Coolmore obtained an owner's license to start racing in Japan

Sue Magnier was authorized by the Japan Racing Association and will be represented by two two-year-olds by Frankel

Coolmore will have colors in Japan, and 2 3-year-olds by Frankel that will represent them / EPSOM DOWNS

TOKYO, Japan (Special for Turf Diario).- In a movement that marks a new chapter in its global expansion, Coolmore will have, for the first time, horses trained in Japan this season, after Sue Magnier, wife of tycoon John Magnier, officially received the owner's license from the Japan Racing Association (JRA).

The powerful Irish organization, which already operates with horses in Ireland, Great Britain, France, Australia, and the United States, now lands in one of the most influential horse racing markets on the planet, opening a new strategic front both sporting and commercial.

Coolmore's first two flags on Japanese soil will be two products by Frankel, the most influential sire of Europeanturf. The most anticipated is Chesapeake Bay, an unraced 3-year-old son of Marsha, a champion sprinter that Coolmore acquired for 6 million guineas in 2017. The second representative will be Snowscape, a filly also by Frankel, out of Shadow Hunter.

According to the Japanese media Nikkan Sport, Chesapeake Bay arrived last Saturday at the Ritto training center, near Kyoto, where he was joined to the stable of the prestigious trainer Mitsumasa Nakauchida.

“We were asked to train him. The horse just arrived last week, so now we will see how he evolves. He still needs to develop physically,” the trainer explained.

Nakauchida is a central figure in Japanese turf. Although his international experience is limited—his most prominent case was Grenadier Guards (Frankel) in the Platinum Jubilee Stakes (G1) at Royal Ascot 2022—his name was etched in history by training Liberty Island (Duramente), the extraordinary filly that in 2023 won the Japanese Triple Crown (Oka Sho, Yushun Himba, and Shuka Sho), a feat reserved for true phenomena.

Obtaining an owner's license in Japan is not a simple procedure. The JRA maintains an extremely rigorous evaluation system, which begins between 5 and 6 months before final approval. A special committee meets 3 times per year—April, July, and November—to analyze each request before authorizing it and allowing the signing of contracts with trainers.

From the Coolmore racing office, Mick Flanagan stressed the importance of the step taken: “Japan is one of the great powers of turf and breeding worldwide. We always enjoy doing business in Japan and we are very grateful to the JRAand everyone here for providing us with this opportunity.”

The arrival of Coolmore to the Japanese circuit not only reinforces the growing international weight of the Asiancountry's racing, but also promises to further elevate the level of competition, with world-class bloodlines now competing and developing in one of the most demanding systems on the planet.