Yutaka Take and Hiroyasu Tanaka were levels apart as jockeys: Take is a living legend with a long, long list of Group 1 wins, Tanaka was a battling journeyman who managed to snag one. But a connection between the pair at Deauville 15 years ago has come full circle.
Tanaka, now one of Japan’s hottest ‘young’ trainers with his own growing roll-call of big-race wins, will send Take out at the seaside track on Sunday aboard his stable’s talented miler Sixpence in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois.
“When Hiroyasu and I were both jockeys, I had the opportunity to ride at Deauville with him,” Take, now 57, told a press conference organised by France Galop on Friday morning.
“I first came to Deauville 36 years ago … I knew the place better than he did, so I helped him a little. We got to know each other better during that stay, and I remember inviting him to dinner. That turned out to be a good idea, because on Sunday I will be riding one of his horses.
“Taiki Shuttle’s adventure and his victory in the Prix Jacques Le Marois in 1998 helped raise the profile of this race in Japan,” he added. “But its prestige was already recognised by the Japanese even before that success.”
It is 28 years since Taiki Shuttle made history as Japan’s first winner of the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois and Take remembers it well, though not necessarily in the way he would like.
“I was in the race riding a horse, I was fourth,” he said, remembering that famous day with a dry smile.
Take went into the 1998 contest having made history a week earlier when he rode Seeking The Pearl to immortality in the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville as the first Japanese horse ever to win a Group 1 overseas.
But it was another Japanese riding legend, Yukio Okabe, who steered the mighty Taiki Shuttle to Jacques le Marois victory.
That means Take is still chasing his first win in France’s top summertime mile race, but this time his hopes are pinned to Sixpence, the last-start G1 Yasuda Kinen hero, as he aims to become the rider to steer home Japan’s second winner in the race.
Miss Berbere was the horse Take rode in that historic Prix Jacques le Marois on August 14, 1998, newly-acquired at the time by owner Teruya Yoshida. Miss Berbere subsequently relocated to Japan and produced a couple of black type performers, the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies second Danon Berbere, and the G3 winner Satono Apollo. Both were trained by Sakae Kunieda of Almond Eye fame.
Kunieda, as it happens, also oversaw Sixpence’s career until he retired from training at age 70 in March and the horse was moved to Tanaka’s barn.
Tanaka, 40, has the rare distinction of receiving a highly-tried five-year-old from a trainer of notable skill and esteem and getting the elite level result that had so long eluded the horse.
Sixpence was an unbeaten three-year-old classic prospect when he went to the G1 Tokyo Yushun in May 2024, but finished ninth. He bounced back with two wins and was then a rising star four-year-old when he lined up for the G1 Osaka Hai in April 2025, only to be beaten in seventh, then 12th in the Yasuda Kinen.
Last autumn/winter he was even switched to dirt: second in the Jpn1 Mile Championship Nambu Hai at Morioka, then down the field in the G1 Champions Cup and again in the G1 February Stakes.
On the face of it, Sixpence seemed to be stuck in a rut when he was seventh at his first start for Tanaka, but in reality, he was a horse just coming back to himself. That effort in a blanket finish to the G2 Milers Cup put him spot on for the G1 Yasuda Kinen and the long-awaited fulfilment of his potential.
“I have not had long to get to know Sixpence, so I do not have a full understanding of the horse yet,” Tanaka said. “But I feel like the horse’s condition tends to have a lot of highs and lows, and this is what Sakae Kunieda, his former trainer, told me. So, I am not sure if Sixpence can give his best performance on Sunday but personally, I believe he is in great condition.”
Tanaka, like Take, has already experienced the thrill of success at Deauville. It came this weekend last year when Tanaka nailed his first overseas win with Alohi Alii in the G2 Prix Guillaume d’Ornano.
“This is Sixpence’s first time abroad but he’s travelled well and he’s training really well,” Tanaka said. “He galloped on the main turf course (Thursday) and he was in good order after that. He’s been very relaxed. Deauville suits him.
“He won the Yasuda Kinen last time and this is the first time at the straight mile but we believe he will handle this, that’s why we brought him here. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Sixpence has the Ryo Takei-trained Strauss for company, both being under Carrot Farm ownership. Strauss – Brazilian ace Joao Moreira’s mount – is well-travelled, his last three starts being in Australia, Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, with Abu Dhabi yielding a win, but he has never made his mark in Group 1.
“Travelling with Sixpence helped him a great deal because he does not like travelling alone,” Takei said.
“Strauss also worked on Deauville’s straight course on Thursday. I thought the track was very good and even less firm than might have been expected given the weather conditions.”
Europe’s standout miler Bow Echo was a shock retirement this week and that leaves a fairly open, albeit competitive contest. A good time, perhaps, for Japan to send across a Yasuda Kinen winner to try to end the long wait for win number two.
And if Sixpence can do it, a first Jacques le Marois win for Take would be some payback for him taking Tanaka under his wing in a foreign land all those years ago. ∎
