Replacing the irreplaceable: who are the heirs to Deep Impact

The death of Deep Impact leaves a gaping hole in the Japanese breeding industry. Much as is the case when any talisman departs the sporting stage, a replacement does tend to appear but it might take some time to identify them.

Sunday Silence, so shrewdly imported by the Yoshida family to the Shadai Stallion Station in the early 1990s, transformed the shape of the nation’s breeding scene and his son Deep Impact has taken on the mantle.

Five of the top ten in last year’s Japanese stallion rankings were from the immediate Sunday Silence line, even if their annual earnings were only half of those gained by the master.

Heart’s Cry, who was pipped to second in the standings by King Kamehameha, inflicted one of Deep Impact’s only two career defeats in the Arima Kinen and also finished third in the King George.

Another Shadai Stallion Station resident, he has sired plenty of useful performers including Woodward and Turf Classic winner Yoshida and Japan Cup hero Cheval Grand but, aged 18, he is already a year older than Deep Impact was.

Heart’s Cry’s son Just A Way, who delivered that staggering performance in winning the 2014 Dubai Duty Free, is showing some promise with his first three-year-olds including Kentucky Derby runner Master Fencer.

Similarly Daiwa Major, who has been used as a Sunday Silence alternative by some breeders and a good source of two-year-old winners, is the same age as Heart’s Cry.

So it may be that a son of Deep Impact emerges as his heir. There are a few consignments of regally-bred youngsters still in the pipeline but several of his first-season sires are beginning to make a bit of a splash.

Deep Impact's son Saxon Warrior is now a Coolmore stallionCredit: Patrick McCann

Kizuna, the Japanese Derby and Prix Niel winner who finished fourth to Treve in the 2013 Arc, was out of the Storm Cat mare Catequil. He has provided four winners and already has a recent Group success to his name after Bien Fait won the Hakodate Nisai Stakes.

There have also been eight juvenile winners for Real Impact, who took the George Ryder Stakes in Australia and is a half-brother to QEII Cup hero Neorealism.

We will have to wait even longer to measure the prowess of some of Deep Impact’s younger sons. Real Steel, who started at Shadai only this season, ought to have everything going for him as his hard-knocking efforts included a victory in the Dubai Turf, while his dam was a grand-daughter of the mighty Miesque.

Satono Diamond, Deep Impact’s highest-earning son who seemed to have gone off the boil by the time of Enable’s first Arc, is another new to the stud.

There will also be hopes that Saxon Warrior, Deep Impact’s most recognisable son for European viewers after his triumph in the 2,000 Guineas, can show himself off at Coolmore after being introduced at €30,000.

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