He is from the sixth crop of foals sired by Deep Impact who was the Japanese Horse of the Year in 2005 and 2006, winning races including the Tokyo Yushun, Tenno Sho, Arima Kinen and Japan Cup.

Makahiki made his only appearance as a two-year-old in a contest for previously unraced horses over 1800 metres at Kyoto Racecourse on 18 October.

[8] Lemaire rode the favourite Satono Diamond in the Satsuki Sho on 17 April at Nakayama with Yuga Kawada taking over the ride on Makahiki who was the 2.7/1 third choice in an eighteen-runner field.

[9] Commenting on the colt's performance Tomomichi said "He wasn’t able to catch the winner, who had made his move before he did, but this horse did run really well in the stretch.

Dee Majesty, Leontes, Air Spinel and Satono Diamond were again in opposition in a race run over 2400 metres on firm ground.

With Kawada again in the saddle, he raced towards the middle of the field before making progress approaching the final turn but looked unlikely to obtain a clear run in the straight.

Kawada sent Makahishi through a narrow gap 300 metres from the finish, took the lead in the closing stages and won by a nose from Satono Diamond.

On his debut as a four-year-old Makahiki started favourite for the Kyoto Kinen over 2200 metres on 12 February but finished third behind Satono Crown and Smart Layer.

In the autumn of that year he finished tenth in the Tenno Sho before ending his campaign with a fourth place behind Suave Richard in the Japan Cup.