BUSINESS
Rise of the Japanese-bred racehorse abroad
Shadai Stallion Station resident Heart’s Cry earned a trip to the winner’s circle in the 2006 Dubai Sheema Classic
ZENYA YOSHIDA had a great eye for picking out quality thoroughbreds. He proved this internationally, with 1975 champion threeyear-old colt Wajima in the US; Group 1 winners Northern Taste in 1974 and Jade Robbery in 1989 and 1982 Group 2 winner Real Shadai in France; and Lassalle, who pulled off the Ascot Gold Cup-G1 and Prix du Cadran-G1 double in 1973. Yoshida had spearheaded the East-West Stable syndicate that purchased Wajima as a yearling in 1973 for $600,000, a record price at the time and remarkable in that only two bids were placed on the colt in the sale ring. In his championship season, Wajima won four Grade 1 races: the Marlboro Cup over 19741976 Horse of the Year Forego, the Travers, Monmouth Invitational, and the Governor Stakes. But none of these racehorses were bred in Japan. The first horse to carry a (Jpn) suffix and score a black type win in North America or Europe was Hakuchikara, Japan’s 1957 Horse of the Year and winner of the Washington’s Birthday Handicap at Santa Anita in 1959. Multiple Group 2 French stakes winner Limnos, a Northern Farm-foaled homebred for Stavros Niarchos, was the first Graded or Group stakes winner, earning that distinction in 1998. In 1989, Zenya Yoshida told a reporter that,
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“Ultimately we want to win the Kentucky Derby and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.” While a Japanese-bred has yet to do either, Japanese businessman Fusao Sekiguchi’s Kentucky-bred Fusaichi Pegasus wore the garland of roses after the 2000 Kentucky Derby. Yoshida’s sons bought into that colt late in his juvenile season, so they have won a Derby, although not in their silks or stable name.
Queen Elizabeth II Cup-G1 winner Rulership at Shadai Stallion Station
A horse bred in Japan and owned by a Northern Farm entity is unlikely to contest the American or European Classics any time soon. Yoshida’s grandson Shunsuke Yoshida says that the logistics of travelling from Japan make it difficult on three-year-old horses. “My opinion’s changing every year. Two years ago we sent Grand Prix Boss to [the St. James’s Palace Stakes at] Royal Ascot and last year we sent Deep Brillante to the King George, and it was a bit difficult to maintain their condition. Maybe if we had more experience of sending a horse abroad I’d have a different opinion.” Neither Grand Prix Boss, who was already a two-time Grade 1 winner, nor Tokyo YushunJapanese Derby-G1 winner Deep Brillante did well in their respective races abroad. As to the other half of Zenya Yoshida’s goal, British-bred White Muzzle nearly pulled it off under his silks in 1993, finishing second by a neck in the Arc to Urban Sea. The Germanbred and -trained filly Danedream won the 2011 running of France’s flagship event after son Teruya of Shadai Farm (not to be confused with Shadai Stallion Station, which is owned by all three of Zenya’s sons) had bought into her; as with Fusaichi Pegasus, she raced in her original owner’s colors. American-bred, Japanese-based Grand Prix du Jockey Club-G1 winner El Condor Pasa, who was later a stallion at Shadai Stallion Station, was second in the Arc to Montjeu in 1999.