Racing: King's Rose colt top at sale ring in Japan

A Deep Impact colt out of the 2011 champion New Zealand three-year-old filly King's Rose topped the yearling session of the JRHA Select Sale in Hokkaido, Japan.

Consigned by Northern Farm, the brother to group three Epson Cup (1800m) winner and multiple Group placed Satono Arthur was bought by Masahiro Noda's Danox Ltd for ¥250 million ($3.37m) on Monday.

"He is a very nice individual," Noda said. "I thought he would be less than US$2m, but today's market is very strong, and I was determined to go for more."

King's Rose won six races in New Zealand, including the group one New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m) for Jason Bridgman, before transferring to Peter Moody in Melbourne.

Bred and raced by Hong Kong-based Gene Tsoi, King's Rose is a daughter of Redoute's Choice.

She twice won at group two level for Moody and placed at group one level on a further four occasions, including narrow runner-up finishes in both the group one Toorak Handicap (1600m) and group one Emirates Stakes (1600m).

King's Rose has had three foals to date, with four-year-old entire Satono Arthur her oldest, while she has also left a two-year-old by Lord Kanaloa.

The Lord Kanaloa colt was the highest priced yearling not sired by Deep Impact at last year's sale when sold to NICKS Co for ¥180 million ($2.43m).

In total, 233 yearlings went through the sales ring and 211 of them were bought for ¥9,674,500,000 ($130,560,054), 12 per cent more than 12 months ago.

The average price, ¥45,850,711 ($618,812), is a 14.7 per cent increase compared with 2017.

The clearance rate at the sale improved from 89.3 per cent in 2017 to 90.6 per cent in 2018. The gross sale, average price, and clearance rate are records for the yearling session of JRHA Sale.

"The gross sale and the clearance rate are both far beyond my expectation," said Katsumi Yoshida, of Northern Farm, the leading consignor during Monday's session.

"Nice individuals sold very well, and I am very happy to see, not only Deep Impact but also other sires are very popular.

"It is an amazing market."

- NZ Racing Desk