PROMISING young sire and Shadai Stallion Station resident, Duramente succumbed to an acute colitis on Wednesday.

Duramente narrowly beat Maurice in the first-season sire rankings represented by 35 individual winners. To date, the highest-profile runner by Duramente is Group 1 Satsuki Sho runner-up Titleholder.

The nine-year-old son of King Kamehameha had been immensely popular with Japanese breeders covering an average of 235 mares in each of his four years at stud. He stood for a career-high fee of €75,000 in 2021.

From the family of dual Group 1-winning champion Admire Grove (Sunday Silence), Duramente, despite an injury-plagued career, still proved himself a rare talent on the racecourse.

A comfortable winner of both the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in 2015, Duramente missed the remainder of the season, and even though returning in 2016 the colt never recaptured the form that saw him named leading three-year-old in 2015. Duramente retired to the stallion ranks in 2017. It is common practice and almost an expectation in Japanese breeding circles for elite racehorses to prove their ability into their five-year-old season before retiring.

Shadai Stallion Station has experienced some high-profile loses from their stallion ranks in the last two years, most notably the death of Deep Impact in 2019, while established stallions Heart’s Cry, King Kamehameha and Kurofune have all been stood down from active covering duties.

Silver State has Midas touch in the early freshman rankings

TWO-year-old JRA commences in Japan in early June. While still somewhat in its infancy, some notable achievements have been posted by some of this year’s freshmen stallions.

Racing in Japan is classified into two levels, the more elite which is run by the JRA (Japanese Racing Association), the second tier is operated by the NAR (National Association of Racing) and is almost exclusively run on dirt.

Understandably, the focus is nearly in its entirety on the JRA code when it comes to breeding appeal and reputation of stallions.

Shadai Stallion Station resident Drefong, with the might of Northern Farm’s and Shadai’s broodmare bands behind him, was strongly fancied to lead the freshman rankings. However, that expectation has been usurped by Silver State.

Winners

To date, Silver State has sired 12 individual winners of 14 races, seven in the JRA, on both turf and dirt surfaces. Silver State was responsible for a one-two in stakes company in the Dahlia Sho. Bellwood Bravo took first-place honours with Comstock Lode a close second.

Silver State’s highly encouraging start to his stallion career has been equally reverberated in the sales ring. Japan’s largest sale, in terms of quantity, is the HBA Summer Sale.

A total of 15 of his yearlings were on offer across the five-day sale, 14 of the 15 were sold for an average of €122,500 and with a highest sale price of €290,000.

This was the highest return of any stallion represented by three or more lots.

By Deep Impact, Silver State twice suffered tendon injuries before retiring to the Yushun Stallion Station. He was a four-time winner from five starts, culminating in success at stakes level.

He has proved to be a highly sought-after commodity for smaller breeders looking to avail of an affordable source of the Deep Impact bloodline, and he covered 191 mares in his first year for a fee of €12,000.

THE pristine-white Sodashi is almost a victim of her appearance and doesn’t get the credit she deserves from her performances on the track. Her autumnal reappearance in the Group 2 Sapporo Kinen made it impossible not to appreciate her ability.

Competing against older horses for the first time, Sodashi showed all her tenacity to hold off a star-studded field. Group 1 winner and Arc hopeful Loves Only You and seven-year-old Persian Knight finished in second and third respectively.

Sodashi’s next engagement will be in the Group 1 Shuka Sho, the third leg of the Triple Tiara, held at Hanshin Racecourse on October 17th. The Japanese racing idol’s future plans remain fluid. Her defeat in the Yushun Himba, trying 2,400 metres for the first time is likely to significantly limit her domestic options.

Trainer Naosuke Sugai has recently suggested that a change of surface maybe in line for the daughter of Kurofune. While domestic dirt options at Group 1 level remain limited, it does present the possibility that overseas trips to Dubai and the Breeders’ Cup could lie in her future.

Sodashi enjoys a cult-like following that is not only restricted to racing fans. With the news that Sodashi may be switched to dirt, social media and fan forums were sent into overdrive comparing the filly to baseball star Shohei Ohtani.

The Japanese US-based baseball player is renowned as being an elite performer as both a pitcher and a batter.