Do Deuce Encapsulates the Rise of Japanese Breeding

The rise of Japanese breeding to the very pinnacle of international bloodstock—illustrated by the position of Equinox (JPN) as head of the World Best Racehorse Rankings for 2023—has primarily been facilitated by two factors. One well documented was the importation of Halo's son Sunday Silence. The other, less dramatic but no less important, has been the relentless acquisition of top-class racemares. Most recently, those two dynamics are apparent in the pedigree of Do Deuce (JPN), who produced a thrilling display to capture the Autumn Tenno Sho (Emperor's Cup). For most of the 10-furlong event, Do Deuce looked a very unlikely winner, and he still had only one in the 15-horse field behind him with a quarter-mile to run. From there, however, he unleashed a furious closing effort that saw him home first by 1 1/4 lengths. The final time was 1:57.3 and the late fractions were remarkable: the last half-mile run in :45.5 and the last three furlongs in :33.7, with Do Deuce closing the final three panels in an even more astonishing 32.50—the fastest closing 600 meters run in a Japan Racing Association group 1 stakes. With his Tenno Sho victory, Do Deuce achieved the rare feat of capturing a group 1 event in four consecutive years. The champion of his generation at 2, he was unbeaten in three starts at that age, which included the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes (G1). Do Deuce won only once in five outings at 3, but that victory came in the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby, G1). He also tried overseas opposition at the end of that year but could only finish fourth in the Prix Niel (G2) and 19th in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), likely unsuited by the prevailing soft ground. Last year, Do Deuce opened his campaign with a success in the Kyoto Kinen (G2) in February but wasn't seen in action again until October, when he ran unplaced in the Tenno Sho Autumn and fourth in the Japan Cup (G1), before ending the year with a win in the Arima Kinen Grand Prix (G1). This term, he was fifth in the Dubai Turf (G1) in his seasonal opener, and in his only other start was sixth in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1), run back in June. Do Deuce is by the deceased Heart's Cry, a Sunday Silence son who did his best work on the international stage. Domestically, Heart's Cry was among best of his crop at 3 in Japan, when he won the Kyoto Shimbun Hai (G2) and took second to Kingmambo's son King Kamehameha in the Tokyo Yushun. In 2005 he earned honors as champion older horse in Japan, defeating the year-younger Deep Impact in the Arima Kinen, and taking second in the Japan Cup to the European-trained Alkaased. Heart's Cry made only three starts at 5, but one of those brought him to international notice after winning the Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) by 4 1/4 lengths from European challenger Collier Hill, with the great mare Ouija Board back in fourth. Off that effort, and a third in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (G1) in England later in the season, he was rated second on the year-end World Thoroughbred Rankings, a pound below the legendary Australian mare Makybe Diva. As a sire, Heart's Cry is known in the United States as sire of the versatile Yoshida (JPN), who took the Woodward Stakes (G1) on dirt and the Turf Classic Stakes (G1T). Overall, he's been represented by 68 stakes winners, 12 of them grade 1 that besides Do Deuce and Yoshida include: 2019 Japan Horse of the Year Lys Gracieux; 2014 champion older horse Just a Way; 2014 Japanese Derby winner One and Only; Nuovo Record, who captured the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks, G1); Cheval Grand and Suave Richard, both successful in the Japan Cup; Continuous (JPN), winner of the 2023 St Leger Stakes (G1), the third leg of the English Triple Crown; and in Australia, the 2014 Caulfield Cup (G1) victor, Admire Rakti. Do Deuce's dam, Dust and Diamonds, was acquired by Katsumi Yoshida for $1 million at the 2016 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale carrying a filly by Pioneerof the Nile. She had previously been purchased as a broodmare prospect by Borges Torrealba Holdings for $900,000 at Fasig-Tipton's 2012 The November Sale. At the track, Dust and Diamonds proved to be one of the best runners by her sire, Vindication, an undefeated champion 2-year-old colt by Seattle Slew but a short-lived and disappointing sire, with his five crops producing just six graded stakes winners. A sprint specialist, Dust and Diamonds won six of 11 starts and was never off the board. She hit a peak in the second half of her 3-year-old season with her last four starts seeing her capture the Dashing Beauty Stakes at Delaware Park and the Gallant Bloom Handicap (G2) at Belmont Park, run second to the formidable Groupie Doll in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1), and end her career with a victory over her elders in the Sugar Swirl Stakes (G3). Before her sale to Japan, she produced three foals, all winners, the best being Much Better (Pioneerof the Nile), runner-up in the Bay Shore Stakes (G3) and Zuma Beach Stakes, and placed third in the Sham Stakes (G3). Do Deuce is Dust and Diamonds' third Japanese-bred foal and third winner in Japan. Dust and Diamonds is a full sister to stakes-placed Personal Interest, and a half sister to stakes-placed Sandra (Bluegrass Cat), the dam of stakes winner Water's Edge. Her dam Majestically, a Churchill Downs allowance winner, is a Gone West half sister to stakes winner Majestic Vintage (Cuvee). Majestically is out of Darling Dame, a three-time stakes-winning daughter of Lyphard and a three-quarter sister to Dancing Brave, one of the finest horses ever to run in Europe, and to the Prix de Diane (French Oaks, G1) heroine Jolypha. Dancing Brave was the all-time highest-rated horse on the World Racehorse Rankings until the arrival of Frankel (GB). Darling Dame is also a half sister to Lovely Martha (Storm Bird), the dam of Sand Springs, who was successful in five stakes events, four graded, including the Diana Stakes (G1T); of stakes winner Our Entourage; and, to stakes winner Mellon Martini. Darling Dame is a half sister, too, to the dams of stakes winners Breviary and Wordsmith. Do Deuce is the only grade 1 winner to appear from a Sunday Silence/Seattle Slew cross, although the nick has yielded 29 stakes winners and 14 graded performers. Do Deuce is also one of nearly 40 Sunday Silence line grade 1 winners with Lyphard in the dam. As Heart's Cry himself has Lyphard as the sire of his second dam, Do Deuce is one of 15 Heart's Cry stakes winners, six grade 1, with inbreeding to Lyphard. It's also interesting to note that there are six grade 1 winners with Sunday Silence combined with Lyphard's son Dancing Brave.