Who is Yoshito Yahagi?
Yoshito Yahagi is not only one of Japan’s greatest racehorse trainers but also a giant of the sport internationally. He has been the leading JRA trainer four times by number of wins and six times by prize money won, and he has also trained a Triple Crown winner.
Yahagi has also set the standard with his achievements overseas. He has won some of the world’s richest races in Dubai, Australia, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, and the United States, and was close to securing the first Japanese victory in the Kentucky Derby in 2024 when Forever Young finished third, beaten by a margin of only two noses.
Yoshito Yahagi’s Origin Story
Yahagi was born in Tokyo in 1961 and grew up around the local NAR circuit’s Oi racecourse, where his late father Kazuto Yahagi was a jockey and then a trainer. As a young man, his father advised him to learn about the horse racing industry overseas, to move away from the local circuit, and to work in the centrally administered JRA.
He spent time in Australia in the early 1980s learning from Neville Begg and Bart Cummings, and in 1990 the JRA sent him to England for three months of working and learning at Geoff Wragg’s stable. The 1980s saw him first assist his father at Oi, where he is credited as being the first to implement interval training; then in 1984, he passed the JRA stable staff exam and moved to Ritto. It was under his second trainer, Sadataka Sugaya, that he flourished and was put forward for the trainers’ exam.
But he failed that test 13 times before the JRA finally licensed him in 2004, and he started training out of his own Ritto stable in 2005.
What is Yoshito Yahagi’s greatest achievement as a trainer?
A Triple Crown and multiple champion trainer titles are tough to top, but Yahagi’s groundbreaking wins at the 2021 Breeders’ Cup in California take the biscuit. Japan had not won a Breeders’ Cup race prior to that year. Yahagi turned up with two mares: the top-class Loves Only You and the unheralded Marche Lorraine.
That day at Del Mar saw history made as Loves Only You won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, and Marche Lorraine beat the Americans at their own game on the dirt track to win the G1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff.
Which horse is Yoshito Yahagi’s best ever?
Yahagi’s had plenty of stars: Lys Gracieux, Loves Only You, Forever Young, Real Steel, Panthalassa, Deep Brillante, and Grand Prix Boss. But Contrail is Yahagi’s standout. The son of Deep Impact won the Triple Crown of the G1 Satsuki Sho, G1 Tokyo Yushun, and G1 Kikuka Sho in 2020 and was second to the great mare Almond Eye in that year’s G1 Japan Cup. The star colt struggled the following spring but returned in the autumn to place second behind that year’s top three-year-old Efforia in the G1 Tenno Sho Autumn, and bowed out with an impressive win in the G1 Japan Cup.
Yoshito Yahagi’s Training Methods
Yahagi was greatly influenced by his time in Australia in the early 1980s and is known for running his horses frequently. He is allowed only 75 horses in his Ritto stable at any given time, so he has a meticulously planned system for rotating his horses between the main stable, the racetrack, and the farm, which maximises efficiency and reduces unnecessary costs. He also believes in selecting a jockey to suit the horse, rather than simply trying to get the top rider regardless.
Why does Yoshito Yahagi always wear a hat?
Yahagi is well-known for his large collection of hats in various styles and colours. Beyond a general liking for hats, there is a purpose to them. He decided early in his career that wearing a hat was a good way for people, particularly racing fans, to identify him, so it became a way for him to raise his profile.
Did you know…
Yoshito Yahagi’s stable colours are red and white as a nod to the French soccer team AS Monaco: his horses are easy to spot at trackwork, wearing red and white hoods, leg wraps, tack, and nosebands. Yahagi is also a big fan of cycle racing and has been a regular spectator at velodromes around Japan.
Our Favourite Yoshito Yahagi Stories
‘The Torchbearer’: The Lone Japanese Sire In America
カラコンティ：注意深くてやんちゃな性格…アメリカ唯一の日本産種牡馬
Sunday Silence sparked a momentous shift in Japanese breeding. Nearly three decades later the United States is yet to embrace the powerful pedigrees he produced, but Gainesway have high hopes for his descendent Karakontie.
サンデーサイレンスが日本競馬界に革命を起こしてから30年。アメリカの馬産地ではまだサンデーの血は浸透していないが、ゲインズウェイのカラコンティはその間に割って入ろうとしている。
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