Star Graduates Point to Hot Trade at JRHA 

HOKKAIDO, Japan–Things are hotting up in the Northern Horse Park, literally and figuratively. As the mercury nudged 30 degrees on Saturday, the English and Irish in town for the JRHA Select Sale swooned and wilted while the many attendants showing the horses, mostly clad in jackets, went manfully and womanfully about their hot and tiring work without so much as a whimper.

Both they and the young horses in their care are well prepared for the two inspection days ahead, despite having only arrived on the sales ground that morning. For months now, the Japanese trainers and agents have been doing the rounds of the farms on Hokkaido and will have their lists, long and short, ready for refinement. Visitors only now arriving in Japan need not fear, however, as this is almost certainly the best organised sale they are ever likely to attend. 

Reams of staff are on hand at each consignment, with the next horse waiting patiently alongside the viewer's allotted runway for the one in front of him to finish. Crib sheets are available, detailing weights and heights, and, perhaps most usefully, their reserve prices. One can only imagine the hullabaloo that would break out were this system to be suggested for use at European sales, but really it would save an awful lot of faffing and faking.

Katsumi Yoshida, whose Northern Farm bred the world's top-rated horse Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}), is very much the man at the helm of Japan's biggest bloodstock auction. It is, after all, held in his vast park, which is both a tourist destination and competition ground for all manner of equines, from ponies to showjumpers. Extraordinarily, in the midst of it all, one of the most celebrated broodmares in Japan lives here in her dotage. Wind In Her Hair (Ire) (Alzao), a granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II's dual Classic winner Highclere (GB), is now 32 and has outlived her most famous son, Deep Impact (Ire), while another, Black Tide (Jpn), and many of their descendants, continue to feature prominently in the pedigrees of the young stock to be offered for sale on Monday and Tuesday. 

The days of Deep Impact's stock dominating this auction are now long gone, with the dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) one of the members of his small final crop. There has been another sad farewell in the Japanese stallion ranks for Duramente (Jpn), a former winner of the first two legs of the Japanese Triple Crown who died two years ago at the age of nine, just as his offspring were starting to show real promise. 

This season, his daughter Liberty Island (Jpn) has carried the flag forward by securing the first two stages of the Triple Tiara, with just the Shuka Sho left to come on October 15. Her sire's final batch of yearlings on offer at the Select Sale numbers 14 and includes a half-sister to a filly who has already been adorned with the Triple Tiara and so much more. Offered as lot 94, the Duramente filly is the penultimate offspring of the Scottish-born Donna Blini (GB) (Bertolini), winner of the G1 Cheveley Park S. when trained by Brian Meehan and then bought by Katsumi Yohisda as a broodmare prospect for Northern Farm. And what a signing she turned out to be. Most celebrated of her offspring is her daughter Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), twice Horse of the Year in Japan and now a Group 1 producer herself, while her full-sister Donau Blue (Jpn) is a Grade 3 winner and stakes producer. What a family, and there are two chances to buy Donna Blini's offspring this week as her final foal, a Drefong filly, will enter the ring alongside her mother on Tuesday as lot 321.

This is another unusual feature of the Select Sale. Given the time of year, most of the 240 foals for sale are not yet weaned from their dams, and they appear as pairs on the morning of the sale during a viewing session of several hours before trade begins. They later return to their home farm, usually under new ownership, for weaning to take place eventually. 

Ready for action at the Northern Farm draft | Emma Berry

Before that, there are around 220 yearlings to go under the gavel on Monday. There are a few by European-based stallions, notably a full-brother to the Breeders' Cup and Prix Jean Romanet heroine Audarya (Fr), who does a very passing impression of his Coolmore sire Wootton Bassett (GB) and is catalogued in the Shadai draft as lot 102. Similarly eye-catching is his draft-mate, lot 158, a colt from the second crop of the American champion turf horse Bricks And Mortar, who appears to be stamping his stock pretty well. 

Those stallions with first-crop yearlings on offer include Classic winner Saturnalia (Jpn), whose average price at last year's foal session was almost 15 times his stud fee and who is represented by 13 yearlings and 17 foals this time around. The latter group includes a filly out of the Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign (Aus) (Manhattan Rain {Aus}) as lot 345.

Two-year-old champion and Hong Kong Mile winner Admire Mars (Jpn) also has his first yearlings at Northern Horse Park, as does Juddmonte's Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Siskin, who is now at Shadai Stallion Station. The GI Arkansas Derby winner Nadal, who has developed into an imposing animal, is also in that category, along with the Scat Daddy horse and Japanese Grade 1 winner Mr Melody, who stands at Yushun Stallion Station. 

Hotly anticipated, especially by their sire's owner Teruya Yoshida, are the first foals of Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn). One or more of his 21 youngsters may well steal the limelight during the second session, in which four foals from the first crop of Classic winner Poetic Flare (Ire) also feature.

It is the first year since the pandemic struck that visitors have been able to travel easily to Japan, and this comes at a time when Japanese horses have been riding high across world racing. The Dubai World Cup winner Ushba Tesoro (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}) graduated from this sale as a foal back in 2017 for ¥25,000,000 (£137,000/€160,000). His fellow winner at Meydan, the G2 UAE Derby hero Derma Sotogake (Jpn) (Mind Your Biscuits), hailed from the yearling session of 2021, bought for ¥18,000,000 (£98,000/€115,000). 

Their success, along with the likes of Saudi Cup winner Panthalassa (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) and another Dubai World Cup night winner, the aforementioned Equinox, all point to this being yet another blockbuster auction for the JRHA.

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American-Breds Join Japanese Stallion Ranks

There will be an infusion of new American blood into the Japanese stallion ranks in 2021 with retirements to stud of Mozu Ascot (Frankel {GB}) and Mr Melody (Scat Daddy). Each is the first of their respective sires’ progeny to take up stud duty in the island nation.

Bred in Kentucky by Jane Lyon’s Summer Wind Farm, Mozu Ascot was led out unsold on a bid of $275,000 at the 2015 Keeneland September sale before being acquired privately by Capital System Co. Ltd. A maiden winner at third asking under the care of the colorful Yoshito Yahagi, the chestnut found his niche at distances between 1400 and 1600 meters, winning the one-mile G1 Yasuda Kinen on turf in 2018 in a time of 1:31.30. Having made his first 19 career starts on the grass, Mozu Ascot won the G3 Negishi S. (1400m) when trying the dirt for the first time last Feb. 2, then validated 9-5 favoritism in the G1 February S. (1600m) at Tokyo three weeks later (see below). He ran on strongly to be fifth in the G1 Champions Cup (1800m) in his final career appearance Dec. 6.

 

WATCH: Mozu Ascot becomes a dual-surface G1SW in the February S.

 

Mozu Ascot is a son of India (Hennessy), raced by Summer Wind to a pair of graded victories and earnings of over $630,000. Also the dam of SW & ‘TDN Rising Star’ Kareena (Medaglia d’Oro), India is a half-sister to SW Pilfer (Deputy Minister), the dam of MGISW To Honor and Serve (Bernardini), GISW Angela Renee (Bernardini) and SW & GISP Elnaawi (Street Sense). He joins the likes of California Chrome and Lani at Arrow Stud on the island of Hokkaido.

Mr Melody, by contrast, began his career on dirt, setting a Tokyo track record in graduating over 1300 meters on debut, then won the G3 Falcon S. in his first try on the turf in 2018. A near-miss second in the G2 Hanshin Cup to close his sophomore season, Mr Melody posted the most important of his four career victories in the 2019 G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen, covering the six furlongs in 1:07.30 (see below), and was a close fourth in the G1 Sprinters’ S. He turned in a pair of strong efforts in defeat this term, finishing third to recent G1 Longines Hong Kong Sprint winner Danon Smash (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G2 Centaur S. and a close fourth behind the talented filly Gran Alegria (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn} x Tapitsfly) in the Sprinters’ S.

Bred in the Bluegrass by Bell Tower Thoroughbreds, Mr Melody was a $75,000 Keeneland November buyback, a $100,000 Keeneland September acquisition and blossomed into a $400,000 OBS April breezer. A son of Trusty Lady, the half-brother to GSP Trendy Lady (Unbridled’s Song) is a maternal grandson of MGSW & MGISP Klassy Kim (Silent Screen). He enters stud at Yushun Stallion Station on Hokkaido, the home of Henny Hughes, among others.

 

WATCH: Mr Melody gets his Group 1 in the Takamtsunoimya Kinen

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Notable US-Bred Runners in Japan: Sept. 13, 2020

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this weekend running at Chukyo and Nakayama Racecourses:

 Sunday, September 13, 2020
5th-NKY, ¥13,400,000 ($126k), Newcomers, 2yo, 1600mT
AMERICAN PEACE (c, 2 Tapit–La Cloche, by Ghostzapper), a $325K Keeneland September acquisition, is the latest produce from his Grade III-winning dam, a $2.4m Fasig-Tipton purchase by this breeder who is responsible for American Peace’s full-sister Bellevais, also a Grade III winner on turf. Second dam Memories of Silver (Silver Hawk) was a two-time winner at the highest level, and her MGISW daughter Winter Memories (El Prado {Ire}) is the dam of the MSW & MGSP ‘TDN Rising Star’ Winter Sunset (Tapit). This is also the family of fellow GSW ‘Rising Star’ Hawkish (Artie Schiller). The colt’s Tiznow half-brother is consigned as hip 1035 at KEESEP next week. B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY)

 

 

MELIODAS (c, 2, Uncle Mo–Fifty Foot Woman, by Giant’s Causeway) was also knocked down for $325K at KEESEP last fall and is out of a full-sister to GSW Excited, the dam of SW & MGSP Thrilled (Uncle Mo); and SW Wait Til Dawn. The May foal’s stakes-winning second dam Path of Thunder (Thunder Gulch) was a full-sister to GI Breeders’ Cup Distaff upsetter Spain and a half to MGSW Puerto Banus (Supremo) and GSW Fantastic Spain (Fantastic Fellow). A Curlin half-sister to Meliodas is set to sell as hip 162 during Sunday’s opening session at KEESEP. B-Fred W Hertrich III & John D Fielding (KY)

11th-CKO, Centaur S.-G2, ¥112.8m ($1.06m), 3yo/up, 1200mT
MR MELODY (h, 5, Scat Daddy–Trusty Lady, by Deputy Minister) returns to his best game in this prep for the Oct. 4. G1 Sprinters’ S. Winner of the G1 Takamatsunomiya Kinen (1200m) in 2019 (see below, gate 3), the bay was sixth in the JBC Classic on dirt last November and has just one start since, an unplaced effort in the G1 Yasuda Kinen over Tokyo’s metric mile June 7. A half-brother to GSP Trendy Lady (Unbridled’s Song), Mr Melody was RNAd for $75K as a KEENOV weanling, fetched $100K as a KEESEP yearling the following fall and was purchased by his current connections for $400K out of the 2017 OBS April Sale. B-Bell Tower Thoroughbreds (KY)

 

 

SHIVAJI (h, 5, First Samurai–Indian Bay, by Indian Charlie) won four of 13 starts on dirt to begin his career and though he has registered just one victory–a most improbable one at that– from five turf tries (video, gate 8), he has run with credit, including a close fifth to the fleet Mozu Superflare (Speightstown) in this year’s Takamatsunomiya Kinen. Produced by a daughter of GSW Buy the Barrel (E Dubai), Shivaji was a $90K KEESEP grad turned $540K OBSAPR breezer. His full-sister is cataloged as hip 1818 at this year’s KEESEP sale. B-Hinkle Farms (KY)

 

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