With the Hokkaido Autumn Sale's conclusion on Oct. 22, it was a wrap for the 2020 yearling sales season in Japan. While the world reels from the impact of the COVID-19 crisis, the Japanese yearling market held strong in 2020. The Autumn Sale was in the spotlight this year thanks to 2018 graduate and G1 [...]

The second to last Japanese yearling sale on the calendar is in the books, and the health of the Japanese bloodstock market compared to other global markets was on full display during the Hokkaido September Sale from Sept. 22-24. The three-day sale saw healthy increases across the board despite the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and the [...]

Despite massive COVID-19 prevention protocols, the postponed 2020 Hokkaido Selection Sale drew a strong crowd, easily as big as normal years despite protocols requiring everyone to pre-register for entry credentials. The looming pandemic-induced global recession also seemed to have little effect on the sale, which set records on nearly all fronts despite being pushed back [...]

As a new addition to the Japanese sales calendar, the 2019 Hokkaido September Sale was by all accounts a great success, grossing ¥1,597,860,000 (US$14,933,271) with an average of ¥4,401,818 (US$41,138) and median of ¥3,456,000 (US$32,299). The clearance rate was 73.8% for the two-day sale. Kizuna (Jpn) took home the prize for siring the sale topper [...]

Global political turmoil appears to be having no ill affect on the Japanese sales industry, if the results of the Hokkaido Summer Sale are anything to go by. The four-day sale on Aug. 19 to 22 saw a 17.11% increase in gross and the overall sale well outperformed the 2018 edition. The four-day gross was [...]

The latest renewal of the Hokkaido Training Sale saw an increase in the clearance rate from the previous year, with 69.2% of the 234 lots offered selling on May 22 at Sapporo Racecourse. While the gross and average saw an overall decline from the previous year, the sale continued to post higher numbers than before [...]

The 2018 sales season in Japan has come to an end with the three-day Hokkaido Autumn Sale Oct. 1 to 3. The first two days of the sale offered up horses going through the ring for the first time while the third day was filled with horses who had been withdrawn or bought back at [...]

Last week in Hokkaido, Japan was the country's largest yearling sale of the year, the Summer Sale, where over 1300 yearlings were offered. This year the week was broken down into two sales, The Summer Premium with 186 lots, and the Summer Sale with 1216 lots. The Summer Premium Sale was a one-day select sale [...]

The Hokkaido Selection Sale was held on Tuesday with 77.2% of the 193 lots offered sold. While on paper the sale was a down on last year, the Hidaka Breeders' Association has changed their yearly schedule to create two higher quality sales during the year. The Selection Sale has been the premier sale of the [...]

The gains of the 2017 Hokkaido Training Sale of 2-year-olds were always going to be hard to beat, so the downturn at this year's sale on Tuesday wasn't entirely unexpected. However, 2018 did continue the general upward trend the sale had been enjoying yearly through 2016. The sale this year grossed ¥1,169,856,000, which was down [...]

The boards have been lighting up in sales rings all around the world this year and Japan was not left out of the global buying fervor, with all four of Japan's summer auctions setting new records. That record setting-trend extended into the final sale of the Japanese calendar, the Hokkaido Autumn Sale. Usually a sale [...]

After a record-setting July sales season in Japan, the trend continued into August with the Hokkaido Summer Sale on Aug. 21 to 25 accumulating a record ¥5,461,992,000 (€41,757,379/£38,801,991) gross, a 36% increase from last year. The clearance rate jumped to 78.58% from 63.5% last year. Each day saw high clearance rates, with the lowest being [...]