By Emma Berry
It was the turn of the colts to shine at Arqana on Thusrday with the third session of the October Sale featuring three six-figure lots.
Leading the way was a first-crop son of Haras de Bouquetot's G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains winner Style Vendome (Fr), whose 10 yearlings to change hands this week to date have returned an average of €36,300. Lot 440, offered by La Motteraye Consignment on behalf of East Bloodstock, set the bar at €135,000 when knocked down to Ghislain Bozo.
“He' a strong precocious-looking colt with good bone. He's for a French client and will be trained by Nicolas Clement,” said the Meridian International agent of the son of Tara's Force (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), a half-brother to treble British winner Exchequer (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).
David Redvers has bought eight yearlings at the October Sale so far but was absent for the purchase of the following lot (441), a Wootton Bassett (GB) half-brother to Marseille Listed winner Art Of Raw (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire}), the leading member of a select three-strong draft from Benoit Duboc of Haras d'Auge in his first year of consigning. Bought for €120,000 the colt brought his sire's average to €46,200 for five sold from a 2014 fee of €4,000.
The rush of activity continued through to lot 457, when the Team Hogdala-bred son of Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) sold for €115,000 to Marco Bozzi, acting on behalf of Thomas Whitehead of Powerstown Stud. His dam Watchful (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has produced a dual winner in Russia, Veduchi (Ire) (Henrythenavigator), and it may not be long before the great grandson of G1 Prix Vermeille winner Sharaya (Youth) returns to the sales ring.
“We saw him together yesterday and for us he was the pick of the day. He'll probably be coming back here to the breeze-up sale,” offered Bozzi, who works regularly in partnership with the pinhooker.
Coulonces Consignment had another good day and was responsible not only for the Holy Roman Emperor colt but also a son of Air Chief Marshal (Ire) (lot 506), which brought a bid of €90,000 from Sylvain Vidal. A half-brother to two multiple winners, his dam Carmelixia ((Ire) (Linamix {Fr}) is a half-sister to the dam of treble Group 3 winner Success Days (Ire) (Jeremy). Coulonces ended the day as leading vendor of the third session with 13 yearlings sold for €529,000 at an average of €40.692.
From a larger selection of horses––176 offered compared to 154 in 2015––the 140 to sell reaped an aggregate of €3,770,000, which was up by 32%. The median of €20,000 remained static while the average improved by 11.5% to €26,929. The clearance rate was up by three points to 79.5%.
Chantilly trainer John Hammond lent his support to another first-season sire, the G1 Darley Prix Morny winner Dabirsim (Fr), who started his stud career at Gestut Karlshof but now stands in Normandy at Haras de Grandcamp. It took €72,000 to secure lot 483, the son of the G3 La Coupe winner Aubonne (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) whose first foal in the Listed-placed Soresca (Ire) (Elusive City {Ire}). The late April colt was consigned by Julie Mestrallet of Haras de l'Aumonerie and is one of 12 Dabirsim yearlings sold this week for an average price of €40,167.
Xavier Thomas-Demeaulte sprung to international recognition when taking juvenile Spain Burg (Fr) (Sageburg {Ire}) to Newmarket's Rowley Mile to beat Fair Eva (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G2 Shadwell Rockfel S. and subsequently selling her at Arqana's Arc Sale for €1.5 million. The trainer returned to buy another daughter of Sageburg, going to €65,000 for the most expensive filly of the session. That was lot 406, offered by Lady O'Reilly's Haras de la Louviere, a first foal of the Invincible Spirit (Ire) mare Scarlet Sonnet (Ire) from the family of G2 Ribblesdale S. winner Sahara Slew (Seattle Slew).
The final 84 yearlings catalogued for the October Sale will be sold today from 11am.
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