Queen of Japan

Queen of Japan

We meet the wonderful mare Deirdre and her enthusiastic connections on the Newmarket leg of their racing world tour Photography by Laura Green

DEIRDRE KNOWS HER OWN MIND and she certainly knows her own routine, it is one that can’t be broken no matter where in the world the global traveller happens to be. Each morning her faithful work rider Yute, who has been with the mare since she arrived in Mitsuru Hashida’s stables from the JRHA Select Sale as a yearling in 2015, tacks her up and spends quality time in the stable with her; her current abode being her British lodgings at Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Abingdon Stables.

Yute gets on board and the pair go for a bit of a wander around – and while the Deirdre team has been on the British stint of their unofficial world tour, it has meant she enjoys a pleasant walk straight out onto the Heath. There she will walk, stop, look around, watch other strings as they trot past on their way to work, then walk again. It is all very relaxing and Yute lets his lady essentially do exactly what she wants. This goes on for about a half hour, and has been repeated whereever in the world she is.

She then heads back to the outdoor menege for a trot before joining the back of ChappleHyam’s string for a second trot in the indoor ride. After all of this, on the day we visited, she finally went for a routine canter up Warren Hill.

Following in Deirdre’s attendance are two more of her faithful and adoring humans: brother and sister Yoshi and Seiko Hashida, racing manager and assistant trainer for their father and owner Toji Morita.

“Every time Yute is with Deirdre he doesn’t make her do things,” says Seiko. “Deirdre understands all the things Yute wants, and he understands everything she wants.”

This intimate understanding, as well as Deirdre’s own ability to take everything in her stride, has been integral to helping her become 2019’s most celebrated international traveller.

She has been in Dubai, Hong Kong, Britain since May, has had a day in Ireland and will probably be heading to France in October for the Arc, and then possibly onto the Breeders’ Cup in November. It has been some trip for all involved, and culminated in the glorious success at Goodwood when she won the Group 1 Nassau Stakes by a length and a quarter from Mehdaayih, and www.internationalthoroughbred.net 55

her unlucky run in fourth in the QIPCO Irish Champions Stakes. It has been a trip that has been organised on the fly and the Hashidas recognise the part many have played in helping it come together.

Team Deirdre: work rider Yute with Yoshi Hashida

The manager: Seiko Hashida

“We were Dubai in March, and then Hong Kong in April, we were not really planning to come to England and staying for so long,” says Seiko. “In Hong Kong we decided to come to the UK, with help from the International Racing Bureau.

“After her run at Royal Ascot, which was a little disappointing, we decided to stay for Goodwood, but we were not sure how much more we could be away with her.

“But everyone has been so helpful – from the stable team in Dubai to everyone here in Newmarket, Hanako Varian, who is Japanese, been especially so. It is very important to make a good atmosphere in the stable so that Deirdre is happy as well.”

“But as she got older she was getting better and better, and after each race she improved, then we thought she was going to be special

It was during the time in Dubai, that the Hashidas picked up some useful insider knowledge about travelling and staying in Newmarket.

“We learned a lot in Dubai and there we met Paddy Bell, who used to ride Black Caviar. We were always together, even though we are from different countries and he told us a lot about how things work in Newmarket,” says Seiko, before Yoshi adds: “Maybe the biggest problem for us in Dubai was the price of beer! In fact, everything is very expensive – but if you are there for the invitational races at least we can get treated to a very good breakfast!”

Hashida Snr, busy at home in charge of his 60-strong stable at Ritto training centre, is kept fully aware of his star mare’s daily activities via daily reports and updates from his children, alongside videos of her working. He has travelled over for her races, alongside her owner’s grandson who has taken the trip to represent his grandfather.

Hashida Snr and Morita selected Deirdre from a catalogue of 238 yearlings at the 2015 Select Sale.

“They liked her good conformation with competent thoracic capacity, so he recommended to the owner that she is good for a racehorse, as well as for a broodmare in the future,” says Seiko.

“He mainly said he liked the good and strong conformation she had, and, even at her young age, she had a big rib cage with plenty of heart room.

“The owner was looking for a good racehorse, but also for a good mother-to-be for the future.”

AS MORE OF A LATER DEVELOPING type with middle-distance ability, her talent was perhaps not immediately obvious but she still managed to win her third start as a two-year-old and then finished third in the Group 3 Kyoto Sho Fantasy Stakes, giving some hints of what was to come. At three, she finished sixth in the Group 1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1,000 Guineas) before winning next time out and then taking fourth in May’s Group 1 Yushin Himba (the Japanese Oaks).

She was then given a deserved break – by the end of May she had already run five times as a three-year-old, having also had four starts as a juvenile between October and December.

“Yute at first thought she could be or three times winner. In the spring of her three-yearold when heading to Classic, she had a tough season, short gaps between races, we thought it was very tiring for her and she is better with a good gap between races,” says Hashida.

The trainer: Toki Hashida

“But as she got older she has got better and better, and after each race she improved, then

in the second-half of her three-year-old year we thought she was going to be special.”

She returned that August to win three races on the bounce: a standard race at Sapparo worth the equivalent of £100,000, the Group 3 Shion Stakes at Nakayama worth £246,000 before she collected her first Group 1 – the Shuka Sho, a victory which added over £600,000 to her prize haul. She was put away for the year after a down-the-field run in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup.

Her first visit to Meydan came as a four-year-old when she finished third in the Group 1 Dubai Turf, and she returned home to back up with a Group 3 and a Group 2 with the two runs spaced out over four months, a differing approach taken with her training regime. Her last run of the year came in December when second in the Hong Kong Cup (G1) behind Glorious Forever.

She returned to Japan over the winter before embarking on this year’s world tour which produced a Group 1 fourth back at Meydan in the Dubai Turf, a sixth at Sha Tin in the QEII Cup (G1) and her sixth in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1).

It was at this point that the Japanese media coverage, writing for its huge, racing-mad audience, started to question the validity of campaign.

“There has lots of interest in Japan and media interest is high,” says Yoshi. “However, some have been negative too – just before the Nassau some were saying that as we had lost three times overseas and we should go back to Japan!”

Luckily for Deirdre’s team her owner Morita, who has a further 20 horses in his ownership, including broodmares and youngstock, has taken a very broadminded attitude to the trip, an especially worthy attribute when considering the possibility of the huge prize-money haul that he has left behind in Japan.

“We are really fortunate to have an owner who appreciated the challenge more than the money,” says Seiko. “He recognises that Deirdre had already earned a lot of money for so it meant that he could be adventurous and do something different.

Deirdre as a yearling at the JRHA Select Sale

Photo courtesy of JRHA

Working up Warren Hill

“We are all happy to have achieved that so maybe any following Japanese horses can go further than this,” rationalises the Hashidas rightly proud of their achievements and for taking the first Japanese horse to run in Ireland.

“If we had gone back home, where was the challenge? We have taken time on this trip for Deirdre to acclimatise everywhere. Success is very important and hopefully it will encourage more Japanese horses to Europe. She is making the way for other Japanese; proving that Japanese can do it.”

Of the frustrating run in Ireland, the team is magnanious in defeat.

“Even though Deirdre didn’t win we are so delighted to have shown how good she is and the quality of Japanese racing,” says Hashida. “It has been a historic journey for Japanese racing and we are delighted to have taken it.” Of the future, an Arc quest is a possibility and, of course, the Breeders’ Cup is out there too, while a 2020 campaign has yet to be decided.

“Deirdre is so adaptable and takes everything in her stride, it is so important in a travelling horse

“Another year? That is a good question!” says Yoshi. “She has had a very good season for her and us too, but it has been long for Deirdre so we will see how she is before we decide what to do next.

“She has raced all year from spring in Japan to Dubai, Hong Kong and in Britain, we need to think very carefully.

“She obviously is very promising as a broodmare and her owner is keen to breed from her and is increasing his breeding interests, but no decision has been made yet – Deirdre and Yute will tell us.”

But thoughts are of the future, and the team has been to visit those star Newmarketbased stallions befit of the Queen of Japan – Dubawi, Kingman and Frankel. The team has reported back, each with a different favourite and selection!

One thing for certain, the British Champion Flat jockey elect Oisin Murphy has successfully strengthened his ties to Japan before he heads East again for a repeat four-month winter stint.

“Before Oisin rode Deirdre at Goodwood, she was getting a bit excited, a bit jiggy in the parade ring,” smiles Seiko. “In Japanese he said, ‘Please walk, please Dierdre!’ It was funny that, in the parade ring, heading to racec and he was speaking in Japanese!

Hashida adds: “He is a lovely guy, a gentleman. We had a party after the Nassau, and he came along. Usually, if a jockey comes to the party, he is going to be the star, the centre of attention, but he was just part of us.” As the summer turns to autumn so the Hashidas are beginning to think of their return home to Japan after their conquering trip of the global racing world, also mindful that Deirdre’s doting work rider has been a long way from home for a long time.

“We won’t decide on the race options in a hurry, but Yute has been away from his family for half a year already, though he is keen that we work out the best opportunities for her and, if that means staying longer, he is happy for that.

“It has been a great journey so far. Her Group 1 win was such a big effort, but she has never been tired, or exhausted, we are so delighted to have such a beautiful and strong filly. Deirdre is so adaptable and takes everything in her stride, it is so important in a travelling horse.”

The future is exciting for the team as they take in the final Group 1 options, and then start to ponder to consider the second stage of Deirdre’s career.