Internationalized Japanese racing people

11 December

The number of Japanese horses travelling abroad for racings has increased in the past decade, and under the circumstances, young horsemen have flew into overseas for learning the riding skills and having experiences to work for the stables. 

There is a Japanese trainer, Hideyuki Takaoka based in Singapore who won the G1 Singapore Gold Cup in 2008, and Satoshi Kobayashi became the first Japanese to take the French trainer’s license last year. Before Mr. Kobayashi taking the trainer’s license, another horseman from Japan became the first trainer based in Europe.  His name is Takashi Kodama, who moved to Ireland in 1996 and worked for the Irish trainer Con Collins before taking the trainer’s license.  He has been a trainer for four seasons, and is now working for Goffs, the Ireland’s auction house. 

The reason why I write about Mr. Kodama this time is because he is in Hong Kong at this moment, working for “Team Jaguar Mail” who will be running in the CX Hong Kong Vase.  Since Noriyuki Hori, the trainer of Jaguar Mail, was in Newmarket and worked for Geoffrey Wragg, Mr. Kodama and Mr. Hori have well known for each other for almost five years.  Mr. Kodama came to last year’s CX Hong Kong International Races and worked as a racing manager for Jaguar Mail as well. 

For journalists, we are very much impressed with the hospitality from the Hong Kong Jockey Club throughout the International Races week, so I asked Mr. Kodama how he—with trainer’s experiences in Ireland-- felt about the Hong Kong racing.  He answered, “It has been very familiar to me.  Many horses had been sold and moved to Hong Kong from Ireland, and some Irish jockeys came over here for the racings.”  He continued, “Hong Kong racings are very much city racings compared to that of in Ireland.  But the hospitality of people from Hong Kong Jockey Club is so wonderful.  They really welcome us and try to help us with their best.  So I think many racing people, such as trainers, owners and jockeys are willing to come here.  Especially for the stable staffs, the big cooperation from them makes us spend time with the horses without any concern in the different surroundings.”

Mr. Kodama will go back to Japan after the International Races and then return to Ireland.  He aims to work as a trainer in Ireland again in near future.  The next chance we can see him in the world race meetings may be he is with horses not as a racing manager but a trainer from Ireland.