Through his work for the Japan Racing Association, Takahiro Uno has been on hand for many of the biggest and most famous races in his homeland of Japan and around the world.
Yet none left him as elated as the Nov. 6 afternoon he recently spent at the Breeders' Cup in California.
"What I saw and the world saw at the Breeders' Cup was historical," said Uno, general manager of the JRA's New York region office, "and it filled me with so much pride and happiness."
What brought so much joy to Uno and countless millions of Thoroughbred racing fans in Japan started with the unprecedented sight of a Japanese-owned, -bred, and -trained horse win a Breeders' Cup race as DMM Dream Club's Loves Only You triumphed in the Maker's Mark Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1T) at Del Mar.
"When I saw Loves Only You come out of the pack and take the lead, my heart was beating so fast, I couldn't breathe," he said. "It was an incredibly exciting moment."
Then, about an hour and a half after that initial, breakthrough win at the World Championships, it happened all over again in a much more unlikely spot as U Carrot Farm's Marche Lorraine scored a stunning upset for Japan in the Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1).
"To have a Japanese horse win such a major dirt race as the Breeders' Cup Distaff was not something we were expecting," Uno said. "We know how hard it can be to beat the best American horses on dirt, so it was a tremendous achievement."
For Uno, the two Breeders' Cup wins by two horses trained by Yoshito Yahagi and bred in Japan by Northern Farm were not just moments of personal satisfaction, they ignited a great sense of pride for the JRA, the entire Japanese racing industry, and its highly passionate fans.
Few countries have as much love for horse racing as Japan. Major races in the Asian country attract huge crowds who, even with a limited number of tracks and race dates compared to American standards, continually wager about $25 billion per year.
Fans also treat champion horses with the same zeal fans in the United States have for baseball or football heroes. At a packed gift shop at Tokyo Racecourse on Japan Cup (G1) Day, you'll find dozens of fans buying pictures, key chains, necklaces, and stuffed animals of their favorite horse.
Yet for all of that love of the sport and a high quality of racing, Japanese horses had been unable to win some of the game's greatest races, such as the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) or an American Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup race.
That changed Nov. 6 when a record seven Japanese entrants generated two victories that could ultimately convince more Japanese horsemen to travel abroad and target international classics on both turf and dirt.
"I believe these Breeders' Cup wins will open up the door to some new prospects for Japanese horses," Uno said. "The Distaff showed that not only can our horses compete in the best races on turf, but on dirt as well against the best horses in the United States. Japanese horsemen have developed a lot of confidence in their horses. They will not hesitate to run in the best races in the world and have won big races in Dubai, Hong Kong, and Europe which reflects the quality of our horses. Now the Breeders' Cup wins will give them even more encouragement if they believe their horses are ready for the challenge."
Loves Only You, a 5-year-old Deep Impact mare, reflects the top end of Japanese racing. She came into the Filly & Mare Turf with two group/grade 1 wins to her credit, one of them against males, and in March she was third by a half-length behind Mishriff in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1), who was coming off a victory in the $20 million Saudi Cup.
Bettors in the United States certainly saw the potential in her as they sent her off as the 4-1 third choice in a field of 12 and were rewarded with a $10.60 payoff for her half-length victory over Peter Brant's My Sister Nat.
Marche Lorraine came from the other end of the wagering spectrum.
The 5-year-old daughter of Orfevre had raced eight times on dirt in Japan but lacked a graded stakes win and was dismissed at 49-1 odds in a field that was topped by U.S. Horse of the Year candidate Letruska.
As much as bettors looked in a different direction for a Distaff winner, Loves Only You's victory filled Uno with hopes that Marche Lorraine could make her presence felt in the Distaff. As it turned out, she did much more than that. She held on by a nose to beat Brant's 2019 Alabama Stakes (G1) winner Dunbar Road and pay $101.80 to win.
"Marche Lorraine's dam (Vite Marcher) is by French Deputy (a winner of the Jamaica Handicap, G2, at Belmont Park in 1995) and he has produced some good dirt horses in Japan and her second dam (Kyoei March) was a grade 1 winner in Japan, so when you looked at her pedigree there were reasons why she performed so well," Uno said. "She has speed and stamina that she inherited from her pedigree."
For the Breeders' Cup, the two victories were a big boost toward enhancing the international flavor of the series.
“We hope that the victories by Loves Only You and Marche Lorraine, along with a record number of seven Japanese starters in this year’s World Championships, are a strong indicator of continued interest for Japanese participation in the Breeders’ Cup," said Dora Delgado, the executive vice president and chief racing officer for the Breeders' Cup. "Our senior management team and racing department, along with our field representative in Japan, Kate Hunter, have devoted significant time and effort to recruiting Japanese horses this year and produced outstanding results. Japanese breeding operations have long supported the Breeders’ Cup program through stallion and foal nominations. We have a great, longstanding relationship with the Japan Racing Association and work together to promote participation in the World Championships, including hosting Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series “Win and You’re In” races at JRA tracks since 2013. We look forward to working with the JRA to build on this year’s success to expand the global promotion of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships."
Japanese bettors also helped the bottom line for the Breeders' Cup as they wagered the equivalent of about $11.7 million on three races, the Filly& Mare Turf, Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T), and the FanDuel Breeders' Cup Mile Presented by PDJF (G1T), despite post times in the overnight and early morning hours in Japan.
After the Breeders' Cup, Japanese horsemen continued to make some noise in the United States at the Fasig-Tipton and Keeneland sales, buying several of the top offerings to help strengthen a breeding industry that has been dominated by American classic winner Sunday Silence and his son Deep Impact, both of whom are deceased.
Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm went to $4.7 million to buy 2020 Preakness Stakes (G1) winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil ) at Fasig-Tipton's Nov. 9 "Night of the Stars" sale and by the time the session had ended he acquired six horses for $12.7 million. Also included in that group was $2.9 million buy Princess Noor (Not This Time ).
Yoshida also purchased two mares at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock sale for a combined $1.65 million.
"We have so many mares and stallions with the Sunday Silence bloodline that our major farms are looking to change the landscape by buying these mares and introducing new bloodlines from other countries," Uno said. "If you have too many horses from the same bloodline, it will somewhat diminish the effectiveness of the breeding industry."
Japan has also added several well-known American stallions in recent years, including Horse of the Year honorees California Chrome and Bricks and Mortar as well as Shanghai Bobby, Mind Your Biscuits, and Firenze Fire, among others.
"We are making an effort to improve the Japanese breeding industry," Uno said.
As much as Japanese horses are having an increasingly profound impact on international racing, the JRA would love to see American horsemen reciprocate and travel to Japan to test their horses in the nation's major races.
Though U.S. connections enjoyed great success in the Japan Cup in its early years—winning the first two editions in 1981 and 1982 and 4 of the initial 11—an American starter has not raced in the $6.1 million race since 2011.
In hopes of enticing international horsemen to compete in the Japan Cup, the JRA has created travel incentives and a bonus structure to reward the winners of major races who also capture the Japan Cup. In the United States, the 2021 winners of the Resorts World Casino Manhattan Stakes (G1T), Mister D. Stakes (G1T), Resorts World Casino Sword Dancer Stakes (G1T), Joe Hirsch Turf Classic (G1T), and Breeders' Cup Turf were eligible for bonuses of $3 million for winning the Japan Cup, $1.2 million for placing second, $750,000 for third, and $200,000 for fourth and beyond.
Those payouts were in addition to an owner's customary share of the $6.1 million in purse money. Yet once again no one from the United States took up the challenge in the Nov. 28 stakes, though Delgado, for one, would like to see that change.
"We are hopeful that many of our championship contenders also consider Japan races when planning out their racing campaigns," she said.
There are also bonuses for the winners of selected U.S. stakes who run in the $2.16 million Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) and $2.05 million Champions Cup (G1).
"After the restrictions due to COVID-19 in 2020, we were able to visit stable areas this year at tracks like Belmont Park, Saratoga Race Course, and Del Mar and we did get two nominations from Gufo and War Like Goddess," Uno said. "Though they didn't come, it was good to see some interest. We are offering nice bonuses and maybe the situation will improve next year. I hope it will. We have made some changes in that horses coming to Japan to be stallions can race there and then stay there. In the past, they had to return to the United States after the race. So perhaps that may help."
Aside from Japan having more restrictions on the use of medications than the United States, a main roadblock, especially for the Japan Cup, is that American horsemen are loathe to race their top horses on three weeks rest, which is the amount of time between the Breeders' Cup Turf and the Japan Cup. Adding in a long plane ride of at least 12 hours to reach Japan only weakens whatever interest American connections may have.
Yet there are some owners in the United States who are willing to consider racing in Japan. Dean Reeves, a part owner of 2020 champion turf male Channel Maker, said that under the right circumstances he would welcome a chance to compete in the island nation.
"I would like to run in Japan," Reeves said. "I visited there several years ago and they have great facilities and a great passion for horse racing. If we had the right horse that could handle the travel and be competitive, I'd love to go over there and give it a go. We would seriously consider it, but it would have to be a horse you point to that race."
While convincing prominent American connections to journey to the other side of the world for a race would seem to be a difficult challenge, what happened at the Breeders' Cup explains why it would be unwise to believe it's an impossible dream. It may not happen overnight, but given the years of persistence and dedication that went into a pair of wins by Japanese horses at the World Championships, it's surely a possibility.
"I really appreciate all of the efforts by the Japanese racing industry in the last 30 years that made two Breeders' Cup wins possible," Uno said. "It was a very special feeling to see the hard work by so many people bear some fruit and be rewarded like that."
