Update on Deep Impact following his Japan Cup one-two finish

In May of 2012, I wrote a blog post on Japanese sire Deep Impact, who in two crops (at the time) of three-year-olds had already sired the winners of four Classic races. That Classics figure now stands at eight, with six individual Classic winners (Ayusan; Beauty Parlour; Deep Brillante; Gentildonna; Kizuna; and Marcellina) and a number of other Classic-placed runners from three crops of three-year-olds of racing age.

Clearly, a year and a half after my original post, Deep Impact has continued to stride forward: the son of Sunday Silence has gone from six to ten Grade or Group 1 winners, and yesterday his 2012 Triple Crown-winning daughter, Horse of the Year Gentildonna, became the first-ever dual winner of the 12-furlong Japan Cup-G1 -- Tokyo Racecourse’s flagship event -- nosing out Deep Impact’s three-year-old daughter Denim and Ruby, a Grade 2 winner, in the process.

This summer, thanks to Su-Ann Khaw’s initiative and with North American and European Trainer magazines’ adventurous backing, I traveled to Hokkaido, Japan, for a visit to Shadai Stallion Station, where Deep Impact stands, and an extensive tour of Northern Farm, breeder (as both Northern Farm and Northern Racing) of the first four horses home in yesterday’s big race, which it goes without saying is a phenomenal achievement.

If you’re interested in learning more about Japanese racing, I wrote a Trainer article (which begins here on page 44) on Northern Farm and also looked at the international influence of Japanese-bred horses (page 58 of the issue linked above). I’ve also done several posts on my time in Hokkaido, with photos that didn’t make it into the printed article: Little Snow at Northern Farm and New issue online and snippets from Japan; and an entry in TDN here.

Among the horses we viewed in Hokkaido were Gentildonna’s distinguished sire Deep Impact; her dam Donna Blini, a Group 1 winner in England; Deep Impact’s German Group 1-winning dam Wind in Her Hair; and Denim and Ruby, who is a whisker shy of being a Japan Cup winner.

Japanese Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner Deep Impact, now a world-class sire.

Group 1 winner Donna Blini, the dam of Japanese Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner Gentildonna.

Group 1 winner Wind in Her Hair, the dam of Deep Impact.

Deep Impact filly Denim and Ruby (left), who was a nose behind Gentildonna in the 2013 G1 Japan Cup. On the right is Grade 2 winner I'm Yours (by Falbrav), a Grade 3 winner in 2013.

I noted last year that Deep Impact was an outstanding cross with mares tracing to Northern Dancer. This pattern, which is more detailed in the previous Deep Impact post, has appeared in at least ten of the stallion’s 12 new stakes winners. In the wake of Gentildonna’s latest success, it seemed an opportune time to update the now 36 (up from 24 last May) stakes winners (7% to foals), although I was only able to find 35 of them.

As before, the list shows the Deep Impact’s black-type winners; the sires of their first two dams; and highlights the link(s), if any, to Northern Dancer through the first two damsires. Brackets indicate an indirect link (such as sire of the broodmare sire); the names of the stakes winners since May of 2012 are indicated in red:

~Ayusan-G1 (dam by Storm Cat, second dam by Affirmed): Storm Bird

~*Beauty Parlour-G1 (Giant’s Causeway, Day is Done): Storm Bird

~Deep Brillante-G1 (Loup Sauvage, Akarad): [Nureyev]; Lyphard

~**Gentildonna-G1 (Bertolini, Lyphard’s Special): Danzig; Lyphard

~Joie de Vivre-G1 (Caerleon, Lord Gayle): Nijinsky

~Kizuna-G1 (Storm Cat, Damascus): Storm Bird

~Marcellina-G1 (Marju, Distant Relative): Last Tycoon

~Real Impact-G1 (Meadowlake, In Reality): no Northern Dancer

~⨎Tosen Ra-G1 (Lycius, Sadler’s Wells): [Lyphard]; Sadler’s Wells

~Verxina-G1 (Machiavellian, Nureyev): Nureyev

~Camino Tassajara-G2 (French Deputy, Caerleon): Vice Regent; Nijinsky

~Danon Ballade-G2 (Unbridled, Halo): no Northern Dancer through first two dam sires

~Denim and Ruby-G2 (King Kamehameha, Nureyev): [Nureyev]; [Try My Best]; Nureyev

~Hiraboku Deep-G2 (Storm Cat, Caro): Storm Bird

~Smart Robin-G2 (Lyphard, Nijinsky): Lyphard; Nijinsky

~⨳Tosen Homareboshi-G2 (Northern Taste, Crafty Prospector): Northern Taste

~Adam’s Peak-G3 (Singspiel, Efisio): Sadler’s Wells

~Aquamarine-G3 (Alzao, Alleged): Lyphard

~Best Deal-G3 (Marchand de Sable, Troy): Nureyev

~Boreas-G3 (French Deputy, Desert Wine): Vice Regent

~Danon Shark-G3 (Caerleon, Shirley Heights): Nijinsky

~**Donau Blue-G3 (Bertolini, Lyphard’s Special): Danzig; Lyphard

~Final Form-G3 (O’Reilly, Sound Reason): Try My Best

~Frere Jacques-G3 (Nureyev, Blushing Groom): Nureyev

~Gullveig-G3 (Tony Bin, Northern Taste): Northern Taste

~Harp Star-G3 (Falbrav, Tony Bin): Fairy King

~⨳Historical-G3 (Northern Taste, Crafty Prospector): Northern Taste

~Passion Dance-G3 (Jade Robbery, Lyphard): [Nijinsky]; Lyphard

~Tosen Reve-G3 (Caerleon, Lord Gayle): Nijinsky

~World Ace-G3 (Acatenango, Be My Guest): Be My Guest

~Ardent (Kaldoun, Simply Great): no Northern Dancer through first two dam sires

~*Barocci (Giant’s Causeway, Day is Done): Storm Bird

~Para la Salud (Stuka, Stagecraft): [Nijinsky]; [Lyphard]; [Lyphard]; Sadler’s Wells

~Round World (Tony Bin, Dictus): no Northern Dancer through first two dam sires

~⨎Spielberg (Lycius, Sadler’s Wells): [Lyphard]; Sadler’s Wells

*full siblings

**full siblings

⨎full siblings

⨳dams are full siblings