Deep Impact set to conquor Europe
Thoroughbredinternet.com - 1 May 2006
MORE than 90,000 people turned out at Kyoto on Sunday to cheer home local superstar Deep Impact in the Group 1 Tenno Sho as he led home a Sunday Silence trifecta.
Deep Impact had smashed the track record by a second with his time of 3:13.4 beating the previous mark of 3:14.4 registered by Mayano Top Gun when winning this race in 1997. He clocked 44.8 seconds for the final 800 metres and 33.5 seconds for the last 600 metres.
We touched recently on the impact of Japanese-trained horses abroad and Deep Impact is set to make his mark when he campaigns in Europe this season along his nemesis, Heart’s Cry. And, putting aside current considerations at Churchill Downs and the looming Guineas weekend, Deep Impact is a horse worthy of substantial consideration should be venture abroad.
The 2005 horse of the year announced his presence this season when he won the Hanshin Daishoten over 3000 metres at Osaka in mid-March, recording a soft 3-3/12 length win.
On that occasion, Deep Impact displayed his trademark acceleration to lend weight to Yutaka Take¹s assertion that he seems to “fly” rather than run. Alas, he could not quite pin down Heart’s Cry (last seen beating Collier Hill in the Dubai Sheema Classic in March) in the Arima Kinen (Gr 1) and it remains the only blot on Deep Impact’s copybook.
The race that last year attracted Makybe Diva has been won by significant Japanese horses including Ten Point , Symboli Rudolf , Mejiro McQueen , Biwa Hayahide , and in the past decade, T M Opera O and Special Week, who also performed on an international stage.
Deep Impact, the 3YO Triple Crown winner, was sent out at prohibitive 1-10 odds and simply toyed with his rivals despite missing the start and settling last.
Entering the back straight for the second time in the two mile race, Deep Impact was allowed to make ground and strode forward with alarming speed to roll around the field from five wide and take command rounding the turn.
Beaten only once in 10 appearances, Deep Impact is out of Alzao mare Wind In Her Hair, winner of the Aral Pokal in Germany as well as finishing runner-up in the Epsom Oaks behind Balanchine. His female family is essentially European, his third-dam the 1974 Prix de Diane winner Highclere. Deep Impact’s granddam Burghclere is a three-quarter sister to Height Of Fashion, the dam of Nashwan, Unfuwain and Nayef to name but three of her six stakeswinners.