Japanese Summer Sales Review

[Wandering Eyes]

Last week in Hokkaido, Japan was the country’s largest yearling sale of the year, the Summer Sale, where over 1300 yearlings were offered. This year the week was broken down into two sales, The Summer Premium with 186 lots, and the Summer Sale with 1216 lots. The Summer Premium Sale was a one-day select sale and the first time the Hidaka Breeders’ Association had held such an event. The Summer Sale was then reduced from the usual five days to four days to make room for the new sale.

The first edition of the Summer Premium Sale went off well grossing ¥1,733,832,000 (US$15,538,913/£11,947,983/€13,309,274) with an average of ¥12,040,500 (US$107,909/£82,972/€92,425) for 144 lots sold at a clearance rate of 77.4%. It was the first-crop of Fenomeno (Jpn) that lit up the board with the highest price of the day when lot 106, a colt out of Hiraboku Win (Jpn) sold for ¥32,400,000 (US$290,374/£223,309/€248,706) to Toshiya Miyazaki. The boards lit up again for lot 133, a Rulership (Jpn) colt out of Bewitch Us (Jpn) bought by Shoji Ogihara for ¥31,320,000 (US$280,695/£215,866/€240,416). It proved to be a good day overall for the younger generation of stallions in Japan with Rulership (Jpn), Henny Hughes, Just a Way (Jpn) and Kizuna (Jpn) posting the four highest grosses per individual stallion. Given his ongoing success with his first and second crop, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) continued to be popular in the ring as well, selling all five of his lots and grossing ¥71,820,000 (US$643,663/£494,937/€551,213) with an average of ¥14,364,000 (US$128,732/£98,987/€110,242).

The rest of the week was devoted to the traditional Summer Sale, Japan’s largest yearling sale. Because it was reduced to four days this year it is hard to compare stats with last year, but overall the clearance rate was a solid 69.9%, though down 8.7% from last year’s above average sale clearance. The gross for the four days was ¥4,216,320,000 (US$37,787,417/£29,056,153/€32,363,691), with an average of ¥4,960,376 (US$44,455/£34,183/€38,069). While both were down from last year, the shortening of the sale had an impact on these numbers. The gross for the four days was an increase from the 2016 gross where the sale was five days.

The recently departed South Vigorous ruled the sale, selling 23 lots of 26 and grossing ¥208,116,000 (US$1,865,172/£1,434,197/€1,597,242) while averaging ¥9,048,521 (US$81,094/£62,364/€69,475). South Vigorous has been one of the most reliable dirt sires in Japan for nearly two decades, so with his passing this past March, his progeny went beyond their usual popularity at the sales. Hot on his heels, however, was Dunkirk, who grossed ¥154,440,000 (US$1,384,119/£1,064,433/€1,185,802) and averaged ¥7,020,000 (US$62,914) for 22 lots sold. The grey son of Unbridled’s Song was imported to Japan for the 2015 breeding season after a promising first crop in the U.S. His first Japanese crop hit the track this spring and he is currently second on the JRA and NAR comprehensive freshman sire ranking behind Just a Way (Jpn). However, Dunkirk is the leading dirt freshman sire in Japan and his first crop’s success at the races translated directly into his second crop’s performance in the ring last week. All five of the most successful sirelines at the Summer Sale were imports from the U.S. at one point in time. The 2009 GI Forego H. winner Pyro was next grossing ¥144,180,000 (US$1,292,167/£993,832/€1,107,100) and averaged ¥7,209,000 (US$64,608/£49,691/€55,355) with 20 lots sold. The 2008 GII Peter Pan S. winner Casino Drive grossed ¥126,252,000 (US$1,131,493/£870,255/€969,641) and averaged ¥6,012,000 (US$53,880/£41,428/€46,173) over 21 lots. The 2006 GI Bluegrass S. winner Sinister Minister grossed ¥110,916,000 (US$994,049/£764,322/€851,857) and averaged ¥5,837,684 (US$52,318/£40,227/€44,811) with 19 lots sold.

The highest priced lot, however, was lot 1167, a Suzuka Causeway (Jpn) colt sold to Toshiya Miyazaki, the same owner who bought the sale topper at the Summer Premium, for ¥33,480,000 (US$300,053/£230,612/€257,003). Suzuka Causeway (Jpn) was imported in utero after dam French Riviera was purchased for $700,000 at the 2003 Keeneland November Sale. The Giant’s Causeway colt went on to win the G2 Keio Hai Spring Cup in 2009 before retiring to stud in 2014. He has only had three small crops to hit the track so far, but of the 15 starters, 12 have been winners.

The final yearling sale in Japan for the year is the HBA Autumn Sale Oct. 1 to 3 at the JBBA Sales Pavilion in Shizunai, Hokkaido.

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