“Contrail (Jpn) is coming this year and my first impression is that he could be a very good stallion–maybe Coolmore will start to send their mares again,” he says of the horse who emulated Deep Impact when winning the Japanese Triple Crown in 2020 and was a champion in each of his three seasons on the track, culminating in victory in the Japan Cup. Contrail's first foals will be on display this Tuesday during the JRHA Select Sale in Hokkaido's Northern Horse Park. 

His 21 youngsters catalogued include a son of the Argentinean Grade I winner Conviction (Arg) (City Banker {Arg}). The February-born colt, who is lot 360 in the Northern Farm draft, has been issued a reserve price of ¥50,000,000 (approximately £274,000 or €320,000) in a system which is unique to Japan, and which would knock hours off sales in other jurisdictions, whereby the auctioneer opens the bidding at the published reserve. 

Much is made of the turf/dirt debate, but the divide can be slim when it comes to horses acting on the respective surfaces. The 'dirt horse' Sunday Silence begat Deep Impact, who raced solely on turf, but rarely on anything easier than firm, and whose dam was the Irish-bred Wind In Her Hair (Alzao), herself only three generations down from Northern Dancer. American influences have long been strong in Japan, and the current flavour of the month, maybe more, is the dirt sprinter Mind Your Biscuits (Posse), who waltzed off with leading freshman honours last year. He is the sire of the wide-margin winner of the G2 UAE Derby, Derma Sotogake (Jpn), who went on to finish sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

“Mind Your Biscuits covered more than 200 mares this year,” says Yoshida. “The really good mares are still going to turf stallions but most of the breeders in Japan with more ordinary mares have a tendency to go to stallions who run on dirt. Most of the races in Japan are performed on dirt, so that's what the buyers want, and they have a dream to go to Dubai or to the Kentucky Derby.”

He adds, “We keep trying to buy good stallion prospects, not only from America, and sometimes they turn out to be good, but not every time. It's the same with yearlings.”

A slower burner among the younger stallion brigade in Japan has been Kitasan Black (Jpn). The winner of seven Grade 1 races, from 10 furlongs to two miles, he is a son of Deep Impact's brother Black Tide (Jpn), who plies his trade at the Breeders Stallion Station. Kitasan Black moved in to the Shadai Stallion Station on his retirement in 2018 and, though not under-subscribed, he wouldn't have been among the busiest on the roster. However, from his first batch of 84 foals emerged the horse now being ascribed superstar status, Equinox (Jpn), while his second crop contained this year's Japanese 2,000 Guineas winner and Derby second Sol Oriens (Jpn). His numbers, unsurprisingly, are on the up.

“People are very keen on Kitasan Black,” says Yoshida. “He produces very tough horses, but he wasn't so popular at the start. Now, from this year, people have started to breed their best mares to him, and he's a very fertile horse.”

While we already knew that Equinox, currently the top-rated horse in the world, would not be appearing in Europe this season, it is now almost certain that he won't leave his home nation again, even for the Breeders' Cup, with the Japan Cup on November 26 his key target before retirement.

Equinox is not alone in avoiding Britain this season. There were no Japanese runners at Royal Ascot, and nor will there be at York and Goodwood. And it's not just the lower level of prize-money in the UK that is an issue.

European classification of the racing is very correct. If we buy Group 2 or Group 3 mares in Europe, that is their true level.

Yoshida says, “English racing is not easy for us. If Japanese horses go to Europe during the summer when it's dry then maybe we have a better chance of success, but we have many races in Japan too, so it is not easy to send a horse to Europe to race.”

The expanding racing programme and huge sums of money on offer in the Gulf nations through the winter are already having an effect on the horse population in Europe, and it may well mean that we will see fewer Japanese horses contesting races on the more irregular and often undulating tracks of Britain, Ireland and France. 

“We are racing [on the Flat] all year round, so it is easier for us to send horses to race in the Middle East in February and March,” Yoshida explains. “For European horses it is not so easy as there are not the big races through the winter. Japanese horses like fast ground and level ground. In England, the courses are more natural and it's not so easy for Japanese horses. In Dubai or Saudi it is more similar to racing in Japan. If we go to Europe we can encounter soft ground or a different way of running.”

One thing that is unlikely to change is the frequency with which Japanese buyers appear at the European sales.

“We are looking for good horses from anywhere in the world and buying the good-quality mares from Europe is very important,” says Yoshida. “European classification of the racing is very correct. If we buy Group 2 or Group 3 mares in Europe, that is their true level. In some other countries we can't believe in it, but if we buy them in Europe we know that they are good-class horses.”

And it is not only in America that the Yoshida family goes shopping for stallions. Jim and Jackie Bolger's 2,000 Guineas winner Poetic Flare (Ire) joined the Shadai roster last year and is another with first foals at the forthcoming JRHA Sale. While Harbinger (GB) remains at Shadai, his fellow King George winner Novellist (Ger) has moved to Lex Stud.

Yoshida says, “We had very good success with Tony Bin (Ire), an Italian winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. Everybody said at the start that he was so-so but he became a very good stallion. We don't know until we try. That happens with horses. Nobody knows what will happen. Like Wootton Bassett (GB), at the start people didn't care so much but now that has changed.”

He continues, “Sunday Silence became so good and now he is grandsire of the English Derby winner. It was great for Coolmore to send their best mare to breed to Deep Impact, and then for [Auguste Rodin] to turn out to be so good, and now a stallion prospect.

“I was a bit apprehensive when I saw him walking from the parade ring to the starting gate because he was dancing, and you want mile-and-a-half horses to be relaxed, but he always does it and still he runs well.”

If my father hadn't bought the farm in Kentucky, this wouldn't have happened. Economy-wise, it was a big mistake because we lost a lot of money in having that farm, but in the end we got the best investment ever.

Sunday Silence himself did a little more than just dance when he was in training but, still, he ran well. So too did many of his offspring.

“Most of our good runners in Japan now have Sunday Silence blood somewhere,” Yoshida says, and casts his mind back to his own days in the Bluegrass.

“My father bought a farm in Kentucky, and it was very near to Arthur Hancock's farm. I was there for four or five years and during that time I became a good friend of Arthur. When Sunday Silence appeared I congratulated Arthur and he suggested to me that we should own some of the horse. 

“After that he found that not many people were interested in him as a stallion in America and he asked me to buy the horse. I bought the horse without any hesitation. At the time, $11 million was very expensive, but the Japanese economy was very good and we were able to say yes. It was the luckiest moment in my life.”

He adds, “If my father hadn't bought the farm in Kentucky, this wouldn't have happened. Economy-wise, it was a big mistake because we lost a lot of money in having that farm, but in the end we got the best investment ever. Sunday Silence changed Japanese racing.”

And let's not forget, he arrived just before the end of Northern Taste's reign in the sires' championship in Japan, that ran from 1982 to 1992.

“If you look at the history of Kentucky Derby winners, not that many become really good stallions, so I understand why American breeders were cautious,” Yoshida notes. “But at that time we were very innocent in American racing so when they asked us if we wanted to buy the horse, we did it without hesitation. Lucky! Knowing too much is not always good.”

In the quest to continue a line that has become so dominant, Yoshida knows that despite having a number of sons of Deep Impact in the pipeline, not all will light the spark that could ignite a successful second career. 

“Look at Northern Dancer: as stallions, not all of his good sons became successful,” he says. “When I went to Saratoga to buy Northern Taste I didn't know he would become a Group 1 winner in Europe and that he would become the leading sire in Japan 11 years straight. He was a very inbred horse and I was a little bit worried about that. But he lived a long time, he died when he was almost 30 years old, and he was always a very healthy horse.”

Yoshida adds, “It was just lucky, and that happened in the beginning. Then Sunday Silence came. Then Deep Impact. Maybe Contrail will come next.”

 

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Dual Champion Heart’s Cry Dies At 22

Japanese and UAE champion and top sire Heart's Cry (Jpn) (Sunday Silence–Irish Dance {Jpn}, by Tony Bin {Ire}) died on Mar. 9, the Japanese Racing Association (JRA) announced on Friday. The 22-year-old was in good health until he passed, due to a sudden inability to stand.

Teruya Yoshida, CEO of Shadai Farm, said in a statement, “Hearts Cry ran out of steam last night [Thursday]. I heard from the person in charge of the Shadai Stallion that he left nobly and without showing any weakness until the very end.

“When training, he had a unique gait, but the difference in the springs shown on the training course was obvious. I had worked on many Sunday Silence progeny before, but the way they bounced, agility, and propulsion were so different that I handed them over to trainer Kojiro Hashiguchi with great confidence.”

Bred by Shadai Farm, the April foal went into training with Hashiguchi and carried the Shadai Racing Horse silks with honour in three countries. Best known for his defeat of paternal half-brother Deep Impact (Jpn) in the 2005 Arima Kinen (video), he showcased his quality on the world stage, taking the 2006 G1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Nad Al Sheba Racecourse in Dubai, and finished a respectable third in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond S. later that year.

Yoshida added of the dark bay's racing career, “The highlight of my racing life is probably his three races from the end of [his] 4-year-old year to early in his 5-year-old season, especially when he defeated Deep Impact in the Arima Kinen. I was worried that the opponent would be the only rival and Heart's Cry would have a dirty image after that, but the overwhelming victory in the next round of the Dubai Sheema Classic proved that the level of horse racing in Japan has progressed to a tremendous level, and it has been a great opportunity for the officials, fans and media. Everyone was happy.”

Retired to stand at Shadai Stallion Station in 2007 after five wins from 19 starts and over $8 million in earnings, Heart's Cry would spend his entire stallion career there. The sire of 63 black-type winners (44 group), his best runner was versatile mare Lys Gracieux (Jpn), who won the Arima Kinen in 2019, as well as the G1 Cox Plate, G1 Takarazuka Kinen, and G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup. Of his 11 top-tier winners, G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn) and G1 Yasuda Kinen hero Just A Way (Jpn) also traveled to the deserts of Dubai, and left with a victory in the G1 Dubai Duty Free.

Stateside, his son Yoshida (Jpn) is one of two stakes winners from just four to race. An ¥94,000,000 (£578,299/€653,571/ $696,836) purchase out of the JRHA Select Yearling Sale, the young sire won the GI Woodward S. on dirt and the GI Turf Classic S. on turf. Currently a resident of WinStar Farm, his first 2-year-olds run this year.

Added Yoshida after Heart's Cry was pensioned in 2020, “After retiring as a stallion, he spent his time comfortably on the pasture. I wanted you to enjoy this comfortable life for a longer time, and I wanted you to live forever, but I am sorry that it was a sudden parting. I hope you rest in peace.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all the people involved in his life, the fans who supported us, and the breeders who chose us as our compounding partners. Thank you very much for your help so far. Thank you.”

As a broodmare sire, Heart's Cry is responsible for seven stakes winners anchored by Japanese Horse of the Year Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) and G1 Blue Diamond S. winner Tagaloa (Aus) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}).

Heart's Cry with jockey Christophe Lemaire win the Arima Kinen | Horsephotos

 

 

Regular rider Christophe Lemaire tweeted, “Very sad to hear [of] the passing of my champ. It all started with him for me in Japan. Big thoughts to Teruya Yoshida and Shadai Farm staff. Legends never die.”

Out of the dual Japanese stakes winner Irish Dance, Heart's Cry was the best foal of his dam. A half-sister by El Condor Pasa produced G3 Fairy S. heroine Omega Heart Rock (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}). Eclipse Champion Sprinter My Juliet (Gallant Romeo) is under the third dam, as is four-time Grade I winner Stella Madrid (Alydar), GI Ashland S. winner Lilacs And Lace (Flower Alley) and GI Shuvee H. scorer Tis Juliet (Alydar) while his extended family features G1 February S. hero Nonkono Yume (Jpn) (Twining), G1 Irish Oaks victress Winona (Ire) (Alzao), and dual Grade I winner Super Quercus (Fr) (Hero's Honor).

 

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