Lord Kanaloa

Godolphin homebred Tower of London (Jpn) (Raven's Pass) and Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), two of the best sprinters the country has to offer, go head-to-head for the third time in their last four appearances in Sunday's G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) at Chukyo Racecourse. Group 1-placed over a mile as a juvenile, Tower of London has amassed an imposing resume over 1200-1400m in the last year or so, having set course records when taking out the G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup (1400m in 1:19.4) and the G2 Centaur S....

Five months after his death at the age of 17, Deep Impact (Jpn) lodged his ninth consecutive sires' championship in Japan in 2019, with his 244 winners contributing to progeny earnings of ¥7,773,484,000 (£54.5m/€64.3m). It will be no surprise to see his name in the top spot for a number of years to come, closing in on the record of his sire Sunday Silence, who was champion sire in Japan 14 times, from 1995 to 2008. Deep Impact's similar dominance is all the more profound considering that his position in...

In the space of a fortnight, Shadai Stallion Station lost its two flagship stallions, Deep Impact (Jpn) on July 30, and King Kamehameha (Jpn) on Aug.10. The pair won back-to-back runnings of the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) in 2004 and 2005. A year older than Deep Impact at 18, King Kamehameha had been pensioned earlier this year and his legacy at stud was outlined by Kelsey Riley in Saturday's TDN. Losing two such heavyweights in the same year is doubtless a blow to Shadai but in Japan's stallion table for...