Chiba Thoroughbred Sale sets record gross and average at Funabashi
Chiba’s 2-year-old sale smashed records at Funabashi, with gross topping ¥2.09 billion and average price jumping 21.2%. The depth of buying suggested confidence, not just a single headline lot.
Buyers sent a clear signal at Funabashi: Japan’s 2-year-old market still has appetite at the top end. The Chiba Thoroughbred Sale of 2-Year-Olds produced record gross sales of ¥2,090,900,000 and a record average price of ¥36,682,456, despite a cold, rainy day at Funabashi Racecourse in Chiba Prefecture on May 22.
The scale of the market stood out as much as the prices. Fifty-seven horses changed hands, and the gross climbed 43.9% from a year earlier, while the average rose 21.2%. The median price held at ¥27 million, matching the 2025 figure and tying the highest median in the sale’s history. Of the 60 horses that went through the ring, only three failed to meet reserve, leaving a buy-back rate of 5%.
The session’s top price came from Hip 41, a colt by Kitasan Black out of Dayoutoftheoffice, the 2020 Frizette Stakes winner and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up. Yoshiro Kubota paid ¥220 million for the colt, the highest price at the sale and the second-highest in Chiba Sale history. The colt is set to be trained by Mitsu Nakauchida at Ritto Training Center.
The strength across the catalog mattered as much as the marquee bid. A single standout can lift headlines, but the unchanged median showed broader demand beyond the topper, suggesting buyers were willing to spend aggressively across multiple price bands. That is the kind of depth breeders watch closely because it points to stable confidence, not a one-off spike.
The 2026 result built on an already strong market in 2025, when the sale grossed ¥1,453,100,000 with 48 sold from 49 cataloged and a 98% clearance rate. Last year’s top price was ¥80 million for a Nadal colt out of Fuchsia, a level that now looks modest beside the new high-water mark.
Chiba’s sale has also been helped by what graduates have done on the track. Recent alumni include Osaka Hai winner Bellagio Opera, Saudi Arabia Royal Cup winner Ecoro Alba, and Naruo Kinen winner David Barows. With that record behind it, the Funabashi market delivered another reminder that buyers are paying not just for pedigree, but for a pipeline that has already produced major winners.
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