By Emma Berry
The Classic roadshow rolls on to France this weekend where, for the second year running, Deauville will play host to both French Guineas and the G1 Prix Saint-Alary as the finishing touches are being made to Longchamp's major redevelopment.
In another departure from the norm, the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches will be run on Saturday with the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains being staged 24 hours later rather than on the same card. This means that Arqana's Breeze-up Sale has been brought forward to Friday, when around 130 2-year-olds will go through the ring during the afternoon.
Whether or not this particular sale will return to its former Parisian home of Saint-Cloud when the Guineas return to the French capital next year is still a matter of debate, but it appears that the Arqana team and many of the consignors are keen to remain at the sales company's rightful home in Normandy.
However geographically close it remains to France's first two Classics, the sale is intrinsically linked through its results, with both Lucayan (Fr) (Turtle Bowl {Ire}) and The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) having graduated from the breeze-up before going on to win the Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Prix du Jockey Club, respectively.
The sale's reputation as a source of a more progressive type of horse, rather than a whizz-bang 2-year-old, has been enhanced this season by the performances of some of the more expensive graduates of last year's sale.
The €800,000 top lot, Middle East (GB) (Frankel {GB}), only made her debut in March and went on to win second time out at Maisons-Laffitte on Apr. 10. It has been a similar story for Eyes On Asha (Ire) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}), Bless Him (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Pamplemousse (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), the next three on the 2016 price list, each of whom lost their maiden status in March or April this year. Pamplemousse, who also won Sunday's Listed Prix du Pont-Neuf for Andre Fabre and Lady Bamford, holds an entry for the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot.
Another name on the stakes-winners' board at Chantilly on Sunday was the Shadwell homebred Musawaah, the first black-type scorer in Europe for Union Rags. The Lane's End resident has one representative at Arqana (lot 54), a grand-daughter of G1 1000 Guineas heroine Sleepytime (Royal Academy) out of the three-time Group 1 winner's unraced daughter Secret Dream (Ire) (Zafonic).
Another filly with close links to a 1000 Guineas winner will be offered 10 lots later though Roderick Kavanagh's Glending Farm, which enjoyed a successful debut at last week's Tattersalls Guineas Sale when selling a Dawn Approach (Ire) colt for 170,000gns. Lot 64 is by More Than Ready out of a sister to Speciosa (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the first British Classic winner to be offered at a breeze-up sale who sold for £30,000 to her trainer Pam Sly at Doncaster in 2005.
Mocklershill was responsible for Speciosa's breeze-up preparation and is still going strong some 12 years later. At Arqana, Willie Browne's draft consists of 15 breezers, including lot 79, one of two first-crop members of Havana Gold (GB) in the sale. The Tweenhills stallion has already sired three winners this season and could have a Royal Ascot runner in Havana Grey (GB), the impressive five-length winner of an Ayr maiden on Monday who is being primed for the G2 Coventry S. by trainer Karl Burke.
Lot 81, named Siena Firenze (GB), is also by a first-season sire, Cityscape (GB), and is a half-brother to last season's G1 St Leger winner Harbour Law (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}). Like the Union Rags colt, he is being consigned to the sale by Larissa Kneip's Haras de Saint Arnoult, which was among the leading vendors last year when selling Soldier Blue (GB) (Sepoy {Aus}) to Godolphin for €300,000.
The offspring of Galileo continued to remind the racing world of the supremacy of their sire during a highly successful last weekend in Britain and Ireland, and only one of his sons features at Arqana. Needless to say, lot 91 is a well-related colt, and is the first foal of Better Not Cry, a once-raced daughter of Street Cry (Ire) and Better Than Honour.
Haras de Bouquetot's Style Vendome (Fr) is another freshman to have made a positive start and currently sits atop the European first-season sires' table with two winners from six runners. He has three juveniles in the sale but blink and you could miss two-thirds of his representatives as two colts, both out of listed-placed mares, will be sold as lots 2 and 4 shortly after the sale starts at 2 p.m.
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