Cover image courtesy of Racing Photos

Tony and Lynn Ottobre's Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) has captivated audiences since last November, reaching new heights with her victory in The All-Star Mile and a subsequent dominant performance in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. in the autumn.

However, she might not be the only Jenni making headlines in the coming months. Progressive filly Jenni’s Meadow (Brutal {NZ}) proved she's one to watch with an impressive performance in Saturday’s Listed Taj Rossi Series Final at Flemington.

In the aftermath, The Thoroughbred Report spoke to Tony Ottobre about the filly, who credited Newgate Farm’s first-season sire Brutal (NZ) with his first victory and now his first stakes success as a sire.

Not my wheelhouse

Trained by Ben, Will, and JD Hayes, Jenni’s Meadow showed considerable potential when she won on debut at Moonee Valley in late December. Reflecting her trainers' high opinion of her, she headed to the Gold Coast to tackle the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic.

The daughter of Brutal (NZ) put in a credible performance, finishing eighth in the 1200-metre dash won by Storm Boy (Justify {USA}). Returning to the races in late May, Jenni’s Meadow finished fourth at Sandown-Hillside behind her paternal sister Heinous (Brutal {NZ}).

Racing at Flemington over 1200 metres, Jenni’s Meadow finished fifth in the event won by Wonder Boy (Cosmic Force). She returned to Flemington over 1400 metres and, despite having to settle behind her stablemate Sneaky Sunrise (The Autumn Sun), ran home strongly, suggesting she was far from finished.

Meeting Sneaky Sunrise again in Saturday’s Listed Taj Rossi Series Final over 1600 metres and carrying a weight advantage of 58.5kg, Jenni’s Meadow showed her appreciation for the trip. With Ethan Brown in the saddle, she stormed home to win by 1.25l.

Tony Ottobre admitted that racing 2-year-olds is not his usual focus, making this journey a new experience.

“I thought once we got Jenni’s Meadow to the mile, we’d probably see the best of her,” Ottobre told TTR AusNZ. “Prior to that, we had her over 1200 and 1400 metres, and she was racing well but not quite getting there.”

Speaking on future plans for Jenni’s Meadow, Ottobre said, “The Taj Rossi Series Final was our target race. Ben (Hayes) had it on the radar for quite a while. She’s done her job, and of course, she’s a 2-year-old, which I don’t usually race. It’s very rare for me to race a 2-year-old.

“I’m in another world at the moment, which the Hayes boys and their team have guided me through and trained me into. So, I’ll leave it up to them what she’s going to do next.

“I’m just going to sit back and watch how they train a 2-year-old who is about to become a 3-year-old.”

The one I wanted

Travelling back to last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in January, Tony Ottobre recounted what he liked about the yearling Jenni’s Meadow, who was bred by members of the Nolan family and offered by their Raheen Stud.

Jenni’s Meadow was the third foal from the Redoute’s Choice mare Meadow, who had won over 1650 metres and had already produced Flower In The Wind (Sebring), a five-time winner who was placed in the Listed Belmont Classic.

Meadow is a daughter of the talented performer Strawberry Field, a daughter of Encosta De Lago, who won the Listed Maybe Mahal S., was placed in the G2 Rose Of Kingston S. twice and was fourth in the G1 Queen of the Turf.

Additionally, Meadow is a half-sister to Aunt Mimi (More Than Ready {USA}), who has tasted success at stud, producing the talented Mimi’s Award (Shamus Award), a six-time winner including the G3 South Australia Fillies Classic, The Deane Lester Flemington Cup, and the Banjo Paterson Series Final.

“Her breeders are extremely happy, and they’ve been messaging me and congratulating us. It is also fantastic for Brutal, who I’ve always thought will make a good stallion.”

Under his Cape Schanck Stud banner, Ottobre signed for $260,000, which was a bit more than he intended to spend.

“There’s a bit of a story to that one. I was hoping to pay about $150,000, which I felt was the going price for Brutal at the time. I didn't think I’d have to spend much more than that.

“However, firstly, I looked at her breeding, and she was bred quite well. With Brutal, a son of O’Reilly, and then Redoute’s Choice being the damsire, I thought she was certainly worth looking at.

“I liked that her second dam had black type as well; that’s pretty important for me. When I went to inspect her at the complex, she was extremely well-behaved, intelligent, and had a nice swagger about the way she moved.

“I was impressed virtually straight away. However, there was also a bloke there called Josh Rix, who was looking at her. Josh is from the Hayes camp, and he looked at me and I looked at him. I said to myself, ‘Yeah, well... I think I want this horse and I’ve got a bit more money to spend than you have, so I’m going to be bidding for her.’

“I knew how the Hayes team worked. They put a price on the horse and then they walk away; they don’t overspend. I wasn’t particularly worried about it until we got into the ring. I didn’t realise it was them bidding, but everyone was out at $150,000 and then someone popped up at $160,000, and it kept going.

“I really didn’t know who was bidding against me, I just kept going and thought, ‘I’m pretty right on the money for this filly because somebody else has noticed what I noticed.’ They took her to $250,000 and I went to $260,000, and the rest is history.

“I found out who I was up against, and I went over there and said, ‘Thank you very much for pushing me up.’ The Hayes team replied, ‘Sorry Tony, we didn’t realise, but she was our buy of the day at Magic Millions.’

“So, she wasn’t just another horse that they were looking at but was one that they targeted as the buy for the day.

“I thought to myself, ‘Well if you think that she’s that good, you better train her.’ So, that’s how Ben, Will, and JD ended up with Jenni’s Meadow instead of Ciaron Maher, my usual trainer.”

Jenni’s gearing up for the spring

It has been well-documented that Tony Ottobre and his wife Lynn christened their horses with ‘Jenni’ in memory of their late daughter, Jennifer Ottobre, who passed away from brain cancer in 2015.

The Ottobres have tasted much success, and recently the Ciaron Maher-trained Pride Of Jenni has scaled new heights. With spring on our doorstep, Ottobre shared an update on the wonder mare and a few others who have spring ambitions.

“We had a really nice horse, Jenni Multabella, win on Thursday at Sale. I bought her with the G1 VRC Oaks in mind, and she’s running and winning over 1006 metres.”

Trained by Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans, Jenni Multabella (NZ) is a daughter of Rich Hill Stud’s Ace High, who has already tasted Classic success with his daughter Molly Bloom (NZ) in the G1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas.

Jenni Multabella was a NZ$130,000 purchase by Cape Schanck Stud from the draft of Cambria Park at the 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale.

“I’m really excited about Jenni Multabella; she’s my type of horse. I love those Oaks-type fillies.”

Alongside Pride Of Jenni, the talented Jennilala (Shalaa {Ire}), a victress of the G3 Auraria S. and placed in the G1 Australasian Oaks, has also returned to work.

“The big girl, Pride Of Jenni, is fantastic. She’s going extremely well. I’ve been in contact with the guys all the time, and the feedback is she’s even a bit better than she was before. Pride Of Jenni seems to know that she’s the Queen, and so she’s in a great headspace.

“I think once you’ve got a horse at her level and they are doing well physically, we just need to keep her happy and content physiologically.

“We don’t want her to turn into a Chautauqua—all the talent in the world but doesn’t want to run. Her best friend, Jennilala, has also returned, and she’s going great as well.

“So, I’m really looking forward to a great spring. It’ll be exciting.”

Cover image courtesy of Sportpix

His ascent in Europe coincided with the development of Ballydoyle as a worldwide force and so many of his Northern Hemisphere stars are readily associated with Aidan O’Brien.

O’Brien of course had saddled Desert King (Ire) to win the 1997 G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and Derby, in which another Ballydoyle-trained Danehill (USA), Johann Cryuff (Ire), had run fourth off the back of a win in the G2 Gallinule S. In later years, there was a stream of top-class Danehills coming out of Ballydoyle; champions such as Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire), the ill-fated George Washington (Ire), Horse of the Year Dylan Thomas (Ire), the brilliantly fast Mozart (Ire), and multiple G1 winner Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) spring to mind.

By the time Rock Of Gibraltar’s 3-year-old campaign had placed an exclamation point on an outstanding year for Danehill in 2002, the stallion was on his way to recording a seventh Australian sires’ championship.

His first had been secured in 1994/95 when he had just two crops of racing age working for him. Danzero and Flying Spur were crucial elements to that early success as a pair of G1 Golden Slipper S. winners and remarkably there was a third consecutive winner of that race in 1996 when the filly Merlene scored for Lloyd Williams and Kerry Packer. The result was a controversial one that resulted in jockey Greg Hall receiving a $50,000 fine and two month suspension for causing serious interference in the home straight. But it shouldn’t detract from the memory of Merlene’s brilliance as a 2-year-old, when she also won the G1 Sires’ Produce S., G2 Reisling Slipper Trial S. and G3 Blue Diamond Prelude.

Those early hopes that Danehill would act as a successful conduit of Danzig speed were being fulfilled - and more. However, he was also proving that he was far from being one dimensional.

Danehill’s third Australian-crop numbered barely 60 foals but in that same group as Merlene was the G1 Flight S. and One Thousand Guineas heroine Dashing Eagle, G1 Australian Oaks winner Danendri and Dane Ripper, a champion older sprinter for Bart Cummings who in a remarkable show of versatility also won the 1997 G1 Cox Plate and 1998 G1 Australian Cup.

Each of the above, and others, helped Danehill secure a series of consecutive sires’ championships, the most lucrative of which arrived in 1997/98 when 81 winners - 13 at stakes level including Lee Freedman’s G1 Blue Diamond S. heroine Danelagh - won the grand total of $7,429,693 between them.

Danehill trumped that total further the following season by breaking past the $10 million barrier, yet ironically it wasn’t enough to topple rival Zabeel (NZ) at the top of the tree. Normal service was resumed, however, in 1999/00 when the winners of just over $8 million was enough to see him regain his title.

As the volume and quality of Danehill’s books in both hemispheres increased, the output remained the same, namely fast, forward, tough 2-year-olds enhanced by a smattering of middle-distance stars. For instance, his fifth Australian-crop ranged from the aforementioned Danelagh to G1 Queensland Derby heroine Camarena and G1 Victoria Derby winner Arena. There was also a Hong Kong champion in Fairy King Prawn, whose 12 wins for Ivan Allan included the G1 (HK local) Bauhinia Sprint Trophy over 5f (1000 metres) to the G1 (HK local) Stewards Cup over 1m1f (1800 metres). He also won the G1 Yasuda Kinen in Japan at a time when Hong Kong-based horses rarely ventured overseas.

It was appropriate that Danehill’s final Arrowfield-crop would yield Redoute’s Choice, himself a such an important subsequent lynchpin of John Messara’s operation like his sire before him. One of nearly 100 foals in a sixth crop also responsible for South African champion sprinter Laisserfaire, he struck in the G1 Blue Diamond S. in 1999 for Rick Hore-Lacy just seven days after making a winning debut in the Listed Veuve Cliquot S. There again is that magic combination of toughness and precocity but Muzaffar Ali Yaseen’s colt also trained on into an exceptional 3-year-old when his victories included the G1 Caulfield Guineas, G1 CF Orr S. and G1 Manikato S.

Not long after, there was yet another champion G1-winning 2-year-old in Ha Ha, Danehill’s fourth winner of the G1 Golden Slipper S. when saddled by Gai Waterhouse to win in 2000.

By 1996, Danehill was standing for $100,000 at Coolmore. Such success, of course, had resulted in an increased workload and as European breeders began to appreciate his merits, three-figure crops across both hemispheres became the norm.

“He was probably the first stallion to cover big books in both hemispheres, and that was a big thing,” says Peter O’Brien, now general manager of Segenhoe Stud who was at the helm of Coolmore Australia while Danehill was king.

“When he first started, nobody could get their head around how he could cover so many. But if you covered 80 in September, then he’d get 75 in foal.

“He’d walk in casually to the breeding barn, invariably cover on one jump and invariably would get them in foal. And that was the same when it came to travelling. In the old days when you flew them, you’d have a door in front of the crate and he’d just put his head down on it and fall asleep. So we always had to take that off and just tie a lead rope at the front. Everything was done by him in a laid back, casual manner.

“It was that temperament and his fertility that allowed him like no other horse to cope with it all.”

It seems hard to believe now but come the dawn of the new century, there was still a slight suspicion attached to Danehill in Europe. When Indian Danehill, a member of his sixth European crop, won the 2000 G1 Prix Ganay for his breeder Baron Edouard de Rothschild, Tony Morris alerted readers in his Racing Post column to the gulf between the horse’s runners in the northern and southern hemispheres. Morris had a point; at the time Danehill had sired 22 G1 winners out of his Australian crops compared to six in Europe.

“Australian breeders need no persuading of Danehill's pre-eminence as a stallion,” he wrote.

“They were stampeding to spend $120,000 on a nomination to him in his latest season at Coolmore's New South Wales base, and understandably so in view of the numerous champions and championships in his record Down Under…..That is all well and fine, but the trouble is that Danehill has not achieved anything like the same level of success in Europe - and at a fee of Ir75,000gns (AU$149,500) he is the most expensive horse in these parts aside from his stud companion Sadler's Wells…..

“Understandably, some judges wonder whether Danehill is trading here on a reputation that is hard to justify in terms of European results…..All the evidence indicates that Danehill, in his European incarnation, is not as good as he is cracked up to be. But the propaganda machine which says differently and has been working effectively on his behalf may yet alter the picture.”

He added: “There may well be better to come from Danehill. Promotion has been accomplishing its task, he will have profited from the deaths of such as Caerleon (USA) and Fairy King (USA), and he will have been getting a higher proportion of better mares in the huge books he has been covering.”

The picture was indeed duly altered and swiftly as Ballydoyle began to churn out a series of top-class Danehills, many of them household names.

At the time of those observations, the Ballydoyle juvenile division housed Mozart. Bred when Danehill still stood for Ir25,000gns (AU$49,800), Mozart sold for 350,000gns (AU$697,700) as a yearling and proceeded to win his first start as a 2-year-old by 8l before following up in the lucrative Tattersalls Houghton S.

Like his sire 11 years before him, attempts were made to turn Mozart into a miler the following season and although a creditable third in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, speed also turned out to be forte, as he demonstrated when the dominant winner of the G1 July Cup in the race’s second-fastest time and G1 Nunthorpe S.

The best of all, however, arrived not long after in Rock Of Gibraltar. Across the 2001 and 2002 seasons, ‘the Rock’ racked up seven consecutive G1 victories - the G1 Grand Critérium, G1 Dewhurst S., G1 2,000 Guineas, G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, G1 St James's Palace S., G1 Sussex S. and G1 Prix du Moulin. He clung on to victory in the 2000 Guineas from his fast-finishing stable companion Hawk Wing (USA) but other than that, the typical winning performance was of an invariably no nonsense manner underpinned by a high cruising speed and turn of foot. That Group 1-winning sequence broke Mill Reef’s record some 20 years before and was brought to a halt in unlucky circumstances in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Mile when the breakdown of his stable companion Landseer (Ire), another Classic-winning son of Danehill, halted his momentum at a crucial moment. As it was, Rock Of Gibraltar only fell 0.75l short of running down the more handily ridden winner Domedriver (Ire).

2002 was something of an annus mirabilis in Europe for Danehill. Although runner-up to Sadler’s Wells (USA) on the championship sires’ table, he outpointed that rival in terms of European Pattern race winners with 24. In addition to Rock Of Gibraltar and Landseer, who ensured O’Brien’s place in history as the first trainer to sweep the British, Irish and French 2000 Guineas, they included other G1 winners such as top 2-year-old Spartacus (GB), sprinter Danehurst (GB), miler Banks Hill (Ire) and middle-distance talent Aquarelliste (Fr).

Other Ballydoyle stars followed. Oratorio (Ire) won the 2005 G1 Eclipse and G1 Irish Champion S. while George Washington (Ire) and Dylan Thomas (Ire) lit up the 2006 season by taking the G1 2000 Guineas, G1 Irish Derby and G1 Irish Champion S. Dylan Thomas became an admirable older horse, later adding the G1 King George, G1 Arc and another G1 Irish Champion S. to his resume in 2007. ‘The best attitude, the best temperament of any horse I’ve ridden’ was how regular rider Kieron Fallon summed up Dylan Thomas at the end of that year.

That same season Danehill’s Peeping Fawn (Ire) made rapid progression to capture four G1 races including the G1 Irish Oaks. In a similar vein to Dylan Thomas, Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) also developed into a top older campaigner, with wins in the G1 King George and G1 Juddmonte International among a sequence of five G1 successes achieved in 2008 after recovery from injury. Classic-winning miler Aussie Rules (Ire) and G1-winning two-year-olds Holy Roman Emperor (Ire), Horatio Nelson (Ire) and Rumplestiltskin (Ire) also added further to the momentum.

Coolmore weren’t the only operation to prosper in Europe through Danehill, however.

Walter Haefner’s Moyglare Stud Farm used Danehill for the first time in 1998 when sending its G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Trusted Partner (USA) (Affirmed) and In Anticipation (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells). The resulting fillies, Dress To Thrill (IRE) and Irresistible Jewel (Ire), were both G1 winners.

“We had five Affirmed mares back then and they were all different shapes and sizes,” recalls the stud’s Fiona Craig. “Trusted Partner was one of those smallish, watery Affirmeds and she needed a big, strong, block of a horse.

“That produced Dress To Thrill, who was a beauty, a bright bay with a big diamond star. She deserved her name! She was very Danehill - a bit upright, back at the knee and she really couldn’t go on soft ground - but she had a big body and beautiful head. She was gorgeous and had a real personality too.

“Irresistible Jewel was totally different, 16.3 and lanky. Her dam In Anticipation was medium-sized but she threw back to the Fappiano in her dam Aptostar. Irresistible Jewel stayed well whereas Dress To Thrill was a professional miler. Two total contrasts but two top-class fillies.”

Both were trained by Dermot Weld. Dress To Thrill came to hand early, running second to Quarter Moon (Ire) (Sadler’s Wells) in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. as a 2-year-old. She won the G2 Sun Chariot and G3 Matron S. - both of which are now G1 races - the following year before a successful raid on the G1 Matriarch S. at Hollywood Park.

Irresistible Jewel ran just the once at two, when placed at Naas, but progressed quickly at three to win the G2 Ribblesdale S. at Royal Ascot the following June. 10 years later, her daughter Princess Highway (USA) (Street Cry) won the same race.

“I’d say with Dress To Thrill, Danehill threw to himself,” says Craig. “But with Irresistible Jewel, he threw to the pedigree.”

Irresistible Jewel is living in retirement at Moyglare as a nanny and her line remains well represented within the stud’s broodmare band. Dress To Thrill sadly died young yet the family has taken off in recent years through another branch thanks to her sister Polished Gem (Ire), a lesser performer on the track whose remarkable stud record comprises of eight stakes performers led by the G1 winners Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo), Free Eagle (Ire) and Search For A Song (Ire) (Galileo).

Meanwhile, for Ballymacoll Stud, then home to so many Classic middle-distance families, Danehill produced a G1 Epsom Derby winner in North Light (Ire). Juddmonte’s blue hen Hasili (Ire) also clicked with him to produce the G1 performers Dansili (Ire), Banks Hill (Ie), Intercontinental (Ire), Cacique (Ire) and Champs Elysees (Ire). The Wildenstein family campaigned Westerner (GB), a brilliant stayer, and 2001 G1 Prix de Diane heroine Aquarelliste (Fr) while Bjorn Nielsen bred Punctilious (GB), successful in the 2005 G1 Yorkshire Oaks for Godolphin. Cheveley Park Stud produced a pair of Group 1-winning fillies in Echelon (GB) and Regal Rose (GB). Jean-Luc Lagardere’s homebred Clodovil (Ire) also won the 2003 G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains; that victory in May 2003 came just two days before Danehill died in a paddock accident aged 17.

Danehill was at the peak of his powers at the time of his death at Coolmore. Breeders were clamouring for his services at a private fee rumoured to be in the region of $700,000 and although he had sat out the 2002 southern hemisphere season, he remained Australia’s reigning champion sire.

The notion that Danehill died in his prime can be summed up by the fact that Dylan Thomas, Duke Of Marmalade, George Washington and Peeping Fawn were just some of those posthumous stars. In turn, he was posthumously the champion sire of Britain and Ireland from 2005 to 2008.

It was a similar situation in Australia where those last expensively-produced crops came to include the likes of Elvstroem, Exceed And Excel, Fastnet Rock and Darci Brahma (NZ).

Exceed And Excel, Fastnet Rock and Darci Brahma each adhered to the quicker type of Danehill. Exceed And Excel was champion sprinter off the back of wins in the G1 Newmarket H. and G1 Invitation S. while Fastnet Rock took the G1 Lightning S. and G1 Oakleigh Plate during his champion 3-year-old campaign in 2005. As for Darci Brahma, he repaid the NZ$1.1 million investment made in him by David Ellis as a yearling many times over by winning the G1 TJ Smith Classic as a 2-year-old, G1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas and G1 Otaki Maori S. at three and G1 Telegraph H. and G1 Waikato Sprint at four. A New Zealand champion 2 and 3-year-old for Mark Walker, Darci Brahma was his sire’s final major flag-bearer in the Southern Hemisphere.

However, Elvstroem - or ‘Elvis’ as he was known by his fans - could do it all. From the same 2000-foaled crop as Exceed And Excel, Elvstroem was trained by Tony Vasil to win 10 of 32 races including the G1 Victoria Derby at three and the G1 Caulfield Cup, G1 Underwood S., G1 CF Orr S. and G1 Dubai Duty Free at four. He regularly knocked heads with the best around, defeating Makybe Diva (GB) in the Caulfield Cup and Savabeel in the CF Orr S.

He also acquitted himself well during a foray in Europe, where he filled the placings in the G1 Lockinge S., G1 Prix d’Ispahan and G1 Prince Of Wales’ S.

His record was a lasting reminder of the durability of some of those better Danehills, an attribute that would surely serve the line well going forward. The one consolation of Danehill’s premature death was that there were a number of sons by then out there representing him at stud.

The question was, who was going to be the best?

Cover image courtesy of JRHA

A quick scan through the over 500-strong catalogue of foals and yearlings will remind you just how small the world is with many familiar names cropping up on any given page.

However, a morning spent in the company of JRHA chairman and Shadai Farm boss Teruya Yoshida followed by a trip to Northern Farm, which will consign a massive 180 lots at the sale, pegs into light what the Japanese are doing better than most.

Perhaps Yoshida, who dominates Japanese racing along with his brothers Katsumi and Haruya, has reason to be confident. After all, he approaches the sale, which kicks off with yearlings on Monday, with reason for optimism given the Japanese Derby winner Danon Decile (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) is fresh in everyone's mind.

“This spring time, horses bred by Shadai Farm have won four Group 1s, so it is not just about Danon Decile,” Yoshida rightly corrects the interviewer! “For example, Jantar Mantar won the NHK Mile Cup so it has been a very good spring.”

He added, “We are expecting a lot for this sale. So far, this has been a very good sale and a lot of good horses have been sold here. As you said, the Japan Derby winner was sold at this sale a couple of years ago. We have had many, many lookers visiting the farm in recent weeks so I am expecting good things.”

Last year's JRHA Select Sale was a behemoth and flew somewhat in the face of what many people were experiencing in Europe and even to a certain extent in America when the words 'polarised' and 'market correction' didn't miss a sales report. But Japanese racing is in a very different place to the rest of the world right now.

Prizemoney is soaring, as is betting turnover, owner-incentives give people a proper chance of recouping their losses and the quality of the stock being presented to the sales has never been stronger. It's this perfect storm, according to Yoshida, that has Japanese racing in such a healthy state.

“I expect the market to be strong,” he continued. “But last year's market was a record-breaking market so we don't know if it will be as strong as it was last year. It should be very strong, though. There are a lot of new owners who want to spend money. I think there are many people ready to spend ¥100 million (AU$922,300). There are always new people wanting to get involved with Japanese racing.

“It is good circulation. Prizemoney is good, many new people are coming into the industry, and they invest a lot of money in the yearling market. That provides breeders with an opportunity to reinvest that money in mares and stallion fees.”

He added, “The quality is on the up. And I am very confident in the quality of our horses. There are so many good horses with good pedigree and nice conformation. Those horses should attract good buyers. No problem. And we have buyers coming at every level.

“Also, we have seen a lot of good runners bought here for a reasonable price. For example, Derma Sotogake, who finished second in the Breeders' Cup Classic last year, cost less than $100,000 at this sale. This year, his full brother will be more expensive, no problem! My son Tetsuya's father-in-law bought Derma Sotogake. He is a lucky man.”

When it is put to Yoshida that luck has been his friend in life as well, mainly when it came to finding the breed-shaping Sunday Silence (USA), the backstory of which was excellently laid out by Emma Berry in these pages almost exactly 12 months ago, he agrees.

“Not just Sunday Silence but Northern Taste as well. Both of them, we have been very lucky. When we bought Northern Taste at the Saratoga Sale, he cost us US$100,000 (AU$148,100). He would become the champion sire in Japan 11 times. That was the very beginning of our luck. Even at that time, Nijinsky had run already and was the Triple Crown winner. We saw many sons of Northern Dancer in the sale. When they had run already, we knew we couldn't afford them, so that's why we decided to buy as a yearling. Very, very lucky.”

He added on Sunday Silence, “We had a farm in Kentucky and Arthur Hancock was our neighbour. One day, our horses got loose and got out on the road. Arthur helped us catch the horses and put them back in the field. From that day, we became friends.”

But is Yoshida lucky or good?

How Zenya Yoshida and now his sons Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya have transformed the ownership model throughout the past couple of decades to drive fan engagement has proved to be one of Japanese racing's secret weapons.

Okay, large-scale ownership groups are not exactly a new phenomenon in this game. But where else in the world have genuine superstars like Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and more recently Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) raced for multi-share racing clubs?

Lest we forget that, of the five Japanese-trained winners on Dubai World Cup Night in 2022, four of those were successful for similar clubs. Such is the importance of racing clubs and syndicates in Japan, they are understood to make up 70 per cent of the entire ownership pool in the country.

“Maybe not a secret weapon but a weapon,” Yoshida laughs. “It has been very popular. Many racing fans like to get involved and it fuels future ownership. The purse system in Japan is very good, so that is one reason why it is possible. The other is that horse racing is very popular with the people here and there are a lot of racing fans. Many people come to the races to see the horses. Naturally, they would like the feeling of owning a horse and getting that experience. It's like supporting a team. Europe has the same thing–like the Highclere Syndicate for example. But because of our purse system and the amount of racing fans we have, it is much better than in Europe.”

He added, “If we have a superstar in sport, regardless of the sport, they become so popular here in Japan. In baseball for example, we have a guy in America doing many home runs called Shohei Ohtani. He earns US$700 million (AU$1.04 billion) for 10 years. 90 per cent of American people know his name and he is super famous over here. He gave free baseball gloves to every elementary school in Japan. That's a big number of gloves.”

The point being drilled home by Yoshida is that Japanese people remain infatuated with stardom. A quick walk through the Northern Farm Horse Park, which is open to the public, confirms as much with an entire shop dedicated to selling racing-related merchandise.

One cannot help but notice the countless teddy-bear sized horses bedecked in famous silks. From Almond Eye to Deep Impact (Jpn), you can purchase your very own superstar. The fan-driven syndicate model is a step above that level of transaction, but it speaks to the same principal.

“We have produced many (individual) horse owners after they had a good feeling owning a horse (at a smaller level). When they get older and richer, they might decide to own a horse of their own. Do you know that 70 per cent of the entire owners in the JRA are made up by our racing clubs? Amazing. This is very important and JRA knows this. At first, the JRA may have been a little bit suspicious of our system, but now they are great believers. When we decided to do this, we decided to do it right. We do everything correct and we present good, quality horses. This is also very important.”

And with this, a brochure featuring 88 exquisitely-bred yearlings that will soon be put on the market and syndicated under the banner of Shadai Race Horse Co Ltd is opened up. There is a guide price beside every horse and Yoshida reveals that the expectation is that each share will be filled within a fortnight of those 88 yearlings being put on the market.

The ownership model is a simple one, in that syndicate members are only signing up for the racing experience and, if the horse becomes a stallion prospect or a potential blue hen broodmare, she can be circulated back into the Shadai breeding operation. Ingenious really.

But when this ownership model is providing people with up-close and personal experiences with this year's leading 3-year-old miler in Japan Jantar Mantar (Jpn), for example, and other recognisable forces like Sol Oriens (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), Stars On Earth (Jpn) (Duramante {Jpn}) and more, the relationship works both ways.

Those horses being offered for syndication in that brochure are obviously completely separate to the ones who will go under the hammer at the Select Sale on Monday and Tuesday. Having scouted through the barns at Shadai Farm followed by Northern Farm, it's hard to disagree with Yoshida's prediction that another blockbuster sale could be in store. But then again, you reap what you sow.

“We have spent a lot of money on our broodmare band down through the years,” Yoshida says. “We just look for what everybody else wants - high-class mares. We bought a lot of broodmares all over the world in the past 20 years and in Europe especially as the Japanese Yen was so strong. We could afford to buy them. Also, your market (the European market) was not strong. Even Deep Impact's mother, (Wind In Her Hair) was second in the Oaks and we bought her.”

And last year Japanese buyers were very active at the December Mares Sale at Tattersalls.

“Yes, because we are still rich – we still can buy,” Yoshida says, before erupting into belly laughter. This may be serious stuff but nobody seems to get bogged down about anything here. Yoshida himself has time for a laugh and a joke just as much as anyone else on the tour of the barns and sits through each show as if it were his first.

One sire that pops up more than most is Contrail (Jpn). It is clear from visiting both farms that the hope is that the Japanese Triple Crown-winning son of Deep Impact can be spoken of in the same glowing terms of his father.

It was at this sale 12 months ago when Contrail really announced himself as a sire to take serious note of when a colt of his topped the foal session at ¥520 million (AU$4.8 million).

Lot 377, a Contrail colt out of Argentinian 1000 Guineas heroine Joy Nikita (Arg) (Fortify) is being tipped by Shadai's Tsubasa Sato to fly the flag for the stallion once again.

Then you have lot 364 at Northern Farm, a Kitasan Black (Jpn) colt foal out of German Oaks winner Serienholde (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}). He's a half-brother to Schnell Meister (Ger) (Kingman {GB}) and his reserve – which is completely transparent in Japan – has been set at ¥70 million (AU$645,500), the highest reserve set by Northern Farm in the sale.

Add that to Shadai's Epiphaneia (Jpn) colt foal (Lot 384), who clearly holds a certain amount of sentimental value to Yoshida, as he didn't need to be asked twice to pose for a photograph with the mare Carina Mia (Malibu Moon {USA}) and her offspring.

Shadai forked out US$2.6 million (AU$3.85 million) on the Grade 1 winner at Fasig-Tipton in 2021 and, with a cracking Epiphaneia colt foal at foot, is now happily reported to be in foal to Equinox. Not to mention Northern Farm offering the only Gun Runner (USA) foal in the sale and one of three foals by Flightline (USA) as well.

With such quality everywhere you look, perhaps Yoshida's confidence is well-placed.

Cover image courtesy of Widden Stud

Few stallions can lay claim to producing a horse of the calibre of the Champion Sprinter Nature Strip, especially one that stands for under $30,000 (inc GST).

However, there is one such stallion: Nicconi and he is available to breeders for $16,500 (inc GST) in the upcoming season.

A sensational sprinter himself, Nicconi won the G1 Lightning S., the G1 The Galaxy, and the G3 Ian McEwen Trophy. In total, Nicconi won six races, was placed in the G1 Manikato S., and finished in the top four in the G1 King’s Stand S. at Royal Ascot, the G1 TJ Smith S., and the G1 Australian Guineas.

Nicconi is out of the Group 3-placed Scenic (Ire) mare Nicola Lass, who demonstrated her toughness by winning seven races. Nicola Lass was an exceptional broodmare, producing not only Nicconi but also Niconero (Danzero). Niconero was a standout performer, winning the G1 Australian Cup, the G1 Futurity S. twice, and the G1 Fruit ‘N’ Veg S. twice.

After retiring to Widden Stud in New South Wales and subsequently relocating to the operation’s Victorian base, Nicconi has consistently produced winners and stakes performers each season.

Milestone moment

The Thoroughbred Report chatted with Adam Henry, sales and nominations manager at Widden Stud, Victoria, to learn more about the exceptional stallion Nicconi. This season, Nicconi reached an important milestone by siring his 600th individual winner and has since exceeded it, currently sitting on 603 winners.

“Nicconi recently hit the milestone of siring 600 individual winners and has averaged 120 winners a season for the last four seasons,” Henry told TTR AusNZ.

Nicconi has sired 29 individual stakes winners, led by Nature Strip, who avenged his sire at Royal Ascot by blazing the turf to win the G1 King’s Stand S. Nature Strip also conquered The Everest and won three editions of the G1 TJ Smith S. among his nine elite-level victories.

However, Nature Strip isn’t the only Group 1 winner sired by Nicconi. Graceful Girl, the G1 Winterbottom S. victress, is another notable progeny. Additionally, Faatinah, who won nine races, including three in Group 2 contests, was placed in the G1 Oakleigh Plate.

“He is the sire of the nine-time Group 1 winner and Champion Sprinter Nature Strip. He is a pleasure to deal with, the ultimate professional with exceptional fertility.

“He’s basically the ‘go-to’ stallion in Victoria to start off maiden mares or cover established broodmares. He can get you a sales horse, and his winners-to-runners ratio is elite.”

Another fantastic season

Nicconi has enjoyed another fantastic season on the track with his progeny. He has been represented by seven stakes horses, including Amber Glide and Petula. Meanwhile, his consistent son Nicolini Vito was placed in two stakes races and won in late May at Sandown-Hillside. Nicconi’s classy daughter, Bossy Nic, also secured an impressive win at Caulfield in July.

At the time of writing, Nicconi boasts a 72.5 per cent winners-to-runners ratio. His progeny have also been well-received in the sale ring this year, with a top price of $270,000 for a colt offered by Newhaven Park from the Zedative mare Hoist at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.

“Nicconi had another great season in the sales ring. He achieved a top price of $270,000, but his progeny also made figures of $220,000, $180,000 (twice), $110,000 (twice), and $100,000,” said Henry.

The reception to the son of Bianconi (USA) has been strong since he relocated to Victoria. “He has covered 395 mares in the last three seasons since moving to Victoria. It is unsurprising, though, because he’s a fantastic proven option for breeders with brilliant winners-to-runners stats,” Henry added.

Can get a winner

The highest fee Nicconi has stood for in his career was $38,500 (inc GST), yet he has consistently sired winners and stakes performers. From 832 career runners, there have been 603 individual winners of 1851 races.

Nicconi has been represented by 54 stakes performers, of which 29 have won stakes races, totaling 59 stakes victories. His progeny have accumulated $94,413,819 in earnings and have shown versatility, winning at distances ranging from 1000 to 2400 metres or further.

Interestingly, his fillies and colts have each accounted for 27 of his stakes performers, showing no gender bias in his success.