04/30/26 02:59:00
Printable Page
04/30 14:57 CDT Horse racing in Japan is on the rise. A Kentucky Derby winner
could be next
Horse racing in Japan is on the rise. A Kentucky Derby winner could be next
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --- As horse racing grapples with an uncertain future in
the U.S. with tracks closing and legalized sports betting taking away something
that made the sport unique, there is a place in the world where it's getting
increasingly popular and turning out significantly better competition.
Japan is pouring tons of money into everything from breeding to training and
racing, with a turn to dirt-track runners over the past decade or so after turf
was the focus for so long. Following a near miss with Forever Young in 2024,
the investment could soon pay off in the form of a Kentucky Derby winner, with
Danon Bourbon and homebred Wonder Dean the country's hopes in the race this
year.
"We are getting closer," racing manager Hiroshi Ando told The Associated Press
outside the Japanese horses' barn Thursday. "For Japan, I think we're able to
change Japanese racing history again, like we did with Forever Young in the
Breeders' Cup Classic. Our ambition is the Kentucky Derby right now, if
possible."
The ambition for a longer period of time has been the Arc De Triomphe on grass
in Paris, because Japan's roots in racing are on turf. The Japanese Racing
Association launched the Japan Cup in 1981 to promote the sport and get more
national interest in it, and it has become the richest turf race in the world
with a purse of $8.2 million.
"We tried to learn a lot of things from the techniques and lots of things from
foreign countries, not only U.S. --- from European countries," said Tom
Hashimoto, general manager of the JRA's New York Representative Office.
"Developed not in a short period, (but) we make it. It took step by step and
learn from other countries, and now we are very lucky to have so many good
thoroughbreds."
That history of quality thoroughbreds there dates to the early ?90s, when 1989
Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Sunday Silence drew
little breeding interest in the U.S. and was exported to Japan to stand as a
stallion. He was Japan's leading sire for 13 consecutive years from 1995-2007,
and his ancestors have won races all over the world.
Interest in mainstream dirt racing ramped up a little after that, around the
time Victoire Pisa delivered Japan's first Dubai World Cup championship in
2011. American Pharoah, who won the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in 2015
to end a 37-year Triple Crown drought, is in Japan breeding until July.
"Obviously he produced a lot of good horses in Japan, too, so Japanese people
love American Pharoah babies," Ando said. "I'm really interested to see how his
babies perform because we have many good Japanese mares."
While the result of his stay in Japan won't be evident for a few years, the
country is churning out strong horses on a regular basis, coming a long way
from its debut Ski Captain finishing 14th in 1995. Master Fencer in 2019 and
Derma Sotogake in '23 each were sixth, and Forever Young was a very close third
two years ago when Mystik Dan beat Sierra Leone by a nose.
The post time just before 7 p.m. at Churchill Downs makes the Kentucky Derby a
first Sunday morning in May event in Japan, and all the horses coming from
there running in it is making fans take notice.
"Last couple years, Japanese racing people understand the Kentucky Derby," Ando
said. "Even the public knows the Kentucky Derby now, which is great for
betting, great for the industry."
Ando just wants to keep experiencing the Derby, which he called the best
atmosphere in racing --- and addictive. The chance to have a Japanese presence
almost annually is certainly no accident, given how intentional Japanese
stakeholders have been about getting to the elite level of the sport.
"The important thing is, how does the money fund the horse racing industry as a
whole?" Hashimoto said. "Not only the racing: breeding, training, training,
training and racing and back to breeding. We have to invest the money to all
the aspects of horse racing."
___
This story has been updated to show Sunday Silence was Japan's leading sire
from 1995-2007, not 2008.
___
AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
|
