BUSINESS as consequential as he turned out to be? “Not really, no,” Shunsuke laughs. “At that time we had Northern Taste, who was very successful, but he was the only successful sire for us. My grandfather and my father and his brothers kept buying the stallions but they were never successful. The good thing about my grandfather is he kept trying!” Now, sons and grandsons of Sunday Silence, who Shunsuke calls the “backbone” of their farm, dominate the Japanese sire ranks, with so much saturation that in recent years Shadai Stallion Station has imported War Emblem (by Our Emblem), who turned out to be a notoriously shy breeder; Harbinger (Dansili); and Workforce (King’s Best), and the Yoshidas continue to spend money on high-end North American, Australian, and European broodmares or broodmare prospects. “We need good stallions for our Sunday Silence mares, so we keep buying stallions.” So far, sons of Kingmambo have been a natural fit for Sunday Silence-line mares: King Kamehameha has seven Graded stakes winners bred on the cross, while El Condor Pasa, who died young, got multiple Grade 1 winner Vermilion, who is one of four Kingmambo-line horses at Shadai Stallion Station. King Kamehameha’s Grade 1-winning son Rulership bred a lot of mares tracing to Sunday Silence blood in this, his first season. Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem – who is in isolation and not persevered with in the breeding shed anymore – might have been another to work well with Sunday Silence; among his 121 registered foals were a total of seven stakes winners, two of which, including Group 3 winner King’s Emblem, had dams by Sunday Silence. The logistics of breeding hundreds of mares a year from Northern Farm can get a little tricky,
“We need good stallions for our Sunday Silence mares, so we keep buying stallions” Shunsuke Yoshida (pictured)
so mating decisions are often made by checking to see which stallions are available the day a mare needs to be covered and what other mares also need to get in. “Maybe we decide this one broodmare is very important so she’s going to Deep Impact. Really, it’s like so,” explains Shunsuke. Most of the better racemares and/or producers, such as Gentildonna’s dam Donna Blini and Azeri, did visit Deep Impact’s book again this year, though as the sire of Orfevre and 2013 Grade 1 winners Fenomeno and Gold Ship, Stay Gold (by Sunday Silence), located at Big Red Farm, got a few of the farm’s nice mares as well, such as Frizette Stakes-G1 winner Sky Diva, whose 2012 Deep Impact colt topped that year’s select sale foal session. Katsumi Yoshida’s name appears on the docket at major breeding stock and other sales in the US, Australia, and Europe on a regular basis. Imported horses fly into Narita and spend three weeks in quarantine before taking the ferry to Hokkaido. From the time they leave quarantine until they arrive at Northern Farm, it’s about a 20-hour journey. Import taxes are roughly £35,000, or €50,000, per horse. The inspection team at Keeneland and FasigTipton is headed by Shunsuke, who goes with his “first impression” when he’s looking at a potential purchase. Acquisitions from last year’s sales include Zazu ($2.1 million) and Tapitsfly ($1.85 million), who, like Azeri, are in foal to Deep Impact. Shunsuke Yoshida, a father of two with a quick sense of humor and who is well-spoken in English, studied economics at Keio University in Tokyo, although the former Japanese Junior show jumping champion admits, “Show jumping came first – no study, only show jumping!” He gained work experience outside of Japan with broodmares at Three Chimneys, yearlings at Lane’s End, and
Carrot Club's 2011 champion two-year-old Alfredo after training on the indoor gallop at Kuko
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