2021 News

Summary of thoroughbred sales in 2020

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

Note: Figures in bold exceeded the year-earlier result.

General overview of thoroughbred foal sales in 2020

Total sales were 9,166,300,000 yen, reflecting a 13.3% decline from the previous year.

The highest price was paid for a colt whose sire was Heart’s Cry and whose dam was Hilda’s Passion (USA), purchased for 418,000,000 yen.

For thoroughbred foal sales in 2020, only the Select Sale under the auspices of the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) was held. Out of 226 head (142 colts, 84 fillies) put up for auction, 203 head (131 colts, 72 fillies) were sold, corresponding to a sales vs. offered ratio of 89.8% and thus tying the year-earlier record which was a record high. Total sales were 9,166,300,000 yen, reflecting a 13.3% decline from the previous year. The average price was 45,154,187 yen, a 17.1% decline from the previous year, and the median price was 31,900,000 yen, a 1.5% decline from the previous year. Given that the Select Sales was held during the COVID-19 pandemic and was missing foals from two legendary sires (Deep Impact and King Kamehameha), the results held up well against the strong market seen in 2019, which was a record-breaking year.

The highest price was paid for a colt whose sire was Heart’s Cry and whose dam was Hilda’s Passion (USA), purchased for 418,000,000 yen by Yoshihisa Ozasa from Tokyo. Among fillies, the highest price was paid for a filly whose sire was Satono Diamond and whose dam was Samaaha (GB), purchased for 110,000,000 yen by Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd. from Tokyo.

Reviewed by each sire, Heart’s Cry was tops, whose foals (16) were sold at an average price of 108,556,250 yen. The next sires in the ranking were Justify (USA) (1 foal sold) at 88,000,000 yen, and Kitasan Black (six foals put up for auction; all sold) at 80,116,666 yen. Among the closely watched sires that produced their first generation, Satono Diamond generated 51,700,000 yen (11 foals put up for auction; all sold) (9th place overall), and Real Steel brought in 37,766,666 yen (nine head put up for auction; all sold) (15th place overall). There was one new sire that achieved an average price of over 50 million yen.

General overview of thoroughbred yearling sales in 2020

Total sales were 24,369,455,000 yen, reflecting an 8.9% increase from the previous year. This marked the 12th consecutive year-on-year increase and 11th consecutive record.

The highest price was paid for a colt whose sire was Deep Impact and whose dam was Sheave (USA), purchased for 561,000,000 yen.

Thoroughbred yearling sales in 2020 were held at seven auctions across the country for 13 days, from the Kyushu Yearling Sale held on June 23 to the Hokkaido Autumn Sale held on October 20. The Kyushu Yearling Sale was held online, and the Hokkaido Autumn Sale was held as a conventional sale with online bidding. In the overall yearling sales, a total of 2,672 yearlings (1,375 colts, 1,297 fillies) were put up for auction, and 2,092 (1,118 colts, 974 fillies) were sold, renewing the sold head record for a 12th consecutive year. This corresponded to a sales vs. offered ratio of 78.3%, marking an increase of 3.1 points from the previous year. Total sales were 24,369,455,000 yen (an 8.9% increase from the previous year), marking the 12th consecutive year-on-year increase and 11th consecutive record. The average price was 11,648,879 yen (an increase of 3.6% from the previous year), remaining above the 10 million yen mark for the fifth consecutive year and representing a sixth consecutive record. The average price for a colt was 14,754,069 yen (an increase of 7.6% from the previous year), and the average price for a filly was 8,084,604 yen (an increase of 1.0% from the previous year), exceeding the eight million yen mark for the second consecutive year. The median price was 5,500,000 yen (an increase of 13.2% from the previous year), rebounding to the 5 million yen mark for the first time in 20 years, which showed that demand was strong across all price categories.

As for the Select Sale by the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA), total sales were 11,470,800,000 yen, a 1.0% decline from the previous year.

In the Hokkaido Sale under the auspices of the Hidaka Horse Breeders’ Association (HBA), out of 2,362 head put up for auction, 1,825 were sold, corresponding to a sales vs. offered ratio of 77.3%. Total sales were 12,782,330,000 yen (a 19.9% increase from the previous year), and the average price was 7,004,016 yen, reflecting a 14.2% increase from the previous year.

The Nikkei Stock Average, an economic indicator, started at 23,204.86 yen at the beginning of the year, and it stood at 23,567.04 yen as of October 20 (a 1.6% increase), the final day of the Yearling Sales. The indicator was volatile, and at one point reached a year-to-date (YTD) low of 16,358.19 yen. By comparison, the sales growth in the Yearling Sales was strong.

The highest price in a yearling sale was paid at the Select Sale for a colt whose sire was Deep Impact and whose dam was Sheave (USA), purchased for 561,000,000 yen by Tetsuhide Kunimoto from Kanagawa Prefecture. Among fillies, the highest-priced one, whose sire was Deep Impact and whose dam was Teddy’s Promise (USA), was purchased for 264,000,000 yen at the Select Sale by Kieffers Co. Ltd.in Kyoto.

Reviewed by each sire, Deep Impact was tops with 13 head sold for an average price of 216,192,307 yen. Among new sires, Drefong (USA) was tops with 26 head sold for an average price of 23,874,230 yen (15th place overall), followed by Kitasan Black with 12 head sold for an average price of 22,550,000 yen (17th place overall).

General overview of thoroughbred two-year-old sales in 2020

The scheduled thoroughbred two-year-old sales were cancelled.
(To prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, the Hokkaido Training Sale and the Chiba Two-Year-Old Thoroughbred Sale were cancelled.)

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