American Pharoah to shuttle to the Shizunai Stallion Station in 2026

Coolmore Stud have announced that American Pharoah, the 2015 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year, will shuttle to the Shizunai Stallion Station in Japan for the 2026 breeding season in a partnership with the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association (JBBA).

The eight-time Grade 1-winning son of Pioneerof The Nile will return to his base at Coolmore America’s Ashford Stud in July 2026, where he stood the 2025 northern hemisphere breeding season at a fee of $45,000. 

American Pharoah has already made a significant impact in Japan, siring 58 winners from just 88 runners at an impressive strike-rate of 65 per cent. Among them are nine black-type scorers, most notably Cafe Pharoah, a dual winner of the Grade 1 February Stakes.

Overall, the stallion has had 968 starters for 618 winners at a strike rate of 63.8 per cent, with 61 of those being winners at stakes level at a rate of 6.3 per cent.

His top performers include multiple Australian Group 1 winner Riff Rocket, the aforementioned Cafe Pharoah, Beholder Mile scorer As Time Goes By and French Group 1 winner Above The Curve.

“We have worked very closely shuttling stallions with the JBBA in the past and are delighted that their members will now have access to his bloodline,” Ashford Stud manager Dermot Ryan said.

“There has been interest from Japan for the past number of years in purchasing the horse, and we’ve come up with a compromise that suits both parties. Pharoah will be accompanied to Japan by his groom from Ashford.”

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