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The Werribee International Horse Centre is now at capacity after Japanese stayers Chestnut Coat and Sole Impact landed at Tullamarine Airport on Monday.
The high-class pair have arrived in Melbourne to target some feature staying races during the Spring Racing Carnival, with both holding entries for the Stella Artois Caulfield Cup (2400m) and the Lexus Melbourne Cup (3200m).
Their arrival takes the number of Werribee residents to 32, with all three barns – Newminster, Vintage Crop and Americain – now fully occupied for the first time in history.
Of the two, the Yoshito Yahagi-trained Chestnut Coat would appear to bring the better credentials, having won four races and been placed on six occasions from 17 career starts.
Surprisingly, it took six starts for Chestnut Coat to open his account, but since then the five-year-old has become one of Japan’s most prominent stayers.
Chestnut Coat contested his first Group race in March this year, and made a dazzling debut at that level with a runner-up finish in the Group 2 Nikkei Sho (2500m). One month later, he finished fifth – beaten less than two lengths – in the ultra-competitive Group 1 Tenno Sho (Spring), run over the Melbourne Cup distance of 3200m.
Once he has completed his mandatory quarantine period, Chestnut Coat is likely to build towards the Caulfield Cup in the hope of emulating the feats of Admire Rakti, who in 2014 became the first Japanese horse to win the world’s richest turf handicap over 2400m.
Sole Impact is down the order of entry for the Caulfield Cup, so could instead make his Australian debut in the Geelong Cup on Wednesday, 24 October, with a view to gaining a start in the Melbourne Cup.
Whilst he is yet to register a Stakes win, the son of renowned stallion Deep Impact has been placed in some of Japan’s premier distance races, including last year’s Group 2 Copa Republica Argentina (2500m) and this year’s Group 3 Diamond Stakes (3600m).
He did not show his best form behind Rainbow Line, Cheval Grand and Chestnut Coat in the Group 1 Tenno Sho (3200m) in April, but his most recent run when a fast-finishing fifth in the Group 2 Meguro Kinen (2500m) was highly encouraging.
Trained by Hirofumi Toda, Sole Impact is likely to be ridden on his first Australian assignment by Japanese jockey Ryusei Sakai, who is apprenticed to Ryan Balfour in South Australia.
