Japan Racing
11’ 50”
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 |