Itinerary

Day 2: Monday, 18th of November

An early start is scheduled for our busy day ahead. Today's sightseeing will be hosted by the fluent English speaking and popular Japanese racing personality, Naohiro Goda. Naohiro is a Japanese bloodstock expert and will provide informative commentary throughout the day.

The temperature is likely to be cold during our time in Hokkaido and for this reason we recommend you bring a winter jacket, gloves and scarf for our excursions.

From 08:30am we will board our charter coach directly to Shadai Stallion Station, operated by Teruya Yoshida. Teruya is a son of Zenya Yoshida the legendary breeder who died in 1993. His breeding operation was taken over by his three sons Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya and his land and the broodmares were divided amongst the three brothers.

Our first stop Shadai is home to so many of Japan's past champions. Famous stallions standing at Shadai include Harbinger, Orfevre, Hearts Cry and Lord Kanaloa.

We will next visit Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm which is home to many superbly bred mares and boasts world class facilities including covered training tracks which are essential during the winter months. Katsumi is intent on expanding his operation and now owns more mares than his brothers. Northern Farm has been the leading breeder in Japan for four of the past five years. This year the first four finishers in the Japanese Oaks and Japanese Derby were all bred by Northern Farm.

Next stop is Northern Horse Park which is a racing-themed tourist park and also houses a racing museum. One of the residents should be no stranger to Australian horseracing fans. The 2006 Melbourne Cup winner Delta Blues is now 16 years of age and keeps fit at the equestrian school with the park. Their friendly staff will take delight in presenting Delta Blues for a souvenir photo. Lunch will be at one of Hokkaido's best restaurants named "K's Garden" which is renowned for serving dishes entirely from freshly harvested ingredients from Hokkaido. The locally farmed beef with delicious marbling is guaranteed to be on the menu. K's Garden is famous for its sommelier and a selection of more than 2000 French wines.

After lunch we will visit Shadai Farm. The Shadai breeding farm is also owned by Teruya Yoshida and is home to many superbly bred mares from the USA and Europe. Teruya has dominated the racing and breeding industry in Japan for the past 25 years. Shadai Farm has bred Japanese Derby winners such as Neo Universe and Agnes Flight, in addition to Victoire Pisa the winner of the Dubai World Cup and Hearts Cry, winner of the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Tonight at 07.00pm we have booked a "optional" group dinner at a local restaurant called Izakaya Hananomai. As Sapporo is famous for seafood and November is the top of the season for seafood eating, we have chosen a menu to suit.