Azeri Reigns Again in Japan

AZERI REIGNS AGAIN IN JAPAN 
By Michele MacDonald 
With the sizzle in the ring matching the torrid sun outside, the Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale of yearlings and foals blazed to record levels in gross, number of horses sold and clearance rate after the final hammer fell on yesterday’s foal session. 
For the second consecutive year, a colt foal by Japan’s leading sire Deep Impact (Jpn) out of 2002 American Horse of the Year Azeri (Jade Hunter) (hip 403) ruled the foal session, eliciting a bid of ¥250 million ($2,450,981) from Riichi Kondo. 
“I understand the American people are missing Azeri,” Kondo said. “But I want to tell the Americans that Azeri is doing very well, and this son of hers is so valuable. Now I would like to prepare him in the very best way [for a racing career] and give him the best trainer.” 
Azeri was purchased by Katsumi Yoshida of Northern Farm for $2,250,000 at Keeneland November in 2009 in foal to Distorted Humor. That resulting foal, a filly name Amelie (Jpn), has won three times and is the chestnut mare’s only starter in Japan to date. Last year’s Deep Impact–Azeri colt made ¥240,000,000 ($2,359,709). 
Three other sons of Deep Impact sparked bidding that reached over ¥100 million during the foal session, joining five from the yearling session and fueling the market. 
Overall, a record 404 horses were sold over both JRHA sale days, generating a record total in sales of ¥12,5757,050,000 ($123,284,803), up a remarkable 6.9% from last year’s turnover, which also was a landmark. Deep Impact’s offspring contributed ¥3,017,500,000 to the gross, or 24% of the overall sales, while the number of his offspring sold equaled only 7.9% of those offered. 
The foal session was, as predicted, extremely strong, with 189 sold from 220 offered for a gross of ¥6,547,050,000 ($64,186,764), up a massive 16.8% from the 2013 total. The average price climbed 3% to ¥34.64 million ($339,607), the median was up 4% to ¥24,000,000 ($235,971) and the clearance rate was a stout 85.9%. 
After reviewing the results, including the numbers showing Qatari Sheikh Fahad Al Thani ranked as the top buyer after spending ¥870 million ($8,529,411), JRHA Vice Chairman Teruya Yoshida declared that a new era has begun in Japan. 
“We feel that this is the beginning of a trend in which Japanese horses will be more popular around the world. This sale is very much established now,” said Yoshida, whose Shadai Farm sold ¥3.09 billion (about $29.5 million) worth of yearlings and foals at the sale, ranking second only to the perennial leader, Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm, whose sales totaled ¥3,045,500,000 ($29,857,843), and whose affiliated entities added even more yen to that number. 
“We are very happy with the results–we couldn’t have expected such big figures,” Yoshida added. 
More foreign-based buyers will follow Sheikh Fahad to Japan to buy horses at next year’s sale, and Japan’s Sunday Silence-based bloodlines will spread across the globe, he predicted. Meanwhile, the Yoshidas will continue to buy top-class mares from around the world to breed to their stallions, generating more big sales and more big runners, Yoshida added. 

Building an Empire… 
Sheikh Fahad indicated he has been not only following the development of Japanese breeding, but has been most impressed by the quality of Japanese international runners in the past several years. 
Arriving at the Northern Horse Park sale grounds early to inspect foals, Sheikh Fahad stayed for nearly the entire session, sometimes bidding himself or chatting with Japanese breeders and sale-goers. He clearly is a believer in Deep Impact, buying the sale-topping yearling colt Monday for ¥260 million ($2,549,020) and following up with six foals by the sire yesterday–four colts and two fillies. 
“Deep Impact is a great sire–He is as good as any of the sires around the world,” Sheikh Fahad said of his interest in obtaining more horses by the sire and eventually developing a son good enough to warrant standing at stud in Europe. 
Sheikh Fahad’s foal purchases were topped by hip 326, a bay colt by Deep Impact sold early in the day from the Northern Farm consignment and out of French Group 2 winner Musical Way (Fr) (Gold Away {Ire}). Redvers signed the ticket at ¥180 million ($1,764,706). 
“He has good size and strength about him,” Redvers said, noting that Musical Way has already produced two winners by Deep Impact. 
Sheikh Fahad’s other acquisitions by the sire were hip 463, a filly out of Australian champion Shamrocker (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}) at ¥92 million ($901,961); hip 430, a filly out of Love and Bubbles (Loup Sauvage), and thus a full-sister to G1 Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Deep Brillante (Jpn), for ¥78 million ($764,706); hip 339, a colt out of multiple American Grade III winner May Day Rose (Rockport Harbor), paying ¥66 million ($647,059); hip 363, a colt who is the first foal out of multiple Japanese Group 3 winner Keiai Gerbera (Jpn) (Smarty Jones) for ¥66 million and hip 450, a colt out of Rumba Boogie (GB) (Rainbow Quest) from the family of Japanese champions Dance in the Mood (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) and Dance Partner (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) that cost ¥35 million ($343,138). 

Deep Pockets… 
The sheikh was not alone, however, in seeking the offspring of Deep Impact. Kondo battled with other Japanese owners, including Yoshio Kubota, for the right to own Azeri’s colt, and he was braced to take on Sheikh Fahad, if necessary. 
“This is the pick of the day–the best individual in the foal session,” Kondo said of the colt out of Azeri. “So I really wanted to buy him. He added, “I thought my strongest competition might be a foreign buyer, so I was ready to bid on until ¥300 million without any hesitation. This price was within my reach.” 
The amiable Takaya Shimakawa, who, like Kondo, is a longtime big spender at the JRHA sales, also stepped into the Deep Impact fray, outbidding Kondo to lasso hip 352, a colt out of Admire Kirameki (Jpn) (End Sweep) for ¥220 million ($2,156,863). The colt is a full-brother to Shimakawa’s excellent 3-year old Tosen Stardom (Jpn), a Group 3 winner. 
“What an expensive purchase I’ve made!” Shimakawa declared in interviews, feigning shock and adding, while chuckling, “I am a foolish person.” 
Another colorful buyer, youthful Ryouichi Ootuka, successfully bid on hip 436, a colt by Deep Impact and the first foal out of GI Del Mar Debutante and GI Oak Leaf S. winner Weemissfrankie (Sunriver), paying ¥140 million ($1,372,550). 
Ootuka joined the dark bay colt after he jogged out of the ring, wrapping his arms around the foal and kissing him with visible emotion while posing for photos. 
“I have been a racing fan since I was a teenager and at one time I seriously considered getting a job in the horse racing business,” said Ootuka, a relatively new owner who is in his mid-30s. “I applied for a jockey’s license but I changed direction to become a businessman. But it has been a dream of mine [to become a big owner] for years.” 
Ootuka added, “I was looking for a very nice Deep Impact colt. I tried but I could not buy the one out of Azeri, so I am very happy to buy this one.” 

Frankel Fever Adds Flavor… 
While the JRHA sale was mostly about Deep Impact and Sheikh Fahad, the foal session also featured the first offspring of Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) to sell individually anywhere around the world, after a Frankel colt sold along with his dam, Crystal Gaze, back in foal to Frankel for £1.15-million at the Goffs London Sale in June. 
A weaned half-sister to Hong Kong star Gold-Fun (Ire) (Le Vie Die Colori {GB}), hip 376 was consigned by Mishima Farm on behalf of Sheikh Fahad and his brothers’ Qatar Bloodstock, and was sold for ¥96 million ($941,177) to Toshio Terada, whose family bought Azeri’s 2013 colt foal by Deep Impact. 
“I thought the price would be more,” said Terada, who came to the sale specifically seeking a well-bred filly as a future mate for the outstanding colts he owns, including Azeri’s, that he hopes one day will become stallions. “I’ve bought my dreams for the future.” 
JRHA officials reported a surge in new buyers during the sale, and results also show a return to action by some previous buyers. 
Sheikh Mohammed’s bloodstock advisor John Ferguson, who once regularly signed big tickets at this venue, was back on the scene with Darley’s Olly Tait to inspect foals. Darley Japan bought two colts, led by a son of Stay Gold (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) out of American Grade III winner Medaglia d’Amour (Medaglia d’Oro) (hip 338) for ¥43 million ($421,569). 
Yoshida pointed to Stay Gold and Heart’s Cry (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) as two stallions who have risen to international recognition through the racing exploits of their respective sons, Japanese Triple Crown winner and two-time G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe runner-up Orfevre (Jpn) and G1 Dubai Duty Free record-breaking winner Just a Way (Jpn). Each of those sires had a foal sell for over ¥100 million, proving that Japanese breeding has more depth than just Deep Impact, Yoshida noted. Next year, he predicted, the JRHA sale will be “even better” than the record-breaking editions of 2013 and 2014. Not only will there be more foals by Deep Impact, Heart’s Cry, Stay Gold and G1 Dubai World Cup winner Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (Neo Universe {Jpn})–who sired a yearling colt that brought ¥135 million–there also will be the first foals of Orfevre, champion sprinter Lord Kanaloa (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) and multiple European Group 1 winner Novellist (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}). 
“We are looking forward to presenting these horses to the world,” Yoshida concluded.

Rising Trainer Has Great Ambitions…
You may not have heard of Mitsumasa Nakauchida yet, but chances are you will. The 35-year-old Japanese trainer is just getting his career underway, but is already poised to become a force in racing with clients most trainers will never even get close to in their lifetimes.
Nakauchida is a key member of Sheikh Fahad’s team in Japan and will be training the sheikh’s runners that he races under his newly granted Japan Racing Association license. Sheikh Fahad this week bought nine well-bred recruits for his Japanese operation, and even if some eventually are sent to other countries to race Nakauchida will be overseeing many of them.
“I’m really excited to train for Sheikh Fahad,” Nakauchida said in his soft-spoken manner. “He has a great operation and he is just a nice person. I’m really honored to be training for him.”
Sheikh Fahad would be a dream client for any trainer, but Nakauchida also has been hired by two of the strongest ownership interests in Japan and, indeed, the entire world: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s Darley and the Shadai Group of the Yoshida family.
“I have been so lucky with all the people around me,” Nakauchida said deferentially. 
While it might initially seem a difficult proposition to keep such competitive owners all satisfied, Nakauchida said he currently has about 45 horses at his base at the Ritto training center on the outskirts of Kyoto, including 10 for Darley.
Sheikh Fahad, who bought the JRHA sale-topping yearling colt by Deep Impact (Jpn) from the family of Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo), has great admiration for Sheikh Mohammed and thus anything but the friendliest kind of rivalry is unlikely between the two Middle Eastern powerhouses, Nakauchida said.
There also is likely to be no problem with the Yoshidas, he added. As Japan’s top breeders, they value owners who can maintain large stables, and thus have reason for buying horses. 
Nakauchida also can offer these international racing operations an unusual depth of background. In his role as an assistant for several trainers including, Katsuhiko Sumii–who has won the G1 Dubai World Cup and the G1 Melbourne Cup–he has traveled the globe and learned what it takes to keep elite horses healthy and at their best for races. 
Plus, he has a will to succeed that is as sharp as his voice is soft, a surprising contrast of style that is unexpected.
“I don’t set any goals for myself–I’ve just got to keep going until I die,” Nakauchida declared. “I want to win everything; I won’t be happy with second or third. I want to be in the Epsom Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Kentucky Derby,” he continued, already imagining those kind of top events for the pair of juveniles Sheikh Fahad bought in Japan last year as yearlings–a Neo Universe (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) filly and a King Kamehameha (Jpn) (Kingmambo) colt. 
“I hope they will get on the Classic road and you will see them in the [Japanese] Derby and Oaks,” he said.