Yoshito Yahagi

The Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia (JCSA) has released the names of the 1162 entries--including 41 Grade I/Group 1 winners--from no fewer than 15 racing jurisdictions around the world for the US$33.5 million Saudi Cup meeting to be held at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. Prize money is up by $2.25 million as compared to the 2023 renewal, reflecting the upgrades of the Neom Turf Cup (2100mT) and 1351 Turf Sprint to international Group 2 status. One of the two races for Purebred Arabians--the Al Mneefah...

Perfect in two starts, including a victory over 2000 metres already at this early stage in his career, Susumu Fujita's Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) can well and truly stamp himself a leading contender for next year's Japanese Classics when he takes on a full field in Thursday's G1 Hopeful S. at Nakayama, the final top-level event on the JRA circuit for 2023. Bred by Ecurie des Monceaux, the chestnut is--as has been well documented--a full-brother to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) and was hammered down...

Real Steel (Jpn) gave the theretofore relatively unknown Yoshito Yahagi a first victory on foreign soil when taking out the G1 Dubai Turf at Meydan in 2016. There has been a stack of overseas success since then--including Real Steel's full-sister Loves Only You (Jpn) in America and Hong Kong--and Susumu Fujita's Forever Young (Jpn) stands an excellent chance to add to the colorful conditioner's record following a smashing victory in the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun at Kawasaki, 20 miles south of Central Tokyo. Drawn widest in a field of 12, the...

Just a handful of days after her passing from colic, Ecurie des Monceaux's star broodmare Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) came up with her fourth group winner, the now two-for-two Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who won the G3 Radio Nikkei Hai Kyoto Nisai S. at Kyoto on Saturday. The chestnut full-brother to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) was made the 5-2 pick by the Kyoto faithful, but his task was not made easier when he made a slight hop at the break and...

Susumu Fujita's Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), the full-brother to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) and €2.1-million topper at the 2022 Arqana August sale, made a successful racecourse debut Saturday, bursting through with 400 metres to travel en route to a three-length success at Tokyo Racecourse. Trying an 1800-metre trip for this first go, the son of Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was first to break the line and could have led had they chosen, but Takeshi Yokoyama elected to allow the colt to find his...

Shin Emperor (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), the full-brother to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) and €2.1-million topper at the 2022 Arqana August Sale, will make his much-anticipated career debut in an 1800-metre newcomers' event Saturday afternoon at Tokyo Racecourse. Bred by Ecurie des Monceaux, the chestnut carries the colours of prominent and big-spending owner Susumu Fujita and is under the care of trainer Yoshito Yahagi. Takeshi Yokoyama will be in the saddle. An Apr. 30 foal, Shin Emperor is related to six winners from as many to...

By Brian Sheerin and Emma Berry DEAUVILLE, France--It was the bloodstock sales equivalent of a mic drop: two lots, five minutes, €3 million. Boom. Coomore has long nurtured its partnerships, and with Peter Brant, Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and Georg von Opel's Westerberg, the Magnier-led operation has enjoyed plentiful success. Most notably this season that has come with Paddington (GB), a multiple Group 1-winning son of Siyouni (Fr) bred by Dayton Investments at Ecurie des Monceaux, and it was to that nursery that the team turned again, signing for the...

2023 G1 Saudi Cup hero Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) will target the G1 Sussex S. at Goodwood in August, according to the entire's trainer Yoshito Yahagi. Yahagi, who ran Bathrat Leon (Jpn) (Kizuna {Jpn}), told www.netkeiba.com, "We had the idea of a mile race somewhere, I think the Sussex S. on a tough course would suit. The [G1] International S. is the flattest one-turn race in the UK, and I have the image of it being suited to a speed type of horse." Panthalassa won the 2022 G1 Dubai...

For U.S. expatriate Kate Hunter, the GI Kentucky Derby is about relationships. Hunter, who is based in Japan when she's not traveling the globe, is the founder of Marugai Racing. She is the Japan representative for a number of American racing organizations including Churchill Downs. Her journey with the connections of Derby contenders Derma Sotogake (Jpn)(Mind Your Biscuits) and Continuar (Jpn) (Drefong) began early this year as she traveled with them from Japan to Saudi Arabia in February, then on to Dubai in March, and finally to Kentucky, where they...

GI Kentucky Derby contender Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits) registered his first published work at Churchill Downs Wednesday going a half-mile in :49.60 (16/20). With exercise rider Masatoshi Segawa in the saddle, Derma Sotogake went through his routine 25-minute warm-up in the one-mile chute prior to beginning his work. The chestnut colt exited the chute and began galloping around the six-furlong pole. He started to pick up his momentum around the three-furlong pole and worked through fractions of :13 and :37.20, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols. "I...

When Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) provided Japan with a breakthrough victory in the $20-million G1 Saudi Cup, Tom Ryan, one of the key men behind the lucrative two-day meeting, punched the proverbial air. Of all the results possible in the big race, a Japanese victory would have been right up there as the most desirable for a relatively new fixture on the international racing circuit, as extravagant the prize-money may be. Nobody understands this better than the County Tipperary native who swapped managing Naas racecourse for his current role...

Going into Saturday's Saudi Cup meeting at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh, there was approximately one way that this year's results could better the massive success achieved by Japan in 2022. And who better to orchestrate it but trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who has won major races everywhere with the possible exception of Mars, as Hiroo Race Co. Ltd's Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), one of six top-shelf gallopers signed on from the Land of the Rising Sun and making just the second start of an already successful career on the...