Sunrise. Northern farm stable pan to horses

Music

00:00

Jockeys on horses at Northern Farms

MCLEOD:  In the Land of the Rising Sun, this is the home base for a racing empire with world conquest in its sights.

0:14

Here on the Japanese Island of Hokkaido is Northern Farms, spread over more than five hundred hectares -- a horse breeding, training and marketing machine.

00:27

Yoshida watches horses run on track

This morning, Katsumi Yoshida the boss of Northern Farms watches as his latest models are put through their paces on the 1800 metres indoor uphill track.

YOSHIDA:  If the best stallions, the best mares, and the best people

00:42

Yoshida

work together, I can make good horses.  I have to have all of those things with no exceptions.  And then I think it's acceptable if I get one really good horse out of a hundred tries.

00:59

File footage. Melbourne cup race

[race commentary]

01:12

Yoshida being presented with Cup

MCLEOD: That's Katsumi Yoshida accepting the premier horse racing trophy in Australia. Delta Blues the winner and stable mate Pop Rock in second place.

01:23

McLeod at Northern Farms

In Japan, the remarkable feat did not make headlines but in this part of the country it’s a crowning achievement.

01:37

McLeod greets Yoshida

Yoshida:  Oh nice to see you.

McLeod:  Good to see you.

MCLEOD: Katsumi Yoshida is the head of a racing empire conservatively

01:45

Trophy cabinet/Yoshida picks up Cup

valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. And then there's the trophy cabinet.

Yoshida:  This is the Melbourne cup! Such a nice cup, I will take you – gold, gold, gold.

McLeod:  This is in pride of place at the moment.

Yoshida:  Shining.

01:53

Yoshida

YOSHIDA:  Of course I was very pleased with the win.  That horse race

02:15

Yoshida

was very advanced and very well organised.  It was a festival of horse racing! It was a national festival!  We should have that kind of race in Japan.

02:21

Jockeys and horses Northern Farms

Music

02:39

MCLEOD: For purse, prestige and popularity there’s no race in Japan to match the Melbourne Cup. But winning is by no means a novel experience for this thoroughbred family.

02:43

Music

02:55

Photos. Zenya and sons

MCLEOD: Yoshida inherits a strong racing pedigree. His father Zenya brought the family to Hokkaido in the 1950s to set up his Shadai farms. Zenya's sons – Katsumi included – have carried on the family tradition.

02:58

Yoshida

YOSHIDA:  Since I was a child my father had brought me up saying I should run a farm and I was riding horses.  I had been in the game without thinking about it, I don't think I could have done any other job.  It was inevitable.

03:19

Horse exercising in bath

MCLEOD: If you're thinking this is a story of romance and triumph, think again. While racing is in Katsumi Yoshida's blood, it's business that keeps it pumping.

03:39

Winning the Melbourne Cup was a calculated campaign for a man who's come to dominate Japan's big-money racing industry.

03:52

YOSHIDA: It had to be a horse that could run a long distance.  Of course

04:03

Yoshida

it had to be strong and it had to be able to win.  It is difficult to choose the right horse with those conditions, but I had two at the same stable by chance.

04:09

Jockeys and horses in snow

Music

04:20

MCLEOD: Thousands of furlongs away from Northern Farms, this is the hub of Japan's horse racing industry. The national training centre at Shiga, in central Japan. Every morning, two thousand

04:32

Shiga training track

horses turn out for training.

04:44

While it’s the owners who provide the horse flesh,

04:52

Sumii watches horses

it’s the trainers who search for the winning formula. It was Katsuhiko Sumii who came up with the plan for waging war on the Melbourne Cup.

04:55

Sumii

SUMII:   I said immediately, let's do it.  It was something we were saying every year we wanted to do.

05:06

Sumii in stables

MCLEOD: Katsuhiko Sumii set about developing a winning strategy for Delta Blues and Pop Rock. They might not have been the red hot favourites, but he made sure they didn’t burn out in the month before the big race.

05:17

SUMII:  I found out that it was going to be very hot for them in quarantine, because it was so dry in Melbourne, but there wasn't an air conditioner. I organised an electric fan and as many devices as possible to control the temperature.

05:34

Sumii

I felt joy with a sense of achievement but on the other hand I felt fear because I thought winning first and second would hurt the pride of Australia and its people who love horse racing.  I wondered whether it was OK or not.

05:44

File footage. Melbourne Cup race

COMMENTATOR:  And the Melbourne Cup takes on a whole new dimension yet again, as the Japanese horses run one, two in the champion stayers test of the world.

06:24

Sumii

SUMII:   I had this feeling on one side of, oh, what a terrible thing we had done.  Then at the same time I felt very happy with a country that loves horse racing so much, celebrated with us, and thought well of us.

06:34

Jockeys after Melbourne Cup

MCLEOD: Katsuhiko Sumii’s reservations about the reaction of the Flemington crowd stem from his insights into the demeanour of Japan’s race-goers.

SUMII:   If the same thing (a foreign horse winning) happened in Japan,

06:52

Sumii

there wouldn't be any celebration.  People would lose their voice and pay attention to the defeated horses.  There wouldn't be any atmosphere of cheering or applause for the (foreign) winner.

07:08

Horse exercising in pool

MCLEOD: Today Sumii is the only trainer in the entire country with a Melbourne Cup winner in his stable.

07:30

McLeod and Sunni with Delta Blues

MCLEOD: Has he been a bit more confident?

Sumii: He's haughty.  Not confident, but haughty.  He was confident even before the good result.  Now he thinks he's even better than humans.

07:39

Japanese Racecourse

Music

08:05

MCLEOD: Delta Blues made big news in Australia, but he doesn’t enjoy the cult like following of Japan’s most famous stallion.

08:13

Deep Impact is a national phenomenon. Bred and now owned by none other than Katsumi Yoshida, he’s favourite for today’s Japan Cup.

08:22

Deep Impact - as his name suggests has had a profound influence on racing in Japan appealing to a new breed – young Japanese attracted by his speed, stamina, style and success.

08:35

Okano watching line up

Isao Okano is a racing expert and a prominent member of the Japanese Racing Association.

08:56

Okano

OKANO:   Deep Impact produced a huge impact.  I should say it’s produced a massive impact as if a meteorite hit Mars or another astronomical object in space.

09:04

Running of Japan Cup

[race commentary]

09:18

OKANO: This may be compared with the social phenomena of Japan which is getting rid of long term stagnation and Deep Impact might give the younger  generation hope that the Japanese economy and society might improve.

09:20

[race commentary]

09:47

MCLEOD: Deep Impact is the winner of Japan’s Triple Crown - the country’s three most prestigious races.

09:55

Yoshida takes winner’s stand

Music

10:18

MCLEOD: Today’s result in the Japan Cup doesn't disappoint the crowd or Katsumi Yoshida. He's just spent close to sixty million dollars to buy Deep Impact back from a syndicate of owners -- to bring him home to the centre of the family’s racing empire.

10:25

McLeod with Yoshida

McLeod: Is it possible to put a value on the horses that are kept here?

Yoshida:  Ah.  Difficult but the value is so expensive.  24 – Average 10 million dollars for each horse.

10:47

Horses exercising

Music

11:03

MCLEOD: Soon, Deep Impact will join the roster at the Yoshida family's pride and joy, the Shadai Stallion Stud. Run jointly by Katsumi Yoshida and his brothers, it’s home to some of the most famous horses in Japan.

11:15

Mares grazing

These mares will deliver the next generation for the Yoshida family's production line. And continue the pursuit to make Japan a horse racing superpower.

11:32

Music

11:43

Credits:

Reporter: Shane McLeod

Cameras: Jun Matsuzono

Producer: Ian Altschwager

Research: Yayoi Eguchi

Editor: Garth Thomas

Production Company: ABC Australia, Foreign Correspondent

11:50