Over the past 25 years, horses based in Japan have increasingly expressed their strength on the international stage, winning top races in Hong Kong, the Middle East, Europe, America, and Australia.

Especially in this past decade, Japanese horses have won Group 1 races around the world almost every year and, in 2022, last year’s Japanese Derby winner Shahryar took the Dubai Sheema Classic, while the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) contender Panthalassa shared the Dubai Turf glory with Lord North in March.

One of the biggest reasons Japanese horses have dominated the global premier races is the impact of the prolific stallion Sunday Silence, who elevated Japan’s bloodstock to a new level and became the key to Japan being able to develop into an international racing nation. His sons and daughters dominated in the domestic races.

Following his death in 2002 and, with many of his sons becoming significant sires, Japanese breeders became very keen to make a big investment high quality broodmares. This investment has been showcased in Katsumi Yoshida’s multi-million-dollar spending spree all over the globe this fall.

Besides building up the pedigree of the Japanese thoroughbred, there are other factors–not only the elite training facilities in the Japan Racing Association and other constantly improving privately operated training farms, but also the skills of the Japanese rider has advanced considerably. There has also been increase in the various kinds of equipment that horsemen use to train the horses.

One of the 14 Japanese candidates for the 2022 LONGINES Hong Kong International Races, Meikei Yell, a four-year-old filly by Mikki Isle, uses draw reins when training. 

Draw reins are riding tools which can help teach the horses to stay straight and balanced by maintaining extra contact with the bits while they are ridden. Meikei Yell has been using them for the past year.

“She had great speed from an early stage in her development, but that speed and her physical did not match, causing resistance and made her lose her balance,” said trainer Hidenori Take. “So, I decided to use draw reins to get her topline in the correct position.”

Recently, there are many riders at both JRA and training farms that have a lot of experience in other equestrian disciplines. Even when training their racehorses now, they will ride in circles and do figure of eights. They do dressage flatwork to increase flexibility and engage hind legs, as well as doing shoulder-in and travers to maintain good balance and be in self-carriage. They have also taken to implementing the use of various kind of bits to best control their horses based on the needs of the individual.

When Take was asked about not being allowed to use draw reins in Hong Kong, he said: “I was a bit worried about not using her usual tack while training here, but she galloped nicely.”

Meikei Yell has been ridden by jockey Kenichi Ikezoe in her last six starts since the G1 Sprinters Stakes (1200m) in 2021. However, James McDonald is booked on the filly in the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint (1200m), replacing an injured Ikezoe who had dedicated a lot of time in taming her.

“I feel sorry for Ikezoe not being able to come and ride her. I had a brief chat with James regarding her temperament and other characteristics before the gallop this morning (Wednesday, 7 December), and James seemed to understand and get the feel of her. I am exciting to see how the pair perform on Sunday,” Take said.

McDonald said after the gallop: “I am very happy with her. She gave me an excellent feel.”