Japanese gain: UK stars find favour in the Far East

The departure of British-trained middle-distance aces Adayar, Hukum and Westover to begin their stallion careers in Japan this year was something of a throwback to another era.

Japanese breeders resolved to improve the local breed in the late 1980s and 1990s after decades of acting as a dumping ground for unfashionable or underwhelming European sires, and set about buying winners of the Derby, Irish Derby, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in bulk.

Among those sent to stand in Japan during that era – with mixed results, it has to be said, as many later returned home or were repurposed – were Carnegie, Carroll House, Commander In Chief, Dr Devious, Dream Well, Erhaab, Generous, Helissio, High-Rise, Lammtarra, Oath, Opera House, Pentire, Tony Bin and Zagreb.

Perhaps because those European-campaigned stallions had been nowhere near as successful in Japan as the US champion and horse of the year Sunday Silence, the mass exodus slowed in the new millennium, with Alamshar, Bago, Conduit, David Junior, Harbinger, Novellist and Workforce among the few exported then.

The flow was reduced to a mere trickle in the last decade, until the announcements last year that Derby and King George winner Adayar and fellow King George scorer Hukum would be retired to Darley Japan, and Irish Derby hero Westover had been sold by Juddmonte to stand at the Yushun Stallion Station.

The trio of European exports might be turning back the clock to the 1990s but they have arrived in a breeding landscape that has changed dramatically since those days.

Japanese horsemen have improved their stock so successfully

Japanese horsemen have improved their stock so successfully, with Sunday Silence and his dominant son Deep Impact the key drivers of change in the breeding shed, that their output is now proven to be superior to international rivals on a regular basis.

Explaining why Adayar, an attractive son of Frankel and Irish 1,000 Guineas second Anna Salai, was retired to stud in Japan and not into a Flat role in Britain or Ireland as some here had hoped, Darley Japan’s president Harry Sweeney says: “It was a pragmatic decision made by Liam O’Rourke as Triple Time, another son of Frankel, was joining the European roster and Hurricane Lane, another son who was a purchased horse, had been sold to become a National Hunt stallion.

“It probably wouldn’t have been ideal trying to launch him in Britain and Ireland when there had been a hiatus since his heroics in the Derby and King George either, so it was felt that because of the preponderance of staying races in Japan, where even the 2,000 Guineas is run over ten furlongs, people here would appreciate him more.”

As for Hukum, another beautiful specimen who is a Sea The Stars full-brother to European champion Baaeed, he adds: “He’s still owned by Shadwell, and they weren’t keen to have him standing beside his brother, quite understandably.

“But Sheikha Hissa is very passionate about racing generally and about Hukum in particular so, as I understand it, when some offers to buy him came from Japanese studs it led the team to think that they might as well stand him here themselves.”

What Japanese breeders really love is fast staying horses

Speaking in June, with the Japanese breeding season continuing longer into the summer, Sweeney estimated that the two young stallions would each cover between 75 and 100 mares in their debut books.

“It’s been a reasonable start, but breeders here are slightly cautious about mile and a half horses,” he continues. “Many breeders who have been to see them tell us that while they like staying races, what they really love is fast staying horses.

“That sounds like a contradiction, but it just means the horses really have to have the speed to win over ten furlongs. If they win over 12 furlongs, they have to finish fast in doing so.

“They’ve probably also suffered a little bit because of other horses coming into Japan this year like Westover. There’s a lot of horses competing in a similar space.”

Adayar and Hukum’s popularity in Japan is also slightly restricted by British and Irish middle-distance races having less cachet in Japan nowadays.

“Japanese breeders would certainly prefer a Japanese Derby winner over an Epsom Derby winner,” says Sweeney. “The number of sires being imported into Japan each year is down to about three, four or five, and some of those are shuttlers.

“By and large, Japan has moved to a situation where it believes it can produce its own stallions. That’s very different to 20 or 30 years ago when there were 25 or more sires coming in every year, many of them from Britain and Ireland and winners of races like the Derby and King George.

“Japanese breeders aren’t going down the route of precocious two-year-old speed, absolutely not, but they’re also not quite as enthusiastic about those traditional middle-distance races as they used to be.”

Hukum is a particularly attractive horse

With Japanese breeders having well-earned confidence in the bloodlines they have cultivated themselves, mainly those coming from Sunday Silence and Deep Impact, and now also Kitasan Black, a son of Deep Impact’s brother Black Tide and the source of world champion Equinox, there is a little less regard for European breeding.

Frankel is of course recognised as a high-class sire, having supplied Japanese Grade 1 winners Grenadier Guards, Mozu Ascot and Soul Stirring, but Sea The Stars is not quite so popular, having been enthusiastically embraced by breeders there in his early years at Gilltown Stud but failing to repay the compliment.

“Hukum is a particularly attractive horse but Sea The Stars doesn’t enjoy the same profile in Japan as he does in Europe,” admits Sweeney. “In fact, the number of Sea The Stars progeny who came into Japan as racehorses were a bit disappointing to be honest. The great Japanese racemare Vodka went to him a few times, and none of the foals were any good at all.

“That’s hurting Hukum a little as Vodka was such a high-profile mare, and he’ll need to do it the hard way now. But even though there’s some caution about his sire I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets good-looking foals in his own image, and if his second book consequently turns out to be better in terms of numbers.”

Adayar and Hukum have also had to fight for attention with their own studmates, as Darley Japan also imported Palace Malice and Yoshida from Kentucky this year.

“It wasn’t an ideal situation as we were committed to those two stallions coming in from America and one of those, Palace Malice, turned out to be incredibly popular,” says Sweeney. “In a stroke of incredible luck, only a few days after we brought him over, his son Jantar Mantar won the Grade 1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes.

“Jantar Mantar was the Japanese champion two-year-old and he has already won another Grade 1 [the NHK Mile Cup] this year. All that has put an awful lot of momentum behind Palace Malice and he’ll cover about 250 mares this year.”

If British and Irish stallion prospects aren’t quite as desirable as they used to be in Japan, to the point that even impeccably bred multiple Group 1 winners like Adayar and Hukum are a little overlooked by breeders there, it is arguably our own fault for allowing our racing and breeding to have fallen behind Japan.

Described by Sweeney as “nearly a utopia”, Japanese racing reinvests pari-mutuel betting revenue into prize-money, facilities and fan engagement, while breeders favour achievement over further than a mile and across multiple seasons.

there’s no hiding place if you have a good three-year-old colt

“When I was a young veterinarian at college, we used to talk about progeny testing,” says the Dundalk native, who arrived in Japan in 1990. “We weren’t talking about it in relation to thoroughbreds, rather bulls and cows for milk and beef production, but that’s what Japan effectively has: proper progeny testing for racehorses.

“First, there are so few Group 1 races here – only about 22 or 23 in total – so there’s no hiding place if you have a good three-year-old colt. The race options are down to the 2,000 Guineas, the Derby or NHK Mile: that’s it, you can’t duck and dive.

“There’s no automatic qualification, either. It’s not possible to pay your way into a big race through entry fees; you have to qualify to get in, earn your spot. Then the three-year-olds are forced to run against older horses pretty quickly.

“The possibility of a colt retiring to stud as a two-year-old, as sometimes happens in Europe, is unheard of in Japan. Breeders wouldn’t use them; the expectation is that horses will race at two, three and four.

Young horses have to have the temperament to manage

“Because of that, and the limited number of Group races, we absolutely know in the end who the best horses are. There’s no question as they’ve constantly been tested against each other.”

Sweeney goes on to describe other elements of Japanese racing’s keen sense of discipline that, regrettably, have fallen into abeyance in Britain and Ireland.

“The Japan Racing Association runs a fantastic racing product, with no shortcuts,” he says. “Horses have to be in the paddock and parading 30 minutes before any race, without exception. You can’t come in at the last moment and then leave, as happens in Europe all too often. That is just not allowed. Young horses have to have the temperament to manage that.

“Equally, horses have to be loaded into the stalls in strict order, there’s no permission given to go last. Horsemen here wouldn’t even know what that meant. So there is a very comprehensive progeny testing procedure, and that’s part of the reason why the Japanese breed has improved so dramatically in the last 30 years.”

Palace Malice is a bit of an exception now, being an overseas horse who’s so popular.

Sweeney also credits Japanese breeders’ deep investment in elite bloodstock, facilities and staff, and a lot of hard work, for the country’s rise to the top of the tree.

“There’s self-confidence about the local produce now,” he says. “Japanese breeders struggled in the past but one way or another they’ve ended up with Sunday Silence and Deep Impact.

“Most of the leading stallions in Japan today in terms of numbers were bred here – the likes of Kitasan Black, Equinox and Contrail. In fact Palace Malice is a bit of an exception now, being an overseas horse who’s so popular.”

But could Sunday Silence and Deep Impact’s ubiquity in Japanese pedigrees, along with other prolific influences like King Kamehameha and Symboli Kris S, lead to breeders there needing to find outcrosses, as happened with their European counterparts painting themselves into a corner with Sadler’s Wells and Danzig?

That situation has caused several European breeders to seek accomplished outcrosses in Japan, with Deep Impact siring top-notchers here such as Auguste Rodin, Fancy Blue, Saxon Warrior, Snowfall and Study Of Man, another late son of Sunday Silence, Heart’s Cry, getting last year’s St Leger victor Continuous, and Coolmore sending mares to Kitasan Black, Equinox and Contrail this year.

“We need outcrosses, we know that, but it’s not really been discussed as a problem yet,” reasons Sweeney. “It does explain why a horse like Palace Malice is getting so many mares, though. A lot of those are from Sunday SIlence lines, as there’s limited places for them to go in terms of proven top-class sires.

“The next big money will be made in Japan by the person who comes up with a top stallion who is a good outcross to Deep Impact and Sunday SIlence.”

Perhaps that stallion could be Adayar, Hukum or Westover. They might not carry as much prestige in Japan as their predecessors from Britain and Ireland in the 1980s and 1990s, but they have the right performance, pedigree and physique to excel.

Ironically, in fact, they’re just the sorts of horses that European horsemen should be breeding from in order to produce runners who can offer some resistance to the rise of more logically bred Japanese superstars on the world stage.

 

Westover: An outcross to Deep Impact mares

Westover has covered around 100 mares during his first season at the Yushun Stallion Station this year, including several Group winners or producers and many well bred individuals, according to a spokesperson for the operation. Yushun formerly stood Prince Khalid Abdullah’s Epsom and Irish Derby winner Commander In Chief during his successful stud career in Japan

“He’s a very calm natured horse who has taken to his new job really well and is very fertile,” said Hiroyuki Shiina. “We were very keen to get a top-class middle-distance turf sire and a son of Frankel. He can act as an outcross to Deep Impact and King Kamehameha mares, which is a big advantage in Japan.”

Frankel’s speed was another major deciding factor in Westover’s acquisition.

“Most of the big races in Japan are run over middle distances on turf, but Japanese breeders don’t necessarily want stamina sires,” continued Shiina. “They tend to think speed is more important than stamina, and shy away from stayers.

“That’s why we were particularly keen on Westover, as he showed he had a lot of acceleration, and his sire Frankel won over seven to ten furlongs and had natural speed. That was the key factor.”

Westover is another well bred and high-achieving horse sadly lost to European breeders for now. The full-brother to Darley Stakes winner Monarchs Glen out of Prix de la Foret third Mirabilis, in turn a Lear Fan half-sister to Prix de Diane and Prix du Moulin heroine Nebraska Tornado, won the Grand Prix de Paris as well as the Irish Derby and also finished second in the Dubai Sheema Classic, Coronation Cup, King George and Arc.