The Japan Racing Horse Association’s three-day July select sale at Northern Horse Park concluded on Wednesday with a 16.3% decrease in total receipts and a 10.9% dip in average price.

Despite the double digit declines, association officials were generally pleased with the results, which were buoyed by the multi-million dollar sales of a yearling by leading sire Agnes Tachyon on Monday and a weanling from the first crop of iconic racehorse Deep Impact on Tuesday, as well as purchases by foreign-based buyers.

“It is a solid market,” said association Vice Chairman Teruya Yoshida. “In other words, it is the acceptable result, under the current circumstances in business in Japan and all over the world.”

Yearlings were offered on Monday and were followed by weanling sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The association reported 327 of 465 horses offered as sold for total receipts of $90,528,970, an average of $276,847. The buy-back rate was 29.7% compared with 25.5% in 2007.

“I am very happy to see the quality of Japanese-breds is very high now, and I am also happy to see more than [$4,778,287] 500,000,000 yen was put into this market by the buyers from foreign countries,” Yoshida said. “I am quite confident the horses who will be exported to the countries of the buyers will run well there, and I hope they will encourage more buyers to come from foreign countries at this market in the near future.”

A half brother to Japanese champion and sire Kurofune sold on Monday at the yearling session for $2,289,719, the sale’s highest price.

Riichi Kondo purchased the bay Agnes Tachyon colt from the Northern Farm consignment. The colt is out of the stakes-winning Classic Go Go mare Blue Avenue, who in addition to Kurofune, Japan’s champion three-year-old colt of 2001, has produced four other winners, including Bella Belluci, a multiple stakes winner in the United States.

"When I inspected all lots at Northern Farm three weeks ago, I am so much impressed with his walking, which is fantastic,” Kondo said after making the purchase. “Then, I saw him again a week ago and I am determined I must buy him.”

Sendai-based businessman Takaya Shimakawa went to $2,056,074 (220,000,000 yen) on Tuesday to acquire the sale’s highest-priced weanling, a colt from the first crop of two-time Japanese Horse of the Year Deep Impact. Also offered by Northern Farm, the bay colt is out of 1995 Japanese champion two-year-old filly Biwa Heidi, by Caerleon. Biwa Heidi has produced four winners from as many starters, including Admire Japan and Admire Aura, both group stakes winners in Japan.

Shimakawa, who operates a natural foods company, went to $952,380 to secure Wednesday’s highest-priced weanling, a Deep Impact colt out of the winning Polish Precedent mare Mill Grain, a full sister to 1996 Kildagan Stud Irish Oaks (Ire-G1) winner Pure Grain. The bay colt is a half brother to Japanese Group 1 winner Fine Grain.

For complete sale results, click here.
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