Japanese buyers focus on Bricks And Mortar

Breeders' Cup Turf winner Bricks And Mortar sired two of the top three lots at the HBA Hokkaido Select Sale, where Yulong Investments were also on the buyers' list.

Bricks And Mortar in the Japanese snow at Shadai Stallion Station. (Photo by Shadai Stallion Station)

A colt from the first crop of 2019 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Bricks And Mortar topped the HBA Hokkaido Select Sale when selling for 72.6 million yen (AU$765,000) to Minoru Yoshioka on Wednesday.

Bricks And Mortar, the 2019 American Horse Of The Year, was sold to Teruya Yoshida’s Shadai Farm ahead of his success in the 2019 Arlington Million and has stood at Shadai Stallion Station for the past three seasons.

Lot 204 is a dark bay colt out of G1 Oka Sho winner Reine Minora and was offered by Fujiwara Farm. Yoshioka owned and raced the colt’s G1-winning dam and now owns her sale-topping son.

Another son of Bricks And Mortar, Lot 169, was the third highest-priced yearling of the second day when selling to Susuma Fujita for 66 million yen (AU$695,000). He is out of King Kamehameha mare Smash Heart.

Splitting those in terms of the top three lots was Lot 246, a colt by Silver State who sold to Masahiro Miki, the billionaire investor and owner of the ‘Justin’ horses, for 68.2 million yen ($718,000). He is out of Dance In The Dark mare Maru Mori Bunny, meaning his pedigree features a 3 x 3 cross to Sunday Silence.

Yulong Investments, which has a major presence in Australia and was active at the recent JRHA select Sale, secured Lot 197, a filly by Lord Kanaloa out of Group 3 winner Sweet Salsa. The filly cost 52.8 million yen (AU$556,000) and will likely remain in Japan to race. Sweet Salsa’s three-quarter sister, Sanako, had her The Autumn Sun colt sell at this year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.

Redoute’s Choice mare Rouge Coeur, a sister to Australian Group 2 winner El Daana, had her colt by Satono Crown (Lot 170) sell to Hideyuki Sudo for 48.4 million yen (AU$510,000). Rouge Coeur has produced four winners including stakes-performed pair Star Field and Otaru Ever and was purchased by Northern Farm for $400,000 at the 2010 Easter Yearling Sale.

Meanwhile, Lot 275, the filly by Japan Cup winner Suave Richard out of G1 Australian Oaks winner Absolutely, sold for 12.65 million yen (AU$133,000) to Toshihiko Tabata. She is a half-sister to recent winners Fumi Sound and Melville.

There were 263 yearlings sold across the two days of the sale, with an average of 20.3 million yen (AU$214,000) and a gross of 5.34 billion yen (AU$56.2million).

Wednesday also saw the conclusion of the late July edition of the Inglis Digital Online Sale with multiple stakes-winning Western Australian filly Flirtini selling for the top price of $385,000 to Procyon Services Pty Ltd.

Stakes-performed Zoustar mare Zing sold for $310,000 to Kenmore Lodge.

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