Cover image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
The first foal from the 2018 G1 Queensland Oaks heroine Youngstar (High Chaparral {Ire}) realised ¥210,000,000 (AU$2.2 million) on Day 1 of the Japan Racing Horse Association (JRHA) Select Sale.
Consigned by Northern Farm as Hip 1, the yearling colt by Kizuna (Jpn) - the 2013 G1 Tokyo Yushun hero and Japan’s Champion First Crop sire in 2019 - was purchased by Fujita Susumu.
Bred by John and Karen Sheather, Youngstar is from the Danehill (USA) mare Starspangled (Ire) - a winner in Ireland and sister to the Group 3 scorer Downtown (Ire). At the 2016 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, Anton Koolman Bloodstock paid $200,000 for Youngstar from the Bowness Stud draft.
Hip 1 - Kizuna (Jpn) x Youngstar (colt) | Image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
Speaking to The Thoroughbred Report post-sale on Monday, John Sheather said he and Karen were both immensely proud.
“It’s a huge thrill, I’m really proud of Youngstar,” he said.
“We were able to watch the sale online, so it was great.”
Oliver Koolman, the son of the late Anton Koolman, was also thrilled with the result.
“I’m quite proud of her, to be honest with you,” he told The Thoroughbred Report.
“She came from relatively humble beginnings and now she’s making international headlines. It’s about time she makes the headlines, her sister (Funstar) took over for a while.
“She (Youngstar) came from relatively humble beginnings and now she’s making international headlines.” - Oliver Koolman
“It’s good to see, very satisfying.”
The Chris Waller-trained Youngstar raced 26 times, notching four wins and six placings for earnings of a tick over $1 million, all that after going winless through her first three starts. Her career was highlighted by her Oaks success, but she also finished third in the 2018 G1 Queensland Derby and ran the great Winx (Street Cry {Ire}) to 1l in the 2018 G1 Turnbull S. Youngstar’s second-biggest win was the 2018 G2 BRC The Roses.
Following her successful career on the track, Youngstar was purchased by Northern Farm’s Katsumi Yoshida for $1.4 million from the Middlebrook Valley Lodge consignment at the 2020 Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
Youngstar | Image courtesy of Sportpix
The Kizuna yearling features a host of elite-level winners on his page, including Youngstar’s three-quarter sister Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}), as well as Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}) and No Compromise (NZ) (Pins).
Funstar herself has a Kizuna colt - a foal - that will go through the ring on Day 2 at Hip 441. He too will be offered by Northern Farm.
“Hopefully, this result is a sign of things to come on Tuesday,” Sheather added.
“Hopefully, this result is a sign of things to come on Tuesday.” - John Sheather
“It’s very exciting.
“Starspangled has a Churchill filly on the ground and a Yes Yes Yes weanling filly that we have at home here.”
Seabrook colt sells for $420,000
The first foal from Seabrook (NZ) (Hinchinbrook) realised ¥40,000,000 (AU$420,000). The colt by former Arrowfield Stud shuttler Real Steel (Jpn) was offered by Northern Farm as Hip 22 and was secured by Kazutaka Hosaka.
Seabrook was bred by Tauranga-based breeder Warwick Jeffries and is out of the unraced Don Eduardo (NZ) mare Midnight Revels (NZ) and she herself is a half-sister to the Group 2 victress My Emotion (NZ) (Savabeel). Seabrook is also closely related to the 2011 G1 Coolmore Classic heroine Aloha (Encosta De Lago), who has thrown two stakes winners - Libertini (I Am Invincible) and Hawaii Five Oh (I Am Invincible).
Real Steel (Jpn) x Seabrook (NZ) (colt) | Image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
Seabrook was a member of the Maluka Thoroughbreds draft at the 2017 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and was knocked down to Blueblood Thoroughbreds for $85,000.
She won just two races in her 21-start career, but they were both at Group level (the 2018 G1 Champagne S. and the 2018 G1 Sweet Embrace S.).
The mare was purchased privately by Northern Farm in 2020.
Lys Gracieux’s half-brother proves popular
Hip 58 - a colt by Duramente (Jpn) from the multiple Listed scorer Liliside (Fr) (American Post {GB}) - made ¥160,000,000 (AU$1.69 million). The yearling is a half-brother to the 2019 Japanese Horse of the Year and 2019 G1 Cox Plate heroine Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}).
Consigned by Northern Farm, the colt was secured by Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co.,Ltd.
Hip 58 - Duramente (Jpn) x Liliside (Fr) (colt) | Image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
Hana’s Goal (Jpn) (Orewa Matteruze {Jpn}) is another Japanese mare that scored at the highest level in Australia; she landed the G1 All Aged S. in 2014. On Monday, her filly by Tagaloa’s sire, Lord Kanaloa (Jpn), who was offered by Jingru Xiao as Hip 112, fetched ¥21,000,000 (AU$222,000). The filly was bought by IHR.
Hip 202 - a filly by Suave Richard (Jpn) from the four-time winner Admire Kirameki (Jpn) (End Sweep {USA}) - is a half-sister to Tosen Stardom (Jpn), who won two Group 1s in Melbourne in 2017 and has shuttled to the newly created Zenith Stallion Station at Lemongrove Stud in Ireland after completing his fifth season at Woodside Park in Victoria.
Offered by Northern Farm, the filly was bought by David Redvers - racing manager for Qatar Racing - for ¥50,000,000 (AU$530,000).
Hip 202 - Suave Richard (Jpn) x Admire Kirameki (Jpn) (filly) | Image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
Other noteworthy results
As forecast, yearlings by Kitasan Black - the sire of racing’s newest global superstar Equinox (Jpn) - were well sought-after. Hip 4 - a colt consigned by Northern Farm from the Grade 1 winner Include Betty (USA) (Include {USA}) - was secured by Danox Co. Ltd. for ¥310,000,000 (AU$3.25 million). The colt was one of two yearlings to make this amount - the Day 1 high.
And Hip 92 - a colt by Kitasan Black out of I’m Already Sexy (USA) (Ready’s Image {USA}) from the Shadai Farm draft - was bought by Hirosaki Toshihiro HD Co. Ltd. for ¥290,000,000 (AU$3 million).
Hip 92 - Kitasan Black (Jpn) x I'm Already Sexy (USA) (colt) | Image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
Hip 20 - a colt by Silver State (Jpn) from the Listed winner Palace Rumor (Royal Anthem {USA}) - also made ¥310,000,000 (AU$3.25 million) from the Northern Farm draft, with TN Racing purchasing. The colt is a half-brother to Justin Palace (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) - this year’s G1 Tenno Sho (Spring) hero, who was third behind Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen last month.
The lone Kingman (GB) yearling - Hip 16 - a colt that was consigned by Shunsuke Yoshida - went to TN Racing for ¥300,000,000 (AU$3.2 million). The colt is from Cosmopolitan Queen (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) - a two-time winner in England who is a sister to the Group 1 victress Arabian Queen (Ire) and the Listed placegetter Stormbuster (GB). The yearling colt has a Frankel (GB) half-sister - Frankness (GB) - in England with Andrew Balding and the filly has saluted on three occasions.
Kingman is the sire of this year’s G1 JJ Atkins S. hero King Colorado, as well as last year’s G1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Emissary (GB).
Coolmore shuttler Wootton Bassett (GB) has been on fire in Europe, with a host of stakes winners, including Protagonist (Fr), River Tiber (Ire), King Of Steel (USA) and Bucanero Fuerte (GB), and his sole yearling fetched ¥270,000,000 (AU$2.9 million). This was another purchase by Kaneko Makoto Holdings Co. Ltd. Consigned by Shadai Farm as Hip 102, the colt is from the winning Green Tune (USA) mare Green Bananas (Fr), making him a brother to the brilliant Audarya (Fr) - a multiple top-level victress.
Maurice (Jpn) and Admire Mars (Jpn) - who both reside at Shadai Stallion Station in Japan and Arrowfield Stud in Australia - had a combined 17 yearlings offered on Monday.
Maurice, who is the sire of two Group 1 winners in Australia - Hitotsu and Mazu - had 10 yearlings in on Monday and his top-seller was Hip 115. The colt is out of the Listed winner Daiwa Zoom (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) and was bought by Kondo Junko from the Shadai Farm consignment for ¥115,000,000 (AU$1.2 million).
Hip 115 - Maurice (Jpn) x Daiwa Zoom (Jpn) (colt) | Image courtesy of the JRHA Select Sale
The best of Admire Mars’ progeny - Hip 2 - fetched ¥145,000,000 (AU$1.5 million). The colt is from the unraced Rahy (USA) mare Polonnaruwa (Jpn), making him a half-brother to the stakes performer Gal Vihara (Jpn) (Gold Allure {Jpn}). Offered by Northern Farm, the colt was purchased by TN Racing.
Satono Aladdin (Jpn), who splits his time between Breeders Stallion Station in Japan and Rich Hill Stud in New Zealand, has created a huge impression in the Southern Hemisphere, siring the dual top-flight winner Pennyweka (NZ).
He had three yearlings consigned on Monday and the top-seller was Hip 206 - a colt from the multiple Listed victress Mother Russia (USA) (Mayakovsky {USA}), which made ¥32,000,000 (AU$340,000). That makes the colt, who was consigned by Lake Villa Farm and bought by Inokuma Hirotsugu, a half-brother to the Listed winner Golden Barows (USA) (Tapit {USA}).
