Takamatsunomiya

Kinen (Group 1)

ON the JRA fixture list, sprint races are in scarce supply ensuring any Group 1 race over shorter distances are inevitably hotly contested.

The Takamatsunomiya (pronounced taka-matsu-no-me-ya) Kinen is just one of two Group 1 races available to sprinters in Japan, it is the first Group 1 turf race of the calendar year.

The Sprinter Stakes, run over the same six-furlong distance in the autumn, completes the annual Group 1 schedule for JRA speedsters.

The Takamatsunomiya Kinen was opened to foreign competitors in 2001, the first overseas winner of the race was Hong Kong raider Aerovelocity in 2015.

From the same racing jurisdiction, Sha Tin Group 1 Centenary Sprint champion, Victor The Winner, completed the lineup of 18 runners for the 2024 €2.25m Chukyo showpiece.

Broke sharply

In a rarity for racing in the JRA, with inclement weather sweeping across Japan, the official going in Chukyo was described as yielding. Seemingly thriving in the conditions, Mad Cool broke sharply to contest the early lead.

Taking the lead entering the final furlong, he held off a fast-finishing Namura Clair to hit the line the winner by a head, with the front-running Victor The Winner a further three lengths behind in third.

A relieved winning rider Ryusei Sakai commented after the race: “Everything went as we planned. I was confident he would stay and win this race but Namura Clair’s sprint at the end was scary.”

Mad Cool is trained by Manabu Ikezoe for Sunday Racing Co. Ltd. Mad Cool marks the fifth Group 1 title for the 26-year-old Sakai. Given the limited options on his next race, another overseas expedition is likely on the cards for Mad Cool, with Hong Kong, Royal Ascot and Newmarket’s July meeting all possible targets.

Bred by Moyglare Stud, Mad Cool is out of Irish 1000 Guineas runner-up, Mad About You, by Indian Ridge. The March-born colt was purchased by Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm for €225,000 at the 2019 Goffs November Foal Sale.

The conservatively raced entire did not run as a juvenile, he made his debut in January of his three-year-old season and broke his maiden at the third time of asking.

The ultra consistent son of Dark Angel finished second in the 2023 Group 1 Sprinter Stakes, he is now a six-time winner from 12 career starts, earning more than €2m.

Second runner

Dark Angel was also represented by a second Irish-born runner in the 2024 Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Shwarz Kaiser, donning the royal blue silks of Godolphin, finished in 13th.

In very similar fashion to the winner, Shwarz Kaiser was also sourced from Goffs November Foal Sale albeit a year earlier. He was purchased for €250,000 from the Glacken View draft by Paca Paca Farm on behalf of Godolphin Japan.

Dark Angel has enjoyed considerable success in Japan even with just a miniscule number of runners. The resident of Yeomanstown Stud has sired 14 runners, producing 11 individual winners of 32 total races.

Foreign-bred runners in Japan are coined as ‘Marugai’, a term used in Japanese racing to denote the symbol placed beside the horse’s name, signifying that the horse was born outside of Japan.

It is no secret that in recent years, Japanese buyers have been an ever-increasing force at bloodstock auctions around the world. While the bulk of these acquisitions has been concentrated on breeding stock, the purchase of some racing prospects has rendered lucrative returns for enterprising owners.

Shopping abroad

Despite deterrents such as JRA race conditions restricting the number of races eligible for Marugai horses, import tariffs on racing prospects, and the added risk of long-haul transport of young stock, owners have persisted in shopping abroad.

Lemon Pop (Lemon Drop Kid), Schnell Meister (Kingman), Café Pharoah (American Pharoah), and Mozu Ascot (Frankel) are a few recent international imports to achieve Group 1 success in the JRA.

Mad Cool is the first Irish-bred, Japanese-trained, winner of a flat JRA-Group 1 since Japan became accredited as a Part 1 racing jurisdiction.

Other Irish Marugai to reach the pinnacle of Japanese racing include Fine Motion, Zenno El Cid, Shinko King, Shinko Lovely, Shinko Forest, L-Way Win, and Meisho Doto.

Irish thoroughbreds have also achieved notable success on brief sojourns in Japan. Snow Fairy sported the IRE suffix when winning back-to-back editions of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Commemorative Cup in 2010 and 2011 for Ed Dunlop and Ryan Moore.

The last Irish-bred winner of a top-level race in Japan was Blackstairmountain in the J-Group 1 Nakayama Grand Jump in 2013 for Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh.