Japan select sale: Deep Impact continues dominance as colt out of Azeri fetches top price

The second and final session of the Japan Racing Horse Association’s select sale ended on Tuesday with double-digit gains in gross receipts and average. The session, comprised entirely of foals of 2013, followed Monday’s yearling session, and once again trade at the top was dominated by progeny of two-time Japanese Horse of the Year and leading sire Deep Impact.

The sale’s top price came on Tuesday, when Shigehisa Tanabe of Desk Valet Company Ltd. signed the ticket on a Deep Impact colt out of U.S. Horse of the Year Azeri. Desk Valet paid about $2,374,100 (240 million yen) for the colt from Northern Farm’s consignment, representing an undisclosed client.

Azeri, by Jade Hunter, was voted Horse of the Year in 2002 and also received the Eclipse Award as champion older female three times from 2002-2004. She has produced four winners from four starters, including Grade 3 winner Wine Princess and Grade 2 placed Arienza.

“[The colt] is thoroughly beautiful and faultless,” Tanabe said. “He is out of a United States champion and by a super sire in Japan. This is the best foal I have seen since I started to work as an independent bloodstock agent 10 years ago.”

The second highest price of the foal session – and of the sale – was recorded when Hajime Satome spent $2,275,200 (230 million yen) on another Deep Impact colt from Northern Farm, this one the first foal out of three-time Argentine Group 1 winner Malpensa.

The top foal by a U.S.-based sire, an Unbridled’s Song colt, sold for about $365,970 (37 million yen) to Masaaki Kumeta. Consigned by Chiyoda Farm, the colt is out of European champion filly and English classic winner Bosra Sham, who is a full sister to French classic winner Hector Protector and a half-sister to French classic winner Shanghai. Del Mar Oaks winner Internallyflawless is from this family.

For the foal session, JRHA reported 166 hips sold from 220 offered for about $55,457,000 (over 5.6 billion yen). The day’s totals rose 16 percent from last year’s foal session. The average price of $334,040 (33.75 million yen) jumped 10 percent from 2012, and the median of $227,580 (23 million yen) dropped by 2 percent. The buyback rate of 24.5 percent improved slightly from last year’s 25 percent.

These results followed a yearling session on Monday that also posted double-digit increases in gross and average. The two-day gross of about $116,395,600 (over 11.7 billion yen) set a record for the Japan select sale.

For complete results, click here.