Japan making deep impact on Aussie racing

When Delta Blues (Jpn) (Dance In The Dark {Jpn}) and Pop Rock (Jpn) (Helissio {Fr}) quinellaed the 2006 G1 Melbourne Cup, it was hailed as the start of a new era which would see elite Japanese racehorses dominating Australia's biggest races .

Racehorses from this part of the world had first launched serious raids on Japan's biggest race, the Japan Cup, in the 1980s, with champion Kiwi mare Horlicks (NZ) (Three Legs {GB}) victorious in 1989 and Australian star Better Loosen Up (Loosen Up {USA}) prevailing in 1990.

Other elite horses from Australia and New Zealand to tackle the race in that that era included Bonecrusher (NZ) (Pag Asa), Shaftesbury Avenue (Salieri {USA}), Rough Habit (NZ) (Roughcast {USA}), Naturalism (NZ) (Palace Music {USA}), Let's Elope (NZ) (Nassipour {USA}) and The Phantom Chance (NZ) (Noble Bijou {USA}).

But it wasn't until 2005 that Japan's trainers returned serve and targeted the major riches in Australia. Eye Popper's (Soccer Boy {Jpn}) 2005 visit yielded a second in the G1 Caulfield Cup and a 12th in the Melbourne Cup and opened up the possibility that Japan's best horses could compete in the increasingly international Melbourne staying features.

Twelve months later, it was a complete domination. Delta Blues had run third in the Caulfield Cup and Pop Rock an unlucky seventh and they would front up at Flemington 17 days later and change the face of Australia's most famous race.

Just 0.1l separated them on the line, with another 4.5l back to the third-placed horse Maybe Better (Intergaze). It seemed nothing could halt the prospect of Japanese stayers targetting and dominating the Cups.

Yet less than 12 months later, the Equine Influenza outbreak of 2007 put a handbrake on all movement of horses between the two countries.

It wasn't until 2010 that another Japanese raider, Tokai Trick (Jpn) (El Condor Pasa {USA}), tackled the Melbourne Cup, finishing 12th as the internationalisation of the race took another turn with Americain (USA) (Dynaformer {USA}) becoming the first French-trained winner of the race.

Since then there have been five Japanese-bred horses tackle the Melbourne Cup, with Fame Game (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), who started favourite in 2015, finishing the best of them in 13th.

Mer De Glace becomes 10th G1 winner

However, while the results in over the two miles at Flemington have not evolved as expected, the influence of Japanese horses in Australia has never been as strong as evidenced by Mer De Glace's (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) victory in Saturday's G1 Caulfield Cup.

That was the tenth win in an Australian Group 1 race by a Japanese-bred runner, with nine of them coming in the past five years.

The Japanese-trained Hana's Goal (Jpn) (Owera Mattteruze {Jpn}) won the 2014 All Aged S. and that proved a second breakthrough for the Japanese breed as the mare joined Delta Blues as an Australian Group 1 winner, while later that year the ill-fated Admire Rakti (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) thrilled with his win in the G1 Caulfield Cup.

Real Impact (Jpn) then won the 2015 G1 George Ryder S., and ran second in the G1 Doncaster the following autumn, putting the virtues of his sire, the champion Japanese stallion Deep Impact (Jpn), front and centre in Australia.

The next four Australian Group 1 victories by Japanese-bred horses were a result of Australian Bloodstock's faith in the depth and strength of Japanese horses.

Tosen Stardom (Jpn), another son of Deep Impact, won the 2017 Toorak H. and 2017 Mackinnon S., becoming the first Japanese-bred Group 1 winner for a local trainer, in his case Darren Weir. He also trained the Australian Bloodstock-owned Brave Smash (Jpn) (Tosen Phantom {Jpn}) to his wins in the G1 Futurity S. and the G1 Manikato S.

The past two weeks have seen two more names added to that list, with another of Deep Impact's sons, Fierce Impact (Jpn), successful for Matthew Smith in the G1 Toorak H. and then of course Mer De Glace's Caulfield Cup win, in his case for a Japanese trainer in Hisashi Shimizu.

Japanese horses set for further spring impact

There is certainly a chance this could continue to be a fruitful spring for Japanese horses with Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) the current favourite for the G1 Cox Plate, which Kluger (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) also contests while Mer De Glace is second favourite for the Melbourne Cup.

There is also a couple of locally-trained Japanese-bred prospects headed towards the Flemington feature. The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Wolfe (Jpn) (Novellist {Ire}) won the G3 Coongy Cup last Wednesday and backed up in the Caulfield Cup finishing 13th after leading, while Hush Writer's (Jpn) (Rulership {Jpn}) won the St Leger S. at Randwick on Saturday and is likely to now target the G3 Hotham H. as a path to the Melbourne Cup. That pair were both purchased as foals out of Japan by Waterhouse.

A look at the stakes results at the past weekend is further evidence of the influence of the Japanese breed. As well as the successes of Mer De Glace and Wolfe, imported galloper A Shin Rook (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) stakes-placed in the Listed Seymour Cup, and Listed Reginald Allen S. winner Akari (Snitzel), out of Japanese mare Asterix (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn}), is a result of the ongoing partnership between Arrowfield Stud and Northern Farm.

Arrowfield driving Japanese stallion strategy

Indeed that relationship, and Arrowfield's faith in the Japanese breed, is one of the most crucial in the burgeoning trend of mixing Australian and Japanese bloodlines.

Arrowfield stands three of the 10 Japanese-bred stallions standing in Australia this season, Maurice (Jpn), a son of Screen Hero (Jpn) and two sons of Deep Impact in Mikki Isle (Jpn) and Real Steel (Jpn).

Gallery: Arrowfield's Japanese stallions

Certainly, the recent death of the great Deep Impact has put more focus on his sire sons and Coolmore also debuted his son Saxon Warrior (Jpn) this season.

The two Japanese-bred Australian Group 1 winners at stud are Tosen Stardom, who is in his second season at Woodside Park, and Brave Smash, who is in his first season at Aquis Farm. Real Impact did have three seasons at Arrowfield before returning to Japan earlier this year.

There are also four active Japanese-bred stallions in New Zealand, including two sons of Deep Impact in Satono Aladdin (Jpn) and Staphanos (Jpn).

That volume of stallions, plus the constant flow of high-quality broodmares to some of Japan's best sires, added to the ongoing participation of Australian and New Zealand buyers at Japan's major sales should ensure the Japanese influence in Australian racing only continues to grow.

Watch: Global Impact: The Rise Of The Japanese Thoroughbred