Hokkaido Selection Sale Preview
Yearling sale season has launched in Japan, and with it comes the Hidaka region's premier yearling auction, the Hokkaido Selection Sale. Two hundred forty yearlings from some of Japan’s best sires have been cataloged this year. The sale will occur on July 27th, with horses available for examination on the 26th at the Hokkaido Sales Pavilion in Shizunai, Hokkaido. There are many impressive pedigrees included in this year’s sale. Hip 200 is a Copano Rickey(JPN) filly who is a half-sister to JPN1 JBC Classic and JPN1 Teio Sho winner K T Brave(JPN). Hip 208 is a half brother to JPN1 Japan Dirt Derby winner Higashi Will Win(JPN) by Mind Your Biscuits(USA). Epos(JPN) won last year’s G2 Fillies’ Revue, and her half-brother, Hip 5 by Gold Ship(JPN), is available early in the sale. Hip 149 by Fine Needle(JPN) is a half brother to multiple graded stakes winner Leo Active(JPN). G3 winner Sanrei Pocket(JPN) ’s half-brother by Dunkirk(USA) is Hip 84. Hip 130 is this year’s G3 Unicorn Stakes winner Smasher(JPN) ’s half brother by Epiphaneia(JPN). Many of Japan's most popular sires are well represented in this year's renewal of the Selection Sale. Epiphaneia(JPN) has been a smash hit since his first crop debuted in 2019, and he keeps producing impressive offspring, including filly triple crown winner Daring Tact(JPN) and G1 Satsuki Sho(Japanese 2000 Guineas) winner Efforia(JPN). He has 16 lots in the sale. Kizuna(JPN), who has nine lots in the sale, leads the way as the best son of the late Deep Impact(JPN) at stud to date. While he has yet to get his first G1 winner, he has nine individually graded stakes winners, which is more than most young stallions and makes him very popular with buyers. Maurice(JPN) debuted last year, and his first crop has continued to improve, winning three graded stakes this year alone. His offspring have brought in a lot of money at t the sales over the years, and his nine lots in this sale could do the same. Duramente(JPN) was leading freshman sire last year, narrowly beating out Maurice(JPN) for top honors and has eight lots in the sale. Sinister Minister(USA), who has seven lots in the sale, has been a staple of the Hokkaido sales for years, and his offspring are always popular due to his reliability on the dirt. Lord Kanaloa(JPN) has had a lot of success during his first few years at stud and brings out all the buyers to inspect his impressive offspring. He has seven lots in the sale. Heart's Cry(JPN) was recently pensioned this year, and the six yearlings in this sale will likely be some of the last available for purchase at public auction since he didn't cover any mares this year and only 71 mares last year. Daiwa Major(JPN) is one of the last of the old guard stallions, the cream of the Sunday Silence(USA) sires, left at stud since the passing of Deep Impact(JPN) and the pensioning of Heart’s Cry(JPN). He has plenty of champions to his name, and there ar four yearlings of his in the Selection Sale this year. Freshman Sires are always popular at the sales, and their week-by-week stats impact prices leading up to the sale. Silver State(JPN) by Deep Impact(JPN) suffered a career-ending injury early in his career, but he shows just as much promise as a sire as he did on the track, leading the early Freshman sire rankings with three winners. He has two lots in the sale. Drefong(USA), with 11 lots in the sale, has equally had a brilliant start so far, with two winners from only six runners to date and with one of those wins on turf, his value at stud should skyrocket if he continues to prove to be able to produce turf runners as well as dirt. Copano Rickey(JPN) was a brilliant dirt horse, and while his three winners have been in the NAR, he is off to a great start at stud, which should prove beneficial to the two lots of his in the sale. G1 winners Big Arthur(JPN) and Satono Aladdin(JPN) have five and two lots in the sale, respectively, and both are hoping to carry on the legacies of their late sires Sakura Bakushin O(JPN) and Deep Impact(JPN). They each have earned their first winners in Japan. Kitasan Black(JPN) was a seven-time G1 winner as a racehorse. He has only had two runners to date, and from that limited sample of his first crop he has a winner and third place finisher, a very promising start of the son of Deep Impact(JPN)’s full brother Black Tide(JPN). Kitasan Black(JPN) has three yearlings in the sale. Sales are always about dreaming about the future, and nothing embodies that more than First Crop sires. Declaration of War(USA) offers more than dreams, though, as his international offspring have accumulated seven G1 wins in four different countries and 13 other graded stakes winners in nine different countries. The 11 yearlings in the sale represent his first Japanese bred crop. Mind Your Biscuits(USA) was an impressive sprinter in the US and took that speed over to the UAE to win the G1 Golden Shaheen back-to-back in 2017 and 2018. He has eight lots in the sale. Satono Diamond(JPN) was a talented staying son of Deep Impact(JPN), winning two G1s during his time on the turf. He had seven lots in the sale. Real Steel(JPN) impressed the world with his 2016 win in the G1 Dubai Turf, and his full sister Loves Only You(JPN) won the 2019 G1 Japanese Oaks and Hong Kong G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup this year. His stellar pedigree should make his seven yearlings very popular in the sale this year. Fine Needle(JPN) developed into a brilliant homegrown sprinter that captured both of the JRA’s two G1 sprints in the same year. He is represented by five yearlings in this year’s sale. Satono Crown(JPN) brings an exciting outcross to the Japanese breeding shed, having been brought over in utero then going on to win two G1s. He has four lots in the sale. Shanghai Bobby(USA) is another established sire making his debut as a Japanese sire with four lots in the sale. He already has six G1 winners to his name in South America and has ten other graded stakes winners in seven countries worldwide. Finally, Talismanic (GB) brings with him both European form and American form to Japan, having won several graded stakes in France and the G1 Breeders Cup Turf in the US. He has three lots in the sale. Other notable stallions in the sale are sires like Leontes(JPN), who has eight lots in the sale, who is the half brother to Epiphaneia(JPN), and the sire of this year's Saudi Derby winner Pink Kamehameha(JPN). Orfevre(JPN) has been racking up the graded stakes winners one after the other the past four years and has three lots in the sale. Bago(FR) has been having a lot of success lately with top turf runner Chrono Genesis(JPN), who won three G1s and ran second or third in six others. Then his Stella Veloce(JPN) won the G3 Saudi Arabia Royal Cup last year before running second in the G1 Asahi Hai Futurity and third in both the G1 Satsuki Sho and G1 Japanese Derby this year. He has three lots in the sale. *All stallion information is current as of June 24th, 2021, and includes NAR and JRA data. Please contact our representatives if you are interested in purchasing at t the 2021 Hokkaido Selection Sale or in inquiring about the Japan-bred winner bonus program: Satomi Oka (Ms) Satomi Oka Bloodstock Pty Ltd E-mail: satomi@bloodstock.jp Tel : +61 414 414 450 Hokkaido Selection Sale Details: ●Sale type: Yearling ●Venue: Hokkaido Sales Pavilion (Shizunai, Hokkaido) ●Dates: July 27th (Tues) Pre-sale inspections: July 26th(Mon) 10:00am ～  5:00om Sale: 10:00am ～ ●Number of cataloged lots: 240 ●Online catalog available at: https://www.hba.or.jp/en.php