THE Group 1 Satsuki Sho-Japanese 2000 Guineas was a weekend highlight and saw the clash of two unbeaten two-year-old colts, Contrail and Salios. Both went into the classic with perfect records in three juvenile starts, each progressing from debut wins to Group 3 victories and they rounded off their first seasons with a Group 1 success. Contrail was given the nod when it came to being crowned champion.

Contrail’s road to his championship included a five-length win in the Group 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes and his first Group 1 success via victory in the Hopeful Stakes.

On Sunday Contrail and Salios gave racing fans a race to remember and victory was Contrail’s as he became the third winner of the race for his deceased sire, the great Japanese champion Deep Impact (Sunday Silence). Contrail carried the colours of Shinji Maeda and was bred by his family’s North Hill Co Ltd. He beat Salios by half a length, with three and a half lengths and more back to the rest.

Contrail is the third produce of his dam Rhodochrostie, an American-foaled daughter of Unbridled’s Song (Unbridled). She is the second foal from the multiple Grade 1 winner Folklore and cost Koji Maeda $385,000 at the Keeneland September Sale in 2011. Shipped to Japan, Rhodochrostie ran four times with great promise at two, finishing second twice and third twice. However, she disappointed in three starts the following year.

At stud her first foal was Bahn Frei (Gold Allure), a winner in each of his first three seasons racing and who, despite not earning any blacktype, has amassed over £650,000 in the lucrative racing programme in Japan. Second up for Rhodochrostie is Anastasio (Daiwa Major) and she won a seven-furlong maiden at two and doubled her winning total as a four-year-old last month. Contrail is followed by a yearling full-brother, while last year their dam was covered by Heart’s Cry (Sunday Silence).

Folklore (Tiznow), Contrail’s grandam, won the 2005 Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Belmont and earned an Eclipse Award for champion juvenile. Her four wins from seven starts that year included victory in the Grade 1 Matron Stakes at Belmont by 14 lengths, while she also annexed the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga. She finished third in the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes on her only start as a three-year-old but fractured her knee that year which caused her early retirement to stud.

While her grandson has revived the family fortune, Folklore herself has been a disappointment as a broodmare. Her eighth offspring is a two-year-old son of Frosted (Tapit) and he sold for a mere $45,000 last year. Folklore’s first foal Immaculate (Distorted Humor) won a couple of minor races, while her only other winner is Penthesilea (Bernardini), a $200,000 yearling who raced a few times in France before being sold by Godolphin for just 14,000gns at the Tattersalls July Sale in 2016. She went to Morocco and won four times the following year. Intriguingly, she was not mentioned as a winner for her dam in last year’s Keeneland Sale catalogue!

Folklore was the best of nine winners for her unraced dam Contrive (Storm Cat) and she made her own headlines when, in the days after her daughter won at the Breeders’ Cup, she sold to John Ferguson for $3 million at Fasig-Tipton. The foal she was carrying, Amusing Plan (Pleasantly Perfect) won a minor race in the USA at three and is now resident at the Hyland’s Oghill House Stud in Monasterevin where she is part-owned by Joseph Burke. That agent paid $40,000 for her at Keeneland in 2015 and she is the dam of three winners, the best of which is Street Moxie (Street Sense), a six-time winner and stakes placed in the USA.

Contrail is not the only 2019 Group or Grade 1 winner in the family. Contrive’s unraced half-sister Never A No Hitter (Kris S) bred a number of winners, the best being the Grade 2 winning juvenile Tizahit (Tiznow). Last August her daughter Come Dancing (Malibu Moon) won the Grade 1 Ketel One Ballerina Stakes at Saratoga and this now six-year-old is still in training, though she has moved this year to D Wayne Lucas.

Contrive’s dam Jeano (Fappiano) bred seven winners, none that could hold a candle to her own race record which comprised 10 victories, half of them stakes wins. She was the best runner for Grade 1 Delaware Handicap heroine Basie (In Reality) who is a half-sister to stakes winner Don’t Worry Bout Me (Foolish Pleasure), the grandam of the 2004 champion three-year-old American colt Smarty Jones (Elusive Quality). He won the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby and Grade 1 Preakness Stakes but missed out on the Triple Crown when runner-up to Birdstone in the last leg, the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.

Deep Impact won the Japanese Triple Crown in 2005 and at stud he has since become one of the most influential stallions in the world. Sadly his death was announced last July at the age of just 17. He was first crowned champion sire in Japan in 2012 and has retained the position every year since. He currently heads the table for 2020.

He stood all of his career at Shadai Stallion Station, and the farm has a number of his young sons to follow on. Japanese Derby winner Kizuna, a multiple group sire, and the Australian Group 1 winner Real Impact, a stakes sire, had their first runners last year. Champion sprinter Mikki Isle has his first crop racing this year, while Group 1 winning miler Satona Aladdin’s first crop are yearlings. Both Group 1 Dubai Turf winner Real Steel and champion three-year-old Satona Diamond are welcoming their first foals this spring.

Bred by Northern Farm, and winner of his only start at two, Deep Impact then proceeded to add six straight victories at three, notably capturing the Triple Crown. Adding a pair of Group 1 wins at four, Deep Impact was sent to race outside Japan for the only time in his career, taking on seven opponents in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. He found Rail Link and Pride too good on the day, beaten less than a length by the winner. Subsequently he was disqualified and placed last after testing positive for a banned substance.

Back in Japan he redeemed himself, winning the Group 1 Japan Cup and Group 1 Arima Kinen before retiring to take up stallion duties. He won 12 of his 14 starts, was twice rated Horse of the Year, garnered four championship titles and earned almost £7.3 million. He is well on the way to reaching a landmark 50 Group 1 winners. His sons have won the Japanese Derby five times, Coolmore’s Saxon Warrior has his first foals, while French Derby winner Study Of Man joined the stallion ranks at Lanwades Stud this year.