Equinox may be retired but 2024 could signal another ground-breaking year for Japan

I read with interest the Racing Post's Big Read on Sunday where eight of the sport's figures gave their hopes and fears for 2024. The reality will lie somewhere in the middle of it all, but if anything is guaranteed, surely it is that Japan will have another excellent year, and a tantalising bit of history could be made too. 

Such is the power of the Far East racing nation, the retirement of its pre-eminent star Equinox – who will stand for a record-breaking opening fee – is unlikely to trouble its relentless rise, and there is the possibility a powerful set of connections will abandon Tokyo in favour of Epsom in 2024.

Yoshito Yahagi masterminded Japan's first Breeders' Cup winners with Loves Only You and then Marche Lorraine on a magical Del Mar day in 2021 and he won the 2023 Saudi Cup, the world's richest race, with the breathtaking front-runner Panthalassa.