3 minute read

The world of racing has lost one of its most impressive representatives with the passing of Deep Impact.

Deep Impact was foaled on 25 March 2002, the son of the legendary Sunday Silence and Wind In Her Hair who was also a G1 winner.

He won 12 of his 14 starts, 9 of which were at G1 level, but it was not the wins in themselves even though they included several records, it was the way in which he won.  He would settle towards the rear of the field and then at around the 800m mark his jockey Yutaka Take would ease him out and he would gradually tick off all the opposition until he stormed clear to the line.

The one "blot" on his career was the 2006 Arc de Triomphe in France.  We were there that day and it was obvious that the horse was not the same horse we had seen in Japan.  He finished third in the race and it was then discovered that he had been under medical treatment and that the drug he had been administered was on the banned list.  This would have to go down to a "lost in translation" situation but at the same time connections would have felt obliged to run him as over 6000 Japanese had descended on Paris let alone the watchers at home.

Nevertheless he was back to his imperious best in the Japan Cup in late November and then went on to win the Arima Kinen in December, the race he had lost to Heart's Cry the year before, before retiring from racing and pursuing his second "career" at Shaddai Stallion Station and going on to be champion sire on 9 occasions.

Watching him race was one of those "poetry in motion" experiences, and seeing him at Shaddai with his own house, his own guard and his own guard dog he looked to be a happy horse.

He will be missed.