Equinox

HOKKAIDO, Japan-"The world is getting smaller," MV Magnier remarked when discussing some of the pedigrees on offer at this year's JRHA Select Sale, and so it proved when a Kitasan Black (Jpn) colt out of the multiple Group-1 placed Galileo (Ire) mare Delphinia (Ire) set a new record at ¥590 million [roughly €3.34 million] for the highest-priced yearling ever sold at the premier Japanese sale.   It was Rodeo Japan-a guise for an anonymous Japanese owner-who came out on top in the bidding war for lot 100, who boasts a strong...

HOKKAIDO, Japan-One thing the Japanese breeders are not short on is patience. It is here where the middle-distance horse is truly admired and cultivated arguably better than any other racing nation.  That patience will come in handy, according to Shadai Stallion Station's Naohiro Hosoda, when it comes to getting the best out of Equinox (Jpn) at stud.  Officially the best horse that the county has ever produced, having retired with a rating of 135 following a four-length triumph in the Japan Cup, Equinox is arguably the most exciting addition to...

The Longines World Racing Awards were held in London last week, but it could just as easily have been in Tokyo, such was the level of support from visitors from Japan. It is easy to understand why. For as well as this event being in part a coronation for Equinox (Jpn), the best horse in the world in 2023, it was also the first time in the 43-year history of the G1 Japan Cup that it was awarded the accolade of the Longines World's Best Horse Race. The line-up for...

LONDON, UK -- Japan stole the show at the Longines World Racing Awards in London, with Silk Racing's Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) named the Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2023 while the G1 Japan Cup claimed the title of Longines World's Best Horse Race. The top-rated three-year-old filly in the world was Japan's Triple Tiara winner Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}). Equinox's top rating of 135 - the highest ever awarded to a Japanese horse - was achieved in his four-length romp in the Japan Cup, his final appearance...

I wish I had met Paul Mellon. He does seem to have been a rather good egg. Mill Reef was born the year before me and though I wasn't precocious enough to have enjoyed his racing career live, for some reason, since I started taking a serious interest in racing, he has long been one of my favourite horses. I think a lot of it has to do with Mellon himself.  Can you imagine a modern-day Gimcrack-winning owner writing a poem about his horse, as Mellon did for Mill Reef...

Japan's Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) has been named Horse Of The Year by Timeform--besting G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}) and GI Breeders' Cup Turf winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn})--in the inaugural Timeform Awards, it was announced Wednesday. Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, the colt earned a 136 rating in his career finale in the G1 Japan Cup. Equinox, who also stood atop of the Leading Male 3yo/up category, also garnered the Champion Of The Rest Of The World award, ahead of...

Crossing the line as Equinox sauntered home in the Japan Cup, Christophe Lemaire gave a little shake of his head and beamed as he tried unconvincingly to pat the horse's neck. Lemaire's disbelief was such that he went floppy with delight. Championship races are not meant to be processions. Even legendary horses aren't supposed to be so superior to their contemporaries. While others bobbed and heaved with effort, Equinox arrived at the front in his races on the bridle, with Lemaire perched as if for a portrait painter. Then he...

The world's top-rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) has been retired to Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido after winning last weekend's Japan Cup in spectacular fashion. Last Sunday's Group 1 success was the Japanese superstar's sixth consecutive victory at the highest level. In 10 lifetime starts he was beaten twice when second to Geoglyph (Jpn) in the GI Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) and also second in the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) to Do Deuce (Jpn). Bred by Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm from the Group 3-winning King Halo...

The long-awaited appearance of Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup did not disappoint and his four-length victory over the fillies' Triple Crown winner Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) was deemed to be a career-best performance by the assessors at Timeform. Already rated the best horse in the world, his previous mark of 135 has been raised to 136, which rates him 3lb ahead of G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact (Ire) (Cracksman {GB}), who has recently been retired to Haras de Beaumont. "Equinox...

For the third time in the last six years, the colours of Silk Racing Co. Ltd. were carried to victory in the G1 Japan Cup, this time by the world's top-rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) following the dual success of Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) as a 3-year-old in 2018 and again two years later. It was a sixth Group 1 tally on the trot for the beautifully conformed son of the 2016 Japan Cup hero and Group 3 winner Chateau Blanche (Jpn) (King Halo {Jpn}), just...

Having given the race a pass in 2022 after taking a thrilling renewal of the G1 Tenno Sho (Autumn), Silk Racing Co. Ltd.'s world's top-rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) looks to complete that particular double--most recently accomplished by the syndicate's two-time Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in 2020--as the warm favourite in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup at Tokyo Racecourse. It has been a meticulously managed preparation for the 4-year-old colt with the broad blaze, as his abilities were on display for all to...

Kitasan Black (Jpn), Japan's busiest stallion in 2023 and the sire of the world's top-rated racehorse Equinox (Jpn), has had his covering fee doubled for next season to ¥20 million (approximately £108,000/€124,000). Kitasan Black is a son of Black Tide (Jpn), a full-brother to the late Deep Impact (Jpn), and he was kept busy at the Shadai Stallion Station last spring when covering 242 mares. It remains to be seen whether his most famous son, who is favourite to extend his Group 1 winning streak to six in Sunday's Japan...