REY De Oro bounced back to his best form at the weekend and won the Group 1 Tokyo Yushun, the Japanese Derby. The thre-year-old son of King Kamehameha was unbeaten last season and finished fifth in the 2000 Guineas on his seasonal reappearance. He comes from a family that is well known worldwide and has Irish connections too.

His third dam Wind In Her Hair, a daughter of Alzao and out of a Busted half-sister to the great Height of Fashion, was bred in partnership by Robert Sangster’s Swettenham Stud and the Nagle’s Barronstown Stud. She was trained by John Hills and earned a deserved Group 1 success in Germany at four when successful in the Aral-Pokal. A year earlier she was runner-up in the Oaks at Epsom.

At stud Wind In Her Hair has left an indelible mark on the world of breeding. Four of her nine winners won stakes and one of them is a standout. The Sunday Silence colt Deep Impact won all but one of his 13 starts in Japan where he was twice Horse of the Year, the champion at three and four and he also won the Japanese Triple Crown. As a stallion he has been champion five times already – and more to come.

Wind In Her Hair is also the grandam of the much missed Irish stallion Jeremy.

An interesting daughter of Wind In Her Hair was Lady Blond. This daughter of Seeking The Gold won five of her six starts in Japan but none were stakes. She is the dam of dual Group 3 winner Gold Blitz (Special Week) and three other winnerss, one of which is La Dorada, the dam of Rey De Oro.

A daughter of Symboli Kris S, La Dorada won four times as a three-year-old and she is off to a great start with her runners. Rey de Oro is her second foal, being preceded by the Daiwa Major (Sunday Silence) colt Tizona, a stakes winner of the Marguerite Stakes among his three victories.

King Kamehameha has featured previously in this column. In summation he was champion of his generation at three in Japan. Half-brother to the John McEnery-bred Santa Anita Derby winner The Deputy, King Kamehameha himself won the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) from Heart’s Cry and the Group 1 NHK Mile Cup.

He has gone on to become one of the best sires in Japan from his base at Shadai Farm. For the last five years, 2012 to 2016 inclusive, he has been runner-up to Deep Impact in the sires’ championship, having headed that particular list in 2010 and 2011. Yet his fee for 2017 was a third of that commanded by Deep Impact. He is the sire of well over 60 stakes winners and eight of these have been champions.