Forever Young and the Mr Miyagi and Karate Kid Effect
- 6 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Gawd knows, we need Feel Good stories and we got it on Saturday at Riyadh when Japan’s wonderful Forever Young dish ran away with the spoon and the Saudi Cup for the second consecutive year.
Ridden by Ryusei Sakai and trained by the almost magical Yoshito Yahagi, the win was expected, but no one gets tired of fairytales no matter how old and cynical one gets.
Before continuing, a bit of history, especially as we have entered the Lunar New Year of the Horse…
My favourite horse as a kid was named Potosi and who I don’t think too many ever saw race because he only existed in one programme of a very old television series called “Tugboat Annie”.
I don’t remember much about Potosi except that he came from last to win and which is probably why I became such a fan of the enigmatic Hong Kong galloper Pakistan Star.
Pakistan Star was a real character in horse racing who did things his own way and if he didn’t feel like racing, he dug his heels in and no amount of “persuading” could make him change his mind.
Pakistan Star is now known as Stan and enjoying his retirement at Living Legends with some saying that he has a magical and mystical connection with children on the autism spectrum.
Surely, these are the horse racing stories people want to hear about instead of constantly being banged over the head about winners and losers and odds and sods and turnover and attendance?
Japan’s Forever Young is not only a winner, he’s a very handsome and charismatic galloper and one of the very very few race horses known to a global and mainstream audience.
How did this happen?
Well, when it comes to marketing, Japan has brilliant marketing teams who truly understand how certain ideas only work in Japan. This is something I learned when with EMI Music and our team in Japan brought to the table a million dollar sync deal with Mitsubishi for the Bon Jovi track “It’s My Life”. The thinking and marketing strategies in Japan are different gravy and probably soaked in wasabi sauce.
As for Forever Young, other than how action always speaks louder than words, the exploits of Forever Young, especially this second consecutive win in the Saudi Gold Cup, sealed this extraordinary horse’s legendary status- and has created other marketing opportunities.
With something of The Karate Kid-meets Rocky very much in the mix to the story starring trainer Yoshito Yahagi wearing his trademark pork pie hat being a Mr Miyaki to regular rider in the confident, and charismatic Ryusei Sakai, here’s a story that has all the characters and ingredients to live on as an animation series that can be entertaining, yes, but also educational.
There’s already a short video on Forever Young and with owner Susumu Fujita hoping to have his galloper featured as a regular “umamuseme” character in the popular “Umamuseme: Pretty Derby” franchise.
For myself, if I could somehow work this magical horse racing team from Japan into a project I am working on about a character named Muzi and his search for Hope and Happiness and the Inspiration to make good things happen, this New Year of the Horse could be off to a flier- and in more ways than one.
ABOUT HANS EBERT
When he arrived by ship from what was then known as Ceylon to the British colony of Hong Kong, the Dutch Burgher- it’s a long story-thought he had arrived in Melbourne because that’s what his parents had told him- it’s an even longer story- until he saw all the rickshaws, women wearing cheongsams with slits up to their arse, and was given a pair of chopsticks during his first lunch in the city.
He had never eaten dim sum, but then again, no one told him that as a fledgling journalist, he would meet and interview everyone from Peter Sellers, Roman Polanski and George Harrison to Billy Joel, Norah Jones, Gorillaz, David Bowie and Quincy Jones, create the Happy Wednesday brand for the Hong Kong Jockey Club, win the Gold Award at the London Advertising Awards for his “Right Of Abode campaign, coin the term “Canto Pop” when writing for the American trade publication Billboard, and when in advertising not only helped launch McDonald’s in Hong Kong and work on the business as Director of Creative Services for over two decades, and was very much involved in the launch of STARTV, MTV Asia and PCCW.
He has written hits for some of the biggest names in Chinese popular music and wooed and married the model who was the Wrangler Girl.
These days, he is rewriting his journography and working on introducing the world to his imaginary friend Muzi and their search for everything that leads to positivity by leaving the dullards behind to pursue nutworking.
Comments