It wasn’t the crowning glory – that might come if Japan ever captures the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe – but Forever Young’s recent victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, when he repelled a top bunch of domestic dirt horses, underlined once more the nation’s status as a racing superpower.
A world leader when it comes to industry and technology, Japan has enjoyed a rise to the top in horseracing in the last 20 years or so; Peter Chapple-Hyam’s criticism of legendary rider Yutaka Take for his effort on White Muzzle in the 1994 Arc is a distant memory, while Europe struggles to lay a glove on the Japan Cup these days, let alone have it in its grip as was once the case.
Seeking The Pearl (in the 1998 Maurice de Gheest) and Taiki Shuttle (in the Jacques le Marois a week later) were the first Japanese-trained horses to win top-level prizes overseas, since when more than 60 have been bagged.
“They were foreign-breds who came in and won Group 1s abroad, but now the winners are nearly all Japanese-bred, so there’s been an enormous improvement in our bloodstock,” says Harry Sweeney (left), who has spent 35 years in Japan and is president of Godolphin’s operation there.
He has had a box-seat view of the rapid progress made and it’s not just Mickey Mouse races that have been annexed. Agnes World (July Cup) and Deirdre (Nassau) will be familiar to British racegoers, more Group 1 glory has been secured in France (where the Arc remains the Holy Grail), Delta Blues has triumphed in a Melbourne Cup, a host of stars have lit up Dubai World Cup night and Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine were Breeders’ Cup winners before Forever Young’s heroics. There was also pride when Just A Way (2014) and Equinox (2023) were crowned champions in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.
Huge betting turnover and the prizemoney it funds are also the envy of most of the world
For all that success on a global stage, things appear in rude health back home where scenes of fanatical crowds sprinting through the gates to get a prime position on big racedays have gone viral on social media. The production of ‘plushies’ – cuddly toys based on equine aces – also demonstrates the passion and devotion that exists around racing in Japan, where something of an infatuation with stardom and celebrity endures anyway.
Huge betting turnover and the prizemoney it funds are also the envy of most of the world, so it’s easy to understand why Sweeney reaches for a certain word when assessing the state of the things.
“As close as you will get to a utopia,” he adds. “It’s not quite a utopia, but it’s very close in that you have one organisation, a government-associated body, running racing. That’s from owning the tracks to registering trainers and jockeys and, significantly, running the tote market with all the money from that going back into racing and promoting it.”
Sweeney, now a Japanese resident who owns and breeds horses in his own right along with his contribution to Godolphin, is, of course, referring to the Japan Racing Association (JRA).
Established in 1954, the JRA comes under the supervision of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and is basically responsible for the best bits, although the National Association of Racing – operated by local authorities – also hosts lesser, shoulder fixtures.
Ten courses and two training centres are owned and run by the JRA, whose ambition is matched by those participating within its framework, which has integrity and information at its core.
“It’s a fantastic model and it’s always been the case,” Sweeney, a vet by profession, goes on. “What’s changed is a great hunger among Japanese horsemen to improve. They realised when the Japan Cup started to open up that there was a gap between Japanese and foreign horses.
“There was an understanding that work was needed to close that gap and there was an enormous hunger for knowledge, so lots of people went abroad to study and see better ways of doing things. They worked really hard and there was also heavy investment, not just in people, but in bloodstock, mares and stallions, and it involved some luck too.”
In terms of stallions, Sweeney namechecks North American imports Northern Taste and Sunday Silence for helping shape Japan’s fortunes, with the latter most notably producing Deep Impact, arguably the country’s greatest horse who then emerged as a game-changing sire himself.
Middle-distance class and the stamina that comes with it is favoured by the Japanese, which sets them apart from their counterparts elsewhere, who prefer a brand of speed that is not loved by all.
It’s worth remembering Adayar, Hukum and Westover as recent examples of transfers from Britain, where a sharp juvenile retiring before his or her three-year-old season is not uncommon.
There’s a true love of horses and racing
“Japan’s forte is ten furlongs and up,” the Irish native continues. “A mile minimum – even our 2,000 Guineas is over ten furlongs.”
Right in the groove, Sweeney lays bare a programme, which features hardly any handicaps, and an attitude he feels sets it apart, all the time adding to its draw.
“There’s a true love of horses and racing, beyond the betting, that fuels everything,” he says. “They like their heroes and competition, and I think the Pattern helps with that. If you’ve a three-year-old Grade 1 colt, there are, until the October of his campaign, only three races – the Satsuki Sho (2,000 Guineas), NHK Mile and the Derby – he can run in. If he hasn’t run in those races, he’s of no consequence. There’s no place to duck and dive or hide. It’s not possible and when horses go to stud we can be sure they are the best or the soundest because they’ve raced against each other, probably numerous times.”
A consistent foal crop – 7,925 were registered last year against 6,884 in 2014 – has also helped establish Japan as a fertile place to own horses and Godolphin have had a foothold there since 2002.
“Dubai is a very dynamic and expanding country, which looks for excellence in everything it does and I’d say Japan came on Godolphin’s radar in 1996 when Singspiel won the Japan Cup,” says Sweeney. “It makes commercial sense too. Godolphin wish to be involved in the best racing around the world and has horses in the UK, France, the United States and Australia. Not to have horses in Japan, which is a major bloodstock power, would be a glaring omission.”
So, Sheikh Mohammed’s outfit was one of 2,859 owners registered with the JRA last year, with a breakdown of 2,426 sole owners, 381 companies and 52 syndicates – a massive part of the ownership landscape that lends its success to the influential Yoshida family, the closest thing to racing royalty there.
Founded by the late Zenya Yoshida, the empire is now in the hands of his sons Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya, whose racing arms, in their various guises and distinctive colours (think the yellow-and-black stripes of Shadai Racehorse and the red crossbelts and black of Sunday Racing among others), have become champion owners many times over, dominating the sport.
One of the reasons it has flourished is the level of fan engagement in the region
Almond Eye, Orfevre, Gentildonna and Equinox are among the superstars linked to the Yoshidas, whose head was responsible for the inspired talent scouting of the aforementioned Northern Taste and Sunday Silence.
The racing clubs or syndicates the brothers run are nothing new in global racing. However, in Japan they are a feature of the elite, championship level, racing bona fide champions and Group/Grade 1 horses year in, year out.
One of the reasons it has flourished is the level of fan engagement in the region; shareholders, after all, do not really ‘own’ the horses, but, essentially, lease them. If breeding potential exists down the line, the horses can be returned to a Yoshida bloodstock branch. It’s a framework that might not thrive elsewhere with differences in culture and expectation, while the fervent connection the common person has with racing means owning an affordable share – no matter on what scale – is perhaps more appealing.
When Loves Only You struck at the 2021 Breeders’ Cup, she did so in the silks of DMM Dream Club Co Ltd, an offshoot of internet company DMM.com, which last year was said to have had more than 45 million registered users – an astonishing amount of people to tap into and something the firm did to drive interest.
The other strand of the success story is the Yoshida family’s bloodstock portfolio, which includes a number of quality mares, with plenty sourced from Europe for sale-topping prices. Marry that to the syndicate system and it might be like Middleham Park Racing having access to Coolmore’s bluebloods to syndicate.
“They’re huge and make getting involved accessible for the average man in the street,” adds Sweeney, who bred Sunday Racing’s 2012 Japanese Derby winner Deep Brilliante.
A return is also important for owners and Japan last year offered ¥100,111,213,000 – around £486 million – in prize-money across its 288 meetings that featured 3,454 races, of which 127 were over jumps. That nearly 10,000 races were run in Britain last year for £188m demonstrates the resources available to the JRA, which can offer owners injury compensation and appearance money.
“The biggest incentive of all for owners is proper prize-money,” Sweeney stresses. “It’s fantastic and that appearance money is an enormous help to keep a horse in training.
“There’s also a real balance between the price of buying bloodstock and the scale of prize-money in Japan, which means you have a chance to break even, perhaps even be profitable. You’re not burning sacks of money every time you buy a horse.”
