Tales from the Crib: Derma Sotogake
Apr 24, 2023
With special thanks to Shadai Farm's Tsubasa Sato for obtaining comments and photos
The powerhouse of Shadai recently won the first jewel of Japan’s Triple Crown with exciting homebred Sol Oriens, an unbeaten colt who has all the qualities to complete the classic sweep. Now another Shadai-bred colt, Derma Sotogake, aims to score an historic victory for Japan in the Kentucky Derby (G1), the first jewel in the U.S. Triple Crown.
This is the second straight year that Teruya Yoshida’s storied operation has furnished a Derby contender. Shadai’s 2022 hope, Crown Pride, booked his ticket the same way that Derma Sotogake did – by shipping to Dubai and winning the UAE Derby (G2) on World Cup night. While Crown Pride races in Yoshida’s colors, Derma Sotogake was sold as a yearling. But both are products of decades-long Shadai breeding.
Astute purchases from abroad, most famously 1989 Kentucky Derby-winning Hall of Famer Sunday Silence, laid the foundation. Yet Shadai’s ongoing cultivation of those lines has been the key to success.
Derma Sotogake embodies this craftsmanship. He is the son of American import Mind Your Biscuits and Amour Poesie, herself a homebred whose Shadai parents were the offspring of imports.
Mind Your Biscuits stands at the Shadai Stallion Station on the island of Hokkaido, the heart of the Japanese breeding industry. Shadai is also home to Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Drefong, sire of Continuar, Japan’s other 2023 Derby contender in the main body of the field; $5.6 million-earner Hot Rod Charlie, the 2021 Derby runner-up who entered stud this year; and fellow U.S. expats Bricks and Mortar, the 2019 Horse of the Year; Nadal, a leading hope for the 2020 Derby until sustaining a career-ending injury; and New Year’s Day, sire of champion Maximum Security.
That doesn’t even begin to describe Shadai’s all-star roster, featuring Japanese celebrities Kitasan Black (sire of the world’s top-rated horse, Equinox, as well as the aforementioned Sol Oriens); Lord Kanaloa (sire of the all-time great Almond Eye); Maurice; and Triple Crown champions Contrail and Orfevre (sire of the 2021 Breeders’ Cup Distaff [G1] heroine, Marche Lorraine).
Derma Sotogake’s dam (mother), Amour Poesie, is by one of Sunday Silence’s champion sons, Neo Universe. A Shadai homebred out of a British-bred mare, Neo Universe won the first two jewels of the Japanese Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), in 2003. Amour Poesie’s dam, Happy Request, reflects a similar approach of crossing European and American strains. Happy Request is by Tony Bin, winner of Europe’s prestigious Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1), and out of an American mare, April Sonnett.
Shadai acquired April Sonnett for $70,000 at the 1989 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale. At that time a young eight-year-old broodmare, she was offered by Three Chimneys Farm in foal to champion Slew o’Gold. The resulting foal, El Reina, won three races on turf in Japan and became a stakes producer.
April Sonnett went on to foal even more prolific daughters, the stakes-placed Queen Sonnet and the aforementioned Happy Request. A maiden winner on dirt who later won five times on turf, Happy Request produced winners on both surfaces. Her two “black type” stakes winners were dirt performers, Grade 3 hero Million Disk and Amour Poesie.
Amour Poesie likely imparts quite a bit of stamina to her son Derma Sotogake, since her signature win came in the about 1 5/16-mile Kanto Oaks at Kawasaki. You can watch her replay at this link (she’s number 7 in the black and yellow striped silks, stalking in second before taking over on the backstretch and drawing off down the lane).
Although she stayed in training at four, Amour Poesie failed to hit the board in six outings. She retired at the end of 2014 with a record of three wins, and one second, from 17 career starts. Her best efforts were concentrated in a narrow window of time, March to June of her sophomore season.
Amour Poesie’s first four foals include three minor winners and another who is still trying for that elusive score. Few could have predicted that her fifth foal would become a high-profile globetrotter, let alone a Kentucky Derby contender.
Visiting the new stallion Mind Your Biscuits in his first year at stud, Amour Poesie delivered her chestnut colt on April 28, 2020.
The foal initially had a willful temperament, according to the head of the stable, Mr. Hori.
“At first, he was not easy to handle because he was impatient and irritated,” Hori said, adding that the colt’s caretaker was “worried” as a result.
“But as he grew, he took to handling easily. I thought he is smart, and his learning ability is very high. His body was strong.”
Hori thought that he appeared the type to “go well in the future,” although not envisioning just how well.
“My impression was he can reasonably run,” Hori said, “but I did not think he joins Saudi, Dubai, and Kentucky Derby as well.”
As a yearling, the colt was prepared for the Japan Racing Horse Association’s (JRHA) Select Sale.
Stable staff member Nakamoto, who worked with him at that stage, also commented on the yearling’s smart demeanor and physical scope.
“He was easy to handle. He always looked around when taking photos. I thought he has the acute power of observation.”
Noting the colt’s “well-built physique,” Nakamoto revealed that “his weight was over 430kg (about 950 pounds) before the Select Sale.”
Nakamoto likewise didn’t imagine that the colt would qualify for the Kentucky Derby one day. Neither did the buyers out in force at the JRHA Sale in July 2021, where he was among the bargains in a 248-strong yearling catalog.
The colt was sold for ¥18 million, or about $162,163, according to the JRHA website. That was well below the average price (¥51.4 million) and the ¥35-million median for the yearling session.
Hiroyuki Asanuma, a longtime owner for more than 30 years, had just bought his best horse – by far. Asanuma’s runners are identifiable by their “Derma” names, a reference to his profession as a dermatologist. “Sotogake” is “one of the decisive factors in sumo wrestling,” according to the name explanation on jra.jp (as translated by Google). Japanese racing authority Graham Pavey offers a more detailed description:
DERMA SOTOGAKE meaning
'DERMA' = Dermatology. Owner Hiroyuki Asanuma a Dermatologist, all his horses race with the prefix 'DERMA'
SOTOGAKE = Sumo manoeuvre. Place one foot on the outside of the opponent's leg and break center of gravity to knock him downpic.twitter.com/n0yOQwhLne
— Graham Pavey (@LongBallToNoOne) March 30, 2023
Until Derma Sotogake came along, Asanuma’s most accomplished colorbearer was Derma Louvre. The still-active seven-year-old has won two stakes and placed in nine others so far, including a near-miss at the Grade 3 level. Derma Louvre himself competed on the Japan Road to the 2019 Kentucky Derby, placing second in the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun and third in the Hyacinth S. He also tried the UAE Derby, where he finished fourth.
Derma Sotogake would succeed where “Louvre” came up short. His trainer, veteran horseman Hidetaka Otonashi, has scored 949 career wins on the Japan Racing Association circuit (as of April 24). That total puts him second among active JRA trainers.
After taking a few starts to break his maiden, Derma Sotogake has improved to win four of his last five. He romped in a Chukyo maiden, rallied to nip Continuar in an allowance at Hanshin, and finished with a flourish to capture the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on the Japan Road. Derma Sotogake’s winning streak was snapped with a third in the Feb. 25 Saudi Derby (G3), but that turned out to be an excellent tune-up for the UAE Derby.
Drawn on the rail at Meydan, new rider Christophe Lemaire executed a tactical coup by sending Derma Sotogake to the lead, and he responded with a dominant 5 1/2-length decision in fast time. Familiar foe Continuar was left further behind in third, a deficit he’ll try to erase at Churchill Downs.
Derma Sotogake’s tactical flexibility will give Lemaire plenty of options in the Kentucky Derby. You might say that he’ll employ a maneuver to knock out the competition.
Photo credits:
Foal photo copyright Shadai Farm
Yearling photo from May 2021 copyright Shadai Farm
Sales photos copyright Japan Racing Horse Association
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