BIG Brown colt Apollo Sonic will be given the opportunity to become his sire’s first Group 1 winner next month when he lines-up in one of Japan’s three-year-old majors.

The Kentucky-bred three-year-old is being aimed at the prestigious Satsuki Sho (2000m) at Nakayama in eight days time.

The race been won by some of Japanese racing elite including in recent years the likes of Deep Impact, Narita Brian and T M Opera O.

Apollo Sonic earned his crack at the Satsuki Sho following a dominant win on Nakayama’s grass covered circuit last weekend powering away from his rivals to win by 1 1/4-lens.

At the same time in America, another of Big Brown’s talented first crop was in action, this time on the dirt.

Ground Transport, a winner of two of his first three starts enhanced his Kentucky Derby aspirations with a highly commendable fifth in the US$1m Grade 2 Louisiana Derby sitting four-deep for the entire 1 1/8m journey.

Both horses are at the pointy end of an early season surge by Big Brown who is set to return to Vinery this spring once his northern hemisphere duties at Three Chimney’s in Kentucky are complete.

“Big Brown sired 18 individual 2YO winner in his first season in America, Europe and Asia including stakeswinner Brown Almighty and the stakesplaced Brown Laddie,” Vinery’s Adam White said.

“And while that was a fantatsic effort from the horse, it was always going to be that he would increase the ante once his progeny turned three and that has certainly been the case. He has already sired 11 winners including the unbeaten Maracuya and progressive filly Reaching Out.”

Maracuya made light work of her opposition when claiming her second race on the trot at Florida’s Gulfstream Park while at the same time New York-bred Reaching Out made it three wins from four starts when she won at Aqueduct.

An another outstanding feature of Big Brown’s success is that his offspring are as comfortable on grass as they are dirt – something that is bound to stand him in good stead vis-a-vis his Australian bred racehorses.

“Big Brown was undefeated on grass,” White commented,” he won his first start at Saratoga by almost 12-lens as a two-year-old and he won his last start on grass in the Monmouth Stakes.”

Local and visiting international buyers will have seven opportunities to secure a Big Brown when the 2013 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale gets underway in Sydney on Tuesday.