Duramente, Bricks and Mortar Colts Top JRHA Select Sale

Since Deep Impact and King Kamehameha died in 2019, the stallions' map in Japan has been in a period of reshuffling. The market on July 12, the foal session of the Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale, suggests the stallion Bricks and Mortar  might be one of those to fill the void left by those great sires.

A colt by the 2019 U.S. Horse of the Year sold for ¥310,000,000 (US$2,296,297) to be the second-highest priced foal at the session. Consigned as Hip 325, the colt was purchased by Tetsuhide Kunimoto from the Northern Racing consignment.

"I visited Northern Farm several times in the last few months and found this (colt) to be improving. That is what I liked about him," Kuminito said. "To be frank, I do not know who the next leading sire will be, though I think Bricks and Mortar is a very suitable stallion for racing in Japan, as he is a turf champion himself and most of his yearlings look like sharp and speedy turf horses."

The 2015 Japanese Derby (G1) winner Duramente  was once regarded as a prime candidate to be Japan's next great sire. Duramente died due to acute colitis in August 2021, and unfortunately the current foals are the members of his final crop.

Hip 393, a colt by Duramente, was acquired by Red Horse for ¥320,000,000 (US$2,370,371) to top Tuesday's session. The colt is out of the U.S. graded stakes-winning Street Sense   mare Champaign Anyone.

Another popular stallion at Tuesday's market was Epiphaneia, who has sired three champions from his first three crops. Sixteen yearlings by the stallion were offered on Tuesday, and 15 were sold for a cumulative ¥1,666,500,000 ($US12,183,843). The sale concluded with his offspring selling for an average ¥111,100,000 (US$822,963).

One of those popular yearlings by Epiphaneia was Hip 353, a filly out of 2013 North American champion 2-year-old female She's a Tiger . She dropped the hammer to Nicks Co. for ¥280,000,000 ($2,074,075).

"I studied her pedigree and am convinced she should have inherited a lot of speed," Nicks Co. racing manager Hiroyasu Takeuchi said. "She is very valuable as a future broodmare as well, and I believe she is worth paying this amount of money. I thought we might have to pay 300 million yen to buy her and so am happy with this price."  

The gross sale, sale average, and clearance rate set records at the foal session of the JRHA Select Sale. Of the 236 foals offered Tuesday, 225 sold for a gross of ¥12,892,500,000 (US$94,257,544), an 18% increase over 2021. The average price was ¥57,300,000 (US$424,444), an 11.7% increase, and the clearance rate went from 92.6% in 2021 to 95.3% in 2022. 

During the entire two-day session of the 2022 JRHA Select Sale, 447 lots sold from 469 lots offered for a total gross of ¥25,762,500,000 (US$188,330,315), a 14.2% increase from 2021. The sale average was ¥57,634,228 (US$426,920), which is 12.2% up from 2021, and clearance rate improved from 93% in 2021 to 95.3% in 2022.

"It was a record-breaking market here last year, and I did not expect to beat it this year," said Teruya Yoshida, JRA chairman. "The market was very strong from the top end through bottom end, and I am very impressed with the depth of buyers. There was high demand for young horses that was kept through the two days, and the clearance rate of 95.3% is unbelievable."