Having recorded a landmark win with Lys Gracieux in the 99th edition of the W.S. Cox Plate, Japanese bred thoroughbreds continue to make an impact at The Valley this season.
The opening race at The Valley last Saturday turned heads after the impressive juvenile performance of Magic Millions bound colt Tagaloa in the Strath Haven Preston Sprint Plate, but what some may not have realised was his international pedigree.
“I don’t know much about his breeding, but he’s bred to be a 2000m horse and his sire’s a superstar,” were the remarks of winning rider Michael Walker post-race.
One person that does know about his pedigree is co-trainer Trent Busuttin, who paid $300,000 for the colt on the Gold Coast earlier this year from Arrowfield Stud.
Walker’s comments regarding his ‘superstar’ sire are spot on. Lord Kanaloa will soon assume the mantle of Japan’s most expensive stallion, who in 2019 stood for JPY15,000,000 (AUD $201,600). Having raced 19 times, he remarkably never missed the placings winning of 13 of those occasions. He became the first horse to win the Hong Kong Sprint and did so on two occasions.
His racetrack success is certainly being replicated in the breeding barn, with none other than global superstar Almond Eye flying the flag for his progeny. Match that with a dam, who is a half-sister to a stakes winner and multiple Group placegetters and it’s any wonder the Cranbourne colt can run.
There is also a link back to Lys Gracieux, with the dam named Vasilissa also bred by Northern Farm who raced the Ladbrokes Cox Plate winner.
"You'd have to say the Japanese are the dominant horses of the world and he was a lovely type,” Busuttin explained.
"I had a crack at a couple of Deep Impacts (Japanese stallion) the previous year in Sydney but I couldn't get near them”.
In other Japanese racing news, Damian Lane has been granted a special license to reacquaint himself with Ladbrokes Cox Plate winner Lys Gracieux in her final race, the Arima Kinen, on December 22. Ten runners in the 16-horse field at Nakayama over 2500m are voted for by the public and it is acknowledged as the world's biggest betting race.