Epiphaneia yearlings were in great demand July 27 at the Japan Bloodhorse Breeders' Association Hokkaido Selection Sale of yearlings, at which the final figures set a sale record.
An Epiphaneia colt (Hip 154) out of Three Arrow (by Aldebaran) was secured by Masaru Shimada and topped the session at ¥60 million (US$545,455). Another son of Epiphaneia (Hip 130) out of Smash (King Kamehameha) was purchased by Noboru Iyama for ¥54 million ($490,909), the second-highest price of the day. Both colts have a 3x4 cross of Sunday Silence.
Five out of the top 11 yearlings sold were by Epiphaneia, a son of Symboli Kris S.
The stallion is the third foal out of 2005 American Oaks Invitational (G1T) winner Cesario, the first Japanese-trained horse to win a grade 1 in the United States. The mare also produced Japanese grade 1 winners Leontes and Saturnalia.
A favorite on the turf, Epiphanea won the 2013 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St. Leger, G1) and the 2014 Japan Cup (G1). From his first crop, Daring Tact won the 2020 Japanese Triple Tiara. Efforia, winner of this year's Satsuki Sho (Japanese Two Thousand Guineas, G1), is from his second crop.
A total of 202 yearlings from 240 cataloged sold at the JBBA Selection Sale for gross receipts of ¥3,650,700,000 ($33.2 million), an 11.9% increase from 2020, with an average price of ¥18,072,772 ($164,298), and a median price of ¥16 million ($145,455); a steady growth of 1.9% and 6.7% respectively from 2020. The clearance rate improved from 82.5% in 2020 to 86.3% at this year's sale.
