Kitasan Black

HOKKAIDO, Japan -- At Northern Horse Park, one of the great tourist attractions of Hokkaido, the next few days will be all business.  Japan's most prestigious bloodstock auction, the JRHA Select Sale, springs back to action with a session of yearlings on Monday, but what many observers will be waiting to see is the reception given to the first foals of world champion Equinox.  Twenty-five of his debut crop are set to sell on Tuesday, including a colt from American champion dirt mare Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute). His reserve, which...

After losing his unbeaten record when second in April's G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), Croix Du Nord was on something of a recovery mission, and he delivered when it counted, running out a three-quarter length winner of the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) on Sunday. Masquerade Ball (Duramente), third in the Satsuki Sho, charged home second, 1 1/2 lengths to the good of Shohei (Saturnalia). The betting public felt the 2400 metres of the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) was well within the son of Kitasan Black's scope, and...

3rd-Chukyo, ¥10,600,000 ($68,720), Maiden, 3yo, 1900m, 2:01.3, ft. RHINO (JPN) (c, 3, Into Mischief--Princess Noor {'TDN Rising Star', GISW, $363,500}, by Not This Time) was not disgraced when fourth in a pair of starts on the turf to begin his career, but was switching to the surface for which he was bred this time around and looked a different proposition altogether. Sent forward from gate one, Rhino was content to allow a rival to take up the running and sat a comfortable stalking trip from second down the backstretch. Awaiting...

It was inevitable really. Kizuna (Jpn), the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner of 2013 and champion first-season sire in 2019, has now followed the example set by his feted sire Deep Impact (Jpn) to become Japan's champion sire for the first time. The Shadai stallion had finished in the top four in the championship in the three previous years and took the laurels this time from 2023 champion, the late Duramente (Jpn). He in turn had finally ended the 11-year domination of Deep Impact, who was also the champion freshman...

MV Magnier has described the Japan Cup as "the main aim" for Auguste Rodin (Ire) where the six-time Group 1-winning son of Deep Impact (Jpn) will bid to bridge a gap of almost two decades to the last European-trained winner of the race.  Speaking at the JRHA Select Sale in Japan last week, Magnier firmed up plans for Auguste Rodin, who is the culmination of over 10 years of Coolmore breeding mares to Japanese-based stallions.  He also confirmed that Coolmore has supported Kitasan Black (Jpn), the sire of Equinox (Jpn),...

HOKKAIDO, Japan-The demand for the progeny of Kitasan Black (Jpn) continued at the JRHA Sale on Tuesday as, just 24 hours after supplying the top lot of the yearling session, a half-brother to G1 NHK Mile Cup winner Schnell Meister (Ger) topped the foal segment for the Shadai Station-based stallion at ¥410 million [roughly $2.59 million]. Lot 364, who was consigned by Northern Farm, is out of the German Oaks winner Serienholde (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), and was bought by prominent Japanese-based owner Toshihiko Tabata. Of the 239 foals offered,...

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...

A yearling full-brother to the globetrotting Deirdre (Jpn) and first-crop foals by Flightline and Baaeed (GB) are among the entries for the JRHA Select Sale, which is set to take place at the Northern Horse Park in Hokkaido on July 8 and 9. Deirdre, a daughter of Harbinger (GB), was a Grade 1 winner in her native country before setting out on her worldwide travels which saw her win the G1 Nassau S. at Goodwood and finish runner-up in both Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Her younger brother (lot 74)...

There's a new king of the Japanese sire ranks and his name is Duramente (Jpn). However, his coronation is bittersweet for the Shadai Stallion Station as the son of King Kamehameha (Jpn) died in September 2021 at the age of just nine. The winner in 2015 of the G1 Satsuki Sho and G1 Tokyo Yushun - the Japanese 2,000 Guineas and Derby equivalents - Duramente was quick to make an impression following his retirement to stud in 2017. The champion first-season sire of 2020, he has progressed through the senior...

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...

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...