Yoshida Hails 'Amazing' Trade At JRHA

HOKKAIDO, Japan–The strength in depth of Japan's domestic owners' base was fully evident as the JRHA Select Sale got underway at Northern Horse Park on Monday. A vast array of buyers pushed the sale to record turnover of ¥10.73-billion (almost $99-million/£78,939,937/€88,034,596) for 222 yearlings, which set another all-time high when returning an average price of ¥48.3-million ($445,000/£355,593/€396,552).

Trade, described as “just amazing” by the sale's leading breeder/vendor Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm, was headed by a record-equalling yearling brother to former champion 3-year-old filly Mikki Queen (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who was sold for ¥360-million ($3.27-million/£2,648,062/€2,953,360). Lot 51 now holds a record in his own right as the most expensive yearling colt to change hands in 14 years of yearling sales at the JRHA–between 1999 and 2005 only foals sales were conducted by the company and this, traditionally, has been the stronger sector.

A son of the G2 Prix Dollar winner Musical Way (Fr) (Gold Away {Ire}), the sale-topping colt will race for Riichi Kondo from the stable of trainer Yasuo Tomomichi. He was bred, like so many of the day's best-sellers, by Katsumi Yoshida and since his dam's purchase from the 2008 Tattersalls December Mares' Sale for 300,000gns, the 17-year-old Musical Way has been mated exclusively with Deep Impact bar one covering by Orfevre (Jpn). Her star offspring is the aforementioned winner of the G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and G1 Shuka Sho (1000 Guineas).

“Mr Tomomichi was really keen for me to buy him, which was quite unusual,” said Kondo as he was quizzed at the close of the sale by a press pack numbering almost 200. “He has of course trained many Group 1 horses for me so far so I thought I had to buy the horse for him. I expected to have to pay that price–it didn't really exceed our expectations.”

The colt's new trainer added, “I saw this horse before the sale many times and every time I saw him I thought he was physically perfect. He walks really well and he has a very good temperament. There are no negative issues with him. With his pedigree, he should be best at around 1800 to 2000 metres but his biggest target will be 2400 metres at Tokyo.”

It's a statement which naturally implies that the country's banner races–the Derby and Japan Cup–will be a high priority if the colt's ability goes anywhere close to matching his looks and breeding. Tomomichi will be keen for him to follow the example set by another of his trainees, the Japan Cup winner Cheval Grand (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), who will travel to England this week ahead of an intended start in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth QIPCO S. at Ascot later this month.

Having bought five yearlings on Monday for a total of ¥536- million ($4.9-million/£3,943,352/€4,397,225), Kondo indicated that he is also planning to be active at the foal session on Tuesday.

Still Making An Impact

Makoto Kaneko, who, along with owning Deep Impact has also raced fellow Shadai stallions King Kamehameha (Jpn) and Kurofune, again made his presence felt at the sale, ending the yearling session as the leading buyer with 11 horses bought for ¥1.15-billion ($10.6-million/£8,474,541/€9,453,292).

It is perhaps no surprise that the list featured several expensive youngsters by his former champion galloper who has dominated Japan's stallion ranks in recent years, including lot 21, the half-brother to Group 1 winners Lightening Pearl (Ire) and Satono Crown (Jpn), both by Marju (Ire). The colt out of the listed winner Jioconda (Ire) (Rossini) temporarily became the early market leader when selling for ¥260-million ($2.36-million/£1,912,160/€2,132,911) but ended the day in fourth place.

Kaneko's other Deep Impact purchases came when he gave ¥210-million ($1.9-million/£1,544,550/€1,722,736) for lot 83, the filly out of four-time winner Samaaha (GB), a Singspiel (Ire) three-parts sister to the dual Group 1 winner and stallion Mamool (Ire) (In The Wings {GB}).

While those mentioned above both hailed from the vast Northern Farm draft, the third, lot 112, was consigned by Haruya Yoshida's Oiwake Farm. Tracing back to Miesque, the colt is a son of the minor winner Why (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), whose dam Rumplestiltskin was a European champion 2-year-old for Coolmore and the Niarchos family. Kaneko also paid ¥210-million for lot 41, the sole Frankel (GB) yearling in the sale, a colt out of the G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).

A graduate of this sale himself in 2002, Deep Impact is once again way out in front in the Japanese sires' championship, with his 140 winners this year having contributed to his progeny earnings of ¥4.23-billion ($39-million/£31,183,230/€34,779,517), but he suffered a neck injury towards the end of the covering season and he is currently convalescing at Shadai Stallion Station. Having been sold by Northern Farm as a foal for ¥70-million (approximately $645,000/£514,830/€574,264) to Kaneko, Deep Impact returned to Yoshida ownership after his racing career when his owner sold him on for around $50-million. The brothers Teruya, Katsumi and Haruya are unlikely to have regretted that transaction, however, as the slightly built stallion has carved an extraordinary legacy which could come to rival that of his own sire Sunday Silence, who was imported to Japan by the Yoshidas' father Zenya back in 1990.

Roaring Lion

Matching Makoto Kaneko numerically in purchases but at a lower aggregate of ¥676-million ($6.2-million/£4,971,793/€5,545,904) was the racing syndicate Thoroughbred Club Lion which, among its 11 new recruits, took home the second-top lot of the day (lot 64), Northern Farm's colt by King Kamehameha out of the American champion older mare and five-time Grade 1 winner Ginger Punch (Awesome Again). The club spent almost half its total outlay on this one horse, going to ¥290-million ($2.6-million/£2,133,083/€2,379,160) in pursuit of the tall chestnut half-brother to four-time graded stakes winner and Japanese Oaks runner-up Rouge Buck (Jpn) (Manhattan Cafe {Jpn}).

Another of the day's leading participants was Masahiko Sugino, who made an early flourish when bidding ¥17-million ($1.5-million/£125,042/€139,457) for a near-black colt by Daiwa Major (Jpn) (lot 5) out of Hot Cha Cha (Cactus Ridge). His dam's list of accomplishments in North America stretch to winning the G1 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup S. along with three Grade III contests, and she has thus far produced the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) runner-up Etario (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}).

Sugino returned to the ring with renewed intent an hour or so later and reached deeper into his pockets for lot 27, a colt by Heart's Cry colt whose grandam Singhalese (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), bred in England's Lake District by Gary and Lesley Middlebrook, also became a high-class performer in the U.S. when winning the American Oaks. The owner had the final say at ¥270-million ($2.45-million/£1,985,850/€2,214,906).

Extraordinary Clearance Rate

Issuing a statement in person immediately as the sale concluded, Katsumi Yoshida, whose draft dominated the day's action, said of the record levels of yearling trade, “It's just amazing. I couldn't be more surprised with this result. There were many, many buyers who came to the farm to inspect the horses before the sale, so I think the number of buyers who came to the sale was encouraging.”

It would be hard for the country's major breeder–who owns around 650 broodmares and consigned 110 of the day's 239 lots–to be discouraged having just witnessed a 100% clearance rate for his own meticulously organised consignment and a 93% clearance rate overall for the first day of the sale.

He continued, “I understand that for tomorrow, while the number of foals consigned is smaller the quality has not changed. They are all still high-class foals.”

For most people outside Japan, when they think of the country's racing and breeding programme, the first name to spring to mind would be Yoshida. How much the brothers' dominance of the scene may be a deterrent for some smaller domestic breeders is hard to gauge, but there's no denying the extraordinary lengths to which the brothers have gone to ensure that their country's racehorses are revered the world over, particularly through the sustained investment by Teruya and Katsumi Yoshida especially in an eye-catching number of some of the very best racemares from all corners of the globe.

Katsumi Yoshida offered his own words of encouragement in this regard when stating, “The quality of all horses from other breeding operations is improving.”

Despite there being a number of overseas visitors to the sale–including Chris Waller, MV Magnier, John McCormack and Gai Waterhouse–the only non-Japanese buyer to appear on the list of yearling purchasers was Robert Anderson's Australian-based RMA Bloodstock, which bought lot 133, a second-crop daughter of Japan Cup winner Epiphaneia (Jpn) and a grand-daughter of the treble American Grade I winner Island Fashion (Petionville).

Doubtless some will be planning still to make their mark during the second and final day of the sale on Tuesday when the foals are brought in to the sales ground alongside some illustrious mares. The sheer spectacle of this unusual session is amazing in its own right, and the vendors will be hoping for yet more amazing results in the ring.