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Almond Eye First Japanese Horse To Capture Eight Grade 1 Titles

Overwhelming favorite Almond Eye showcased another compelling performance and claimed a back-to-back Tenno Sho (Autumn) title on Sunday, the first since Symboli Kris S in 2002 and 2003. While she is now the sixth horse to mark seven JRA-G1 wins, the 5-year-old Lord Kanaloa mare has gone down in history to become the first JRA horse ever to capture eight G1 titles over turf including the 2019 Dubai Turf.

This is the sixth triumph by a filly/mare this year in G1 races opened to both male and female runners, renewing the record of five set in 2008. Following the Victoria Mile victory with Almond Eye, trainer Sakae Kunieda now boasts a total of 18 JRA-G1 wins while jockey Christophe Lemaire has now 32 JRA-G1 wins in his pocket, his latest registered last month in the Sprinters Stakes with Gran Alegria. This is Christophe's third consecutive Tenno Sho (Autumn) victory following the 2018 version with Rey de Oro and 2019 with Almond Eye, and fifth consecutive Tenno Sho victory, a new JRA record, which includes the 2019 and 2020 Spring version with Fierement.

Almond Eye was placed in handy position, in fourth to fifth, after breaking from stall nine while Danon Premium led the field two to three lengths in front of Daiwa Cagney and Kiseki in that order. Chasing the three into the stretch, the star of the show had no trouble finding her stride, steadily accelerating to inherit the lead from Danon Premium just after the furlong pole and pulled away while holding off the strong enclosure of Fierement for a half-length victory.

“Today, the mare was relaxed before the start and we were able to break well. She showed a great turn of foot in the straight but ran out of steam a bit climbing the hill. The others were gaining on us but she didn't give up. I have to admit, to win the eighth G1 title was a big pressure, but she didn't let us down—her performance was awesome. Her future lay in the hands of the owner and trainer but I would very much like to ride her again,” commented a slightly teary Christophe Lemaire after the race.

Fifth pick Fierement traveled in around 10th behind Chrono Genesis and switched to the outside after struggling to find a clear path at the top of the stretch. Accelerating impressively with the fastest last-three-furlong speed and although unable to tag the winner, this year's victor of the spring version dug in well to cross the wire a neck in front of Chrono Genesis for second.

Second favorite Chrono Genesis sat in front of Fierement in the early stages, circled wide for the stretch run and with the second-fastest late drive, swooped pass the pacesetter less than 100 meters out but was caught by the runner-up at the wire.

The post Almond Eye First Japanese Horse To Capture Eight Grade 1 Titles appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Full Brother To Yoshida Leads JRHA Foal Sale

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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Impact Felt Greater Than Ever

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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