HBA Summer Yearling Sale Sets Several Records

Just like the outside temperature, the market at the HBA Summer Yearling Sale was hot Aug. 17-22 in Shizunai. A total of 1,103 yearlings were sold for ¥8,661,300,000 (approx. US$54.1 million), which was up 13.1% from last year's record despite a catalog that was 4% smaller. The average of ¥7,852,493 (approx. US$49,035) rose 10.6% and the median price of ¥6 million (approx. US$37,467) was up 15.4%. The clearance rate also improved from 77.63% in 2025 to 82.90% in 2026. All those figures are new records for the HBA Summer Yearling Sale. Sensational freshman sire Efforia (JPN), who had sent nine 2-year-old winners by the start of HBA Summer Sale, drove the market up with five out of the top 10 lots. The sales topper, Hip 139, is a chestnut colt by Efforia out of Tradition and was bought by Ichimonkai Co. for ¥54 million (approx. US$337,205). The dam of the Nakano Farm-consigned colt is a half sister to three-time grade 1 winner Transcend (JPN), the Japan Racing Association's champion dirt horse in 2011—a year in which he won the February Stakes (G1) and finished second in the Dubai World Cup (G1). Efforia was also responsible for the most expensive filly at the session: Hip 333, a filly bought by Tetsuo Koshimura for ¥35 million (approx. US$218,559). The filly is out of Sweetest Angel, who finished third in the 2021 Senorita Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita Park and was bought at the Keeneland November Sale in 2023 by Toru Tagami for US$110,000.