The Long Game: A Family Legacy And Twenty Years Of Patience

An Ikee Dynasty Dream Fulfilled In Qatar

When Yasutoshi Ikee walked to the winner's enclosure at Al Rayyan Racecourse on Valentine's Day earlier this year, the emotions that followed were not easily contained. "I knew I'd won at that point," he says. "It was like a frenzy of joy. At the finish line, I embraced Amamoto, the owner's staff and Tom Marquand's interpreter in joy."

As Deep Monster, an 8YO son of Deep Impact, fought down Goliath by a neck in Doha, something considerably larger than a Group Two prize had been secured. Securing Japan's first ever victory in the Gr.2 HH The Amir Trophy, worth US$2.5 million, Deep Monster had done what no Japanese-trained horse had managed in this race before, and the Ikee family had finally closed a chapter left open since 2006 – for Deep Impact or his offspring to win a major race abroad.

A Dynasty Built On Patience And Detail

Few trainers in Japanese racing history have left a mark as deep as Yasuo Ikee. It was Yasuo who saddled Deep Impact, the horse that transcended sport and became a national institution; Japan's first unbeaten Triple Crown winner in 21 years, and the most dominant sire the country has ever produced.

After retiring to stud, Deep Impact was crowned Japan Racing Association champion sire for 11 consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2022, siring 59 Group One winners across the globe. His name became synonymous with excellence, and his offspring competed – and won – at the highest levels in Japan, Europe and beyond.
Yet, for all that greatness, one chapter remained unwritten. In October 2006, Yasuo travelled to Paris with Deep Impact, carrying the hopes of an entire nation into the Gr.1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The great horse finished third before being disqualified after a positive test. The crown Japan craved had been denied, and Yasuo returned home with a wound that no domestic triumph could fully close. It was the one race that got away, and it planted a seed that would take two decades to flower.

Deep Impact died in July 2019. With each passing season, the number of his sons and daughters still racing at the highest level has grown smaller. Against that backdrop, every overseas Group victory by one of his remaining descendants carries a weight beyond the result alone.

Although Deep Impact himself was retired and didn’t get the opportunity to win an international race, Yasuo's son, who carried that burden into Qatar, did. Yasutoshi Ikee made it his lifelong ambition to see a Deep Impact offspring win a major race abroad.
"I was so happy that we were able to win with a foal of Deep Impact," he said after Deep Monster's victory. Deep Monster became the first Deep Impact son to triumph in Qatar. For the Ikee family, it was the overseas validation that Paris had denied them 19 years earlier.

Yasutoshi had been building towards that moment his entire career. As a two-time Japan Racing Association champion trainer, he had long since established his own identity. The final act of that journey would take six years, and it would hinge on a single horse he refused to rush.

The Making Of A Late Bloomer

Deep Monster made his debut in 2020, a dark bay son of Deep Impact carrying the colours of DMM Dream Club Co. Ltd. He showed no precocious brilliance. "When he was younger, his back and hips weren't yet fully developed," Ikee explains. "But he was still able to compete in the Japanese Derby. So, I believed that as long as he didn't push himself too hard, he would improve."

Asked whether nearly six years of waiting had ever tested that conviction, Ikee is serene. "I don't feel like I was holding back. There's no point in rushing, so I just watched him carefully. As a result of waiting, many horses end up retiring without ever reaching their full potential. But that can't be helped. There's no point in rushing and putting a strain on a horse. If you keep an eye on them to ensure they don't break down, you'll see some horses succeed over time, like Soul Rush, who won the Gr.1 Dubai Turf."

What followed was not passive waiting but an active, years-long search; race by race, jockey by jockey; to understand precisely what Deep Monster needed to fulfil his potential.

Jockey Michael Dee, having partnered Deep Monster in the Epsom Cup, suggested a longer trip.
"He said, 'A little longer would be better,'" Ikee recalls. "Deep Monster tends to bite the bit hard, so I found it hard to believe, but when we rode him in the 2,500-metre Meguro Kinen, he ran well, finishing in fourth place. Also, jockey Akira Sugawara, who rode him in the Niigata Kinen, advised me that I should change the bit. So, I changed from a bit with a strong grip to a standard one, and he recorded his first-Grade race win in the Kyoto Daishoten."

Each piece of the puzzle had come from listening, from trusting the riders who spent minutes in the saddle and over months in the stable. The distance, the bit, the ground: none of it had been obvious, and none of it had come quickly.

The Group Two victory in October 2025 was the first Graded win of a career spanning five years, and it identified the ground conditions that would direct Ikee towards Qatar. "The track was a little soft that day, but jockey Suguru Hamanaka said, 'This type of track suits him.' I myself had the impression that the track was softer than in Japan when I went to Qatar two years ago. So, I decided to travel there thinking that this would suit him. In fact, the track was too hard in the Japan Cup, so he didn't run at all."

The Road To Doha

The stable's prior knowledge of Qatar had been acquired through disappointment. Two years earlier, Zeffiro had made the journey and been beaten through a misadventure in the straight. "The quarantine stables were located there, so perhaps he tried to return there, or perhaps he overreacted to the jockey's whip, and he veered wide," Ikee recalls. "Of course it was disappointing, but the winner, Rebel’s Romance, had pulled ahead. I think he would have still come in second if he had run straight."

That experience gave him track knowledge, though not certainty. "For me, knowing what the Qatar track conditions were like was helpful this time. I was able to bring a horse that would suit that track. However, I didn't fully understand Deep Monster's suitability. There were still some aspects, including not only the track but also the distance, that I wasn't sure what was best."

Amamoto, making his second Qatar trip, handled Deep Monster's welfare on the journey, and Ikee credited that experience as decisive. "A week ago, he did his final gallop during training at Ritto Training Center in Japan. His movements were excellent and I was sure he was in good condition.”

A residual anxiety about the transit persisted, rooted in a specific memory from two decades earlier. "In 2002, when To The Victory came second in the Dubai World Cup, I went there as an exercise rider. The horse developed a fever during the long transport. Having experienced that, I was naturally a bit worried about the long air transport. However, this time, Amamoto handled the situation well, as it was his second time in Qatar. I think his previous experience in Qatar allowed him to do his job without any anxiety. If a person isn't calm, a sensitive horse will sense that and become anxious. Also, since both stables and transport companies have more experience than in the past, there are certainly fewer concerns than there used to be."

Victory From The Inside Gate

The tactical plan was precise. With gate one drawn, and the temporary running rail due to be removed on raceday, the inside ground offered a clear advantage. "Since the temporary fences would be removed on the day, the track conditions would be overwhelmingly better on the inside. That's why I thought gate No. 1 would be good," Ikee says. "He's a horse with a strong forward drive, so I told jockey Tom Marquand I wanted a wall in front of him. Also, since it's a short distance from the start to the first corner, I felt he was in good shape as soon as we entered the straight on the first lap. At that point, I already thought we could win."

Tom Marquand delivered exactly what had been asked. Deep Monster settled on the rail just behind Goliath, with Satono Grant to his left forming the barrier Ikee had planned. When the jockey's hands moved on the third and fourth bends, his trainer stayed calm. "He was handling the horse well up to that point, so I wasn't particularly worried."

In the home straight, Deep Monster moved alongside Goliath, found more under pressure and hit the line a neck to the good, with Giavellotto taking third and Byzantine Dream, the pre-race forecast favourite, never threatening. Marquand summed up a performance that surprised those who had overlooked the rank outsider.

"We had the most beautiful run round, drawn one and just inside Goliath, who was a possible pace angle. But I was really impressed with how this horse had delivered. He had only won his first Group race then and was just stepping up with age. The Japanese contingent knows how to deliver their horses off the plane, and this guy was absolutely on the money."

For Ikee, one thought rose above all else. "I was so happy that we were able to win with a foal of Deep Impact," he says. His father had trained that horse to Triple Crown glory and stood in Paris as the world's greatest race slipped away. Now Yasutoshi has sent a son of Deep Impact to win a major overseas Group race, fulfilling a lifelong dream. "It was my dream to win a big race overseas like today. The dream has come true."

New Horizons For An Old Soul

Deep Monster recovered well, and Ikee already has the next target in sight. "He gave it his all, so he looked tired immediately after the race. But the next day, I was told he was fine. He has since recovered well. At the end of February, he was moved from Miki's quarantine stables to a ranch called Champions Hills, where he is currently resting. As for the future, I'd like to take him to Sha Tin in Hong Kong."

A bit change, a ground preference identified at Kyoto, and six years of watching carefully rather than pushing hard had all pointed, eventually, to a neck margin in Doha. Yasuo trained the horse that defined an era. Yasutoshi waited and found the horse. The long game had been won.