Strong Start To Arqana August

DEAUVILLE, France–The vibes were positive ahead of the opening session of the Arqana August Yearling Sale in Deauville on Saturday evening-the first sale of its sector for the year in Europe–and the feel-good factor continued through to the first-day results, which improved in every sector despite the fact that fewer horses were offered and sold. A small rise in the clearance rate to 71.8% also lifted the aggregate slightly to €14,430,000 from the 51 horses to change hands, compared to 58 last year. There was a marked rise in both average and median, with the former being up by 23% at €282,941 and the latter jumping to €230,000 from €170,000 (+35%).

Phoenix Thoroughbreds spent €1.55 million on the top lot at this sale two years ago, and while the pricetag wasn't quite as dear on Saturday, Phoenix once again walked away with the session topper when splashing out €800,000 for Haras d'Etreham's Galileo colt out of multiple Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Steip Amach (Ire) (Vocalised) (lot 23).

Bred in partnership by Etreham, the bay is the first foal out of Steip Amach (Ire) (Vocalised), who was bred and raced by Jim Bolger and who is herself a half-sister to multiple American stakes winner Ceisteach (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}). It is also the same family as a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly bought by Shawn Dugan for €240,000 earlier in the session.

“He's a Galileo. People don't want to hear this but we're quite proud to get him for €800,000,” said Phoenix Thoroughbreds' Tom Ludt. “He's a beautiful colt and we'd love to have a great Galileo colt. To be honest with you we thought he'd cost more so we're very delighted.”

Ludt said the bay would likely follow the path of previous Deauville purchases, but that the team likes to keep plans fluid.

“When we buy yearlings in Europe we tend to send them over to England,” he said. “We really don't commit to a trainer at this point; we like to take our time finding trainers so to make a decision on that is way too premature, but we're hoping we bought a good one.”

Phoenix bought three total on the night, also taking home lot 51 from Etreham–a full-sister to Saturday's G3 Unibet Geoffrey Freer S. winner Technician (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})–for €240,000, and lot 66, a daughter of Zoffany (Ire) who is a half-sister to the Fastnet Rock (Aus) stakes winners Smuggler's Cove (Ire) and Casterton (Ire), for €220,000 from Capucines.

Sheikh Mohammed's Presence Felt

Godolphin principal Sheikh Mohammed arrived in Deauville on Friday to join his inspection team of Anthony Stroud and David Loder, and he ended Saturday at the top of the buyers' table with three yearlings acquired for a total of €1,430,000.

At the head of that trio was lot 68, the second-top lot of the session, a colt by Galileo (Ire) out of Haras de la Perelle's dual Group 2 winner Cladocera (Ger) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Stroud was sitting with Loder and Charlie Appleby, whose stable had earlier in the day been represented by the G2 Hungerford S. victory of former Tattersalls October Book 1 topper Glorious Journey (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) at Newbury, and he was pushed to €750,000 for the Irish-born son of the champion sire.

Stroud said, “He's a lovely yearling, very athletic. He has a wonderful sire and is from a very good family.”

Cladocera's first foal by Dubawi (Ire) found favour at this sale last year when selling to Morten Buskop for €520,000 and she is now named Nascetta (Ire).

Early in the session Stroud had signed for lot 8, the Siyouni (Fr) first foal of the listed-placed Siamsaiocht (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}), a sister to Jim Bolger's G1 Dewhurst S. winner Parish Hall (Ire). The filly was another from the all-powerful Monceaux draft and was bred by China Horse Club, who purchased her dam as a 3-year-old for €300,000.

Another Star In the Making?

He may have had to settle for only a share of the limelight rather than top billing but the half-brother to multiple Grade I winner Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) and this season's G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) was nevertheless one of the leading lights of the opening session of the August Sale when selling for €700,000.

Unlike the remainder of his family, the colt by Fastnet Rock (Aus) bred by Ecurie des Monceaux from the celebrated Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) will not be racing in the colours of Peter Brant but will instead eventually take to the track in the Qatar Racing silks after David Redvers kept onlookers guessing by bidding from the Arqana restaurant.

As he signed for lot 21, Redvers said, “He's out of probably one of the most exciting young mares and represents one of the most exciting crosses. He's the most gorgeous horse and has a really good temperament—he was walking around there like he owned the place.”

It is indeed a cross which has worked well, with Group 1 winners Unforgotten (Aus), Zhukova (Ire), Age Of Fire (Aus), Rivet (Ire), Intricately (Ire), Magicool (Aus) and Qualify (Ire) all representing the blend of Fastnet Rock on Galileo.

Redvers continued, “I was on the phone to Sheikh Fahad in California, where he is watching proceedings, and I'm thrilled to get a horse like this. He is the type of horse he is now looking for. We're breeding a lot of our own but we want to fill in the gaps and find these kinds of horses. He's a world-class horse at a world-class sale. I haven't had a chance to discuss plans with Sheikh Fahad yet, but one thing is for sure, he will go to a trainer who deserves him.”

Whomever ends up with that honour, the colt will have high expectations placed on him from the start as his three eldest siblings are all group winners, the trio being completed by G3 Prix Bertrand de Tarragon winner My Sister Nat (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}).

While Peter Brant might have been expected to buy the Fastnet Rock colt from the family he knows so well, his White Birch Farm wasn't absent from the list of buyers as he stepped in a short while later for lot 29. Buying through agent Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock, Brant bid €500,000 for the Le Havre (Ire) half-sister to the dual Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Lesstalk In Paris (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) offered by his breeder Lady O'Reilly through her Haras de la Louviere.

“She's a filly that we like a lot and she's going to stay in France to go into training with Jean-Claude Rouget,” said Zerolo of the filly out of Top Toss (Ire) (Linamix {Fr}) who, like her elder daughter, won the G3 Prix d'Aumale.

Kingman's Million In Minutes

Within the space of minutes, Alastair Donald had spent €1- million on two yearlings by Kingman, outbidding Anthony Stroud for lot 19 from La Motteraye Consignment at €600,000.

Bred by Al Shaqab from the Group 3-placed Galileo (Ire) mare Spin (Ire), the colt is a full-brother to 3-year-old filly Bowled Over (Ire), who has kept a clean sheet in two starts for Francis Graffard.

“Kingman is setting the world alight at the moment and this colt was my pick of the first two days [of the sale]. His full-sister looks good, too,” explained the agent, who added that the colt's similarity to Fox Chairman (Ire) was another deciding factor in his purchase for the same owner, King Power Racing. A listed winner last month and runner-up in the G3 Hampton Court S. at Royal Ascot, Fox Chairman is bred on the same Kingman-Galileo cross.

Three lots earlier (16) Donald had bid €400,000 for the Kingman half-sister to G3 Prix Sigy winner Fas (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) from the Monceaux draft and bred by Zalim Bifov.

He added of the May foal, “She was very well balanced for a late foal and she is also for King Power Racing. I hoped I'd get one of them but I'm delighted to get them both as they were the only two on my list for today.”

Early Double For Dugan

Shawn Dugan hit the ground running on Saturday evening, spending €940,000 on a pair of fillies within the first half-hour of the sale. First came Ecurie des Monceaux's Frankel (GB) filly out of Secrete (Ire) (Cape Cross {Ire}) (lot 4), a three-quarter sister to the G3 Prix Noailles-third Normandy Eagle (Fr) (New Approach {Ire}), for €700,000. Secrete is from the family of Monceaux's G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Plumania (Ire) (Anabaa) as well as the G1 Prix de Diane victress Left Hand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and this year's G3 Prix de Guiche victor Flop Shot (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}).

Dugan frequently buys for Al Shiraa Stables, but she said she was unable to disclose her client in this case. She did reveal, however, that the filly would remain in France.

“She's French-bred, so why would we take her anywhere else?” the agent reasoned. “She's stunning, absolutely stunning.

“We went a lot higher than we wanted to but she's just gorgeous. There's nothing wrong with her, the stallion is on fire, the family is alive. We're very happy.”

Dugan shelled out €240,000 three lots later for lot 7, a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly who is out of an unraced daughter of stakes winner Shamakiya (Ire) (Intikhab). Shamakiya is also the dam of G3 Prix Cleopatre winner Shamkala (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), and it is also the family of Grade/Group 1 winners like Shamdala (Ire), Shamdinan (Ire) and Shergar (Ire).

Dugan later added lot 54, Haras d'Ombreville's Olympic Glory (Ire) filly, to her haul for €400,000. The bay is a half-sister to Fleeting (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), who finished second in the G2 Ribblesdale S. at the same Royal Ascot meeting where Olympic Glory notched his first Group 1 winner in the G1 Coronation S. winner Watch Me (Fr).

Siyouni Filly Provides Fairway Milestone

Consignor Charles Briere's rapid rise through the ranks was punctuated earlier this summer by the victory of his pinhooking graduate Arizona (Ire) (No Nay Never) in Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry S., and the 32-year-old reached another milestone with his Fairway Consignment on Saturday when achieving his highest price ever in the ring. That came courtesy of a €650,000 Siyouni (Fr) filly bought by Jason Litt and Alex Solis on behalf of American owner LNJ Foxwoods.

Lot 49 is out of the listed-winning and Group 3-placed Apple Charlotte (Smart Strike), who has already produced the multiple graded-placed Lottie (Arch) and the three-time winner Dance Strike (Tapit).

The Siyouni filly was bred by American owner Jack Swain, who also bred the dam as well as last year's GI Ballerina S. winner Marley's Freedom (Blame), who appears under the second dam. Briere said this is the first horse he has sold for Swain, to whom he was introduced by Georges Rimaud of the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval, where Apple Charlotte boards.

“I got her in June, prepped her for two months and she was very straightforward in the prep,” Briere said. “I'm very happy with the price; I didn't think she'd make quite that much. I thought she'd make €350,000 to €400,000, but I wasn't expecting her to go that high.”

Briere noted that the mare has another Siyouni filly at foot and is in foal to Le Havre.

LNJ Foxwoods, the moniker for the father/mother/daughter team of Larry, Nanci and Jaime Roth, has enjoyed an excellent summer with its fillies Stateside, headed by the recent GI Test S. winner Covfefe (Into Mischief). They are also plenty familiar with the French scene, having bred and raced the G3 Prix Minerve winner Golden Valentine (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}) out of Gold Round (Ire) (Caerleon), who they bought at Arqana December for €520,000. Litt said a decision had not been made on whether the filly would race in the U.S. or France.

“She was a queen,” Litt summarized. “She's a beautiful filly and she showed great every time. Clearly a lot of people liked her so we're delighted to get her. We'll figure out now what the game plan is.”

Siyouni's other results on the night included a quickfire trio through the ring consecutively at the end of the session: lot 74, a colt bought by Tony Nerses from Coulonces sales for €260,000; a €250,000 filly (lot 76) sold by Haras de Saint Pair and bought by Oceanic Bloodstock on behalf of Peter Brant's White Birch Farm, and lot 77, a colt by Monceaux bought by Godolphin for €240,000. Siyouni stands at Haras de Bonneval for €100,000.

Another Frankel For Casse

Justin Casse admits that he's had a very productive relationship with Frankel (GB), having purchased the likes of stakes-placed Gidu (GB) and Old Glory (Ire) by the sire, and he will attempt to add to that growing list after purchasing a filly by the Juddmonte sire, lot 51, for €535,000 at Arqana on Saturday.

“Frankel has been really good to me; I've bought them in four different countries now and have had some stakes horses by him. She has residual value and she looked the part.”

Casse has a lot had a lot of luck at Arqana; he bought this year's GI Preakness S. winner War Of Will (War Front) at the auction house's May Breeze-Up Sale last year.

“If she does half as much as War of Will she'd be worth her weight in gold,” he said. “She stood over a lot of ground, she moved really well and had a lot of quality to her.”

Casse declined to name the filly's new owner, but said she will go his brother Mark Casse in the U.S. to be trained.

New Team In Play For HKJC

After the hammer fell at €400,000 for the Frankel (GB) colt out of G3 Prix Eclipse winner Souvenir Delondres (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), it was Mick Kinane and his daughter Aisling who signed the ticket on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Sold as lot 18 by Hubert Honore for breeder Chris Wright of Stratford Place Stud, the colt is the second foal of his dam, who was trained for Wright by Jonathan Pease. Her first foal Dancin Inthestreet (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}) is in training with William Haggas.

Kinane, who is buying for the Hong Kong Jockey Club with Crispin de Moubray, later signed for lot 25, Haras d'Etreham's colt by Muhaarar (GB), at €150,000. His unraced dam Suisesse (Malibu Moon) has already produced the treble stakes winner Sans Equivoque (Fr) (Stormy River {Fr}) among her three winners.