While Monday’s yearling session of the JRHA Select Sale in Hokkaido, Japan, was all about the progeny of Deep Impact (Jpn), the late great champion sire had no produce in Tuesday’s foal session-his final crop containing only around 20 foals-and thus it was another son of Sunday Silence, Deep Impact’s former Shadai studmate Heart’s Cry (Jpn), who dominated proceedings during Tuesday’s foal sale. Heart’s Cry was responsible for the three highest-priced lots, all sold by Northern Farm and out of American mares.
Last year’s foal sale had set records for aggregate (¥9.78-billion/£72-million/€80.2-million/$89.8-million) and average (¥50.4-million/£371,286/€413,262/$462,765) and so the fact that Tuesday’s figures were slightly off from those numbers during the first foal sale for many years without Deep Impact’s presence is no disgrace. At the close of trade 203 foals had changed hands from 226 offered for a clearance rate of 89.9% that matched last year’s figure. The aggregate of ¥8,334-billion (£61,994,126/€68,162,184/$77,708,299) was off by 14.8%, while the average of ¥41,054,187 (£305,607/€335,946/$382,799) was down 18.6%. The median proved more stable, dipping by just 3.3% to ¥29-million (£215,876/€237,282/$270,336).
Teruya Yoshida, owner of Shadai Farm and chairman of the JRHA, recognized the challenging climate globally and the absence of Deep Impact.
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to the owners and trainers for attending the sale during such a challenging period and for supporting the market,” Yoshida said. “The market was slightly down today and I think the key factor is the absence of Deep Impact. When Northern Dancer died, the top end of the 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 the quality of horses bred in Japan is world-class as well. I think the buyers were confident [enough] to make big investments in the horses we offered.”
Passion Prevalent Again
Taking top billing at the foal sale was the full-brother to Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}), who will himself have the opportunity to reinvigorate the Sunday Silence line in the U.S. having just completed his first season at stud at WinStar Farm in Kentucky. Yoshida, who proved extremely versatile on the racecourse while winning Grade Is on both dirt and turf, was himself a graduate of this sale, having been bought by WinStar for ¥94-million (£699,266/€768,826/$876,375) from the yearling session in 2015. Tuesday’s colt (lot 365) is just the second progeny of the dam Hilda’s Passion (Canadian Frontier) to visit the ring, and he was bought by Yoshihisa Ozasa for ¥380-million (£2,827,376/€3,108,491/$3,542,793).
Ozasa did not attend the sale but said in a statement through Racing Manager Morito Kajihara, “I think this is the outstanding individual in today’s catalogue. 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.”
Yoshida is not the only luminary on the page; Hilda’s Passion herself won the seven furlong GI Ballerina S. at Saratoga and was bought by Katsumi Yoshida for $1.225-million from Fasig-Tipton November in 2011. Tuesday’s colt is her eighth foal, and in addition to Yoshida she is also responsible for the G3 Shinzan Kinen victress Sanctuaire (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).
The Yoshida brothers have made a regular habit of plundering the auction rings at America’s breeding stock sales for some of the best-credentialed mares, and that strategy certainly paid dividends on Tuesday. The year before he had swooped for Hilda’s Passion, Katsumi Yoshida took home the champion 2-year-old filly She’s A Tiger (Tale of the Cat) from Fasig-Tipton for $2.5-million. The GI Del Mar Debutante winner-who crossed the wire a nose ahead of another Katsumi Yoshida recruit, Ria Antonia (Rockport Harbor) in the 2013 GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies before being demoted to second for interference-has already produced the winning 4-year-old Tigrasha (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), while her 3-year-old filly by Daiwa Major (Jpn) and 2-year-old daughter of Deep Impact are as-yet unraced. She’s A Tiger’s latest produce, a Heart’s Cry colt (lot 407), was her first progeny to visit a sale ring and the bay was bought by Masahiro Noda of Danox Co. Ltd for ¥270-million (£2,008,925/€2,208,536/$2,517,987).
“As there are no Deep Impacts on the market anymore, we decided we would like to buy a very nice foal by Heart’s Cry,” said Yoshiki Okada, racing manager to Masahiro Noda. “Our team inspected the consignment from Northern Farm and made a short list of foals by Heart’s Cry. He was on the short list and Mr. Noda selected this one from the list. The mare She’s A Tiger, who was the U.S. champion juvenile filly, is very good-looking horse and the foal is also good looking. The price was more than we expected but Mr. Noda did not want to stop bidding.”
A Deep Impact half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss) was the star turn of Monday’s yearling session, setting a record price for a JRHA yearling of ¥510-million (£3,794,400/€4,171,800/$4,756,197). The dam Sheave (Mineshaft)’s colt foal by Heart’s Cry (lot 383) was in the spotlight on Tuesday as the third-highest priced foal when bought by Miwa Holding for ¥210-million (£1,562,400/€1,717,766/$1,958,361). Sheave was a private acquisition by Northern Farm.
Kanaloa Colt An Early Highlight
The first $1-million-plus foal of the sale came early in the session when a Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) colt (lot 316) out of the G1 Premio Lydia Tesio and G2 Oaks d’Italia scorer Final Score (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) fetched ¥200-million (£1,488,061/€1,636,565/$1,865,106) from Ryouichi Ootuka. While many bidders battled it out for remaining heirs to the Sunday Silence line, Ootuka-who won last year’s G1 Kikuka Sho with World Premiere (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})-said he was taking a different approach.
“This is the pick of the day for me,” Ryoichi Ootuka said. “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.”
Final Score’s first two foals are both black-type placed. She is herself out of the listed-winning Holy Moon (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}), who produced three consecutive Oaks d’Italia winners in Cherry Collect (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), Charity Line (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}) and Final Score-the latter two also won the Lydia Tesio-and the Italian Group 3 winner Wordless (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) before throwing her best produce of all, the G1 Yorkshire Oaks and G1 Irish Oaks winner Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).
Lord Kanaloa, who has indeed proven an exciting outcross, provided another highlight lot in 539, a colt out of G1 VRC Oaks winner Kirramossa (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}) bought by Tetsuhide Kunimoto for ¥140-million (£1,041,642/€1,145,777/$1,305,781). A colt out of GI Santa Anita Oaks winner Crisp (El Corredor) (lot 445) brought ¥80-million (£595,360/€654,560/$746,160) from G. Riviere Racing.
Sister To Champion Shines
Dual Horse of the Year Kitasan Black (Jpn)-by Deep Impact’s full-brother Black Tide (Jpn)–had first-crop yearlings selling on Monday but it was on Tuesday that he shone brightest with two foals cracking the top 10. First up was a half-brother to last year’s champion 2-year-old filly Resistencia (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) (lot 334) bought by Azabu Shoji for ¥190-million (£1,413,980/€1,554,580/$1,771,966), and he was followed by a colt out of G1 July Cup winner Fleeting Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 484) picked up by INZEL Co Ltd for ¥110-million (£818,620/€899,896/$1,025,875).
The foal sale featured a filly from the first crop of American Triple Crown winner Justify (lot 397), and she went the way of Takeshita Koichi for ¥80-million (£595,360/€654,490/$746,049). The chestnut is out of Not Now Carolyn (Tapit), a daughter of Maryfield (Elusive Quality) who, like Hilda’s Passion, won the Ballerina S. and has produced the G2 Futurity S. second in Ireland, Radio Silence (War Front). A filly from the first crop of Saxon Warrior (Jpn) (lot 323) brought ¥41-million (£304,978/€335,421/$382,350) from Miyazaki Toshiya.
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