Record Setting HBA Selection Sale Takes Hold in Japan
Description:
Two hundred and sixty-three Japanese-bred yearlings sold for gross figures of ¥5,338,300,000 (US$40,060,472) during the two selling sessions of the HBA Selection Sale, conducted at Shizunai on Hokkaido Island, July 26 - 27.
The largest catalog seen in the past ten years and number of yearlings through the sales ring realized an increase of 30.1% over 2021. Gross sales posted a 32.9% increase from twelve months ago, setting a new record for the HBA Selection Sale. An average price of ¥20,297,719 ($152,321) showed an increase of 2.1% over 2021 and an improved clearance rate of 86.3% for 2021 to 87.4% for this year. Both average price and clearance rate are new records for the selection sale, while a median price of ¥15,950,000 ($119,694) was a decrease of 9.3% compared with 2021.
A bidding war heated up when the gorgeous son of Bricks and Mortar , consigned as Hip 204 by Fujiwara Farm, stepped into the sales ring. He is the second foal out of the 2017 Oka Sho Japanese One Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Reine Minoru, beating the subsequent winner of the Ladbrokes Cox Plate (G1) of 2019 and FWD Queen Elizabeth II Cup (G1) winner of 2018, Lys Gracieux . Minoru Yoshioka purchased the colt for ¥72,600,000 ($530,177), the sale's highest price.
Bricks and Mortar's first crop proved popular in the Japanese market with another colt by the 2019 US Horse of the Year out of Smash Heart, consigned as Hip 169 by Sakai Bokujo, was sold to buyer Susumu Fujita for ¥66,000,000 ($481,979) to be the fourth highest price of the sale.