It’s not as if the bloodstock world needed a reminder of the global efficacy of Japan’s late breed-shaping sire Deep Impact (Jpn), but nonetheless last weekend Fancy Blue (Ire) served up just that when handing her sire a third European Classic winner in the space of three seasons after Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Study Of Man (Ire) took the G1 2000 Guineas and G1 Prix du Jockey Club, respectively, in 2018. Few sires ever can lay claim to the kind of global influence that Deep Impact has had; his 47 Group 1 winners include top-level scorers in Australia, Dubai, Britain, France, Hong Kong and, of course, Japan.
Deep Impact died last July and-having had his final breeding season cut short by the neck injury that ultimately led to his demise-has around 20 foals on the ground this year. None of those are catalogued to Tuesday’s JRHA Foal Sale on the Japanese island of Hokkaido, but 13 yearlings from his penultimate crop are set to sell at the JRHA Yearling Sale the day prior. They represent some of the very last opportunities for buyers from around the world to tussle for Deep Impact’s game-changing genes.
That baker’s dozen includes a filly out of GI La Brea S. winner Teddy’s Promise (Salt Lake), already the dam of Group 3 winner My Rhapsody (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) (lot 36); a half-brother to dual French Classic winner La Cressonniere (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) (lot 67) who is bred on the same cross as Saxon Warrior; a half-brother to GI Belmont S. and GI Met Mile winner and exciting young sire Palace Malice (Curlin) (lot 92); a half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks victress Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss) (lot 114); a half-brother to G1 Prix Rothschild winner Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) (lot 126); a colt out of Grade I winner Wickedly Perfect (Congrats), already the dam of G2 Hopeful S. winner Hartley (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) (lot 139); and a filly who is the second foal out of Grade I winner Euro Charline (GB)(Myboycharlie {Ire}) (lot 171).
Japanese breeders are on the hunt for stallions to take the baton from Deep Impact, and chief among those is Lord Kanaloa (Jpn). The standout young sire has some particularly well-pedigreed foals catalogued including a colt out of G1 Premio Lydia Tesio victress Final Score (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}) (lot 316), whose first two foals are black-type placed; a half-sister to champion sprinter/miler Mikki Isle (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) (lot 343); and a colt out of GI Santa Anita Oaks winner Crisp (El Corredor) who is a half-brother to last week’s Japan Dirt Derby (a local Group 1) winner Danon Pharaoh (Jpn) (American Pharoah) (lot 445). A Lord Kanaloa colt out of G1 Australian Oaks scorer Kirramosa (NZ) (Alamosa {NZ}) (lot 539) should close the sale on a high note as the final foal through the ring.
In addition to the Deep Impact yearlings, the yearling section of the catalogue is anchored by full siblings to a pair of recent Japanese-bred stars. Gracing the ring within the first hour of the sale as lot 12 will be a full-sister to Deirdre (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), who was herself foaled in Hokkaido and sold at this sale but is now a global citizen who has made Newmarket her home for the better part of a year. The G1 Shuka Sho winner has from that base won the G1 Nassau S. and raced with credit in Ireland, Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. She was also third in the G1 Dubai Turf in 2018.
It is rare to see a highlight horse at this sale not from the Northern Farm or Shadai consignments, and Hasegawa Bokujo has a chance to steal a slice of the limelight with a full-sister to this year’s G1 Oka Sho and G1 Yushun Himba (Japanese 1000 Guineas and Oaks) winner Daring Tact (Jpn) (lot 93), by another emerging young sire in Epiphaneia (Jpn).
With Deep Impact and King Kamehameha (Jpn) having died within weeks of each other last summer, Heart’s Cry has taken up the mantle among the elder brigade at Shadai Stallion Station and he has a few of note set for sale. Those include a yearling colt out of G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) (lot 145), who has made an excellent start to her second career as the dam of G2 Prix de Sandringham winner Mission Impassible (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and this year’s G3 Prix Vanteaux winner Magic Attitude (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). In the foal sale Heart’s Cry has a full-brother to GI Woodward S. and GI Turf Classic victor Yoshida (Jpn) (lot 365), who recently completed his first season at stud at WinStar Farm in Kentucky, as well as a half-brother to Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia-the mare has both her foal and yearling on offer-and a colt out of American champion 2-year-old filly She’s A Tiger (Tale of the Cat) (lot 407).
Befitting a sale of international stature, the JRHA Select Sale catalogue has a healthy smattering of sires and pedigrees from around the globe contained within. Among the highlights on paper of the yearling section are lot 75, an American Pharoah filly out of a half-sister to Grade III winner Tapicat (Tapit); lot 147, a colt by Kitten’s Joy out of Grade I winner and dual stakes producer Joyful Victory (Tapit); lot 158, a colt by No Nay Never from the family of Godolphin’s talented 3-year-old filly Final Song (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}); lot 172, a second-crop filly by highly anticipated young American sire Frosted (Tapit); lot 174, a colt from the first crop of dual Group 1-winning sprinter Caravaggio; and lot 207, a Dark Angel (Ire) filly who is the second foal of the French Group 3 winner Great Page (Ire) (Roderic O’Connor {Ire}).
Among the foals, Triple Crown winner Justify and the aforementioned Classic winner Saxon Warrior both have members of their first crops catalogued (lots 397 and 323, respectively). Lope De Vega (Ire) (lot 472) and Golden Horn (GB) (lot 375) are also in the mix.
Buyers will have the chance to lay their eyes on the first two crops of dual Japanese Horse of the Year Kitasan Black (Jpn) at the sale, and one of his that catches the eye on paper is the foal half-brother to last year’s champion 2-year-old filly Resistencia (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) (lot 334). Resistencia is the second foal of the Argentine Group 1 winner Malacostumbrada (Arg) (Lizard Island), and is the latest in a growing line up of Japanese-bred standouts from South American mares. The 2018 Japanese champion 2-year-old filly Danon Fantasy (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) is also from an Argentine mare, as is dual Group 1 winner Satono Diamond (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who recently completed his second season at Shadai Stallion Station. Certainly not by coincidence there are a handful of offerings out of South American Group 1 winners and champions catalogued, particularly in the foal section. Those include a colt by the aforementioned Satono Diamond out of the G1 Gran Premio Giliberto Lerena winner Conviction (Arg) (City Banker {Arg}) (lot 303); colts by Duramente (Jpn) out of the dual Argentine Group 1 winner Schoolmistress (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}) (lot 301) and Argentine champion 2-year-old filly Positive Mind (Arg) (EqualStripes {Arg}) (lot 371); and a trio by Heart’s Cry, including a filly out of Chilean champion Divine Preciosa (Chi) (Crocker Road) (lot 387), already the dam of two winners in Japan.
Like every other auction house around the world, the JRHA has not escaped the threat of COVID-19 and the necessity of implementing safety measures. JRHA International Representative Naohiro Goda said the sales pavilion at the Northern Horse Park in Hokkaido will be at half capacity. Attendees will be asked to wear masks, and all associated sale festivities have been cancelled. The sale will be conducted live and while internet bidding will not be introduced, the capacity for telephone bidding will be increased including two international lines for English speakers.
Goda said that the lifting of domestic travel restrictions within Japan on June 19 has meant that buyers have already had the opportunity to travel to Hokkaido to inspect the foals and yearlings.
“Teruya Yoshida of Shadai Farm has said they have had an usually [high] number of visitors to Shadai Farm to inspect the foals and yearlings,” Goda said. “While there are a few major players who will have suffered from the slow down of the general economy and we may miss a couple of big names at the sale grounds this year, we have seen considerable numbers of new buyers visiting the consignors’ farms in Hokkaido and we expect it will be an active market.”
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