Sunday Silence colt Japan topper

A Sunday Silence colt sold for $1.5 million Tuesday to top the Japan Racing Horse Association's two-day select foal sale in Hokkaido, Japan. The buyer was John Ferguson Bloodstock, the regular purchasing agent for Sheikh Mohammed al Maktoum. The colt was one of two by Sunday Silence to sell for seven figures.

The topper is out of Lotta Lace, an unraced daughter of Nureyev and the Buckpasser mare Sex Appeal. Sex Appeal is the dam of two-time English champion El Gran Senor and English and Irish champion Try My Best.

Overall, the sale lost momentum from last year, as the average price fell 32 percent, from $324,684 last year to $221,587 in 2001.