See’s Lonhro vision pays off in Japan
Singapore owner and breeder Jayven See compares his hobby of breeding mares to Australian stallions to northern hemisphere time and exporting them to Japan as the reverse business model to that of Arrowfield Stud supremo John Messara.
On Tuesday, See and his partners in the Japanese mare venture reaped a big reward when a colt by champion Australian Darley stallion Lonhro (Octagonal) fetched ¥42 million (AU$507,438) at the JHRA Select Foal Sale, the same auction in which a Lord Kanaloa (King Kamehameha) son of dual Sydney Group 1-winning mare Yankee Rose (All American) made ¥370 million (AU$4,485,936).
See’s Lonhro colt is out of the US-bred winner and stakes-placed mare A Gala Day (Munnings) who he bought for $80,000 at the 2019 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale from the Newgate Farm draft.
She was in foal to Flying Artie (Artie Schiller) at the time, but the resulting colt died in a paddock accident soon after he was born.
See revealed from Singapore yesterday that a reserve of ¥20 million (A$242,805) was placed on the Lonhro colt, whose mother was bought for US$140,000 by SF Bloodstock at the 2017 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale and shipped to Australia.
“The thing is, it is a crazy market. He is a three-month-old horse with no X-rays, but the Japanese are willing to pay that sort of money. There are no X-rays there – you don’t spend money on X-rays – but that is the market in Japan,” See told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“If we had bred her to Lonhro in Australia to southern hemisphere time we would probably get $200,000 for him if the X-rays were clean, otherwise you get nothing.
“I guess in Japan there are stallions that the Japanese will accept and we mated her to a mare who has a strong American pedigree.”
See had A Gala Day covered by Lonhro on March 1 last year before sending her to Japan that June.
Despite the big return on investment – the Singaporean is already plotting next year’s shipment – he cautioned other breeders about making the leap of faith by sending mares in foal to Japan in order to tap into the lucrative market.
“Ultimately, anyone who wants to pinhook to sell in Japan must always consider the fact that if they can’t sell, they are in trouble because you can’t race there. You need a licence in Japan and that is where your Japanese partners come in,” he said.
“I have got Japanese partners, so if the foal can’t sell they will race them, so you don’t have that problem. It’s not that easy for anybody to just buy three mares, put them in foal to northern hemisphere time and send them to Japan to sell.
“You always have to think about if you can’t sell, then what do you do? In Australia you can race them, that is not a problem, but there you can’t.”
Among those mares slated to head to Japan next year is Special Flight (Bel Esprit), a $16,000 purchase on See’s behalf by agent Paul Moroney at the 2020 Magic Millions National Sale.
She is a half-sister to European stakes winners Just James (Spectrum) and Blue Jack (Cadeaux Genereux) but, perhaps more importantly in appealing to the Japanese market, Special Flight is also a half-sister to Rich Dancer (Halling), herself the dam of Japanese stakes winner Moonquake (Admire Moon), Contra Check (Deep Impact) and Bounce Shasse (Zenno Rob Roy).
I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) has been identified as Special Flight’s mating to northern hemisphere time next Australian autumn before heading to Japan in foal in the winter of 2022.
At the most recent Magic Millions National Sale, See paid $40,000 for Lord Kanaloa mare Saki who is out of a half-sister to Japan’s Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Admire Rakti (Heart’s Cry), Grade 3 winner Admire Justa (Just A Way) and Listed winner Satono Jupiter (Agnes Tachyon). Saki is in foal to Coolmore first season sire Yes Yes Yes (Rubick).
“If you look at the page, it is incredible. If you put her to anything, the Sunday Silence family, you can cross it with anything. The question is, what sort of money would the foal bring (in 2023)? That is the answer everyone needs to find out.
“We are discussing what stallions would suit her for Japan. It might be a bit too risky and sometimes it’s luck, and she could also stay in Australia – we don’t know yet – but we always try and send three in foal to northern hemisphere time.
“What I am doing is what John Messara is doing (in the opposite direction), but he is doing it on a big scale. We are doing it on a hobby basis.”
A shareholder in Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Tagaloa (Lord Kanaloa) from the time he was a yearling amongst a predominantly Australia-based bloodstock portfolio, See’s horse numbers are around 50 to 60 with the Kelly Schweida-trained The Odyssey (Better Than Ready), a winner of ten races and $1.72 million so far, another flag bearer for him Down Under.
He also has horses in training with Mike Moroney, Desleigh Forster and rookie trainer Blake Ryan at Hawkesbury.
Most of his mares reside between Lime Country Thoroughbreds, which recently relocated from the NSW Southern Highlands to the Hunter Valley, and the Kruger family’s Lyndhurst Stud Farm in Queensland where Better Than Ready (More Than Ready) stands.