By Emma Berry
DEAUVILLE, France–Three years ago, Mondialiste (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was sold from the draft of Wertheimer at Frere at Arqana's Summer Sale for €190,000 before going on to win GI Woodbine Mile and GI Arlington Million in the two subsequent seasons. The team behind the stallion, who remains in training with David O'Meara at the age of seven, returned to Deauville in the hope of finding a horse to emulate his globetrotting success and plumped for Lord Glitters (Fr), a 4-year-old son of Whipper (Ire). The four-time winner, who was runner-up in last year's Listed Grand Prix du Lion d'Angers, was sold through the consignment of trainer Christophe Lotoux for €270,000 as lot 357.
“He's been bought for Geoff Turnbull of Elwick Stud,” confirmed O'Meara after his assistant Jason Kelly had signed the docket. “We'll get him home and see how we go but we hope he'd be able to be campaigned internationally in the future.
While Lord Glitters topped the horses-in-training section of the Thursday's session, he fell just shy of the top price for the whole sale. That honour went to lot 199, the 10-year-old Tiger Hill (Ire) mare Sailor Moon (Ire), who was sold through Patrick Chedeville's Haras du Petit Tellier for €280,000.
A winner at two and dam of the Listed-winning duo of Straight Right (Fr) (Siyouni {Ire}) and Stone Roses (Fr) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) among her three winners, Sailor Moon was sold in foal to Olympic Glory (Ire) to Ghislian Bozo of Meridian International and will now move across Normandy to Ecurie des Monceaux, which is run by the agent's brother, Henri Bozo. The mare also has a yearling filly and colt foal on the ground by Dabirism (Ger), who is currently leading the European first-season sires' table with eight individual winners from only 14 runners, including G2 Albany S. heroine Different League (Fr).
“She is for Ecurie des Monceaux and some partners,” explained Henri Bozo. “I am very fond of this family which has been developed by Haras de la Louvière. It's a good-looking family and very active. We normally try to buy slightly younger mares but she has a rare profile as a stakes producer and the upside is that Straight Right could win a Group race this year. She will go back to Siyouni next year.”
A bigger catalogue this year brought record turnover for the Summer Sale, with 258 of the 342 lots selling for a total of €7,197,100, which was up by 1% on last year. Overall the median improved from €13,000 to €16,000, but the average for the sale dropped by 11% to €27,896. The figures for the second day in isolation saw declines in all areas, with an aggregate of €4,653,000 (-10%), average of €26,981 (-24%) and median of €9,500 for 156 horses–26 more than in the same session in 2016.
As ever, British and Irish trainers and agents on the lookout for National Hunt prospects played a major role. Mags O'Toole, who was working the sale with Gordon Elliott and Eddie O'Leary, went to €230,000 for lot 400, the AQPS gelding Dortmund Park (Fr) (Great Pretender {Ire}). The 4-year-old is unbeaten in his only two starts on the flat to date for trainer Fabrice Foucher.
The novice hurdler Dieg Man (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) will race on in the colours of leading Irish jumps owner JP McManus after being bought for €200,000 by Hubert Barbe of Horse Racing Advisory, who signed for four horses for a total of €414,000 to end the sale as leading buyer.
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