Champion Orfevre Gets First Winner in Japan
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Photo: Masakazu Takahashi
Orfevre takes the 2013 Arima Kinen by eight lengths in his last start before retiring to stud
Japanese Horse of the Year Orfevre was represented by his first winner when his son Kurino Kooning won a maiden race at Hakodate in Japan July 9.
Kurino Kooning is the fifth starter for the freshman sire who stands at Shadai Stallion Station. The winning time of 1:49.7 for the 1,800-meter (about 1 1/8-mile) turf contest is a new juvenile track record.
Kurino Kooning, trained by Naosuke Sugai, is the second foal out of Kurino Biscuit by Paradise Creek.
Orfevre, bred by Shirai Farm, a breeding farm run by Shadai Corporation, is the seventh Japanese Triple Crown winner. He achieved the feat in 2011 and went on to win the Arima Kinen Grand Prix (G1)—Japan's year-end championship race—at the end of his 3-year-old season and again at 5. The Yasuyoshi Ikee trainee by Stay Gold also finished second in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) twice, at 4 and 5.
Orfevre began stud duty in 2014 and Kurino Kooning is one of 156 foals born in his first crop.
Orfevre was not a precocious athlete—he won one race from three starts as a 2-year-old and was well beaten in Keio Hai Nisai Stakes (G2) that year. The early July victory by one of his sons delivered somewhat of a surprise as many trainers stated early this year that the Orfevre juveniles might also be late bloomers.