"Deep Impact" On Sport of Kings

[Mulboyne]

Bloomberg: Japan Racehorse `Deep Impact' Wins Thousands Back to Racetrack
Japanese racehorse Deep Impact is unbeaten in seven outings and attracting thousands back to the racetrack, helping reverse falling ticket sales in a country that bets $29 billion a year on horses. The three-year-old colt completed Japan's Triple Crown on Oct. 23 by winning the Japan St. Leger in Kyoto in front of 136,701 spectators, or 82 percent more than last year. By the time the race started, his odds were slashed to zero, meaning a 1,000 yen bet on the horse returned 1,000 yen...more...

[Greji]

Bloomberg: Japan Racehorse `Deep Impact' Wins Thousands Back to Racetrack
Japanese racehorse Deep Impact is unbeaten in seven outings and attracting thousands back to the racetrack

Despite a lot of minor errors, the writers are on the money! This is a helluva horse. But, saying that is like preaching to the choir. Any horse that wins the triple crown in any country has got to be good.

I would point out one major error in the article. They indicate that the Japan Cup will be run in December at Christmas time. That is the Arima Kinen. The Japan Cup is always held on the last Sunday in November (two weeks from now on the 27th). The JC is a mile and a half against the best in the world, so they may not run Deep Impact yet since he is still only a three year old.

But if he runs in the Arima Kinen, it will be a race to watch! I don't think there is a horse in Japan that can touch him at the moment.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Koizumi reforms could leave local horse racing in the dust

...Regional racing conducted by prefectural and municipal governments, along with that organized by the Japan Racing Association, used to be flourishing. But now, local racecourses have hit hard financial times. If that weren't bad enough, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's wave of reform is now targeting local racetracks. Last month, the central government spotlighted local government horse racing in its administrative reform policies. A Horse Racing Law revision bill may be submitted to the ordinary Diet session as early as this year. If passed, local horse racing organizations will lose their current status as semi-governmental corporations and come under joint management with local governments...more...

[Mulboyne]

200 Japanese journalists have applied for accreditation for Deep Impact's upcoming run in the Arc but, apparently, the race won't be shown live in Japan. The press have focused on the jockey more than the horse.

Guardian: The Japanese pin-up British punters love to tear down

It is a dozen years since Yutaka Take was pilloried at Longchamp for the ill-judged ride that many consider cost White Muzzle victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, but Peter Chapple-Hyam, the horse's trainer, has moved on...Chapple-Hyam may have moved on, but the British betting public has not. The form-book comment "nearest finish" in a major race is a cardinal sin in a punter's eyes, like an uphill putt to win the Open that stops two feet short...Never mind that he has won more than 50 Group Ones worldwide, including the July Cup at Newmarket on Agnes World. Many backers in this country simply will not have Take at any price, or on any horse. This weekend, he has his latest - and probably last - chance to confound the critics or, just as easily, push the Sneerometer off the scale. Deep Impact, the best horse ever to emerge from Japan, likes to come from well off the pace. Longchamp, as Take knows all too well, is a track that few riders ever really master. The potential for another "nearest finish" is all too obvious. All eyes will be on him, and he knows it. What Take will not do, however, is either freeze or panic..."He is almost a god over there," Jane George, a Japan specialist with the International Racing Bureau, said yesterday. "A lot of the jockeys in Japan have fan clubs, but he is the only one whose face will be held up on posters all around the paddock...more...

AFP: Japanese hoping to Take the Arc by storm

And there's this from an article in the UK Sunday Mirror when Take rode at an earlier race meeting in England:

...The Japanese have timed their run well as the late, great Captain Neville Crump is no longer part of the Yorkshire training scene. Very much a tweed-clad trainer of the old school, Crump was stopped in Middleham High Street some years ago by a group of Japanese tourists who asked him the way to York. The Captain peered icily down at the visitors and said: "You found your bloody way to Pearl Harbour, so you can find your own damn way to York!"

[Marvin Feltcher]

200 Japanese journalists have applied for accreditation for Deep Impact's upcoming run in the Arc but, apparently, the race won't be shown live in Japan.

NHK is going to show it.

[Mulboyne]

NHK is going to show it.

There you go. You can't trust the Times.

The Paris feature will not be shown live in Japan, where residents cannot bet on races outside their country

[Greji]

[Taro Toporific]

200 Japanese journalists have applied for accreditation for Deep Impact's upcoming run in the Arc but, apparently, the race won't be shown live in Japan.

NHK is going to show it.

Does anybody know the exact time/date NHK will broadcast?
(I doubt NHK will show it live. )

[Marvin Feltcher]

Does anybody know the exact time/date NHK will broadcast?
(I doubt NHK will show it live. )

Don't know what time the race is on, but NHK (Sogo)'s broadcast will start just after midnight tomorrow (Sunday) and is scheduled to go until at least 1 a.m. Monday.

[Mulboyne]

Guardian: Japan's secret star ready to make Deep Impact

Less than 20 yards away, outside the window of a conference room at Chantilly's Centre D'Entraînement, a line of horses walks peacefully through the morning mist. Inside the conference room, on the other hand, it feels more like Tokyo in the rush hour. It is Wednesday morning, 9am, four days and a few hours before the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and a sporting story that has gripped Japan for many weeks is approaching its climax. Seventy Japanese journalists, photographers and TV reporters are waiting for Yutaka Take and Yasuo Ikee, the jockey and trainer respectively of Deep Impact, the most exciting racehorse ever to emerge from the closed world of racing in Japan. When they appear, there is no need to speak Japanese to appreciate the feverish excitement. "Think of England in the World Cup final," one reporter explains. "That's how it feels for us"

...This could also have implications for the on-course betting, since the Japanese like to back their hero with serious cash. Like France, Japan operates a pari-mutuel monopoly, with no bookmakers allowed, and Deep Impact always starts at ridiculously short odds. Indeed, he once started at no odds at all - there was so much money for Deep Impact in the pari-mutuel pool when he won the Japanese St Leger that the dividend to a 100 (yen) stake was ... 100. The punters risked everything to win nothing, but no one seemed to care.

The Japanese racegoers will not believe their eyes when they arrive at Longchamp and, more than likely, discover that Deep Impact is odds-against. The rush of money for Deep Impact could be immense, not least because backers in Japan are not allowed to bet into foreign pools. The travellers, therefore, are likely to be carrying not simply their own betting money but that of their friends and families too...more...

[Taro Toporific]

Guardian: Japan's secret star ready to make Deep Impact
....travellers, therefore, are likely to be carrying not simply their own betting money but that of their friends and families too...

Is there some strange Japanese dynamic that is not being reported here such as a losing ticket for the pride of Japan, Deep Impact, is a good omiyagi to give to friends back in Japan?

[Greji]

Is there some strange Japanese dynamic that is not being reported here such as a losing ticket for the pride of Japan, Deep Impact, is a good omiyagi to give to friends back in Japan?

It's is quite simple Taro. The assholes in JRA will not allow any betting on racing outside of Japan, nor will they allow any betting within Japan unless it is on JRA races. That way they get to keep all the money bet, so it means no no bets on the ARC unless you ask a friend to lay it for you!

[IkemenTommy]

Well so much for the hype. Deep Impact came in 3rd and came a little short.

[Greji]

Well so much for the hype. Deep Impact came in 3rd and came a little short.

I think the hype was pretty good. Finishing third in one of the most, if not the most prestigious international race is certainly not bad (of course anything but the gold translates as a lost to the J-people).

Take made a good run at it and he was out front with a furlong to go, but couldn't hold off the other two finishers at the end. I think, or it least it looked like, the going was too soft for his liking. Deep Impact is normally a hard finisher and at a mile and a half at that pace, he should have had a enough left to put it away, but it looked like he couldn't keep his power going. But, even with that, IMHO he ran a good race! I would like to see him go to the Breeder's Cup Turf in the states and see him on the hard going, but I think he will go to the Japan Cup, simply because it is more money.

[Mulboyne]

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Telegraph: Mad plunge on Japanese star goes astray

Yesterday's Prix de L'Arc de Triomphe was meant to be remembered as the three-way contest between Hurricane Run, his stable- companion Shirocco and the Japanese champion Deep Impact for the title 'Heavyweight Champion of the World'. In Japan, where the race was shown live at midnight, it was the moment Japanese racing was to come of age. Instead it will be remembered, certainly in France, as the day the Japanese came to town with truckloads of yen and bet until France's Tote, the Pari-Mutuel almost seized up. When the gates to the racecourse opened at 11.0am, hundreds of the estimated 6,000 Japanese supporters of Deep Impact headed straight to the PMU kiosks and queued patiently to back Deep Impact. With the French in less of hurry to wager, the Japanese support made their horse 1-10 for the race. He was eventually sent off the 1-2 favourite. Mike Dillon of Ladbrokes, a man of some experience, said: "That's the most crazy betting race I've ever seen. We were laying 5-2 against in England"...more...

The Independent tipped Deep Impact to win the race so they spend a bit more time thinking about what might have gone wrong as well as talking about the betting:

...In the event, however, a cyclone of Japanese patriotism swept through the Bois de Boulogne and created the most surreal betting environment anyone present could remember. Thousands of pilgrims had come to show their fealty to Deep Impact, the greatest champion to have shed the insular habits of Japanese racing. Certain of his invincibility, indifferent to the odds, they queued patiently all afternoon to pour yen into a pari-mutuel pool shared with the best middle-distance field in Europe. Some said that they would not even cash their tickets, preferring to take them home as a souvenir. Others were more purposeful, two individual bets of €1m helping to flood the pool.

Totalisators reflect market forces at their purest, and this spree created opportunist fervour among the British visitors who normally dominate this meeting. Deep Impact, available at nearly 3-1 with the bookmakers in Britain, was suddenly showing 1-10, while Hurricane Run and Shirocco were paying around 16-1. For hours, the place was going berserk with amateur arbitrage. By the time the field went to post, Deep Impact was out to 1-2, and each tier of the crowded stands seemed riven by intense partisanship.

Deep Impact, his flanks gaining richness from the sinking autumn sun, pranced on to the track and was saluted by hundreds of miniature Japanese flags. And when the steady early pace suddenly became more earnest, there was a roar of anticipation as Yutaka Take, alone among the jockeys, remained motionless in the saddle. For a few strides it seemed as though Deep Impact might glide clear, but suddenly it became obvious that the coronation was going to be insolently interrupted. No sooner had Deep Impact put his nose in front, 300 metres out, he was joined by Rail Link and in the end it was Pride, emerging from the rear, who would provide the graver challenge to Stéphane Pasquier, foiled by a diminishing neck.

Deep Impact trudged home in third, beaten another half-length. The depth of Japanese despair could be measured when Take hacked back in front of the stands. This was one of those moments that plainly called for stoical affection, but it must be said that applause was lukewarm at best.

The fact is that Deep Impact ran a very similar race to his compatriot, Heart's Cry, in the King George this summer. It seems pertinent to ask whether Japanese trainers have grasped the importance of a preparatory race in the European racing environment.

It's worth remembering that Deep Impact came in ahead of the two other heavily-backed favourites.

[Greji]

It's worth remembering that Deep Impact came in ahead of the two other heavily-backed favourites.

It is also worthy of pointing out that the third place running that all the J-fans are preparing to committ seppuku over, has raised the value of Deep Impact as a stallion to a price that it would take all members of this board to put everything we have to take a shot.

Lamtarra won this race with only four other races and went for 44 million US. Deep Impact with a better overall record and good breeding finished just 3/4 of a length out of first.

I sure would like to be the one selling him to stud!

[Greji]

The Independent tipped Deep Impact to win the race so they spend a bit more time thinking about what might have gone wrong as well as talking about the betting: ".....The fact is that Deep Impact ran a very similar race to his compatriot, Heart's Cry, in the King George this summer. It seems pertinent to ask whether Japanese trainers have grasped the importance of a preparatory race in the European racing environment."

I think the writer for The Independent as well as many of the papers, have lost the true meaning of the old concept of being a raider in racing. You enter a country on a raid, run your race and leave directly with the "plunder" from the race.

The prize money in thoroughbred racing in Japan is the highest in the world. So, the owners themselves, do not particularly care about the purse (although winning any of it is nice) in a race in the UK or France, or for that matter, in the US. There are plate races or low level stakes races in Japan that are worth more than a lot of the Group 1's in many countries. It is the prestige of winning the race. Bragging rights among their peers, if you will. Preparatory races are the talk for trainers and would of course help in the long run. But, it is not the way of the true "raider" and by virtue of the wording of the article, it is obvious that the writer knows shit about raiding and also racing in Japan in general. It would also appear that he doesn't have either the knowledge or the money to think in the terms of the sport, like a racehorse owner will generally think.

On the other hand, the UK sent two top class sprinters, to Japan on Sunday for the Sprinter's Stakes (GI) at Nakayama and they got their lunch handed to them as also rans, by the Aussie, Japanese and Hong Kong entries in that order. 2 to 1 you will not see the UK papers critizing their trainers for not considering prep races. (Note for Charles, the Aussie, Takeovertarget is owned by his trainer and has won in every major racing area except the US. Sorry, but this is because the US doesn't have a venue good enough to be elevated to the Global Sprint Series, which at the moment only includes the UK, Australia, Japan and Hong Kong).

[Mulboyne]

Sporting Life: Deep Impact Set For Stud Career

Deep Impact is to be retired to stud at the end of the year in a syndication deal worth almost 23 million pounds. Following the four-year-old's close third in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, connections had initially suggested they were keen to return for another crack at the 12-furlong event in 2007. However, they yesterday declared that their charge will take up his stud duties at the Yoshida family's Shadai Stallion Station at the end of the current campaign...more...

[Greji]

Sporting Life: Deep Impact Set For Stud Career

An offer of 23 million quid sure ruins one's desire to continue a sporting career doesn't it. JRA has been told that Deep Impact will declare for the Tenno Sho, the Japan Cup and the Arima Kinen. That's about 5-6 oku if he wins all three, but that's up to the owner and any conditions that may be in the sales contract. Most contracts of these type will allow the old owner to race the horse in his name and entitlement, right up to the date of title acceptance by the new owner(s), but some will explicitly state "no further racing". This is obviously for fear of terminal injury.

[Mulboyne]

I just saw on the news that it looks like Deep Impact has been busted for drugs. There's an article in Japanese here which says that traces of banned substance ipratropium have been found.

[Greji]

I just saw on the news that it looks like Deep Impact has been busted for drugs. There's an article in Japanese here which says that traces of banned substance ipratropium have been found.

True. They take two samples in the doping check, same as most other sports. If the first returns a positive, the second is tested and if it is positive, the test is presumed a positive. Deep Impact tested positive on the "A" specimen in France, which required the second test. The second test, the so-called "B" Specimen was sent to the excellent lab in Hong Kong as an impartial venue. It returned the positive. The investigation continues i.e. was it intentional, was it an accidental positive, or a veterinarian oversight, etc.

You couldn't get close to JRA last night because of the TV truck and crews. They haven't had that many TV announcers and satellite link-ups set in that area since Horiemon's last show!

[Mulboyne]

BBC: Deep Impact disqualified from Arc

Japanese thoroughbred Deep Impact has been disqualified from a third-place finish in last month's Arc de Triomphe, after testing positive for a banned substance. The horse's trainer Yasuo Ikee has also received a 15,000 euros fine. Deep Impact's third place has now been awarded to Hurricane Run, ridden by Kieren Fallon. Deep Impact is considered one of Japan's best-ever race horses, but tested positive for Ipratropium - an inhaled medication that aids breathing. A statement from France Gallop, who organise racing in Paris said the substance had been used as a veterinary treatment. After the positive test was announced the trainer said he was "very surprised". The owner and the trainer of Deep Impact will not appeal against the decision. Deep Impact will now retire to become a breeding horse.

[Greji]

BBC: Deep Impact disqualified from Arc

2.27 Million Yen should get the trainer's attention! Deep Impact is a scheduled to run in the Japan Cup on Sunday week, November the 26th. He may well run in the Arima Kinen on Sunday, December the 24th as well. He will retire to stud after whichever is his last race. He has been sold as a stallion to the Shadai Group to stand in Hokkaido for a reported 5.1 Billion yen, with the right to run in these last two races under his previous owner's colors.

[Captain Japan]

Colossal colt has deepest impact
Mainichi

Back on home turf, Deep Impact showed what an exceptionally good horse he is by moving from the back of the field going into the home straight to win Sunday's Japan Cup by two lengths at Tokyo Race Course.

Deep Impact finished the 2,400-meter GI race -- his first since the disappointment of being disqualified following October's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in Paris -- in front of Dream Passport, ridden by Yasunari Iwata, who rode Delta Blues to victory in the prestigious Melbourne Cup earlier this month....more...