Win Aluette colt sets JRA Breeze-Up sale record at ¥82 million

A Rey de Oro colt out of Win Aluette did more than top the JRA Breeze-Up Sale. His ¥82 million price tag sent the clearest signal from Nakayama Racecourse, that buyers still have real appetite for a colt with pedigree, presence and enough forward action to separate himself in a market that was not handing out premiums to everyone else.

The record came at the 22nd JRA-trained-horse breeze-up sale, held Tuesday at Nakayama in Chiba Prefecture. JRA’s sale is built around a different kind of judgment than a stopwatch contest. Since the event began in 2005, the focus has been on overall quality and way of going, not just fast times, and this colt fit that script better than anyone else in the ring.

The top price for Win Aluette 2024 was ¥90.2 million including tax, which matched the reported ¥82 million before tax and established a new high for the sale. The colt was cataloged as No. 19 and carried a seller’s preferred starting price of ¥8 million, a number that looks almost quaint now against the final hammer. That kind of jump tells you this was not a routine bidding war. It was a market statement.

Overall, though, the sale did not run at the same heat as last year’s. JRA said 77 lots were listed and 71 sold, for a clearance rate of 92.2 percent. Total sales reached ¥805.42 million including tax, down from ¥931.37 million in 2025, when 75 of 76 catalogued horses sold and clearance hit 98.7 percent. The average prices also came in at ¥13.037894 million for colts and ¥9.393333 million for fillies, both including tax, showing that the market rewarded the better individuals but did not spread the money as broadly.

The top filly was Tosen Natural 2024 at ¥28.6 million including tax, a solid figure but a long way from the record colt. That gap matters. It suggests the buyers were more willing to push hard for a colt with perceived JRA upside, especially one by Rey de Oro, than to chase the rest of the catalog at elevated levels.

Ito Kan of JRA said the organization wants the sale to remain transparent and easy to understand, and he hoped the horses bought on Tuesday would progress to the June newcomer races and beyond on the JRA stage. If this sale is a barometer, the sharp end of the market is still alive. Owners chasing the next JRA star now know exactly what kind of package can stretch the ceiling: a proven bloodline, a horse that moves well, and the kind of breeze impression that makes ¥82 million look justified instead of reckless.