Deep Impact yearling colt leads the way at JRHA Select Sale

A Deep Impact son of the smart former French-trained mare Musical Way set a new record price for a yearling colt at the JRHA Select Sale after a spectacular session of spending on Monday.

Progeny of the seven-times champion Japanese sire were always going to be popular at the Northern Horse Park, particularly as he was rested for the majority of the latest breeding season.

This particular youngster (lot 51) was bought by Riichi Kondo for ¥360,000,000 (£2,647,000/$3,273,000), having formed part of a typically powerful consignment from Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm.

Musical Way, by Gold Away, was a winner of the Group 2 Prix Dollar and placed third in the Hong Kong Cup as well as the Premio Lydia Tesio on two occasions. She was bought by Yoshida for 300,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2008. The colt is a full-sister to Mikki Queen, a winner of the Grade 1 Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) and Shuka Sho, and he usurped the Deep Impact-sired leader from last year's event by some ¥110,000.

"This is definitely the pick of day," said Kondo of the sale-topper. "My trainer, Yasuo Tomomichi, said I would really like to have this colt in my stable and it is my duty to buy him. The price is within my estimation."

Northern Farm was responsible for the top three lots, with the Deep Impact colt being followed by the ¥290,000,000 (£2,132,000 /$2,636,000 final bid arriving for their son of King Kamehameha (64), bought by Toshihiko Tabata of the Thoroughbred Club Lion Co.

The country’s top stallion before Deep Impact came on the scene had covered Ginger Punch, an Awesome Again mare for Bobby Frankel who boasted the Breeders' Cup Distaff among a clutch of Grade 1s. She has already produced multiple Japanese scorer Rouge Buck.

"He looks like his father," said trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who picks up the colt for his client. "I believe he stays a mile and half, and the Japanese Derby is in my mind as the race to aim."

Northern Farm's colt by Frankel (41) out of Margot Did, who provided Hayley Turner with Group 1 joy in the 2011 Nunthorpe Stakes, was bought by Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co for ¥210,000,000 (£1,544,000 /$1,909,000).

Margot Did, an Exceed And Excel mare bred in Ireland by Nicky Hartery, has already produced the Prix de Sandringham scorer Mission Impassible. A Galileo two-year-old filly, bred by Yoshida and named Magic Attitude, is registered in training with Fabrice Chappet in France.

Another key lot was a Heart's Cry (27) colt out of well-bred War Emblem mare Sinhadipa, bought for ¥270,000,000 (£1,986,000/ $2,455,000) by Masahiko Sugino, president of the Round One Corporation, an operator of indoor leisure complexes. Sugino made a big investment on bloodstock for the first time at the Chiba Thoroughbred Sale in May, picking up three ready-to-run two-year-olds including another sales-topping Deep Impact colt.

Northern Farm, unsurprisingly, finished up as leading consignor at the session.

"Just amazing", said Katsumi Yoshida. "The market was strong at every price range and the clearance rate is amazing. I am very pleased to see the crops by new stallions, such as Duramente, were sold well and the crops by stallions with rather cheaper stud fees also sold well."

New records for average and turnover were also set for the event. Some 222 yearlings were sold for ¥10,732,000,000 (£79,000,000/ $98,831,000) in total, which was 11.1 per cent more than 12 months ago. The average of ¥48,342,342 (£356,000 / $445,000) was up 5.1 per cent with a clearance rate of 92.9 per cent ranking as the highest mark at the yearling session of JRHA Select Sale.

They will be followed by 225 similarly blue-blooded foal examples on Tuesday, where a son or daughter of Deep Impact has topped the agenda for the last seven years.

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