DURAMENTE was a twice-raced maiden winner at two and a winner of two classics as a three-year-old, the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby). He had been an intended runner in the Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) but was denied his attempt through injury.
He could have potentially become just the eighth colt in Japanese racing history to win the coveted Triple Crown and the first since 2011, when dual Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Orfevre achieved the feat.
Despite being on the sidelines for much of the 2015 season, Duramente was voted the best three-year-old of his generation by Japanese racing journalists. Winning in a landslide result, accruing 285 out of a possible 291 votes.
Successful on his seasonal reappearance in a Group 2 in February. Duramente was ultimately forced into retirement when he stumbled and was injured shortly after crossing the finish line in the Group 1 Tazaruka Kinen, when finishing a close second behind Marialite. His only other start of 2016 was when chasing Postponed home in the Group 1 Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in May.
TOP BREEDERS
It is common practice in Japan for elite racehorses to be expected to prove their ability into their five-year-old season. Although he was forced to retire midway through his four-year-old season, such was his dominance in two classic successes, he will undoubtedly attract top breeders from across Japan.
Duramente will also fill the demand for access to the bloodlines of his highly successful sire, two-time leading sire, King Kamehameha. Well documented fertility issues have caused him to cover increasingly restricted books over the last four years.
Also regally bred on his maternal side, he is out of the ill-fated Sunday Silence mare Admire Groove, a dual Group 1 winner and champion older mare in Japan in 2004. Her first and second dams were also champion Japanese race mares. She unfortunately died in October of 2012 having earlier that year produced just her fifth foal, Duramente.
Duramente will stand at a fee of 4,000,000 Yen (€33,000).
TRANSFER
Darley Japan has announced that Group 1 winning miler Discreet Cat will transfer from Godolphin’s Jonabell Farm in Kentucky to their base of operations on Hokkaido. The 13-year-old son of Forestry (Storm Cat) stood for eight seasons in America and commanded a fee of $7,500 in 2016.
To date, Discreet Cat’s most successful American progeny are headed by the Grade 1-winning pair Discreet Marq and Dads Cap. He is not completely unknown to Japanese breeders courtesy of the exploits of his son Air Khalifa, a Group 3 winner and Group 3-placed in Japan in 2015.
Discreet Cat was a prolific performer on dirt over a mile winning six times, with three of those at Grade 2 level or above. His sole Grade 1 success came when he won the Hill N Dale Cigar Mile at Belmont as a three-year-old by over three lengths.
As a grandson of Storm Cat, Discreet Cat should appeal to many breeder given the recent successes of progeny out of Storm Cat mares once crossed with Deep Impact (Sunday Silence). Since 2013 this mating has produced five individual Group 1 winners, two of which were in 2016. These include 10-length Prix d’Ispahan winner A Shin Hikari and Dubai Turf winner Real Steel.