22 October, 2008
The Select Sale for yearlings, now in its third year since it was revived, was held on Monday, July the 14th, at the Northern Horse Park in Tomakomai by the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA). The highest priced yearling was a half brother to Kurofune (USA), by Agnes Tachyon, out of Blue Avenue (USA), sold to Riichi Kondo of Osaka for JPY 257,250,000. The highest price for a filly was the JPY 57,750,000 paid by Takaya Shimakawa of Miyagi Prefecture for a half sister to Air Pascal and sired by French Deputy (USA), out of Lafica.
Yearlings by Agnes Tachyon topped the list of average price by stallion with an average of JPY 70,175,000. Next was Fusaichi Pegasus (JPY 34,650,000), followed by Brian's Time (USA) and Songandaprayer, both of which had an average price of JPY 33,600,000. 151 horses (96 colts and 55 fillies) were offered, of which 105 (62 colts and 43 fillies) were sold. The percentage sold was 69.5%, which was down 2.5 points from last year. The total value of horses sold was JPY 2,464,980,000, a large 28.5% decline over last year and the second year decline in a row. The average price was JPY 23,476,000, 26.5% down from the previous year and the median price was JPY 16,800,000, which was also 7.2% down. One of the market organizers stated that although the total value of sales was lower than it was last year, the percentage of horses sold held firm, so given the current economic climate, he didn't believe that things went too badly.
(Note: All auction sale prices given here include consumption tax.)