Hokkaido Lights Up For Select Sale

HOKKAIDO, Japan–The Japan Racing Horse Association stages the 20th renewal of its Select Sale at the Northern Horse Park in Hokkaido, Japan, on July 10 and 11, with 247 yearlings slated to sell on Monday and 227 foals set for Tuesday's session.

As guests from Japan and further afield continued to stream into town on Saturday, Teruya Yoshida's Shadai Farm and his brother's, Katsumi Yoshida's, Northern Farm opened their doors to potential buyers to show off the cream of the foal offerings.

The visiting media received a special treat right off the bat at Shadai with a special viewing of champion mares Princess of Sylmar (Majestic Warrior) and Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) and their Deep Impact (Jpn) foals, neither of which are entered for the sale. Four-time Grade I winner Princess of Sylmar was a $1.3-million purchase by Shadai at Fasig-Tipton's November sale in 2014, and has a yearling colt and filly foal by Deep Impact. Unsurprisingly, Princess of Sylmar is back in foal to that perennial leading sire.

Stacelita, a multiple Group 1 winner in France and the U.S., was purchased privately by Teruya Yoshida and shipped to Japan carrying her second foal, by Frankel, and that gamble could hardly have turned out better, with the resultant Soul Stirring (Jpn) becoming the sire's first Group 1 winner and Japan's champion 2-year-old filly of 2016. Yoshida said Soul Stirring is currently enjoying a summer break and could be aimed at a European campaign next year at four. Off the back of Soul Stirring's success, Shadai currently has three mares in foal to Frankel boarding at Newsells Park in England, including the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). Stacelita has a Deep Impact filly at her side that will likely be retained to race by Sunday Racing, and she is back in foal to Deep Impact.

Princess of Sylmar and Stacelita were the first in a long line of Group 1 winners from America, Europe, Australasia and South America to be paraded alongside their foals on Saturday, and also on display at Shadai was GI Spinaway S. winner Contested (Ghostzapper) and her Deep Impact colt (lot 379). The mid-February foal, who will be one of the more anticipated lots of the sale with a reserve of ¥90-million, is very much in the speedy mold of his dam and, according to JRHA's international representative Naohiro Goda, is unlike the typical Deep Impact foal, which is generally leaner like its sire.

Yoshida was keen to show off the Heart's Cry (Jpn) colt out of Argentinean Classic winner Juhayna (Arg) (Johannesburg). He said the quality of Heart's Cry's books has been increasing in recent years, and the stallion has displayed an ability to sire top-class horses across the globe. Indeed, three of his four Group 1 winners have won outside Japan and the fourth is the G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner One and Only (Jpn), third in the Dubai Sheema Classic. The Shadai team was also greatly anticipating Saturday's GI Belmont Derby, where Select Sale graduate and 'TDN Rising Star' Yoshida (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}), a last-out listed winner, finished fifth.

The overwhelming success of Deep Impact means that many of his sons are now joining him at stud, and one of the more highly anticipated of those is the Tokyo Yushun winner Kizuna (Jpn), who has 15 first-crop foals to be offered on Tuesday. Kizuna has covered books of around 260 mares each of the last two years at Shadai Stallion Station, and the team at Shadai showed off lot 373, his colt out of the German Group 1 winner Feodora (Ger) (Lord of England {Ger}).

Another Group 1 winner with his first foals on offer this year is Gold Ship (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}). The Big Red Farm resident was well-known for his pre-race antics on the racetrack and he seems to have passed his personality on to lot 320, who drew comparisons to his sire by the Shadai staff as he danced around the viewing area. The colt's page received a well-timed update last month, as his dam, My Jen (Fusaichi Pegasus), is a half-sister to Royal Ascot's G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Carravaggio (Scat Daddy).

Opening the show later Saturday afternoon at Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm was the progeny of a trio of American Grade I winners. GI Apple Blossom H. winner Ermine (Exchange Rate), who boasts five winners from six runners in Japan, showed off a Gold Allure (Jpn) filly (lot 350), who broodmare manager Tomokazu Okazaki said was a stronger type than her other foals. GI Frizette S. winner Sky Diva (Sky Mesa) was paraded with her Deep Impact colt (lot 445), and all the while dual Grade I winner Zazu (Tapit) hung her head over the back door of her box, supervising proceedings. That accomplished mare has produced four foals by Deep Impact, including her filly foal (lot 418), and she is in foal to Daiwa Major.

Another American juvenile Grade I winner residing at Northern Farm is the GI Spinaway S. winner Condo Commando (Tiz Wonderful), whose first foal, a Deep Impact colt, will be offered for sale as lot 319. He is one of three from the Northern Farm foal consignment with a reserve of ¥100-million. The others are a Deep Impact colt out of Elusive Wave (Jpn) (lot 362), and therefore a full-brother to last year's ¥280-million co-sale topper; and a full-sister to seven-time Group 1 and Classic winner Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

Japanese Horse of the Year and Triple Crown winner Orfevre (Jpn) (Stay Gold {Jpn}) is one of the country's most anticipated first-crop sires this year, with one winner already on the board since 2-year-old racing began in Japan in early June, and one offering from his third crop that is likely to turn heads at the sale is lot 356, a colt out of stakes winner Palace Rumor (Royal Anthem), and therefore a half-brother to GI Belmont S. and GI Met Mile winner Palace Malice (Curlin). Palace Rumor was a $1.1-million purchase by Katsumi Yoshida at Fasig November in 2013 and her first foal to race in Japan, the 3-year-old Mineshaft colt Genesis (Jpn), is a winner, while she has a yearling colt by Heart's Cry.

Lord Kanaloa, as his status as Japan's champion sprinter would suggest, has made an explosive start to his stud career with his first runners this year. He has three winners and nine on the board from 10 runners, and for sale on Tuesday will be a colt from his third crop out of the dual Australian Classic winner Shamrocker (NZ) (O'Reilly {NZ}) (lot 382). Shamrocker has a strong record at the Select Sale, her two foals to be offered making ¥92-million and ¥94-million, and last year's yearling colt by Deep Impact fetched ¥170-million. The reserve on this year's colt is ¥30-million.