Demand High At JRHA Foal Sale

HOKKAIDO, Japan–Day two of the JRHA Select Sale provided bloodstock investors and owners the opportunity to acquire some of the best pedigreed foals in Japan. Unlike other foal sales worldwide, the dams of these foals have not quite finished their task at hand and, having accompanied their offspring to Northern Horse Park, each mare and foal will return to their respective homesteads for the rearing process to be completed. Upon weaning, the purchaser will complete the transaction initiated on Tuesday.

Last year's corresponding session saw the record broken for the top-priced foal at this sale when a Deep Impact (Jpn) colt sold for ¥580-million ($5,213,717/£3,934,724/€4,453,056) and despite that record remaining intact on Tuesday, any auction that can a yield a ¥290-million ($2,606,401/£1,967,362/€2,226,528) sale topper has to be deemed a success. Again, it was Deep Impact who provided the top lot which was purchased by Hajime Satomi and the stallion also accounted for three of the top five throughout the day.

The clearance rate held firm at 88% after 205 of the 231 offered lots changed hands for an aggregate of ¥8,257,500,000 (US$74,273,723/£56,057,292/€63,347,911), giving an average of ¥40,280,000 (US$362,260/£273,448/€309,030) a figure which fell just under ¥5.5-million short of last year. The cumulative aggregate for the two days showed a fractional rise and ended up at ¥17,923,000,000 (US$161,207,438/£121,697,105/€137,508,594) while the average of ¥43,105,769 (US$387,693/£292,633/€330,690) also pipped last year's tally. The two day clearance rate was a very healthy 89%.

Teruya Yoshida of Shadai Farm had the last word on Tuesday evening after the sale and he commented, “Last year's sale was quite amazing so in advance of this sale I thought it would be difficult to repeat that. The buyers were very active and with a broad range of stallions proving popular I think it was a healthy market. People have been motivated by the results on course and I would like to thank everyone involved for such a professional event. The results also augur well for the HBA Selection Sale next week.”

Another Diamond For Satomi?

When pedigree and looks combine with a strong market fireworks can ensue, and lot 400 certainly had all three working in tandem. The Deep Impact session topper was a fine physical specimen, very much in the mold of his GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies-winning dam Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor) and the reserve price of ¥100-million was pitched as the opening bid. That quickly escalated and it wasn't long before the price doubled before eventually settling at ¥290-million in favour of Satomi Horse Company Co. Ltd. That entity's principal Hajime Satomi said, “This colt is my pick of the catalogue and I had a very similar feeling with Satono Diamond when he was a foal as I had with this horse. My adviser Yasuo Ikee also thought this was the one to try and purchase. Satono Diamond finished second in the Derby so I hope this horse can go one place better in the future.”

Lot 364, also from Northern Farm was another Deep Impact colt with a reserve of ¥100-million and in similar fashion the bidding kicked off at that figure and they kept coming for the son of Silverskaya (Silver Hawk) until Tony Club's offer of ¥180- million ($1,617,766/£1,220,336/€1,381,465) wrapped up proceedings for the half-brother to international Group 1 performer Seville (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}). Club was acting for an existing JRA registered owner.

Lightening Strikes…

Lightening Pearl (Ire) (Marju {Ire}) holds the distinction of being Sheikh Fahad Al Thani's first Group 1 winner and the 9-year-old mare is proving just as rewarding in her breeding career. She has already produced a stakes winner in this year's G3 Athasi S. victor Lightening Quick (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and her Deep Impact colt, offered by Mishima Farm on behalf of Al Thani as lot 415 went the way of Danox Ltd for ¥150-million. “We are delighted with that price, he is a beautiful colt, very much the type of Deep Impact model that people hope to breed,” David Redvers said afterwards. “Mitsumasa [Nakauchida], who has been very successful for us is going to train him so that is exciting for him. The mare has been such a great servant to us also and let's hope she keeps producing winners. She is back in foal to Deep Impact but she will return to England this year before going to Frankel next year. That cross has worked very well so far.”

Halfway through proceedings on Tuesday the Qatar team had yet to purchase anything but Redvers had not given up the ghost. “It's so strong it's almost impossible to land one but we will keep trying and hopefully we will spend some of the money we've just made,” he added. Redvers finally got his way late in the afternoon when purchasing lot 521, a son of Kinsasha no Kiseki (Jpn) for ¥15-million ($134,850/£101,693/€115,122).

Will Johnson of De Burgh Equine was another overseas shopper bemoaning the strength of the domestic market. “We were underbidder on two on Monday and it was a bit frustrating but it has been a great experience overall,” he said.

Two Kings And A Lord For Ozasa…

After a stellar day of yearling trade on Monday business picked up where it left off on Tuesday morning and it wasn't long before a dollar millionaire exited the ring. That early marker was set by lot 317, a colt by King Kamehameha (Jpn) out of the Sunday Silence mare Sunday Smile (GB) who has bred the stakes winner Fluky (Jpn) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) among her five winners from five runners. It took a bid of ¥115-million ($1,033,850/£779,676/€882,725) from Yoshihisa Ozasa to secure the February born bay from Northern Farm and the same buyer latched onto another son of King Kamehameha a few hours later when buying lot 382 for €140-million ($1,258,681/£949,599/€1,074,622). Also from Northern Farm, the February- born chestnut is out of the stakes winner and Group 1-placed Hikaru Amaranthus (Jpn) (Agnes Tachyon {Jpn}), who has bred two winners so far. “I have been looking for nice colts by King Kamehameha and Heart's Cry at this sale,” Ozasa said. “They are more expensive than I had hoped, but I really wanted this foal [lot 382] as he has a very good face and my trainer Yoshito Yahagi recommended him. I hope he will develop into an excellent stayer for me.”

King Kamehameha has been a regular runner-up to his more illustrious barn mate Deep Impact in the leading Japanese stallion tables and he is also proving his worth as a sire of sires through the significant early success of his son Lord Kanaloa (Jpn). Ozasa later added a son of that stallion to his haul when buying lot 440 for ¥105-million ($944,011/£712,199/€806,057).

Maurice The Man…

Ryan Moore forged a rewarding partnership with Japan's 2015 Horse Of The Year Maurice (Jpn) (Screen Hero {Jpn}), steering the horse to four of his six top level wins, and the Shadai stallion made an instant impact with his first crop of foals that were offered for auction on Tuesday. The first one into the ring, a filly, brought ¥42-million but the next one, a colt offered as lot 339 proved immensely popular, eventually fetching ¥170-million ($1,528,405/£1,152,796/€1,304,916) to the bid of KT Racing. The rangy colt is out of Lasting Song (Jpn) (Fuji Kiseki {Jpn}), who is a half-sister to Japanese stakes winners Martinborough (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Frere Jacques (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and she has already bred a stakes performer in Invicta (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}). KT Racing is the stable name of owner Tetsumi Kurokawa and his racing manager Yoshihiro Kunimochi said, “Mr. Kurokawa owns the yearling [by Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}] out of the dam and we really like him so we were keen to buy this half-brother by Maurice. The price is higher than we thought we would have to give but the market is so strong. We hope to see this horse competing internationally like his sire.”

Duramente (Jpn) likewise has his first crop of foals on show and the pick of his offerings was lot 397, a colt out of G2 Fillies Revue winner I'm Yours (Jpn) (Falbrav {Ire}). NICKS Company Ltd signed the docket at ¥180-million ($1,618,406/£1,221,341/€1,381,675) and their racing manager Hirayoa Takeuchi said, “He has a great pedigree, excellent conformation and has great movement. We were very interested in the fact he is inbred to Dyna Carle (Jpn) and we had more to give if we had to. We believe he can become a top mile to mile and a quarter horse.”

Maurice had 13 of his 14 offered foals sell for an average of ¥41-million ($368,637/£278,267/€315,030); this was off a covering fee of ¥4-million, while Duramente fared even better off the same covering fee. His 19 from 20 sold did so at an average of ¥45-million ($404,594/£305,485/€345,764).

Frankel Fever…

The Japanese-trained Soul Stirring (Jpn) was Frankel (GB)'s first Group 1 winner, so the Juddmonte sire has already built up a huge fan base in Japan and that no doubt aided the cause of lot 348, one of two Frankel foals in the sale. The grey colt, a half-brother to GSW Tower Of London (Jpn) (Raven's Pass), was snapped up by Mizuki Noda for ¥105-million ($944,053/£712,752/€806,869), a single bid over the foal's reserve of ¥100- million. The other Frankel was lot 452, the first foal out of French stakes winner Tourny (Fr) (Country Reel) who cost Northern Farm ¥50-million ($449,565/£339,405/€384,223). This represented a significant down payment on the 400,000 gns John McCormack paid for the 5-year-old mare carrying the colt at Tattersalls last December.

The internet retail company DMM.com debuted at a high level in both Japan and Europe last year. Its purchases at this sale were headed by the ¥370-million full-sister to Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and at Tattersalls October its buys included a Frankel filly for 1.4-million guineas. The company struck high up on the buyers list on Tuesday when going to ¥125-million ($1,123,913/£848,071/€960,216) to secure lot 401, a full-brother to Japan's dual Horse Of The Year Kitasan Black (Jpn). DMM.com had also secured the colt's full-brother on this day last year for ¥145-million.