Sixpence

Background

Sixpence was bred by Northern Farm in Japan, and was foaled on 17 April 2021. He was sired by Kizuna, who won the 2013 Japanese Derby, and out of the dam Finley's Lucky Charm, who won the 2018 Madison Stakes. He is trained by Hiroyasu Tanaka for owner Carrot Farm.

Racing career

2-year-old season (2023)

On September 10, 2023 he made his debut in a 2-year-old maiden race over 1600m on turf at Nakayama, with Christophe Lemaire aboard him. He stayed in the front mostly at third position before sprinting forward at the end phase to win by a head against Atarayo. He closed the season with a run at the Hiiragi Sho with Yukito Ishikawa as his jockey. In this race, he chased the leading group and easily pulled away in the straight to win by a length and a half, securing his second consecutive victory.

3-year-old season (2024)

Sixpence started his new season when he won the Spring Stakes by three and a half lengths ahead of Allegro Brillante, under Lemaire again. Despite earning the automatic berth to the Satsuki Sho, it was announced that he would forego that race and go straight for the Tokyo Yushun instead, as he was found to be lame after the Spring Stakes. He ran in the Tokyo Yushun on May 26, but his run went wild and uncontrollable as he failed to accelerate in the final straight and finished in ninth.

He took a rest during the summer and returned for the autumn campaign at the Mainichi Okan in Tokyo. In this race, he bounced back to form when he made a strong run in the end to overtake Ho O Biscuits before the line, winning by a neck and getting his second graded stakes win. He was meant to be prepared to race the Mile Championship in November but his trainer, Sakae Kunieda, cancelled the participation after they found his gait irregular due to inflammation of his right front hoof. He decided that Sixpence would be focusing on treatment for the rest of the season.

4-year-old season (2025)

In his return, Sixpence trained for the upcoming Nakayama Kinen in March. He stayed in the middle of the pack for the majority of the race, triggered his finishing burst on the inside track, overtook Ecoro Walz and won the race by a nose in record time. Then, he ran in both Osaka Hai and Yasuda Kinen but he failed to make impressions and trigger another gear in either race, finishing in seventh and 12th respectively.

In autumn, Kunieda diverted him for a campaign on dirt track and aiming for the Mile Championship Nambu Hai in Morioka. Despite changing jockey once again with Norifumi Mikamoto on the saddle, he made a good debut on the new track as he finished in second place four lengths behind the winner, Wilson Tesoro. Sixpence closed the season with a run at the Champions Cup where he rallied the lead early but faded out as the race went on and finished in 11th place.

5-year-old season (2026)

Despite his poor previous run on dirt, Sixpence would participate in the February Stakes for his season opener. When the race began, he set up the pace after 300 metres. He ran gamely along the way but faded out at 100 metres to the line and ended up in ninth place. At the end of February, Kunieda retired from training, leading to his stable's dissolution. Sixpence would be transferred to Hiroyasu Tanaka's stable. Following the transfer, he would switch back to turf races, running in the Yomiuri Milers Cup. On the race, he tracked in the middle of the pack during the race but failed to take the lead and finished seventh. His jockey for the day, Keita Tosaki, quoted, "He had much better balance compared to the previous race and ran well. The pace was fast, but he was able to handle it and came through at the end." He was then registered for the Yasuda Kinen next, but with an initially unspecified jockey. After Admire Zoom, another horse who had registered for the Yasuda Kinen, suffered a right front hoof injury a few days before the race, the horse's jockey Yutaka Take would elect to ride Sixpence instead for that race. Starting from the fourth gate, Sixpence quickly seized second position as World's End shot out to a three-length lead. They held that order into the long Tokyo homestretch with World's End tenaciously clinging to the lead up to the final 50 meters. Take then rode the horse up outside the World's End and came to even terms as the favourite, Gaia Force, closed fast on his outside. Sixpence won by a neck with World's End and Gaia Force in a dead heat for second and third. After the race, Take reflected and quoted about the race:

I think we did a really good job. It was a last-minute ride, but I'm happy we were able to deliver the result. Before the race, I had a long discussion with trainer Hiroyasu Tanaka, and he told me, 'We've been training him so he can stick on even if he races forward."

This would be the first G1 win for Sixpence and also the fourth Yasuda Kinen win for Take himself, which he last won back in 2009 with Vodka. For future races, Carrot Farm representative Machiko Kuroda already registered the horse to run at the Prix Jacques Le Marois in Deauville-La Touques Racecourse, but would assess his condition and discuss with Tanaka first. On 28 June, Carrot Farm officially confirmed on their website that Sixpence would indeed head to the Prix Jacques Le Marois, with Take continuing to jockey him. On the day, Sixpence and his fellow compatriot, Strauss raced along the outside rail, separated from the rest of the field. In the late race, Sixpence faded away from the race and finished tenth. Both Take and Tanaka thought the horse might have some breathing problems before the race, which probably the cause of him slowing down at the end.

Racing form

Sixpence won six races out of 14 starts. This data is available based on JBIS and netkeiba.

Pedigree

Sixpence was inbred M4 × M4 to Cryptoclearance and M5 × M5 to Danzig.