Every now and then, there is a generation of horses born in one part of the world or another that will change the face of the sport. Born in the same year, they will line up against one another in the age-restricted races like the Derby or the Oaks.
Take the original Derby at Epsom: it has had winners like Galileo and Sea The Stars, truly generational talents, and then there are winners like Wings Of Eagles and Serpentine. Not every crop is equal.
Which brings us to the Japanese generation born in 2019, a truly vintage crop – particularly when it comes to the colts.
Among them are a world champion in Equinox, a Horse of the Year in waiting in Do Deuce, and Group 1 winners Geoglyph, Ask Victor More, Justin Palace, Danon Scorpion, Serifos, Killer Ability and Blow The Horn.
There have also been a number of Group 1 performers that have represented Japan valiantly at home and abroad, including Pradaria, Rousham Park, Danon Beluga, Struve, Matenro Sky, Warp Speed, Gaia Force and Matenro Leo.
When they squared off in the generation’s biggest race, the 2022 Tokyo Yushun, it was Do Deuce who had Equinox’s measure by a neck. It would be the last time that Equinox would taste defeat.
While much of the focus was on those two superstars at the top, the race featured unparalleled strength in behind.
Remarkably, when Desierto won the G3 Chunichi Shimbun Hai at Chukyo earlier this month, he became the 17th of 18 runners from that 2022 Tokyo Yushun to win a Group race. Only Lord Les Ailes, retired without racing again after the Tokyo Yushun, failed to add a Group victory to his name – and he was a half-length away from winning the G2 TV Tokyo Hai Aoba Sho.
In Japan, where Group races are sparse and at a premium, that is an extraordinary record that highlights again the strength of the 2019 foal crop.
On Sunday, Do Deuce will have his 18th and final start when he is sent off as favourite in the biggest Japanese race of them all, the G1 Arima Kinen at Nakayama. He will be celebrated with a retirement ceremony post-race before he joins his old sparring partner Equinox at Shadai Stallion Station in Hokkaido.
The Arima Kinen field is largely decided by popular vote, as it has been since the race was established in 1956.
A measure of Do Deuce’s popularity is that he smashed all voting records. He received 478,415 of 5,021,272 votes, far ahead of the previous record of 368,304 votes set by Titleholder in 2022. Second-placed Danon Decile had 282,521 votes, still a sizeable amount but far below Do Deuce.
Equinox may have been the champion of his generation, but Do Deuce is every bit as popular and the crowd will erupt if he can add his second Arima Kinen.
While the 2019 crop will be feted on Sunday, the class of 2021 is seeking to step up and earn their moment in the sun. They will be represented in the Arima Kinen by Tokyo Yushun winner Danon Decile and Kikuka Sho hero Urban Chic.
This is the first real opportunity to see the three-year-old colts tested against their elders. The fillies have already stepped up with Cervinia fourth to Do Deuce in the Japan Cup and Stellenbosch third in the Hong Kong Vase. Regaleira, who ran against the boys early in the season having beaten them at two in the Hopeful Stakes, will also line up on Sunday.
The three-year-olds have a mammoth mountain to climb, though, to match the feats of Do Deuce and his peers ∎
