2016 News

Summary of the Thoroughbred Sale of 2015

By Masayuki Ito, The Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association (JBBA)

General overview of the Thoroughbred Foal Sale 2015

Total sales were 6,554,520,000 yen, a decrease of 7.3 percent from the previous year, and a decrease for the first time in 5 years.

A female foal delivered from Deep Impact (sire) and Weemissfrankie (USA) (dam) was purchased at the highest price; 194,440,000 yen.

For the Thoroughbred Foal Sale in 2015, only the Select Sale under the auspices of the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) was held.  Out of 232 head (152 colts, and 80 fillies) put up for auction, 184 head (123 colts, and 61 fillies) were sold; a ratio of 79.3% sales vs. offered.  The average price was 35,622,391 yen, a decrease of 4.8% from the previous year. The average price of colts was 39,749,268yen (a 3.8% decrease from the previous year).  The average price of fillies was 27,300,983 yen (a 2.9 % increase over the previous year). Though the total sales of 6,554,520,000 yen were a 7.3 % decrease from the previous year, by taking into account the fact that this year no buyers from overseas participated, the domestic sales compared favorably with last year’s results.

A foal, sold at the highest price was a female from the parents, sire; Deep Impact and dam;  Weemissfrankie (USA) who twice won GI races such as the Del Mar Debutante Stakes and Soak Leaf Stakes, was purchased for 194,400,000 yen by Danox Co. Ltd. of Osaka prefecture.  A colt purchased at the highest price of 167,400,000 yen by Mr. Takaya Shimakawa of Miyagi prefecture was a foal delivered from the parents in which the father was King Kamehameha and the mother was Guino.

Reviewed by each sire, Deep Impact was tops, whose foals (17 out of 19 heads put up for auction) were sold at an average price of 80,237,647 yen, second was King Kamehameha at 54,720,000 yen, and third was Stay Gold with 44,897,142 yen.  As for new sires offered at auction, Orfevre was tops at 44,363,076 yen (6th place over all).

General overview of Thoroughbred Yearling Sale of 2015

Total sales were 15,110,182,800 yen, an 18.6% increase over the previous year, achieving highest records for six consecutive years.

The highest price paid for a Yearling was 253,800,000 yen for a male whose sire was Deep Impact and whose dam was Jioconda (IRE).

Thoroughbred Yearling Sales for 2015 were held at 6 auctions across the country for 11 days, from the Select Sale on July 13th to the Hokkaido Autumn Sale on October 7th.  In the Yearling Sale, a total of 2,439 yearlings (1,323 colts, 1,116 fillies) were offered for sale, and 1,660 yearlings (994 colts, 666 fillies) were sold, which continued the sold head record for the 7th consecutive year.  The sold rate was 68.1%, a great increase of 4.4 points over the previous year, and since 2011 when the sold rate first reached 50%, for 4 years now, the goal of “more than two-thirds of heads put up for auction are sold” was achieved.  The total sales were 15,110,182,800 yen (an 18.6% increase over the previous year), and continued the sales records for 5 consecutive years.   Not only the sold rate increased greatly, but also the average price of 9,102,519 yen which was a 9.0% increase over the previous year.  The average price of a male was 11,176,272 yen (a 6.9% increase over the previous year), keeping above the 10 million yen mark for the 3 consecutive years. Furthermore, females were 6,007,459 yen (a 7.8% increase over the previous year as well), and median price was 4,266,000 yen (a 9.7% increase over the previous year).  Thus, all the main indices of the sales being record-setting increased.

As for the Select Sale by JRHA; Japan Racing Horse Association, total sales were 7,672,860,000 yen, a 17.9% increase over the previous year, achieved a market record, and occupied 50.8% of the total Yearling Sale.

In the Hokkaido sales under the auspices of the Hidaka Horse Breeders' Association (HBA), out of 2,126 head offered for auction, 1,410 were sold, a 66.3% ratio of sales vs. offered.  The total sales were 7,323,696,000 yen (an 18.7% increase over the previous year), and the average price of 5,194,110 yen was an increase of 8.2% over the previous year, with all main indices showing an excellent sales performance.

The Nikkei Stock Average as an economic indicator started at 17,408 yen at the beginning of the year.  Since then, because of various external economic environmental changes, the average sometimes fell below 17,000 yen, but as of October 7, the final day of the thoroughbred sales, it was 18,322 yen (a 5.3% increase).  The Yearling Sales beat this stock increase rate significantly.

The highest price paid was for the male yearling, whose sire was Deep Impact and dam was Jioconda (IRE), purchased at 253,800,000 yen by Mr. Hajime Satomi of Tokyo.  The highest price for a female yearling was the one whose sire was Deep Impact and dam was Coquerelle (IRE), and purchased by Kieffers Co. Ltd. of Kyoto.

Looking at the results of sales by sires, tops was Tapit for whom one yearling was sold at 248,400,000 yen. However, as for the total sales, Deep Impact was decidedly tops for whom 23 yearlings were offered, and 21 were sold, with total sales of 1,992,600,000 yen at an average price of 94,885,714 yen, being decidedly 1st place in the sales.

General overview of the Thoroughbred Two-Year-Old Sale of 2015

Total sales were 2,465,208,000, a 48.9% increase over the previous year, which was an increase over the prior year for 4 consecutive years.

The highest price paid for a two-year-old was for a half-sibling (with a different father) of Japanese Derby winner Eishin Flash, which was purchased at the record breaking different order of magnitude 205,200,000 yen in the Training Sale.

Thoroughbred Two-Year-Old Sales of 2015 were held in 3 auctions over 3 days.  For the 3 sales, a total of 345 head (177 colts, and 168 fillies) were offered for sale, and 236 head (125 colts, and 111 fillies) were sold, a sales ratio of 68.4 %, the second highest ratio.  Total sales were 2,465,208,000 yen, an increase of 48.9% over the previous year, which was an astonishingly large ratio increase.  And the average price was 10,445,796 yen, a great increase of 26.2% over the previous year. Furthermore, the median price of 6,102,000 yen was an increase of 6.6 % over the previous year.

In the Hokkaido Training Sale held at the auction facility installed in the stands of the JRA Sapporo racecourse, out of 267 head (143 colts, and 124 fillies) offered for auction, 166 head (95 colts, and 71 fillies) were sold, making a record 62.2% ratio of sales vs. offered. The total sales were 1,089,504,000 yen (a 23.9% increase over the previous year), achieving a new market record for the 6th consecutive year.  The highlight was the Chiba Thoroughbred Sale. In this sale, out of 57 head (24 colts, and 33 fillies) offered for auction, 53 head (23 colts, and 30 fillies) were sold, making a record 93.0% ratio of sales vs. offered (a 9.9 point increase over the previous year). The total sales were 1,342,008,000 yen (an 80.1% increase over the previous year).  The average price was 25,320,905 yen (a 66.5% increase over the previous year) and median price was 18,360,000 yen (a 61.9% increase over the previous year), thus achieving a new market record for all sales indices.

The highest price paid for a two-year-old was for a half-sibling (with a different father) of Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) winner Eishin Flash whose sire was Deep Impact and dam was Moonlady (GER), which was purchased at the record breaking different order of magnitude 205,200,000 yen by Ms Fumie Takahashi of Iwate Prefecture.

The highest price for a female was the two-year-old (sire: Symboli Kris S (USA) and dam: Stella Prado) purchased at 50,760,000 yen by Ms. Reiko Hara of Tokyo.

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