Kyokushin Bear showing fighting spirit

He’s starting to master his craft and, like most things, it takes time and patience. And his name reveals plenty more: Kyokushin Bear.

What does Kyokushin mean? Well, I’m glad you asked.

A quick Google search reveals Kyokushin is a stand-up, full-contact style of karate founded in 1964 by Masutatsu Oyama. 

Known globally as "the strongest karate," it forgoes protective gloves and padding in sparring and competitions to test practitioners' raw power, endurance, and mental fortitude.

How does this relate to a promising and talented Queensland trotter Kyokushin Bear? Let’s find out.

Kyokushin Bear was purchased at the 2024 Sunshine Stars Yearling Sale staged at Albion Park by prominent Victorian-based owner Mark Gurry, who races many horses through the stables of Prenzlau trainer Tayla Gillespie.

Mark’s son, Laurence, is an avid martial arts fan who trains and competes in the Kyokushin brand of karate himself and when time came to name their latest racing prospect, the name was put forward.

Right spot, right time.

But let’s take it back another step.

How did Gurry and Gillespie land on Kyokushin Bear?

The Gurry/Gillespie relationship spans decades with Mark racing plenty of horses (mainly trotters) firstly through Shaun (Tayla’s father) and more recently Tayla.

Back in 2010 at the now defunct harness venue of Moonee Valley in Melbourne, Kasyanov split Sundons Gift and Skyvalley in the Group 1 $250,000 Inter Dominion Trotting Grand Final - a monumental moment for Queensland trotting at the time!

Gurry purchased Kasyanov from New Zealand and placed him the care of Gillespie.

Since then, they have combined with many other winners, tried stock and even selecting yearlings from sales.

So, when attending the sales back in 2024, what was the plan?

Did they head to that yearling sale that day with him in mind? Was he the priority pick?

“Simple answer, no,” Tayla chuckled.

“Dad and I were keen on the Pastor Stephen progeny. He was the new boom trotting stallion at the time, but we marked a filly from Maidstone Miss as our target.” 

But those simple plans can often go pear-shaped on sales day.

The Maidstone Miss filly exceeded the budget when knocked down to Rob Davis of RED Racing for $35,000 and placed in the care of Goulburn mentor Neil Day.

The filly was named Miss Holly Red and to date, she has won once from 16 starts.

Returning to the stables after the sale. The Gillespie’s got chatting with renowned breeders Lindsay and Mary Vagg, who offered the Maidstone Miss filly.

“After chatting with Lindsay and Mary they said their other Pastor Stephen didn’t meet reserve, so we had a good look at him in his box and liked what we saw, although he was a colt.

“We got on the phone to Mark, and we negotiated a deal with Lindsay and Mary. The following day, the deal was complete and we paid $27,500 for the colt.

“So, we ended up with a yearling from the sale but not the original choice we marked in the catalogue. But we got a Pastor Stephen so that made it a little better.”

Pastor Stephen is a million-dollar earning son of Cantab Hall. He won 10 races during his career in North America, including the Peter Haughton Memorial, Wellwood Memorial and Champlain Stakes, while being crowned the USTA 2YO Trotting Colt of the Year.

The star performer was prepared by Hall of Fame trainer Jimmy Takter, and his Australian progeny is now starting to perform, including NSW derby winner Pastor Dunbar plus the Queensland-owned Hilldale Hilton, a recent winner of the NSW 2YO Foundation series.

Following his purchase and arrival at his new home, the colt was sent off to Dan Russell for breaking and educational work, and the early report card was solid.

“He was a natural trotter, great attitude and easy to handle but maybe a slight concern about his speed,” Tayla said.

“We had him gelded because he wasn’t lacking in size. If anything, he’s struggled to hold weight and fill into his frame. He doesn’t hold his weight well and hopefully that changes with maturity.

“I know when I got Dad (Shaun) to drive him for the first time, he really liked him and thought he would measure up in time to come.”

Kyokushin Bear had four starts as a two-year-old. His debut came on May 30 last year at Albion Park and he was placed behind Kicking Horse in a time of 2:08.7.

He was placed third behind Kicking Horse at his next two starts, both at Albion Park, before winning on June 27. Nathan Dawson took all drives during his rookie campaign.

His Albion Park victory ended up being his final start that year after it was discovered he had a stress fracture in his cannon bone.

“He missed all the feature races in the end, which was unfortunate. He was shaping well but it wasn’t to be in the end. I was hopeful it would be a blessing in disguise, and he’d return bigger and stronger as a three-year-old,” Tayla said.

“He required boxing for eight weeks, so he was in a stable that whole time. The vets recommended as little movement as possible.

“We fed him up as much as possible, but he didn’t grow as much as hoped. Even now, he’s still very lanky with lots of growing still to do.”

Returning this year as a three-year-old, always a steep and challenging learning curve when tackling older and more experienced rivals, Kyokushin Bear took a few starts to find his feet. But he’s now finding his groove.

An excellent run when second behind the talented Raffie Jay at Albion Park on June 19 was followed by a dominant and somewhat arrogant victory the following week.

As it stands, Kyokushin Bear boasts a record of two wins and five minor placings from ten starts to date, and with features still to come later this year, hopefully the best is still to come.

“We’ve put knee boots on him this season. We didn’t do it last season, but we feel he’s handling it better, a confidence booster,” Tayla said.

“We’ll target the Triad, the Springboard and obviously the Queensland Derby at the end of the year will be a priority.”

Time and patience, and Kyokushin Bear might just find himself in the right spot at the right time.

Yes sensei.