16 January, 2019
When the year ends, and it is time to review the best stallion's in Japan the story always becomes about Deep Impact(JPN) and last year was no exception. The best son of Sunday Silence(USA) had another spectacular year with 193 individual winners nearly identical to his 2017 numbers where he had 194 winners. This two best years of his stallion career so far. This was his best year for individual graded stakes winners, 23 graded stakes winners. He had five G1 winners last year including the Champion Two-Year-Old Filly Danon Fantasy(JPN) and 2018 Japanese Derby winner Wagnerian(JPN). It was an excellent year for Deep Impact(JPN)'s international runners, scoring two G1s and two G3s in Europe, and one G3 in Australia. His biggest two internationals wins were in the G1 2000 Guineas in England with Saxon Warrior(JPN) and in the G1 French Derby with Study of Man(IRE).
The banner year for Japan's most famous stallion was slightly overshadowed by the emergence of a new powerhouse stallion in Japan. Lord Kanaloa(JPN), fresh off being 2017 Leading Freshman Sire continued to impress from the very beginning to the very end of 2018. Not since Daiwa Major(JPN) in 2012 had the previous year's leading freshman sire broken into the top 10 sires list the following year. Deep Impact(JPN)(2nd) and King Kamehameha(JPN)(8th) both hit the top ten in their second year at stud too. While Lord Kanaloa(JPN) was 7th last year, like Daiwa Major(JPN) in 2012, the success he had was unparalleled, even when compared to second season Deep Impact(JPN). His filly Almond Eye(JPN) made headlines around the world when after capturing the Triple Tiara (G1 Oka Sho, G1 Japanese Oaks, and G1 Shuka Sho) she won the G1 Japan Cup in world record time. Lord Kanaloa(JPN) also captured the G1 Mile Championship with Stelvio(JPN) and the G1 Hopeful Stakes with Saturnalia(JPN). With graded stakes winners spanning 1200m to 2400m and everywhere in between, it won't be surprising to see him much higher on the stallion rankings this year. Last year he had 88 winners with six graded stakes winners who captured twelve graded stakes races, and even with fewer runners than anyone in the top ten, he still managed to finish seventh last year.
King Kamehameha(JPN) will probably always be stuck behind Deep Impact(JPN) in second place, but his progeny speak for themselves. He had 92 winners including two G1 winners last year, G1 Takarazuka Kinen winner Mikki Rocket(JPN) and G1 Tenno Sho Aki winner Rey de Oro(JPN). Being the sire of Lord Kanaloa(JPN) and Rulership(JPN) who are 7th and 8th on this list proves that he has been a true sire of sires, the one thing that Deep Impact(JPN) is still trying to replicate.
Heart's Cry(JPN) is another stallion who has probably deserved top honors as a stallion a couple of times in his career, the same way he is the only horse to have ever beaten Deep Impact(JPN) in Japan. He never disappoints though and is always high in the rankings, third last year with 111 winners. He had three G1 winners last year including the impressive filly Lys Gracieux(JPN) who won the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Hai and ran second in two other G1s last year. Suave Richard(JPN) was his first G1 winner of the year when he captured the G1 Osaka Hai. In the United States, Yoshida(JPN) captured two G1s, one of dirt and one on turf last year. He proves year after year to be a quality option for breeders.
Stay Gold(JPN) passed in 2015, and he only has one two year old last year, but he still produces the goods including 76 winners and G1 Tenno Sho Haru winner Rainbow Line(JPN). While this will probably be his last year at fourth in the stallion rankings but his ability will live on through his sons at stud like Orfevre(JPN).
Harbinger(GB) has been on one of the best-imported stallions in Japan in a long time. While he wasn't an instant sensation like Lord Kanaloa(JPN) has proven to be at stud, he has proven a good investment as the graded stakes winners keep rolling in. While Deirdre(JPN) didn't have a G1 win this season, her efforts continue to impress all of those who see her perform. His Blast Onepiece(JPN) proved to be a real star when he defeated older horses to win the G1 Arima Kinen at the end of the year. He is having success with his two-year-olds as well with the Nishino Daisy(JPN) earning a pair of G3s and a third-place finish in the G1 Hopeful Stakes. With 67 individual winners and four graded stakes winners, and his ability to mix well with the domestic Sunday Silence(USA) bloodlines should be many more years of excitement to expect from this stallion.
Coming in sixth on the sire rankings for the year Daiwa Major(JPN) is another sire that has proved to be a no-brainer for breeders. With 88 individual winners and three graded stakes winners, Daiwa Major(JPN) keeps pushing along as a fantastic sire for shorter distance racehorses. His Admire Mars(JPN) won two graded stakes including the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes, making him the likely Champion Two-Year-Old Colt in Japan. Two of his fillies Nac Venus(JPN) won a G3 against males and was third in the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, while Miss Panthere(JPN) managed to win three different graded stakes in 2018.
Rulership(JPN) is a very different type of King Kamehameha(JPN) than Lord Kanaloa(JPN) and is blue-blooded Japanese royalty. He had 77 winners last year with two graded stakes winners. Two of his offspring finished second in the G1 Satsuki Sho(Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the G1 Japanese Oaks. While he didn't give his sire a win last year, Kiseki(JPN) has been the main bannerman for the Rulership(JPN) line, literally, as he set the pace in the majority of his races last year, including a fantastic performance in the G1 Japan Cup where he not only set up Almond Eye(JPN) to break the world record for 2400m but he did as well. This was his first time in the top ten, coming in 8th last year.
Kurofune(USA) is the oldest living stallion on the top ten list last year, and while he has started drifting down to the bottom of top ten, he has only dipped to 11th once since first breaking into it with his fourth crop in 2008. At 20 years old's breeding heyday is coming to an end so his gradual decline on this list isn't unexpected, but as seen with his young runners like four-year-old Aerolithe(JPN) he still has wildly talented stock coming through the pipes. He had 65 winners last year and one graded stakes winner.
The problem with being one of the best dirt stallions in Japan is that the prize money and the number of graded stakes don't go in your favor for your offspring to participate. When resorted to look at top dirt sires, Gold Allure(JPN) has been in the top few since his third crop in 2009, and from 2012 to 2017 he was second in the dirt sire rankings. While he is 10th in the general JRA sires ranking with 74 winners he was ranked number one in the JRA Dirt Sire Rankings, unseating for King Kamehameha(JPN) for the first time. His best progeny of the year was Gold Dream(JPN), closed the 2017 season with a win in the G1 Champions Cup and started 2018 with a near miss in a repeat victory in the G1 February Stakes. He made up for that loss with back to back victories in the NAR circuit winning the JPN1 Kashiwa Kinen and the JPN1 Teio Sho. He closed the year with two substantial runner-up efforts in the JPN1 Nambu Hai and G1 Tokyo Daishoten, both in the NAR. By all accounts, the six-year-old will continue his career this year as well, before likely retiring at the end of 2019 to follow in his father's footsteps.
Freshman Sires
The buzz on new sires starts in spring as the two-year-olds are deep into training and preparing for their debuts beginning in June. That buzz usually impacts the sales that summer as much if not more than the actual results but by the end of the year, that buzz is put to the test -- Just a Way(JPN) easily held off all challengers to finish the year with 13 winners. His best being Admire Justa(JPN) who ran a game second in the G1 Hopeful Stakes at the end of December. Several of his other offspring ran second in other graded or non-graded stakes this fall as well, a decent showing given the competition the 2018 crop of two-year-olds has produced.
Runner-up in the Freshman rankings was Dunkirk(USA), a Leading Freshman Sire back in the United States before he was imported to Japan, made a surprisingly decent turn on the turf, with over half of his 11 winners in the JRA being on turf and had offspring run third in two non-graded stakes races. It is a very promising start for the son of the late Unbridled's Song in Japan. In NAR Rankings he was the Leading Freshman Sire.
Third in the ranking, Cape Blanco(IRE) is the only son of Galileo(IRE) standing in Japan, and he had seven individual winners, which from a global perspective might not sound like much but he had nearly the same percentage of winners to runners as Leading Freshman Sire, Just a Way(JPN). A solid start for the sole representative of his sire line.
Belshazzar(JPN) is fourth on the ranking had four winners by the end of the year in the JRA. He did much better with his NAR runners, where he was second on their Freshman Sire Rankings with 14 wins. The son of King Kamehameha(JPN) was always more likely to lean towards the dirt since most of his most memorable wins were on the dirt.
Danon Ballad(JPN) has had an odd couple of years, after covering his second crop he was sold to interests in Italy where he stood for one year before being moved to England to stand in 2018. When his first crop debuted and they showed promise, he was repurchased by a stallion farm in Japan, and he'll stand back in Japan for 2019. Half of his runners ran in the JRA and from those he had two winners, and four graded stakes performers. He has a small second crop debuting in the summer of 2019, but it will be 2022 before we see any of his foals again after his repatriation.
*Standings based on JRA results only, though comments are made on NAR standings.
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