THE very first lot in the foal session of the JRHA Select Sale at Northern Horse Park on Tuesday set the tone for the day. The son of Kitasan Black out of the winning Monsun mare Fadillah, consigned by Northern Farm, was bought for 380,000,000 yen ($2,657,343) by Interhose, a partnership which includes existing JRA-registered owners.

Fadillah is a German-bred half-sister to Group 1 winner Seismos, and she was bought by Katsumi Yoshida at Tattersalls December Sale in 2018 for 700,000gns.

However, the feature of Tuesday’s session was the demand for the first crop by Contrail, Deep Impact’s unbeaten Japanese Triple Crown winner in 2020, and the battle for his son of the Irish-bred Bye Bye Baby set the tone. Offered from Grand Stud, the colt is out of a Group 3 winning own-sister to the Derby winner Serpentine, and was bought for 330,000,000 yen ($2,307,693) by Shinji Maeda, who owned Contrail when he was racing. The colt will be trained by Yoshito Yahagi, who handled the racing career of the colt’s sire. Bye Bye Baby sold to Narvick International at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale for $3,100,000.

This was not the best price for a son of Contrail, and by some way. That honour fell to the son of the Argentine Group 1 winner Conviction, consigned by Northern Farm. He sold for an incredible 520,000,000 yen ($3,636,364) to Koji Maeda’s North Hills, the breeder of Contrail. “I think these are the best two Contrails in the catalogue,” Maeda commented after the purchase. “Hence, my brother bought the son of Bye Bye Baby, and I bought this one.”

Maeda added: “Although I estimated the price would be 300,000,000 yen, more or less, I did not want to stop bidding. This colt will be trained by Yuichi Fukunaga”. A regular rider of Contrail, Fukunaga quit riding earlier this year and starts training next March.

Conviction won the Group 1 Gran Premio Gilberto Lerena and is already dam of two winners.

Top filly

Contrail also supplied the top-priced filly foal, Northern Farm’s daughter of the US champion juvenile She’s A Tiger. That half-sister to the three-time Grade 1 winner Smiling Tiger is already dam of the group-placed Danon The Tiger.

Karson Ki Ching Cheng from Hong Kong made a couple of notable purchases. He acquired the half-sister to Gentildonna, a daughter of Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Drefong out of Dona Blini, for 210,000000 yen ($1,468,532). “This is my first visit to the JRHA Sale. I am impressed with the wonderful atmosphere and warm hospitality, and I am most impressed with the quality of Japanese-bred foals,” Cheng said.

“As I missed out on buying her half-sister yesterday, I am very happy to purchase this filly. I plan to keep her in Japan and race her, though I will have to start working to find a trainer.”

Cheng made a second prominent purchase later the sale. A colt by Lord Kanaloa out of dual US Grade 1 winner Contested. Sold by Shadai Farm for 200,000,000 yen ($1,398,602), the colt is a half-brother to five winners, the best of which is the Group 2 winner and Group 1 runner-up Gideon.

Records set

The clearance rate of 94.8% nearly matched that of a year ago, and 219 lots from the 231 offered were sold for 14,780,000,000 yen ($103,356,643), up 14.6% from 2022. Almost all the figures were records, the average price of 67,488,584 yen ($471,948) rising 17.8% on last year, and the median of 41,000,000 yen ($286,713) showing a small increase of 2.5%. The clearance rate was the second-best ever.

“I feel there is a strong passion for horse racing in this country”, Teruya Yoshida, chairman of the Japan Racing Horse Association commented at the sale’s conclusion. “The first crop by Contrail is obviously one of factors which boosted the market. I am impressed to see the owner who owned Contrail when he was in training and the breeder who bred Contrail were so supportive.”

“We are getting many young successful entrepreneurs as new players in this game. They are very keen to acquire talented horses, even though they are very expensive.”

Yearling trade exceeds expectation

EVEN though a strong market was expected, it was even better than expected at the yearling session of the July Select Sale, conducted by the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA), at Northern Horse Park on Monday.

There were early fireworks went Lot 4 entered the sale ring. The colt by Kitasan Black (was bought by Masahiro Noda of Danox Company Limited for 310,000,000 yen (S$2,167,833), the joint top price at the opening session. Consigned by Northern Farm, the colt is out of the US-bred Include Betty, winner of the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes in 2015.

Shortly afterwards that price was matched by another Northern Farm-consigned colt, purchased by TN Racing. The son of Deep Impact’s son Silver State is a half-brother to the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes and Metropolitan Handicap winner Palace Malice, a son of Curlin, and his seven other winning siblings are headed by Deep Impact’s Group 1-winning son Justin Palace, himself a graduate of this sale.

Their dam, Palace Rumor, was bought by Katsumi Yoshida at the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in 2013 for $1,100,000.

What a bargain buy Cosmopolitan Queen proved to be. She cost 320,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale, in foal to Kingman, and the resulting colt realised a staggering 300,000,000 yen ($2,097,903), again a significant purchase by TN Racing. A daughter of Dubawi, Cosmopolitan Queen is a full-sister to the Group 1 Juddmonte International winner Arabian Queen. The colt was sold by Shunsuke Yoshida.

Twice Japan’s Horse of the Year, Kitasan Black was understandably popular at the yearling session, and Shadai Farm’s colt out of I’m Already Sexy, winner of three graded stakes on turf in USA, was bought by Hirosaki Toshihiro HD Company Limited for 290,000,000 yen ($2,027,973).

Shadai Farm sold a colt with a significant European connection, this being the Wootton Bassett own-brother to Audarya, winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean Romanet and the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf. Kaneko Makoto Holdings Company Limited spent 270,000,000 yen ($1,888,112) to secure him.

With an incredible clearance rate of 97%, 216 of the 222 lots offered were sold for 13,365,000,000 yen ($93,461, 539), which is a 3.8% increase on 2022. The average price of 61,875,000 yen ($432,692) is 6.7% up on last year, and the median of 45,000,000 yen ($314,685) is 7.1% higher than last time. The aggregate, average and median are all records for the yearling session, as was the clearance rate.

TN Racing also bought the highest-priced yearling filly, a daughter of the Japanese Derby winner Duramente out of the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner, Donna Blini. The filly is half-sister to the brilliant Gentildonna, now the dam herself of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner, Geraldina. The filly was bred and sold by Northern Farm.