Shuttle sirelines: the Deepest Impact

The dominance which the late Sunday Silence (USA) (Halo {USA}) enjoyed during his outstanding stud career in Japan rightly commanded international respect. Surprisingly, though, when his sons were initially sent to stud in other countries, these horses rarely received the level of patronage which one might have expected.

Now Sunday Silence’s best son Deep Impact (Jpn) has succeeded his sire as Japan’s leading stallion. Happily, this time around the mistakes of the past are not being made: nowadays Deep Impact stallions tend to be greeted anywhere in the world with the respect which they deserve.

Australasian breeders are among the beneficiaries of the change of attitude because this year there will be a notable collection for them to choose from.

If one merely looked at the roll of honour of Australia’s great races, one might think that Sunday Silence (USA) stallions were always popular in the antipodes. The fact was, though, that the success enjoyed by Sunday Silence stallions was achieved despite meagre opportunities.

Success despite limited opportunities

Genuine (Jpn) didn’t receive much attention at Chatswood Stud (Vic) but still managed to sire Pompeii Ruler, winner of the G1 Australia Cup, G1 Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Makybe Diva S. Any Given Sunday (Jpn) only produced 17 foals in his one season at Mountmellick Stud (Vic) but one of them was Riva San who completed the G1 Queensland Oaks / G1 Queensland Derby double in 2008.

Tayasu Tsuyoshi (Jpn) held a low profile at Kambula Stud (SA) but still managed to sire G1 VRC Victorian Oaks and G1 Storm Queen S. heroine Hollow Bullet. Fuji Kiseki (Jpn) received only a lukewarm reception when he shuttled to Arrowfield (NSW) but still produced Sun Classique, a three-time Grade 1 winner in South Africa before taking the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in the UAE.

Keep The Faith (Aus) (Sunday Silence {USA}) was a rarity among sons of Sunday Silence in being foaled outside Japan. He came into being because John Messara was one of the first overseas identities to wake up to the international potential of Sunday Silence, arranging for some mares to head to Japan to be covered by him to southern hemisphere time before coming home to foal down in Australia.

Bred in partnership by Gainsborough Stud (Australia) and Arrowfield Pty Ltd and raced by the Maktoums in both Australia and the USA, Keep The Faith was eventually recruited by Adam Sangster to stand at Swettenham Stud (Vic) where he sired Trust In A Gust, winner in the spring of 2014 of the G1 Rupert Clarke H. and the G1 Toorak H. and now a member of the Swettenham roster himself.

A joyous offspring

The best product, of course, of John Messara’s Sunday Silence project was Sunday Joy (Sunday Silence {USA}), winner of the G1 AJC Australian Oaks in 2003 and subsequently the dam of the eight-time Group 1 winner More Joyous (NZ) (More Than Ready {USA}).

Adding further lustre to Sunday Silence’s Australian laurels were some of the few Japanese-bred grandsons of Sunday Silence stallions to race in Australia. This select band includes Delta Blues (Jpn) (Dance In The Dark {Jpn}) who won the G1 Melbourne Cup in 2006; Admire Rakti (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) who took the G1 Caulfield Cup in 2014; and Hana’s Goal (Jpn) (Orewa Matteruze {Jpn}), successful in the G1 All Aged S. in 2014.

Fortunately, Deep Impact is now receiving the deserved adulation all around the world which was initially available to his sire only in Japan. Two Japanese-bred sons of Deep Impact have done plenty to make an Australian audience aware of the stallion’s merit, with Real Impact (Jpn) winning the G1 George Ryder S. at Rosehill in 2015 and Tosen Stardom (Jpn) taking the G1 Toorak H. and the G1 Mackinnon S. in 2017.

The latter is now proving popular at Woodside Park Stud (Vic). More recently, the sire-line was given great exposure by the successes of Sunday Silence’s great-grandson Brave Smash (Jpn) (Tosen Phantom {Jpn}) who took the G1 Futurity S. (with Tosen Stardom in second) and the G1 Manikato S. last year. He now retires to Aquis’ Hunter Valley division.

Messara on the forefront

It is understandable that John Messara, having been at the forefront of promoting Sunday Silence both by sending mares to Japan and by bringing Fuji Kiseki to Arrowfield, now has two sons of Deep Impact on the Arrowfield roster: Real Steel (Jpn) in his first season and Mikki Isle (Jpn) in his third, and previously Real Impact (Jpn) who has rising 2-year-olds.

The former should be easy to market internationally because, in addition to putting together a great record in his homeland, he took the G1 Dubai Turf over 1800m in the UAE on Dubai World Cup Night in 2016. The latter’s only run outside Japan saw him unplaced in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint in 2015, but at home he won the G1 NHK Mile Cup as a three-year-old in 2014 and the G1 Mile Championship in 2016.

The Arrowfield roster, of course, also contains the mighty Maurice (Jpn), the ‘Beast from the East’ who scored at the highest level three times in Japan and three times in Hong Kong. Both parents of Maurice’s sire Screen Hero (Jpn) (Grass Wonder {Jpn}) are products of the Hail To Reason sire-line, with Sunday Silence appearing as Screen Hero’s maternal grandsire.

Coolmore is also offering a son of Deep Impact, in this case one who is Japanese-bred but has his roots in Europe. Once Deep Impact was established as a dominant stallion, Coolmore took a leaf out of Arrowfield’s book and sent a few mares from Ireland to Japan to be covered by him, naturally regarding him as a perfect outcross for mares rich in Sadler’s Wells and Danehill blood. The consignment included Maybe (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), winner of five out of five as a two-year-old in 2011 including the G1 Moyglare Stud S. at the Curragh.

Maybe stayed there for repeat matings, her 2014 covering yielding Saxon Warrior (Jpn) who, trained by Aidan O’Brien, won the G1 Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster as a two-year-old in 2017 before taking the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket first up at three and then being placed in the G1 Derby, the G1 Irish Derby, the G1 Eclipse S., the G1 Juddmonte International S. and the G1 Irish Champion S. Saxon Warrior is currently winding up his first season at Coolmore in Ireland and will shortly be heading to Jerrys Plains.

Another grandson of Sunday Silence shortly to become available to Australian breeders is Neorealism (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}) who will stand at Oaklands Stud (Qld). Twice successful at Grade 2 level in Japan and placed behind Mikki Isle in the G1 Mile Championship at Kyoto in 2016, Neorealism recorded his best win in Hong Kong, beating a stellar field in the G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Sha Tin in 2017.

Kiwi offerings

New Zealand breeders will have at least two sons of Deep Impact available this coming season. Rich Hill Stud formerly stood the outstanding Pentire (GB) (Be My Guest {USA}) in liaison with Shadai Farm in Japan, and this association has subsequently yielded the services of Satono Aladdin (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) who stopped the clock at 1:31.50 for the 1600m when taking the G1 Yasuda Kinen in 2017. Satono Aladdin stood his first season in New Zealand last year and will be available again this spring.

Novara Park has recruited Staphanos (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) who brought the curtain down on a distinguished racing career at the end of last year when contesting the G1 Hong Kong Cup. He had previously put together an impressive CV in Japan which included minor placings in the G1 Autumn Tenno Sho in both 2015 and ’16 (when he chased home Maurice and Real Steel) and the G1 Osaka Hai in 2017, when he finished a close second behind Kitasan Black (Jpn) (Black Tide {Jpn}). He was also placed in Hong Kong in the G1 Queen Elizabeth Cup in 2015 when he split Blazing Speed (GB) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) and Criterion (NZ) (Sebring {Aus}) and the G1 Hong Kong Cup in 2016, when he finished third behind Maurice.