Leading Japanese Sire Deep Impact Euthanized At 17

Two-time Japanese Horse of the Year, Deep Impact.

Deep Impact, a two-time Japanese Horse of the Year and seven-time champion sire in Japan, died July 30 at age 17, Racing Post reports.

The son of breed-shaping Japanese sire Sunday Silence stood an abbreviated 2019 breeding season due to neck pain, and he underwent surgery on July 28. The following day, the stallion had difficulty standing, and radiographs found a cervical spine fracture, leading Deep Impact to be euthanized.

Deep Impact is expected to have about 20 foals in his final crop, born in 2020. His fee in his final season was 40,000,000 yen (US$368,445).

Deep Impact was named Japan’s Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, and he was named to the Japan Racing Association’s Hall of Fame in 2008. He swept the Japanese Triple Crown in 2005, taking the Group 1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas), Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby), and Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger).

He continued to be a force when he retired to stud at Shadai Stallion Station, leading all Japanese sires by progeny earnings every year from 2012 to the present. His group stakes winners number over 110.

Deep Impact’s greatest runner to date is Gentildonna, Japan’s Horse of the Year in 2012 and 2014. The filly took the G1 Japan Cup twice, and won the Japanese 1,000 Guineas and Oaks among other high-level scores. She also traveled to Dubai, where she won the G1 Dubai Sheema Classic in 2014, a year after finishing second in the same race. She was named to the JRA’s Hall of Fame in 2016.

Outside of Japan, Deep Impact’s top runners include English 2,000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior, French Derby winner Study of Man, and G1 Dubai Turf winner Real Steel. His top U.S. runner is Grade 2-placed Barocci.