BUCHIKO is to Japanese racing what Beyonce is to pop music; unique, glamorous and instantly recognisable.

And furthermore, like Beyonce, she is not devoid of talent and currently remains unbeaten on dirt. However, it is her striking appearance rather than her racing prowess that has won her hordes of admirers.

At first glance, her pronounced white colour with leopard spotting is much more suggestive of Appaloosa than thoroughbred and indeed one would be forgiven for expecting her to star in the circus ring rather than on the racetrack. However, the three-year-old filly has already won both her starts on the JRA inner track though the outer main turf track is far less to her liking.

Nevertheless, she has already banked more than €120,000 in racetrack earnings and though she will not partake in this year’s classics, she will be competitive in the very best three-year-old JRA dirt races.

Buchiko is officially registered as white and her parentage (as is the case with all Japanese thorougbreds) has been confirmed by DNA testing. There was little concern when she was presented for registration to the Japanese Stud Book officials as she hails from a famous Japanese family of white horses.

Her dam, Shirayukihime, is white as are eight of her nine registered siblings (the other being grey). Her grandam, an imported bay daughter of Topsider, with the exception of Shirayukihime, produced only bays.

Buchiko and her siblings have proven that being white is no impediment to racing success. Yukichan (which translates as Snowy), a Kurofune half-sister to Buchiko, won three group races on dirt.

This cross clearly works well as two further full-siblings, White Vessel and Marshmallow (completely white), both scored hat-tricks of wins.

Buchiko however is by King Kamehameha and indeed her full-sister, Marble Cake, has also won twice in the JRA.

Buchiko’s unique markings have inspired a range of men’s and women’s casual wear which is now popular with some of Japan’s racing fans.

The colour white, in any of its representations, is very rare indeed in the thoroughbred and so much so that any horse presenting as such would be subjected to additional DNA testing to confirm that it has the correct credentials for inclusion in the studbook explained Romy Morrin-O’Donnell, Scientific Director of Weatherbys Ireland Laboratory.

The head of Ireland’s DNA testing laboratory also explained that great care would be taken to ensure that such horses do not carry the lethal white gene, a recessive mutation that always results in juvenile death. However, in Japan, white is somewhat more common and there are currently 28 whites registered. Eleven of these are descendants of Shirayukihime, Buchiko’s dam. Another eight are direct descendants of the white sire Haku Taiyu. The jockey silks carried by Buchiko are also very famous. They are those of Makoto Kaneko who campaigned Japanese superstar Deep Impact.

The Tokyo-based businessman has raced other luminaries such as champions King Kamehameha, Kurofune, Apapane and Kane Hekili in addition to other Group 1 winners such as Black Hawk, Pink Cameo and To The Victory. Considering the relatively small numbers of horses in training, Kaneko is without doubt the most successful owner in recent Japanese racing history and in just 15 years since embracing the Sport of Kings, has witnessed his colours being carried to Group 1 success on more than 20 occasions.

Deep Impact, King Kamehameha and Kurofune are among the leading sires currently in Japan and are making a big impact on the Japanese bred. And Kaneko, through Shirayukihime which he owns, is also leaving an indelible mark on the Japanese female line.