Epiphaneia

The foal session of the JRHA Select Sale is normally the headline-grabber, but the presence of four yearlings from the final crop of the late, great Deep Impact (Jpn) during Monday's opening session could just steal the show during the two-day sale in Hokkaido. Deep Impact, the Triple Crown winner and breed-shaping sire, died on July 29, 2019, having missed much of the preceding covering season with the spinal issues that ultimately took his life. His small final crop was expected to contain around 20 foals, four of which will...

Sunday's G1 Shuka Sho will mark the first time since February that limited fans will be permitted to attend a Group 1 race in Japan, and it is fitting that it coincides with a fillies' Triple Crown bid by Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). Daring Tact is unbeaten in four runs including the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) over a mile and the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) at 2400 metres. There is little that appears to be causing fear for connections-she recorded the fastest-ever final three furlongs in...

Des Ailes (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), the first foal out of 2014 G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches victress Avenir Certain (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), puts her unbeaten record on the line and jumps up into group-race company for the first time in Sunday's G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks). A debut winner at Hanshin on Mar. 15, she added the Listed Sweetpea S. at Tokyo on May 3 to her resume. Both those starts were over 1800 metres, and she adds another three furlongs on Sunday...

Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) had shown potential for brilliance prior to Sunday's G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas), breaking her maiden in her lone start at two and winning the Listed Elfin S. in February by four lengths, and the first-crop daughter of G1 Japan Cup and G1 Kikuka Sho winner Epiphaneia followed through on that promise on Sunday with a win in the nation's first Classic of the season. Daring Tact is the first filly in 40 years to win the Oka Sho in just her third start,...

While the European Classics look likely to suffer some reshuffling, Japanese racing is continuing behind closed doors and the country is set to stage its first Classic on Sunday, the G1 Oka Sho (1000 Guineas). Final declarations for the Hanshin contest will be made on Thursday, but the 18 likely runners at this stage include no fewer than six daughters of Deep Impact (Jpn), who died last August. At this early stage of the year, it is no surprise to see the late Shadai resident out in front on the...

Five months after his death at the age of 17, Deep Impact (Jpn) lodged his ninth consecutive sires' championship in Japan in 2019, with his 244 winners contributing to progeny earnings of ¥7,773,484,000 (£54.5m/€64.3m). It will be no surprise to see his name in the top spot for a number of years to come, closing in on the record of his sire Sunday Silence, who was champion sire in Japan 14 times, from 1995 to 2008. Deep Impact's similar dominance is all the more profound considering that his position in...