The 2013 Crop #4: No.5

Courtesy Carrot Club

I've really admired what Ogata-sensei has done with Belle Plage this past year, so when the opportunity came to have another King Kamehameha filly with him, I couldn't resist it, even though I had made a decision to concentrate on NAR racing only in Japan. This is still the long-term plan, ultimately, but it looks like we'll have at least one more season of JRA racing running in parallel, unless something suitable comes up with Sugai-sensei again, and that might extend the campaign by another year...

Anyway, there's no need to go too heavy on introducing King Kamehameha, as we profiled him when we first looked at Belle Plage. It is interesting to note, though, that King Kamehameha won the 71st Japanese Derby and passed the post first in all but one of his eight races. He also has some fabulous bloodlines.

As for the dam, we have Aubergade - a French mare that was shipped to Japan after achieving a 2-2-2 record from 12 starts. Her sire was Kaldoun, one of the Aga Khan's horses that won five races and went on to be a Champion Sire in France. Watch out for this little lady, who will be based at the Ogata Stables at Miho Training Centre.