PROFILE
Lissa Oliver
Caroline Norris
TA K I N G T H E
GLOBAL
PERSPECTIVE TAKASHI KODAMA
T
he respected Nigerian author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, often speaks about the dangers of a single story. A single story, or viewpoint, leads to misconceptions and many lost opportunities, preventing us from seeing the many and varied stories within a place, or a person—the multifaceted bigger picture. Ireland’s Curragh-based trainer Takashi Kodama can never be accused of such an error. His is a life of multiple stories; and perhaps this has gifted him with the ability to identify and value the multiple stories of the international thoroughbred industry. As we talk, Kodama has five fillies waiting to be shipped from South America, to the USA and Ireland. The border had been closed due to the pandemic but was to have reopened in mid-May, so Kodama had everything organised for their export, only to receive last-minute news that the border closure had been extended. He had to spend the day urgently contacting local agents and rightly admits, “It has been my biggest nightmare with the COVID-19 pandemic.” Kodama is no ordinary trainer. Yes, he has his own yard in Kildare and a small string of six horses
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in training. He faces the same struggles as any small trainer. Yes, he has known major success as a trainer, Pop Rock winning at the prestigious Galway Festival and Elusive Time landing the 2017 Irish Cambridgeshire, a premier handicap, during Irish Champions Weekend at his home track. That saw Kodama honoured with the Special Achievement Award at the 2017 Curragh Racing Awards. But unlike many trainers, Kodama has embraced the idea of diversifying and, as a result, has his finger on the pulse of every racing nation as he searches for good value and winners, even if that means sending the horses in his care to other trainers. Even more than a trainer, he is a racing manager. This brings additional work and issues, as the South American borders testify. “Afternoon here in Ireland is business hours in South America and the USA,” he points out, “and I have six horses in my yard who demand my attention in the morning.” His passion for horses started a long time ago. “I first started working with horses a few days after my graduation from high school. I went to Hidaka, the main breeding area of Japan, to a pre-training and stud farm. It was supposed to be temporary, but in the typical way of these things I stayed five years!”