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Breeding & Sales

Breeding, Training and Sales

The establishment of the Japan Cup in 1981 resulted in the breeding industry setting a goal for producing faster and stronger horses that could hold their own worldwide. This approach was to aim at a steady improvement of the Japanese-bred horses through the introduction of superior stallions and broodmares from overseas. This program has borne fruit to a point where the winners of GI races in some of the world's leading racing nations have been produced in Japan. As a result Japanese-bred horses are increasing drawing attention on the world racing stage.

1.Breeding
■ BREEDING REGIONS AND NUMBER OF FARMS

  Breeding regions are located from the island of Hokkaido north to the island of Kyushu in the south. Traditional breeding areas include Tokachi, Hidaka and Iburi in Hokkaido and Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Tochigi, Chiba, Miyazaki and Kagoshima prefectures throughout the rest of Japan.
  As of 2008, there were 1,121 stud farms with broodmares stabled. The Hidaka area of Hokkaido is home to the most at 901 (80.4%). If the Tokachi and Iburi areas are included, Hokkaido's total comes to 990, which accounts for some 88.3% of the nationwide total.
  Breeding is expanding in Hokkaido, which has a cool, dry climate and plenty of space, while the industry has been shrinking in areas near tracks and in warm, humid Kyushu. The emphasis in these areas has turned to training.

Horse Racing Facilities and Breeding Areas

Horse Racing Facilities and Breeding Areas       Horse Racing Facilities and Breeding Areas

 
Johannesburg ©JBBA Agnes Tachyon ©M. Ueda
Stravinsky ©JBBA King Kamehameha ©M. Ueda


■ STALLIONS

  During the calendar year 2008, there were 271 thoroughbred stallions registered at stud in Japan. 108 of these were foreign-bred and 163 Japanese-bred. Approximately 88.6% of these stallions are standing in the main Hokkaido breeding region.
  By covering distribution, 191 of the stallions (70.5%) covered 50 or fewer mares, 39 (14.4%) covered 51 to 100 mares, 23 (8.5%) covered from 101 to 150 mares, eight (3.0%) covered 151 to 200 mares and ten stallions (3.7%) had more than 201 coverings. The top five 2008 sires in mares covered were Deep Impact (JPN) 232, Agnes Tachyon (JPN) 230, Daiwa Major (JPN) 223, Fuji Kiseki (JPN) 223, and Jungle Pocket (JPN) 221. All top five sires were bred in Japan.
  Japan began a shuttle stallion program in 1997. During 2007, Stravinsky (USA), Grandera (IRE), Jungle Pocket (JPN), Black Hawk (GB) and Zenno Rob Roy (JPN) traveled to the southern hemisphere to stand as stallions under this program.
  The great racehorse and stallion Sunday Silence (USA), who died in August of 2002, was the 2006 leading sire in Japan for the 12th consecutive year (since 1995).

■ BROODMARES

  If we look at the number of broodmares in Japan, we note that the figures reached a peak of about 15,287 broodmares in 1991. These figures underwent a transition in the late 1990s, when the number of broodmares fell to 12,000 and remained around this level until 2003. The numbers began to gradually decrease from that point up until 2008, when the actual number of broodmares reached 10,234.

■ FOALS

  Japan bred fewer than 1,000 Thoroughbreds a year through the 1940s and the 1950s. However, as the economy grew rapidly and horse racing developed, the number rose steadily to reach 10,188 foals during 1992. An annual level in the upper 8,000s for foal crop had been maintained since 1997, but a declining trend beginning in 2003 has been noted. This resulted 7,144 thoroughbred foals being registered in 2008. This is approximately same level in number that was foaled during the late 1970s. We see this as the result of a shift from quantity to quality and also the very large decline demand for foals caused by the decline in Racing by Local Governments.

 
Deep Impact ©J. Fukuda  
2. Breaking and Training

  It became apparent that more efforts were needed to increase the numbers of ever better and stronger horses that were capable of competing worldwide. These highly trained horses would be channeled into JRA's two training centers, one each in eastern and western Japan. These efforts resulted in the appearance of specialized training farms in the breeding regions of Japan and near JRA training centers in the late 1980s, to accommodate the training and also to stable the rising number of horses being bred, It is now common for horses to move directly to JRA and NAR training centers and tracks following their initial training at these specialized facilities.
  JRA, with the recognition of the importance of breaking and training in mind, purchased a 3,700-acre tract in Hokkaido during 1993, with the intention of creating the equivalent of "Newmarket" in Japan. This project resulted in Bloodhorse Training Center (BTC), a large-scale training facility. New private yearling training farms have also been built one after another, in the vicinity of the BTC in order to fully use its spacious and specialized training facilities.
  Attention to training has now been increased twofold in breeding areas since the beginning of the BTC. This, along with improvements in techniques for the handling, breaking and training of young horses, has had a positive influence on other regions throughout the country. It has also led to the development of a training sales program for 2-Y-Os.
  There have been striking improvements in the quality of Japanese racehorses in recent years and, in addition to the addition of better bloodlines, the provision of this new and better training environment is felt to have played the major role.


3. SALES

  Traditionally, sales of thoroughbreds in Japan have mostly been private on-site sales between the seller (the breeder) and purchaser and prices were decided between them. Few horses were handled at public sales. There have been calls over the years for more energetic transactions through sales, which have a high degree of impartiality. The ratio of horses bred to horses offered at auction has risen from around 20% in the mid-1990s to approximately 35% at present. Most Breeders are now becoming interested in livelier sales transactions. JRA is providing direct monetary sales incentives, derived from race purses, as part of promotional efforts to increase sales and sales operations in Japan.
  Sales held in 2008 included three for weanlings, seven for yearlings, and four for 2-Y-Os. Yearling sales held by Thoroughbred breeders' cooperatives are the most common form of auction in Japan. However, select weanling sales hosted by the Japan Race Horse Association have become increasingly popular in recent years. This is largely due to the high quality and highly popular lots, which the Shadai group of Japan has actively been consigning to these sales.
  There is a tendency toward forward purchases in Japan, and weanling sales are lively. Due to the influence of U.S. training sales, sales of 2-Y-Os in training have been held in Japan since 1996. Buyers from abroad now attend these auctions and overseas sales routes have begun to expand.

Breeding Areas in Hokkaido
Breeding Areas in Hokkaido
 


Overview of the Sales Record (2008)
 OfferedSoldSales ratioOffered at
auction		Average price Median price
Overall Colts Fillies
Weanlings 63230448.10%8.70%¥28.35 million¥30.71 million¥20.87 million¥21.00 million
Yearlings 2,39186136.00%31.80%¥7.10 million¥8.19 million¥5.23 million¥4.20 million
2yo 35916345.40%4.80%¥5.67 million¥6.78 million¥4.28 million¥4.31 million

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