Horse Racing

First Justify Foal At Auction Among Highlights Of Japan Select Sale’s Foal Session


Hip 397, a Justify colt out of Not Now Carolyn, who sold at the 2020 JRHA Select Sale.

The foals session of the Japan Racing Horse Association’s Select Sale took place on Tuesday, July 14 at Northern Horse Park, featuring several names and pedigrees familiar to followers of U.S. racing, including a youngster by Triple Crown winner Justify.

That notable offering was Hip 397, a colt who was the first foal out of the winning Tapit mare Not Now Carolyn. The colt was purchased by Takeshita Koichi for 80,000,000 yen (US$747,664).

Not Now Carolyn was bought by Shimokobe Farm for $140,000 at the 2018 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, and she was part of Justify’s first book of mares in the months that followed. Shimokobe Farm also consigned the colt that sold on Tuesday. The dam is out of champion sprinter Maryfield.

The first fireworks of the day was seen when Hip 316, colt by Lord Kanaloa out of Final Score (IRE), winner of Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio, went through the ring from the consignment from Northern Farm. He was bought by Ryoichi Otsuka for 200,000,000yen, (US$1,869,159).

“This is the pick of day for me,” Ryoichi Otsuka said of the latest recruitment. “He is from a very successful female line, which is full of black type, and it caught my fancy that he is Sunday Silence-free, which would be a big advantage when he becomes stallion. While the price is more than I thought, I did not want to miss him.”

Ryoichi Otsuka won his first classic last autumn, when his World Premia, which he bought at JRHA Sale in 2016, won G1 Kikka Sho, final leg of the Japanese Triple Crown for 3-year-olds.

It was widely recognized that Hip 365, colt by Heart’s Cry, would be the star of foal session, as he is a full brother to Yoshida (JPN), who was bought by WinStar Farm at the 2015 JRHA Select Sale and proved to be the winner of G1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs and G1 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga. The eighth foal out of Hilda’s Passion, winner of G1 Ballerina Stakes, was bought by Yoshihisa Ozasa for 380,000,000yen, (US$3,551,402), the highest price of the foal session.

While Yoshihisa Ozawa was not attending at the sale himself, as he hesitates to travel to Hokkaido due to continuing epidemic of COVID-19, he gave a statement through his racing manager, Morito Kajihara: “I think this is the outstanding individual in today’s catalog. I was bidding in earnest and am very happy to buy such a fantastic young horse. I hope he grows up well and will be in the field of major races in future.”

A day after a yearling colt out of Sheave was sold for 520,000,000yen (US$4,766,356), the highest price at yearling session, Hip 383, foal colt out of Sheave, was sold for 210,000,000yen, (US$1,962,617), the third highest price at foal session.

A representative of Miwa Holding, which bought the colt, said of the latest recruitment, “I believe this is the best yearling in the catalog and this is reasonable price as I consider true value of this yearling.”

Masahiro Noda of Danox Co. Ltd., who bought Hip 56 for the second-highest price at yearling session on Monday, was the buyer of Hip 407, a Heart’s Cry colt out of champion She’s a Tiger, who was bought for 270,000,000yen, (US$2,523,365), the second highest price at the foal session on Tuesday.

“As there is no Deep Impact in the market anymore, we would like to buy a very nice foal by Heart’s Cry today,” said Yoshiki Okada, racing manager to Masahiro Noda. “Our team inspected all consignments from Northern Farm and made a shortlist of foals by Heat’s Cry. He is on the shortlist and Mr. Noda selected this one from the list. The mare, She’s a Tiger, who is a U.S. champion juvenile filly, is a very good looking horse and the foal is also good looking, as like his mother. The price is more than expected, but Mr. Noda did not want to stop bidding, as he would really like to buy him.”

A total of 203 foals were sold for 8,334,000,000yen (US$77,723,827) at the foal session on Tuesday, which is a 14.8 percent decline as compared with foal session in 2019. The average price was 41,054,187yen, (US$383,684), which is 18.6 percent down from twelve months ago. The clearance rate was 89.8 percent, which is unchanged from 2019.

Overall, 432 lots were sold for 18,762,000,000yen (US$174,984,358) in total through two-days session of 2020 JRHA Select Sale, which is down 8.5 percent from 2019. The average price through two days, 43,430,555yen, (US$405,893), was down 11.9 percent from 2019. The clearance rate was 90.9 percent, which was 91.4 percent in 2019.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the owners and trainers for attending the sale under such a challenging period and for supporting the market,” Teruya Yoshida, owner of Shadai Farm and active chairman of JRHA, commented at the conclusion of the sale. “The market is slightly slowing down today and I think the key factor is the absence of Deep Impact. For example, when Northern Dancer died, the top end of bloodstock market in America declined, and same thing happened here today.

“On the other hand, I believe the quality of mares we have in Japan is world-class and quality of horses bred in Japan is world-class as well,” Yoshida continued. “I think the buyers are confident to make big investment on horses we offer. We try to keep breeding quality horses and I hope it will keep active horse market in Japan.”

To view the full auction results, click here.





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