Hokkaido

A yearling full-brother to the globetrotting Deirdre (Jpn) and first-crop foals by Flightline and Baaeed (GB) are among the entries for the JRHA Select Sale, which is set to take place at the Northern Horse Park in Hokkaido on July 8 and 9. Deirdre, a daughter of Harbinger (GB), was a Grade 1 winner in her native country before setting out on her worldwide travels which saw her win the G1 Nassau S. at Goodwood and finish runner-up in both Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. Her younger brother (lot 74)...

HOKKAIDO, Japan--"Welcome from the USA, from Europe, from Down Under," said Naohiro Goda at Sunday evening's party on the eve of the JRHA Select Sale. The welcome in Japan is always warm, but what is clear is that the extraordinary demand for racehorses in the country makes it difficult for those overseas visitors to make much of a mark in the ring where, once again, new record prices for turnover and average were set on Monday.  The names on the list of buyers were exclusively Japanese, bar that of David...

HOKKAIDO, Japan--Things are hotting up in the Northern Horse Park, literally and figuratively. As the mercury nudged 30 degrees on Saturday, the English and Irish in town for the JRHA Select Sale swooned and wilted while the many attendants showing the horses, mostly clad in jackets, went manfully and womanfully about their hot and tiring work without so much as a whimper. Both they and the young horses in their care are well prepared for the two inspection days ahead, despite having only arrived on the sales ground that morning....

The Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) will stage its Select Sale in Hokkaido on July 10 and 11. The auction, which takes places within the Northern Horse Park, features 231 yearlings and 243 foals. The leading Japanese breeders are major buyers at international breeding stock sales and the catalogue for this year's sale features the offspring of many highly credentialed broodmares from across the globe. The foal and yearling sections both include half-sisters to former Japanese Horse of the Year Gentildonna (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), by Drefong and the late...

There are bloodstock sales and then there's the JRHA Select Sale. The premier sale for Thoroughbreds in Japan, held at Hokkaido's Northern Horse Park, is truly out of the ordinary as far as these events go. The yearling section of the sale, which this year features 234 entries taking into account withdrawals at the time of writing, follows a fairly traditional format (though the sale's website does include a document noting the yearlings' heights, girth and cannon bone measurements, vices, and any surgical intervention), but it is the following day's...

Despite massive COVID-19 prevention protocols, the postponed 2020 Hokkaido Selection Sale drew a strong crowd, easily as big as normal years despite protocols requiring everyone to pre-register for entry credentials. The looming pandemic-induced global recession also seemed to have little effect on the sale, which set records on nearly all fronts despite being pushed back a little over a month from its usual mid-July date. While the clearance rate was 82.5%, down from last year's record of 83.5%, it was the best year of the sale by every other measure...

The 2020 Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) Select Sale catalogue, featuring 13 yearlings from the penultimate crop of the late Deep Impact (Jpn), was released on Monday. Despite the ongoing challenges presented by the coronavirus, the live-format sale at the Northern Horse Park offers 257 yearlings on July 13th, with 239 weanlings catalogued for the day after. The JRHA is also preparing to take bids over the phone, as well. Print catalogues will be available the first week of June. Deep Impact's thirteen yearlings-divided between 10 colts and three fillies-include...