For the last four years, the name dominating the leader board at Arqana's August Sale has been Ecurie des Monceaux. Even a cursory glance at the 2016 catalogue will tell you that's unlikely to change this week.
What sets the Monceaux consignment apart from some is the fact that every horse presented for sale has been raised at the 290-hectare farm just outside Lisieux. That continuity is reflected in the consistency of the draft and is the result of an ambitious project launched 13 years ago by the farm's owner Lucien Urano and his highly respected manager Henri Bozo.
“This farm was started with the idea to put together a really international broodmare band, so there was huge investment in buying some good mares and sending them to the top stallions. What is important for us is to be able to produce a good draft every year – it's not about holding records or things like that – but what is important is that we make our budget and manage to reinvest every year,” says Bozo.
The TDN visit is made just nine days in advance of the 34 yearlings making the 30-minute journey along Normandy country lanes to undertake their first major public test. In Deauville, they will be asked to stand and parade, again and again, as the eyes of some of the world's leading buyers scrutinise their conformation, athleticism and temperament.
It's a different story seeing them in their familiar home environment but watching a group of fillies being walked in hand around the vast indoor school which endures from the farm's days of housing show jumpers, it's impossible to fault the demeanour of youngsters for whom, just two months ago, life was merely the freedom of one rolling green paddock after another.
That freedom is not entirely curtailed during their sales preparation, as Bozo explains. “To me, turning the yearlings out every day is an important part of the prep – it's as important as the daily exercise and good for their minds as well as for developing bone and muscle. We put our colts in individual small paddocks, and the fillies are turned out in groups of four.”
The exquisite Haras des Monceaux is closing in on its centenary. Developed originally by American ex-pat Ralph Beaver Strassburger in the 1920s, the farm ceased to exist as a thoroughbred breeding operation in the last few decades of the 20th century despite Strassburger's widow and son carrying on his great passion for some years after his death in 1959.
It was not until 2003 that it began to be restored to its former glory when Urano – initially an owner-breeder of trotters – purchased the farm to expand his thoroughbred interests. And what a glorious property it is. Beautifully manicured lawns and paddocks give way to half-timbered barns in the traditional Norman style, which manage to be both grand and rustic at the same time. Most importantly, it is a haven of calm, even as one group of yearlings is being brought in from exercise and the next lot walked out to start their routine.
At the epicentre of this quiet activity is Bozo, for whom the workings of a stud farm are second nature after spending his childhood growing up at Haras de Mezeray, which was managed by his father, Antoine. The familiarity has not given way to complacency, and not even the light Normandy rain can dampen his enthusiasm for the stud which he, his wife and three young sons have come to call home.
“After 13 years, I have a feeling now that the farm is running now at full steam,” he says. “We've recently added 40 hectares through the purchase of a local cattle farm. Most of the work has been done and we have some lovely mares who are producing good horses. It's great now to see the results on the track.”
The farm's structure may be complete, but its livestock is constantly being assessed and upgraded. He adds, “It's nice to go to the mare sales with French partners or foreign partners and to try to improve the quality of the mares. It's good to have the input of others as long as the one thing we all agree upon is to continue to try to produce quality and to be happy to sell.”
Plenty of powerful partnerships have been developed in recent times, with the likes of Coolmore buying yearlings in tandem with the China Horse Club, or Qatar Bloodstock sharing racing and breeding stock with Newsells Park Stud. This was a tactic deployed by Urano and Bozo from the outset and which means that 55 of the 80 broodmares on the property are owned by Monceaux in partnership with a variety of breeders, including Andreas Putsch, Trevor and Libby Harris of Lordship Stud, Stephen Hillen, Newsells Park Stud and Joseph Allen.
“Our historical partner is of course Lady O'Reilly, and we've had a lot of success working with Patricia Boutin,” Bozo explains.
“There's a growing, dynamic generation of young breeders and trainers in France and hopefully things are starting to change a bit to increase the appeal of racing to the French public. I'm keen to try to work with French investors and there's currently a team of young partners willing to invest in the farm.”
All young stock bar the offspring of two mares owned by Joseph Allen at the farm will be offered for sale as yearlings and, with the exception of one Monceaux-owned yearling which is being consigned by Baroda & Colbinstown Studs at the Goffs UK Premier Sale, all are sold at Arqana.
“I thought about selling outside France but it seemed to me that this was the best approach. We are a French farm and it makes sense for us to sell in France.”
Such a concentrated focus on three days in August may lead to some tense moments at Monceaux but it's not apparent during the daily routine, even with a vet on the premises scoping sales yearlings' larynxes as our interview progresses.
Bozo admits, “I don't get as nervous as I used to. At this stage the job has been done and the staff are well trained. Now I'm just looking forward to being on the sales ground. I'm hopeful that the really good results that the Arqana graduates have had on the track will bring more and more people to the sale. Arqana has done a great job and been very pro-active and ambitious in the right way. There have been a lot of new young operations who have also helped to bring in new buyers and owners.”
Arqana as a whole has indeed had a good year on the racecourse, with Group 1 winners Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) and Signs Of Blessing (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) all being graduates of its August Sale. In recent years, Monceaux itself has been responsible for a number of Group-winning graduates of the sale, including G1 Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and the half-brothers Ectot (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) and Most Improved (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}).
While Ectot and Most Improved's dam Tonnara (Ire), a snow-white daughter of Linamix (Fr), has no yearling to be sold this year, Chicquita's dam and grandam Prudenzia (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and Platonic (GB) (Zafonic), once again threaten to take starring roles in Deauville with fillies by Galileo (Ire) (lot 97) and his son Intello (Ger) (lot 93) on offer respectively.
“Do you have time for me to show you Prudenzia?” enquires Bozo, as if such a suggestion would ever be turned down. In out of the rain with her sizeable Galileo filly foal, the Classic producer calmly accepts visitors to her stable in the same laidback manner as her mother, on a neighbouring part of the property, who is safely ensconced with her daughter from the first crop of Kingman (GB).
“Platonic is particularly special to me as she was really the foundation mare for the farm and she has been so good to us,” says Bozo of the grand-daughter of the Fittocks Stud matriarch Souk (Ire) who was acquired for 100,000gns in 2004.
Another Group 1 winner bred at the farm is the young stallion Charm Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) who was himself a graduate of Arqana's October Sale but whose full-brother (lot 44) has unsurprisingly been upgraded to the more rarefied atmosphere of the August auction.
Ecuries des Monceaux will offer the only Dubawi yearling of the sale, a half-sister to the G1 Falmouth S. winner Giofra (GB) (Dansili {GB}) who is likely to provide some early drama when passing through the ring as lot 25. Furthermore, five of the nine Frankel yearlings to be consigned in France can be found in the same draft, including a half-sister to the €1.2 million sale-topper of two years ago, Fadillah (GB) (Monsun {Ger}), and to Group 1 winner Seismos (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) from the strong German Classic-producing family of Sacarina (GB) (Old Vic {GB}) (lot 113).
Also among the Frankels is lot 57, a grey colt out of the Unbridled's Song mare Manerbe, whose daughter Marbre Rose (Smart Strike {Can}) was raced by Ecurie des Monceaux in partnership with Andreas Putsch after failing to reach her reserve at the yearling sales. Sent into training with Christophe Clement, her four wins included the GIII Seaway S. at Woodbine and she was among the first book of mares to visit Triple Crown hero American Pharoah at Ashford Stud, signalling a potentially exciting addition to the Monceaux draft at Arqana in 2018.
Only two yearlings by Scat Daddy are set to be sold in Deauville and they include a colt from Monceaux (lot 65) bought in utero at Keeneland in 2014 when his dam Miss Plimsoll (Arch) was sold for $190,000.
“It's a family I love,” explains Bozo. “She reminded me of my young days at Haras de Mezeray. It's the family of Pomme Rose – one of the foundation families of Mezeray.”
He continues, “Scat Daddy has done so well and he's a huge loss. He's a stallion that so many European breeders would have loved using as he was easy to cross with European mares and he has produced lots of fast, precocious types.”
Now safely on the sales grounds at Arqana, the team of yearlings has undergone a number of shows to agents prior to leaving home, yet another vital part of their preparation for the main event.
“We do five to six shows per week. It's nice to be able to talk to people when you are less stressed than at the sales. They can see the farm – it's important for them to see where the horses have been bred. It's good practice for the yearlings too,” says the manager.
“Of course there is a bit of pressure when you are this close to the sale but now I am just looking forward to it – the hard work is done and the horses are ready.”
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