Deep Impact

HOKKAIDO, Japan--In the bloodstock world, the battle for succession does not come down to unseemly squabbles in the boardroom. What matters first is what happens on the track, and even when all goes right there, success in the breeding shed is far from guaranteed. Smallish in stature but a Goliath in influence and reputation, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Northern Dancer gave the European breeding industry many stars including, crucially, Sadler's Wells, whose line holds strong predominantly through Galileo (Ire) and his heir apparent, Frankel (GB). Northern Dancer also...

EPSOM DOWNS, UK--Asked to hold up nine fingers to represent his number of wins in the Derby, Aidan O'Brien laughed as he deliberately counted out each one. Two more--and let's face it, he's only 53 and shows no signs of stopping--and he will need to borrow a hand from someone else to keep tally. Only last weekend, O'Brien's record of Group or Grade 1 wins reached 400. Now it stands at 401, and the most recent addition is arguably the most important of all for the wider racing world. The...

We are poised midway between Japan's Oaks (Yushun Himba), which took place last Sunday, and Derby (Tokyo Yushun) this coming Sunday. What is not in doubt in the country that has led the way at so many international meetings in recent years, is that those two races over 2,400m are still very much targeted and revered by owners and breeders. In Japan, there is no shortage of horses bred specifically for that distance, or further.  In any country, it takes a special horse to win the Triple Crown. For the...

Lemongrove Stud may have been the newest name on this year's Irish Thoroughbred Stallion Trail and stallion master Tom Wallace, who is set to stand Tosen Stardom (Jpn) at the County Westmeath operation this year, is confident that the son of Deep Impact (Jpn) will provide something different for breeders.  Wallace, a notable breeder who has, up until now, yet to dip his toe into standing a stallion, said the opportunity to offer a dual Group 1-winning son of the late, great Deep Impact, was too great an offer to...

Kita Wing (Jpn) (Danon Ballade {Jpn}) found the class relief to her liking and successfully atoned for a 14th-place finish in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies a month ago with a head victory in thrilling fashion in the G3 Fairy S. at Nakayama Monday. The 3-year-old filly previously captured a juvenile maiden event at Niigata last August before her successful stakes debut a week later. It wasn't the smoothest of breaks for the filly--who last year captured the G3 Niigata Nisai S.--this time around, but it didn't matter as she...

Light Quantum (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) remained perfect to graduate to the group ranks while taking on the boys for the first time with an impressive rallying victory in the G3 Nikkan Sports Sho Shinzan Kinen at Chukyo on Sunday. The public's second choice at odds of 2-1 in this 1600-metre affair hopped a bit from the gate and was taken way back early, rating in front of just two rivals for more than 800 metres as Pace Setting (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) showed the way. As the early leader rounded...

To a degree, when it comes to the Japanese sires' championship of 2022, one could resort to that old saying 'the more things change, the more they stay the same'. It holds good for now, as in the last three years the names filling the top three spots in the list have remained the same, in an unchanged order: Deep Impact (Jpn), Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), and Heart's Cry (Jpn). But all things change eventually and, as we know, two of those stallions are no longer active, with Deep Impact gaining...

Not only did Havana Grey (GB) record more individual winners and total wins than any of his first-season sire rivals in Great Britain and Ireland, but he also broke the £1-million marker for total earnings, which is why he deservedly wears the champion freshman stallion crown. Those earnings were propped up by big sales race winners Shouldvebeenaring (GB) and Eddie's Boy (GB), with the latter going on to bag a Group 3 before selling for 320,000gns at the Tattersalls horses-in-training sale in October. Havana Grey had 36 winners for 76...

Two of the most exciting colts to look forward to as three-year-olds in 2023 are in the same stable, hail from the same family and the same sire-line. The Ballydoyle duo of Auguste Rodin (Ire) and Victoria Road (Ire) concluded their juvenile seasons with victories, respectively, in the G1 Vertem Futurity Trophy and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and they are a son and grandson of Deep Impact (Jpn), the latter being by the late Shadai resident's Classic-winning son Saxon Warrior (Jpn). Auguste Rodin is in fact bred on the...

Off the back of a star-studded season, No Nay Never will stand for €175,000 in 2023, which represents a €50,000 rise, while his dual Group 1-winning son Blackbeard (Ire) will join him on the Coolmore roster next year at a price of €25,000. No Nay Never has had an exceptional year. Older filly Alcohol Free (Ire) landed the G1 July Cup at Newmarket, but it has been his Coolmore-owned and Aidan O'Brien-trained juveniles that have set tongues wagging this term. Like his father, Blackbeard landed the G1 Prix Morny in...

What you want to hear from a major owner-breeder like Trevor Stewart, the man who has set up a mini-empire off the back of buying wondermare Cassandra Go back in 1997, is that there is a nuanced approach to breeding and, with the right blend of skill and hard work, you too can make this game pay. The trouble is, Stewart does not believe that is the case. Not only does he put buying top-class racemare-turned-blue hen Cassandra Go down to good luck, but he also points to fortune favouring...

The reigning champion 2-year-old male in Japan, Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) will be out to avenge a pair of defeats this season in Sunday's middle jewel of the Japanese Triple Crown, the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) over 2400 metres. Perfect in three starts last season, including a half-length success in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity S. going the metric mile last December, Do Deuce just failed to reel in pace-pressing Ask Victor More (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) in the 10-furlong Group 2 event named in honour of...