Deep Brillante

Deep Brillante made his racecourse debut in a contest for previously unraced horses over 1800 metres at Hanshin Racecourse on 1 October 2011 and won by five lengths from Ebony Knight and ten others. On 19 November the colt was stepped up in class for the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse and started 7/5 favourite ahead of fourteen opponents headed by Just A Way and Ennead. Deep Brillante took the lead 400 metres rom the finish and won "comfortably" by three lengths from the 54/1 outsider Fujimasa Emperor.[9]

In the JRA Awards for 2011 Deep Brillante finished third behind Alfredo and Adam's Peak in the poll to determine the champion Japanese two-year-old colt of 2011.[10]

Yasunari Iwata, who rode Deep Brillante in all of his races

On his 2012 debut Deep Brillante started odds-on favourite for the Grade 3 Kyodo Tsushin Hai over 1800 metres at Tokyo on 12 February. He led for most of the way but was overtaken by Gold Ship 100 metres from the finish and beaten one and three quarter lengths into second. In March he again headed the betting when he contested the Grade 2 Spring Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse. After racing in fourth he took the lead in the straight and went clear of his rivals before faltering in the closing stages and being beaten by Grandezza. Despite consecutive defeats, Yahagi kept his faith in the horse, describing him as having "tremendous potential".[11] Deep Brillante started third favourite for the Grade 1 Satsuki Sho at Nakayama on 15 April and finished third of the eighteen runners behind Gold Ship and World Ace.

The 79th running of the Tokyo Yushun took place over 2400 metres on firm ground at Tokyo on 27 May. World Ace headed the betting from Gold Ship with Deep Brillante third choice on 7.5/1. The other runners included Grandezza, Just A Way, Alfredo, Fenomeno and Historical (Mainichi Hai Stakes). In the build-up to the race the colt's groom had praised his attitude and temperament saying "He's so calm usually it's almost frightening. He doesn't need any babysitting whatsoever. He's an intelligent horse, and he always runs his heart out in races".[12] After tracking the leaders Iwata sent the colt into third approaching the final turn before taking the lead 200 metres out. In an extremely tight finish Deep Brillante held on to win by a nose from Fenomeno, with Tosen Homareboshi, World Ace, Gold Ship and Cosmo Ozora close behind. Less than two lengths covered the first six finishers.[13][14] After the race Iwata, who was winning the race for the first time, said "Praise him not me. It was his guts that won it as he was completely empty at the finish. I have always thought he was the best horse in this generation so we trained him very hard to get a big success. We thought he was the best one and I am proud that we could prove it."[15]

After his win at Tokyo, Deep Brillante's connections took the unusual decision to send the colt to England and match him against older horses in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot Racecourse on 21 July. He started a 20/1 outsider and was never in contention, finishing eighth of the ten runners behind the German mare Danedream.[2]

Deep Brillante's retirement was announced on 26 October.[4] Yahagi commented "It's a terrible shame that the fans won't be able to see him race again. The little more than a year that I spent with this horse has been like a dream and for me he was nothing short of a treasure."[16]