The commercial appeal of the progeny Australian-bred mares in Japan, highlighted by a couple of outstanding results for sons of Mosheen at the recent JRHA Select Sale, will be further put to the test when a filly out of G1 Australian Oaks winner Absolutely is sold at the Hokkaido Selection Sale next week.

A yearling colt by Maurice out of Mosheen, a four-time Group One winner in Australia, secured a sale-topping bid of 450 million yen (AU$4.76 million) at this month’s Select Sale, a result followed up a day later when Mosheen’s colt foal by Epiphaneia sold for 300 million yen (AU$3.18 million).

That followed up last year’s results at that same sale, which saw a colt foal by Lord Kanaloa out of Australian-bred Group One winner Yankee Rose sell for 370 million yen (AU$3.92 million).

The bidding at the Hokkaido Selection Sale, held over two days on July 26 and 27 at the Hokkaido Sales Complex, may not reach those heights, but there will be considerable interest both in Australia and in Japan around Lot 275, the filly from the first crop of 2019 Japan Cup winner Suave Richard out of Absolutely.

Absolutely, a daughter of Redoute’s Choice, won the 2011 Australian Oaks for Mick Kent before being sold to Northern Farm. She spent several years at the famous nursery before she was sold for 11 million yen (AU$116,000) in 2020, in foal to Suave Richard, to MK Asetto Ltd.

. @atc_racing Oaks winner – GilgaiFarm raced Absolutely (@RedoutesChoice ex Catshaan) ping: @FARRINGTON_D pic.twitter.com/8WIWkr95f8

— Su-Ann Khaw (@inkmarksofsu) June 28, 2013

She had a patchy breeding record at Northern Farm, producing three foals from seven attempts. Her three-year-old filly Melville broke her maiden at the seventh time of asking at Hakodate last month, while later in June, Fumi Sound, her now two-year-old colt by Just A Way, won at the same venue. Both were ridden by Japanese legend Yutaka Take in their maiden wins.

The recent form of her half-siblings should boost the appeal of Lot 275, who boasts a strong pedigree, which also features Absolutely’s Group One-winning  sister Abbey Marie, as well as Japanese star of the track and breeding barn, Kinshasa No Kiseki, who is a half-brother to this filly’s grand-dam Catshaan.

2YO, Fumi Sound comes hard to grab victory in Japan.
Out of Absolutely the Australian Oaks winner from 2011. She’s now 14. https://t.co/ls2xPJdjiD

— Andrew Bensley (@AndrewBensley) June 25, 2022

Other lots in the Sale with an Australian influence are Lot 75, a chestnut filly by Henny Hughes out of Alma Flora, who herself is a daughter of 1990 G1 Australian Oaks runner-up Seto Flowerian. That is also the family of G1 Oakleigh Plate winner Eagle Falls.

Lot 147 is a filly by Neorealism, who shuttles to Queensland, out of Australian-bred mare Fairies. That mare was sold to Japanese interests at Magic Millions in 2019 and is by Medaglia D’Oro out of Group One winner Rinky Dink.

Lot 170 is a colt by Satono Crown out of another Redoute’s Choice mare, Rouge Coeur, who was purchased herself by Northern Farm for $400,000 at the 2010 Easter Yearling Sale.

A sister to Group Two winner El Daana, Rouge Coeur never won on the track in Japan, but has produced four winners including stakes-performed pair Star Field and Otaru Ever. Rouge Coeur was sold to new owners at the same Northern Farm dispersal sale as Absolutely was sold at in 2020.

Maurice colt out of Group One winner Mosheen secures 450 million yen

Tiny prospects – the unique charm of Japan’s foal sale