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Top Class Pedigrees on Offer as Entries for Two-Day Sale Announced by JRHA

Progeny of the 1,000 Guineas winner Homecoming Queen (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), Irish 1,000 Guineas scorer Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) and American Oaks heroine Spanish Queen (Tribal Rule) feature among the high-class offerings at the two-day Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale on July 11 and 12.

Japanese-breds have starred on the international stage in recent times, highlighted by the success of Marche Lorraine (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) and Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), both trained by Yoshito Yahagi, who made history by becoming the first Japanese-trained winners at the Breeders' Cup last season.

The strength of Japanese racing was further highlighted by an impressive haul of five wins at the Dubai World Cup meeting at Meydan back in March and some of the best bred yearlings and foals the country has to offer will go under the hammer next month.

The sale will be kick-started by 243 yearlings, of which there are sons and daughters of Frankel (GB), Gun Runner, Heart's Cry (Jpn), Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), Mind Your Biscuits, Omaha Beach, Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Thunder Snow (Ire) on July 11.

There are 241 foals listed for the following day, with progeny by top-notch stallions Al Ain (Jpn), American Pharoah, Caravaggio, City of Light, Duramente (Jpn), Justify, Karakontie (Jpn), Kizuna (Jpn), McKinzie, Nadal, No Nay Never and Nyquist on offer.

Homecoming Queen was a brilliant winner of the 1,000 Guineas in 2012 and is already a proven producer of talent with her daughter Shale (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) winning the Group 1 Moyglare Stud S. at the Curragh in 2020. Jet Setting famously took the scalp of Minding (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) when winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2016 while Spanish Queen gained her American Oaks win in 2015.

The catalogue is available online at www.jrha-selectsale.com and print copies will be sent out by June 4. The JRHA will have Covid-19 safety protocols in place for the live two-day sale. For more information, email lem00454@nifty.ne.jp.

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The Weekly Wrap: The Power And The Glory

It has been quite the week for two young stallions from Tally-Ho Stud. We barely stopped hearing about Mehmas (Ire) last season during his record-breaking assault on the freshman sires' championship, and the big question is always how a stallion will follow up on that early promise. It can be a long way to fall after a reputation is so swiftly created, but in the case of the 7-year-old son of Acclamation (GB) it looks very much as if he is consolidating his position as a stallion to follow with great interest.

He now leads the second-season sires' list in Europe and has accrued progeny earnings almost double his nearest rival, Territories (Ire). A further nine black-type winners have been added this year, including Saturday's G3 Anglesey S. winner Beauty Inspire (Ire) and Going Global (Ire), who has doubtless broadened Mehmas's international appeal by winning three graded stakes in California.

Almost certain to try his hand next in stakes company will be Gubbass (Ire), of whom we will hear more in tomorrow's TDN, the unbeaten winner of the Weatherbys Super Sprint.

Mehmas's fee rose in line with that burgeoning reputation from his 2020 low of €7,500 to €25,000 (he began his career at €12,500). By all accounts, his book was not difficult to fill at that price. Quite the opposite in fact.

Cotai Glory (GB) joined the Tally-Ho roster the following year and, of the 85 named foals from his first crop, more than half of them have already made it to the racecourse: 46 at the time of writing, of which 21 are now winners.

Six of those winners came in an eye-catching week for the 9-year-old stallion, which also included a second group victory for Atomic Force (Ire), who has now landed the G2 Prix Robert Papin and G3 Prix du Bois from his two French forays. Trained by Kevin Ryan for Siu Pak Kwan, the juvenile was gelded after his runner-up finish on debut at Musselburgh and has won all three subsequent starts. Naturally, he is now ruled out of a stud career himself but that only means that, like his sire, Atomic Force could potentially have a fairly lengthy career, whether he remains in Europe or heads to Hong Kong, where his owner is also heavily involved.

Cotai Glory himself raced for four years, winning the G3 Molecomb S. in his debut season. The son of top dual-hemisphere sire Exceed And Excel (Aus) had the G2 Flying Childers S. at his mercy on his next start, only to jink within the final furlong and unship his rider George Baker. An out-and-out sprinter, he raced beyond the minimum trip only five times in his 30 starts, and ran his fellow freshman sire Profitable (Ire) to a neck when second in the G1 King's Stand S. as a 4-year-old.

Over the last few years, there has been a concerted push by French racing to encourage more British owners to race in France for improved prize-money. How much the pandemic and onerous restrictions have acted as a deterrent for owners who would be unable to travel to see their horses is unknown, but undoubtedly the double whammy of Covid and Brexit has led to a significant drop in horse movements between the UK and France.

Ryan is one of those trainers who has persisted with travelling horses and now has two group wins to show for it, while Charlie Appleby landed last week's G1 Grand Prix de Paris in scintillating fashion with the Irish Derby winner Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).

Remarkably, the Robert Papin has been won by British-based trainers in nine of the last 10 years, and has only gone to a French trainer in 11 of the last 30 years. The first three home this time around were all trained outside France, with Italy's Vincenzo Fazio sending out the runner-up Baghed (GB) (Twilight Son {GB}) and George Boughey continuing his good season with the third-placed Hellomydarlin (GB). The latter represents another young Tally-Ho Stud resident, Galileo Gold (GB), who is alone among his peers in having sired two first-crop stakes winners to date in the listed winners Ebro River (Ire) and System (Ire). Both Hellomydarlin and Ebro River were bred by the O'Callaghans at Tally-Ho, as was Saturday's Redcar novice winner Uncs (Ire)–another from the Boughey stable.

Tally-Ho Stud can also claim some reflected praise from Cotai Glory's nearest challenger in the freshman sires' table, Ardad (Ire). The Overbury Stud stallion is currently leading the British charge and has similarly encouraging statistics in that he had only 63 named foals, 31 of which have run to date providing him with 14 winners including the G2 Norfolk S. winner Perfect Power (GB). He is trained by Richard Fahey, who also has Ardad's G2 Coventry S-placed Vintage Clarets (GB). Ardad was himself bred and breezed by Tally-Ho and is a son of the stud's flagship stallion Kodiac (GB), who is now in danger of being upstaged by some of his barn-mates.

Japan's Global Outlook

On the back of a strong Tattersalls July Sale in Newmarket, the JRHA's dominant Select Sale also returned a clearance rate of 93% and some eye-watering figures for its consecutive sessions of yearlings and foals in Hokkaido. The equivalent of roughly £150 million (€175 million) was spent across the two days, and though international participation is not necessarily a theme of the sale, particularly during the pandemic, there is no shortage of global interest when it comes to the bloodlines on offer.

Even among just the top ten lots on each day, the foals and yearlings represented mares who had been recruited, usually by the Yoshida brothers, from around the world, including America, Australia, Argentina, Britain, Ireland, France and Germany.

Katsumi Yoshida also contributed last week to a new world record for the pandemic-inspired boom market of digital sales when buying the Australian Group 1 winner Funstar (Aus) (Adelaide {Ire}) for A$2.7 million. This made her the second highest-priced broodmare sold in Australia this year whether online or in person.

Yoshida's Northern Farm is also home to Funstar's fellow Group 1-winning half-sister Youngstar (Aus) (High Chaparral {Ire}) whom he acquired for A$1.4 million. Another of their half-sisters, the minor winner Baggy Green (Aus) (Galileo {Ire}), is the dam of the treble Group 1 winner Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}), and the family traces its way back through the first two generations at least, to Ireland and Britain.

The sisters are grand-daughters of Bill Gredley's User Friendly (GB) (Slip Anchor {GB}), who won the Oaks, Irish Oaks, Yorkshire Oaks and St Leger and was second in the Arc through her outstanding Classic season. She was sold at the end of her racing career at Keeneland for $2.5 million to Kazuo Nakamura and her first two daughters, User History (Mr Prospector) and Lady Venus (Kingmambo), both ended up as broodmares in Japan. Resold four years later to Barronstown Stud for $1.7 million, User Friendly went on to produce seven winners in Europe, including Funstar's dam Starspangled (Ire) (Danehill).

The family has also been represented in Europe in recent seasons by the Gredleys' 2018 champion juvenile filly Pretty Pollyanna (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a grand-daughter of User Friendly's half-sister Friendlier (GB) (Zafonic).

Pure Anticipation

This Friday may provide a first chance to witness the latest runner from Ecurie des Monceaux's high-class broodmare Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

The chestnut filly Pure Dignity (GB), a Dubawi (Ire) half-sister to Arc winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and multiple Grade 1 winner Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), topped Arqana's Select Sale last September when sold to Fawzi Nass and Oliver St Lawrence for €2.5 million. She is now in training in Newmarket with Roger Varian for her owners HH Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa and KHK Racing and has her first entry at Ascot in the John Guest Racing British EBF Fillies' Novice Stakes on the opening day of the King George meeting.

Meanwhile, ongoing changes to restrictions, particularly between France and England, continues to make planning for the early part of the sales season a little fraught. Arqana's flagship August Yearling Sale had to be delayed last year until September and was thus renamed the Select Sale. The British government's announcement on Friday that travellers returning from France will have to undergo 10 days' quarantine and PCR testing threw a spanner in the works just ahead of so-called Freedom Day.

It is possible to attend both Arqana and the Goffs UK Premier Sale, which starts a week after the end of the August Sale and six days after Arqana's V.2 if taking up the test-to-release option after five days of quarantine, which of course comes at another extra cost. However, the rules are set to be reviewed once more at the beginning of August, so there is still hope that the 10-day quarantine, which does not apply to other countries on the UK's 'amber list' of foreign destinations, is removed before the European sales season gets underway.

At least there is now free movement between Britain and Ireland. Long may that last, especially when it comes to offering some sort of stability for those sales companies and consignors trying to finalise yearling plans.

Royal Flush

The Queen may have only made it to her beloved Royal Ascot for the final day of the meeting but her horses are ensuring that she is enjoying a throughly decent season even if she cannot be on track. Tactical (GB) (Toronado {Ire}), King's Lynn (GB) (Cable Bay {Ire}) and Light Refrain (GB) (Frankel {GB}) are all homebred listed winners in the royal silks this year, with the latter also winning the G3 Summer S. on her latest outing on July 9.

On Friday, The Queen was represented by three runners from three different stables at Newbury and Newmarket, and all returned victorious, including Portfolio (Jpn), a daughter of Japan's late champion sire Deep Impact (Jpn) out of the listed winner Diploma (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) who has won her last two starts for Sir Michael Stoute.

McCain Girls Chip In

Donald McCain may have trained a Grand National winner of his own and been closely connected to the most famous Grand National horse of all time through his father's training of Red Rum (GB), but a Class 6 handicap and a maiden hurdle on July 14 nevertheless combined to provide an equally special day.

McCain's two daughters, Abbie and Ella, have both pursued a career in the saddle, with Abbie currently riding as a conditional over jumps and Ella as an apprentice on Flat. Last Wednesday, the stable's two winners at Uttoxeter and Ripon were each ridden by a McCain.

The trainer tweeted, “2 daughters, 2 rides, 2 codes, flat and jumps, 2 winners!! A very proud day.” Rightly so.

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Frankel Colt Among Japan Sale Leaders

Frankel (GB) is having a stellar season and currently holds a narrow lead over his sire Galileo (Ire) on the European sires' table, and his proficiency has extended to Japan; in fact, it was there that he posted his first Group 1 win as a sire with the subsequent Classic winner Soul Stirring (Jpn) in the 2016 G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, and he now has three Group 1 winners in Japan with Mozu Ascot (Jpn) and Grenadier Guards (Jpn) also making the grade. It should have come as no surprise, then, that his lone horse in the JRHA Select Sale would be popular, and lot 329, a colt foal out of GI Las Virgenes S. winner Callback (Street Sense), certainly was that when selling to Thoroughbred Club Lion for ¥240-million ($2,173,380/€1,839,360/£1,571,566)-the fourth-highest price of the session on Tuesday.

“This is an outstanding individual,” said trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who signed the ticket. “I visited Northern Farm for inspection three times and I have a feeling this colt has been getting better, better and better. While he may not be a typical Frankel, I like him a lot and am sure he is worth paying this amount of money.”

The colt is the third foal out of Callback, who was purchased by Katsumi Yoshida for $2-million in foal to Medaglia d'Oro at Keeneland November in 2019, having previously produced a colt by that same sire who was bought by Donato Lanni for $175,000 at Fasig-Tipton's March Sale of 2-year-olds in training this year.

The JRHA Select Sale began on Monday at Hokkaido's Northern Horse Park with a strong session of yearling trade and wrapped up on Tuesday with foals and another blockbuster day. Twenty-four foals sold for in excess of ¥100-million ($906,935/€765,600/£654,500). Seven of those breached the ¥200-million ($1,814,001/€1,531,778/£1,309,000) mark, with trade topped by a ¥410-million ($3,718,702/€3,139,868/£2,683,471) colt from Northern Farm by Deep Impact (Jpn)'s son Kizuna (Jpn) out of the G2 Diana-Trial winner Selkis (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) (lot 428) bought by Yoshihisa Ozasa on the phone with his trainer Yoshito Yahagi. New investor Susumu Fujita was underbidder.

Despite prevailing COVID-19 restrictions and uncertainties in Japan, a strong desire for bloodstock among the local ownership ranks remains; the number of registered buyers at the sale was up 10% from last year, and figures climbed decisively on 2020 figures, which was itself a strong renewal of the sale despite falling in the midst of the pandemic.

Tuesday's foal session saw 213 youngsters sold for ¥10,923,000,000 ($98,915,957/€83,783,637/£71,652,375), up 31.1% from last year. The average and median were likewise up at ¥51,281,690 ($464,824/€393,420/£336,396) (+24.9%) and ¥33,000,000 ($299,116/€253,203/£216,472) (+13.8%), respectively. The clearance rate for the foal session was 92.6%.

Cumulatively across two days of yearling and foal trade, ¥22,561,000,000 ($204,302,263/€172,936,517/£147,994,986) was spent on 439 lots from 472 offered, with the clearance rate rounding out at 93%. The cumulative average of ¥51,391,780 ($465,380/€393,932/£336,751) was up 18.3% on 2020.

The JRHA Select Sale catalogue was for the first time this year absent of progeny of leading sire King Kamehameha (Jpn) and included just four yearlings by the likewise late Deep Impact (Jpn), and thus trade could have been expected to fall short of previous renewals where they were so dominant, but the investment of Japanese breeders, in particular the Yoshida family, in quality bloodstock that has built up both the stallion and broodmare ranks shone through.

“This was a much stronger market than I expected,” admitted Teruya Yoshida, active chairman of the Japan Racing Horse Association. “As the catalogue this year did not include King Kamehameha and very few Deep Impacts, I thought the market would shrink, but I was wrong.”

Also pivotal to the good returns was the significant investment of new owner Susumu Fujita, who started buying horses in the spring and this week spent ¥2,367,000,000 ($21,413,893/€18,156,519/£15,510,062) on six foals and 12 yearlings.

“I am very impressed to see so many new players active through the two days of the 2021 Select Sale,” Yoshida continued. “Most impressive was Mr. Susumu Fujita, who attended at JRHA Select Sale for the first time and spent ¥2,367,000,000 in total through the two days, which is more than 10% of the gross sale.

“The number of buyers registered at this year's sale is more than 700, which is 10% more than last year, and the market has a number of players at every price range. I think that is what created this strong market. And I think we have a variation of stallions standing in Japan now. There are sires who produce good sprinters, milers and stayers. There are sires of turf runners and dirt runners. The quality of broodmares we have in Japan is much higher than before, and many stallions have a chance to produce class racehorses, and have a chance to have expensive horses at the bloodstock market.

“Breeders including myself will re-invest the funds to acquire more quality mares to improve the quality of Japanese-bred horses. I hope horse racing in Japan will become a more attractive sport.”

Kizuna Colt Leads The Way

Campaigned as a homebred by Gestut Schlenderhan, Selkis won the 2011 G2 Diana-Trial by a nose but was unable to beat another horse home in the G1 Preis der Diana won by Dancing Rain (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Purchased privately by Katsumi Yoshida, Selkis produced Velox (Jpn) (Just A Way {Jpn}) as her fourth foal, and he placed in all three 2019 Japanese colts' Classics. Six of Selkis's foals have been offered at this sale, with prior to Tuesday four foals averaging $329,458 and two yearlings averaging $373,520. Velox himself was a ¥48-million ($435,348/€367,651/£314,162) yearling.

“This is the one I was firmly resolved to acquire,” Ozasa said. “Yoshito Yahagi strongly recommended him, and others who inspected him told me unanimously that this is very nice horse. I thought he would cost ¥300 million or more or less, but I didn't intend to retreat at all. I won the bidding war and hope the colt will win big races.”

Kizuna is proving a rising star of the sire ranks, currently sitting fourth in the sire standings behind only his sire, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) and Heart's Cry (Jpn). He is the sire of eight group winners from three crops of racing age.

Ozasa's Tuesday haul also included a first-crop colt by Rey De Oro (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}), who will have high hopes riding on him as a sire being by the same sire as Lord Kanaloa and having been both champion 3-year-old and champion older horse courtesy of wins in the G1 Tokyo Yushun and G1 Tenno Sho Autumn. Rey De Oro enjoyed a profitable debut sale, his 15 foals offered all sold for an average of ¥76,133,333 ($690,510/€583,222/£498,749). Ozasa's purchase, (lot 334), was the joint highest-priced of those at ¥180-million ($1,632,987/€1,378,837/£1,179,180). He is a half-brother to the G3 Tokyo Shimbun Hai scorer Black Spinel (Jpn) (Tanino Gimlet {Jpn}).

Ozasa also put his faith in another young sire, champion Satono Diamond (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) with the purchase of his second-most expensive colt, lot 374, the second foal out of GI Spinaway S. winner Lady Ivanka (Tiz Wonderful), for ¥130-million ($1,179,379/€995,870/£851,567). Satono Diamond, whose eldest progeny are yearlings, had a top price of ¥180-million ($1,632,879/€1,378,800/£1,179,093) on Tuesday via lot 390, a colt out of Argentine champion Positive Mind (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}) bought by new owner Susumu Fujita.

Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) has made a meteoric rise through the sire ranks and was on Monday responsible by three of the top five prices during the yearling session. He likewise sired the second-highest-priced colt during the foal session, a son of Australian champion 2- and 3-year-old filly Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}) (lot 398) who fetched ¥370-million ($3,356,473/€2,833,331/£2,422,832) from prominent owner Masahiro Noda's Danox Co. Ltd. Yankee Rose, who was purchased privately by Katsumi Yoshida upon conclusion of her racing career, has an as-yet unraced 2-year-old filly by Deep Impact named Romneya (Jpn) and did not produce a foal in 2020.

All Heart

The recently pensioned Heart's Cry (Jpn) sired the three top-priced foals at last year's sale, and made a strong showing again on Tuesday when siring three of the top seven foals. Chief among those was lot 361, who boasted one of the best pedigrees in the book being a half-brother to international Group 1 winners Real Steel (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). He was knocked down to Miki Masahiro for ¥280-million ($2,536,025/€2,147,600/£1,834,891). The pedigree goes from strength to strength down the page, his second dam Monevassia (Mr. Prospector) being a full-sister to Kingmambo and also the dam of Group 1 winner and producer Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill). Monevassia is therefore a daughter of the great Miesque.

Heart's Cry's haul also included the top-priced filly of the session, a ¥200-million ($1,809,370/€1,534,085/£1,310,636) daughter of American champion 2-year-old filly She's A Tiger (Tale of the Cat) (lot 342). She's A Tiger's Deep Impact filly foal was the second-top lot at this sale last year when selling for ¥270-million.

Alterite (Fr) (Literato {Fr}) has certainly racked up plenty of air miles in her 11 years. Having started her racing career in her native France, she was soon purchased privately by Martin Schwartz and transferred to the U.S. after winning at listed level and finishing second in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary. She promptly won the GI Garden City S. in New York and placed in two more Grade Is before returning to France, where she was sold to Katsumi Yoshida for €1.1-million at Arqana December in 2014. Alterite has two winners from three foals of racing age and on Tuesday her latest produce, a son of rising young sire Epiphaneia (Jpn) (lot 366), made ¥220-million ($1,992,591/€1,686,270/£1,440,780) to the bid of Y's Consignment Sales.

Next Generation

Shunsuke Yoshida, son of Northern Farm principal Katsumi Yoshida, has been a pivotal figure in that operation and this year for the first time he offered horses at the JRHA Sale under his own name. He enjoyed three ¥100-million-plus sales on Tuesday, including the joint top-priced Rey de Oro colt and an American Pharoah colt (lot 337) who fetched ¥150-million ($1,358,632/€1,148,825/£982,350) from Danox. The colt is the second foal out of Switch In Time (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of dual Grade I winner Switch (Quiet American). Lot 337 is bred on the same cross as American Pharoah's G2 Park Hill S. winner Pista, and similarly to last year's G1 Criterium International winner and European champion 2-year-old Van Gogh, who is out of a daughter of Sadler's Wells. This was the lone horse in the sale by American Pharoah, who has had two stakes winners in Japan: G1 February S. winner Cafe Pharoah and Listed Japan Dirt Derby scorer Danon Pharaoh.

Another American Horse of the Year, Bricks and Mortar, was represented by his first foals on Tuesday, with all seven offered selling for an average of ¥54,142,857 ($490,401/€414,681/£354,419). And yet another, California Chrome, saw his first Japanese-bred foals go through the ring; three sold from four offered for an average of ¥22,666,666 ($205,448/€173,626/£148,376). Justify, whose one offering at the yearling sale sold for ¥200-million, had a one foal offered on Tuesday, a colt out of American champion 2-year-old filly Caledonia Road (Quality Road) (lot 344) who sold to Miki Masahiro for ¥135-million ($1,223,629/€1,034,235/£884,097).

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Deep Impact Yearlings In The Spotlight

The foal session of the JRHA Select Sale is normally the headline-grabber, but the presence of four yearlings from the final crop of the late, great Deep Impact (Jpn) during Monday's opening session could just steal the show during the two-day sale in Hokkaido.

Deep Impact, the Triple Crown winner and breed-shaping sire, died on July 29, 2019, having missed much of the preceding covering season with the spinal issues that ultimately took his life. His small final crop was expected to contain around 20 foals, four of which will go under the hammer this week and will, in fact, bookend Monday's yearling session. They are lot 1, a colt out of GII Gulfstream Park Oaks and GII Black-Eyed Susan S. winner Go Maggie Go (Ghostzapper); lot 52, a filly out of GI Beverly D. S. winner Watsdachances (Ire) (Diamond Green {Fr}); 130, a filly out of the four-time winner Jewel Maker (Jpn) (Empire Maker); and lot 248, a colt out of champion and three-time Group 1 winner Sweep Tosho (Jpn) (End Sweep), who has produced seven winners from seven runners.

At the first renewal of Japan's market-leading sale following Deep Impact's death last summer, buyers were keen to get their hands on some of his last progeny and indeed he was responsible for the top six yearlings by price and twice during the session his progeny set a new record for high price for a yearling at the sale, topped by a half-brother to GI Kentucky Oaks winner Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss) who fetched ¥510-million (£3.77m/€4.19m/$4.75m) from Tetsuhide Kunimoto.

Deep Impact has continued to posthumously justify those buyers' confidence in the 12 months since the 2020 Select Sale; he earned his eighth consecutive champion sire title in 2020, his leading light being Contrail (Jpn), who was his third straight G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner-and sixth overall–and emulated his sire by winning the Japanese Triple Crown. For good measure, Shahryar (Jpn) continued the Deep Impact Tokyo Yushun procession this year.

Deep Impact likewise bolstered a remarkable record in Europe last July with Fancy Blue (Ire), winner of the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S., and he notched a fourth European Classic winner in four years-and fifth overall–last month when Snowfall (Jpn) ran away with the G1 Cazoo Oaks by a record 16 lengths. Others to fly his flag over the past year include G1 Mile Championship, G1 Sprinters S. and G1 Victoria Mile winner Gran Alegria (Jpn); G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup scorer Loves Only You (Jpn); G1 Osaka Hai victress Lei Papale (Jpn); G1 Yasuda Kinen winner Danon Kingly (Jpn) and Fierce Impact (Jpn), who became the latest Australian Group 1 winner for his sire in the Makybe Diva S. Last year was, in fact, Deep Impact's best-ever year by stakes winners and calendar-year earnings, with 35 black-type winners notched (for 46 total stakes wins) and $78,145,659 in the bank.

The JRHA Select Sale will, of course, not be all about Deep Impact; leading local sires like Epiphaneia (Jpn), Heart's Cry (Jpn) and Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) are well represented. With the death of Deep Impact and King Kamehameha in 2019 and the more recent retirement of Heart's Cry, Japanese stud masters have made a significant investment in stallion prospects the past few years and those represented by members of their first-crop weanlings or yearlings here include American Horse of the Year Bricks and Mortar; G1 Japan Cup winner Cheval Grand (Jpn); champion 3-year-old Satono Diamond (Jpn); multiple Grade/Group 1-winning sprinter Mind Your Biscuits; Deep Impact's G1 2000 Guineas winner Saxon Warrior (Jpn); and the Japanese-bred, American Grade I winner Yoshida (Jpn), who himself graduated from this sale. The catalogue also includes some of the first Japanese-bred progeny of GI Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, and second- and third-crop progeny of American champion sprinter Drefong, who has his first runners this year.

Other highlights from Monday's yearling section of the catalogue include a Heart's Cry colt who is the first foal out of G1 Golden Slipper She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) (lot 19); a colt by Satono Diamond out of G2 Oaks d'Italia winner Cherry Collect (Ire) (Oratorio {Ire}), a stakes producer and half-sister to G1 Yorkshire Oaks victress Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (lot 65); a Daiwa Major (Jpn) colt out of GI Alcibiades S. winner and stakes producer Wickedly Perfect (Congrats) (lot 74); a Lord Kanaloa colt who is the first foal out of G1 Queen Elizabeth II S. winner Queens Ring (Jpn) (Manhattan Cafe {Jpn}) (lot 96); a Lord Kanaloa colt out of American champion female sprinter Finest City (City Zip) (lot 100); a colt from the first crop of American Triple Crown winner Justify who is the second foal out of GI First Lady S. scorer Zipessa (City Zip) (lot 113); a Heart's Cry colt who is the second foal out of triple Grade I winner Curalina (Curlin) (lot 132); a Heart's Cry son of French Classic winner Elusive Wave (Ire) (Elusive City), a stakes producer whose progeny have topped this sale twice (lot 141); and a colt by Just A Way (Jpn) out of Australian Classic winner Absolutely (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}) (lot 193).

Highlights of the foal section include a filly by Kizuna (Jpn) out of dual Group 1 winner Covert Love (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) (lot 307); a colt by Duramente (Jpn) out of dual Grade I winner Vasilika (Skipshot) (lot 316); a Frankel (GB) colt out of GI Las Virgenes S. winner Callback (Street Sense) (lot 329); a Heart's Cry filly out of American champion 2-year-old She's A Tiger (Tale of the Cat), whose Heart's Cry colt was last year the second-top lot at the foal sale when bringing ¥270-million ($2,451,091/£1,763,058/€2,063,729) (lot 342); a colt by Maurice (Jpn) out of dual Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 388); and a Lord Kanaloa colt out of Australian champion Yankee Rose (Aus) (All American {Aus}) (lot 398).

The yearling session of the JRHA Select Sale begins at 10 a.m. local time on Monday, with the foal session following at the same time on Tuesday.

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