Japan’s Finest on Show Ahead of Select Sale

[Wandering Eyes]

HOKKAIDO, Japan–The JRHA Select Sale of yearlings and foals takes place Monday and Tuesday with a single session dedicated to each age group and for those planning to invest at the sale, particularly in a foal, a rather different approach is required in order to arrive at your shortlist. Unlike in Europe and America, for example, when horses are available at the sales complex for viewing a few days before the sale, the foals, which are for auction on Tuesday, only arrive at the sales complex at Northern Horse Park accompanied by their dams, that morning. The custom is for prospective buyers to inspect foals at their breeders’ farms beforehand, something this correspondent had the pleasure of experiencing on Saturday. Yearlings meanwhile arrived at the sales grounds on Saturday morning allowing buyers almost two full days of final inspections before the action kicks off on Monday at 10 a.m. Pinhooking foals is not a practice that has taken off in Japan, certainly not at this sale and historically it was at the foal stage of a Thoroughbred’s lifecycle that the majority of racehorses that were for sale changed hands.

“The way it happens at the sale is buyers pay for 50% of the foal when the hammer drops and the other 50% when the foal is weaned from the mare,” explained JRHA international representative Naohiro Goda. “It is only in the last 20 years or so that the practice of selling horses as yearlings has grown to what it is today.”

With around 120 foals in the sale between them, a visit to Northern Farm and Shadai Farm enables would be investors to view half the catalogue in two nearby locations. First stop was Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm and it was great to see so many recognizable former racemares from around the world  flourishing in their new careers as broodmares, including former European champion sprinter Fleeting Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) along with her colt foal (lot 422) at foot by first crop sire Maurice (Jpn). Northern Farm also offers one of the two foals by Frankel (GB) in the sale, a colt (lot 348) out of Snow Pine (GB) (Dalakhani {Ire}) who is a half-brother to Japanese stakes winner Tower Of London (Jpn) (Raven’s Pass). Another feature of the sale is the reserve price for each lot is printed and available to buyers and the Frankel colt foal is one of three Northern Farm-bred foals that has the draft’s highest reserve of ¥100,000,000 (US$900,000/£680,000/A$1,200,000/€770,000). The other two being lots 364 and 400, who are both sons of Deep Impact (Jpn). The first mentioned is a half-brother to Seville (Ger) (Galileo {Ire}) who was second in the G1 Irish Derby before winning the G1 Metropolitan H. in Australia, while the other is the second produce out of Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor), the winner of the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and a hugely imposing broodmare.

A short drive to Shadai Farm followed and among the offerings on view at Teruya Yoshida’s sprawling but beautifully kept property were a colt (lot 306) by Mikki Isle (Jpn) out of Caravaggio’s stakes winning half-sister My Jen (Fusaichi Pegasus) and a colt (lot 442) by Kizuna (Jpn) out of the GSW and G1 Coronation S. runner up Kenhope (Fr) (Kendargent). Noble Stella (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) was a five-time stakes winner in America and her colt (lot 314) by Heart’s Cry (Jpn) was another to be paraded.

With Shadai Stallion Station also being in the vicinity, it provided a great opportunity to see most of the leading stallions in the country including the main attraction, Deep Impact. Coolmore’s decision to tap into the sire’s prowess has already yielded a Classic winner in Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and among the Coolmore mares that were successfully covered this year by  the multiple champion are Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Winter (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), the winners of 11 Group 1 races between them. As well as being the pre-eminent stallion in Japan, Deep Impact is also prolific and with 40 catalogued, he is the stallion most represented in the sale.

Tuesday will be an important day for the trio of Mikki Isle (Jpn), Duramente (Jpn) and Maurice (Jpn), as it will be the first time that their progeny come under the scrutiny of a public auction. Despite his eldest progeny only being yearlings, Kizuna (Jpn) has been tipped by Teruya Yoshida as a potential heir for his sire Deep Impact one day, while Just A Way (Jpn), the world’s top rated horse in 2014, has made a solid start with his first crop of 2-year-olds this year with two winners from eight runners so far. Harbinger (GB) will always be remembered for his stunning romp in the G1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth S. in 2010 and as well as looking a picture, the 12-year-old enjoyed a highly successful 2017 siring three individual Group 1 winners.

Further strength in depth to the Shadai Stallion Station roster is added by proven stalwarts such as Heart’s Cry (Jpn), King Kamehameha (Jpn) and Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), while a fascinating addition to the team this year was Kitasan Black (Jpn), the best son of Deep Impact’s full-brother Black Tide (Jpn), who won seven Group 1s and broke the record for career earnings in Japan.

A more detailed preview of the sale will be carried in Monday’s paper while the TDN‘s Alan Carasso profiled some of the progeny of American sires that were purchased in utero in the U.S in 2016/2017 which can be read here.

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