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By Wandering Eyes · Posted
HOKKAIDO, Japan — At the Shadai Stallion Station, it's not so much a changing of the guard, more a succession plan. In 2023, the late Duramente caused a temporary break in the passing of the baton from Sunday Silence to Deep Impact to Kizuna. But that was rectified last year, and Kizuna is now the reigning champion sire of Japan. He only has to achieve that 10 more times to match the reign of his father, or 12 to equal Sunday Silence's long run of championships. Signs were promising from the start, however, and, Kizuna was Japan's champion first-season sire in 2019, as well as being the leading sire of two-year-olds last year. To adapt LP Hartley's famous line from The Go-Between, we could state the obvious and say that Japan is a foreign country; they do things differently there. That is true of most things in this refreshing nation, where the day-to-day manners and courtesy do indeed hark back to days gone by. They also do the stallion scene differently – some might say in an old-fashioned way, others might say the right way. It all depends on what breeders value, of course. And if stamina and soundness with a vital dash of speed are your thing, then you are likely to find plenty of what you are looking for around the various stallion studs of Hokkaido. Kizuna was a winner of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), just like Deep Impact. The latter would go on to complete the Triple Crown, then win the Tenno Sho (Spring) over 2m before dropping back to 1m4f for the Japan Cup and Arima Kinen. He was quite brilliant, of course, and was only ever beaten twice in 14 starts. Few could match him on the track or at stud, but Kitasan Black, a coming force in the Japanese ranks, has a markedly similar profile. Japanese champion sire Kizuna | Emma Berry He may have bombed out in the Derby but he too won the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger), Arima Kinen, Tenno Sho (Spring) and Japan Cup. No surprise then that Kitasan Black is also a rather good stallion, with the world champion Equinox bursting from his first crop and now this year's Derby winner Croix Du Nord also to his credit, as well as the 2023 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) winner Sol Oriens. Kitasan Black also has a dose of Wind In Her Hair's blood in his pedigree as his sire Black Tide is Deep Impact's full-brother. At Northern Horse Park, it remains rather moving to be able to see the 34-year-old Wind In Her Hair, a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth's dual Classic heroine Highclere, out in her paddock with her tiny friends from the park's Happy Pony Show. Alongside the hustle and bustle of the next-door yearling sale, she is a calm and stately presence; royalty herself when it comes to Japanese bloodstock history. Fifteen minutes away at the Shadai Stallion Station, her name features increasingly regularly among the pages of the 30-strong roster, if receding in its prominence. It is a line-up which draws visitors like pilgrims. After all, who could have watched racing over the last few years and not want to stare in awe at the near-black wonder horse that is Equinox? He does not disappoint in the flesh but his sire – quite literally a towering presence as the tallest of the Shadai stallions, with a swagger in place of a walk – is the one we should all queue up to see. The yearlings of Kitasan Black are bound to be among the most sought after as the JRHA Select Sale gets underway on Monday, but come Tuesday he may have to vie for the spotlight with Equinox, whose 25 foals in the catalogue have already been heavily scrutinised at farms across the land before they make their first public appearance at Northern Horse Park this week. But it's not all about Equinox, of course, and his fellow Japanese-based retirees of 2024 – Grenadier Guards, Schnell Meister, Westover and Titleholder – are all represented among the foals for sale on Tuesday, while there is also one foal catalogued by each of Haras de Beaumont's Arc winner Ace Impact and Darley's Breeders' Cup Mile winner Cody's Wish. Grenadier Guards and Westover are both sons of Frankel, whose first ever Grade 1 winner came in Japan with Soul Stirring, and Frankel's Derby-winning son Adayar is also in Japan under the Darley banner. The Grade 1-winning miler Schnell Meister is by Frankel's stud-mate Kingman and, though bred by Northern Farm, comes from a strong German dam-line, his mother Serienholde (Soldier Hollow) having won the 2016 G1 Preis der Diana. Titleholder had the beating of Schnell Meister in a Grade 2 contest prior to running second to Efforia in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas). He later won the G1 Kikuka Sho by five lengths and, as established above, the name 'St Leger' does not instil dread in the hearts of Japanese breeders in the way it does British and Irish Flat breeders. Along with the aforementioned Deep Impact and Kitasan Black, other Kikuka Sho winners at stud in Japan include the very useful Epiphaneia – a personal favourite at Shadai – and the most recent Triple Crown winner Contrail, who has his first two-year-old runners this season. Lot 470, a colt foal from the first crop of Titleholder | Emma Berry Titleholder can be viewed as an important addition to the stallion ranks at Lex Stud in the hope that he can pick up where his late sire Duramente left off. The winner of the Japanese Derby and 2,000 Guineas, Duramente was a son of the influential King Kamehameha and was only nine when he died in 2021. He looks quite a loss as, along with Titleholder, another of his sons, Durezza, also won the Kikuka Sho, while his daughter Liberty Island won the Fillies' Triple Crown of 2023 a year after Stars On Earth had landed the first two races of that particular challenge. Titleholder's four foals catalogued for Tuesday's sale include lot 470, from Oiwake Farm, a strong colt out of the American Pharoah mare Glutton Lassie. And on the subject of the brilliant Liberty Island, who was sadly fatally injured in Hong Kong earlier this year, it would be no surprise to see her half-brother by Saturnalia (lot 90) feature prominently among the JRHA yearling results by the end of Monday. The post A Pilgrimage in Pursuit of Kizuna, Kitasan Black and Co appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article -
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That's 42% of the proceeds from the machines not 42% of what's put in them.
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Very accurate posting Galah. Do we know how many new Junior drivers have been licensed over the last year or so? I acknowledge that it is the love of the horse and industry that makes these Juniors want to be a driver nowadays rather than any monetary return. Very hard way to make a living, early morning starts, long hours and physically very demanding. Why would you want to be employed in the industry if there is not much future in it? I have no idea how much Junior drivers are earning, but the ones with UDR’s that are low will not be getting that much as winning % would be the icing on the cake. We need a constant number of young ones coming thru the stables and driving and training to replace the ones that are giving up driving and training for the industry to continue. HRNZ have told us that things are looking very rosey and suppose if they say it is then we have to believe it LOL Thing is why is this Committee needed to be formed and also just read that the Gallops and Harness are getting together to work for the one cause! When has this ever needed to happen in NZ racing bearing in mind there will be no greyhounds this time next year!
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