The Perfect Curtain-Up To The Yearling Season

The Arqana August Sale is something of a rarity in that it's an elite yearling auction disguised as a summer holiday.

Chic Parisiens on vacation saunter through the picturesque seaside town at a slightly more leisurely pace than the visiting bloodstock professionals, who, despite the serious nature of their business in Normandy in mid-August, still manage to find plenty of time to enjoy the ambience, usually through to the early hours.

However much fun it is for the buyers, sellers and onlookers, the team at the sales house needs its flagship event to be a success, and there's no doubt that it has continued to make that happen since the old Agence Francaise gave way to the newly formed Arqana back in July 2006. Turnover for the first sale under the new moniker was just above €30 million for 385 yearlings sold. In the last three years, a streamlined catalogue has placed the emphasis firmly on quality, and despite smaller numbers offered during that time, the aggregate has continued to climb. Last year's crop broke new ground with record turnover (€42,881,000 for 265 sold), average (€163,292) and median (€95,000), while the top price of €2.6 million for the Ecurie des Monceaux-consigned Dubawi (Ire) colt out of Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) was also a new benchmark.

However hard that will be to beat, Arqana's President Eric Hoyeau feels that his team has once again pulled out all the stops in assembling a mouth-watering catalogue for the 2016 sale.

He says, “We are very confident in the yearlings we have to offer. It's an early sale so we need mature yearlings and we feel that the quality has really improved in the last five years. Of course you can never predict the results but we are very happy going into the sale.”

This year the sale starts a day later than usual, on the Sunday evening (Aug. 14) after the Prix Jacques le Marois meeting at Deauville La Touques racecourse, handily positioned just a short stroll from the Elie de Brignac sales complex.

“The idea is to keep to the same number during the two evening sessions. We have found that it is the perfect format,” explains Hoyeau. “For Part 2 of the catalogue we decided the reduce the number offered a few years ago to strengthen the sale and that has worked really well.”

Part 2 of the August Sale takes place throughout Tuesday afternoon and evening and is followed the next day by the v.2 Sale, which is now in its fourth year and offers yearlings in the less rarefied air than that of the August Sale.

“The purpose of this sale is to offer a sales place for yearlings with a precocious pedigree but perhaps slightly less fashionable. They are more mature and they don't have to wait for October,” offers Hoyeau.

As darkness starts to settle over Deauville during the first two elite evening sessions, there's little doubt that the action in the ring will continue to burn brightly as a flurry of well-related individuals approach hammer time.

The catalogue represents a who's who of the European stallion ranks, as well as an interesting array of yearlings by desirable American sires, such as the versatile Kitten's Joy, Scat Daddy, Smart Strike, More Than Ready and Broken Vow.

Interest will be intense from the off, and only the second lot into the ring happens to be a Nathaniel (GB) half-brother to this year's G1 Lockinge S. winner and former top juvenile Belardo (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), offered by his breeder Ballylinch Stud.

“He's very reminiscent of Belardo, perhaps even stronger than he was as a yearling,” says Ballylinch Stud's bilingual frontman John O'Connor.

“Nathaniel has made a really promising start with his first runners and I think they'll continue to improve as the year goes on. I wouldn't be surprised to see him right up there in the first-season sires' list by the end of the year.”

Ballylinch has been a long-time supporter of the August Sale, with highlights including the €1 million sale of Thahab (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) to Al Shaqab Racing in 2013, while the Group 3-winning half-siblings Fox Hunt (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and Anam Alta (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) are also both graduates of the sale.

This time around, Ballylinch offers Anam Alta's full-brother (lot 41), who, as a great grandson of the Group-winning sprinter Ingabelle (GB) (Taufan), represents one of the farm's founding families. Another from a different branch of the same family is lot 33, the three-quarter sister to G1 Shadwell Fillies' Mile and G1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Chriselliam (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}).

“It's a sale we put an awful lot of thought and effort into,” continues O'Connor. “You need a pretty mature horse to go to such an early sale, and especially to cope with travelling to France. The horses also require strong international pedigrees to suit the market and not to be disadvantaged by such an early prep.”

He adds, “I know the Arqana team pretty well now and we tend to agree on which horses will work best there. It looks to me as if the standard of the catalogue is higher than ever this year and I'm very happy with the six horses we're taking. It's a good, even draft.”

Just some of the highlights throughout the sale on paper include Haras du Buff's Oasis Dream (GB) filly out of the 1,000 Guineas winner Virginia Waters (lot 142); a Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister to Havana Gold (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), who is offered as lot 34 through Coulonces Consignment, which also offers the full-brother to this season's dual French Classic victrix La Cressonniere (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) (lot 154) on behalf of Haras de la Cauviniere.

Ireland's Horse Park Stud is the consignor of lot 22, a brother to young Darley stallion Slade Power (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}), while the brother of Haras de Montaigu's new sire Prince Gibraltar (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) is offered by the same stud as lot 95, the first yearling into the ring on Monday evening.

For the past four years, Ecurie des Monceaux has been the leading vendor at the August Sale and we shall be looking at their draft in detail in a future edition. However, it would be remiss not to mention here an obvious stand-out in the brother to treble Group 1 winner Charm Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 44), as well as the sole Dubawi (Ire) of the sale (lot 25), a half-sister to G1 Falmouth S. winner Giofra (Fr) (Dansili {GB}).

For just two years, European breeders benefited from the presence of Australian champion sire Redoute's Choice at Haras de Bonneval. His first French crop from that sojourn proved popular at Arqana last year, with 10 sold at an average price of €366,500. Among the 11 on offer in August is lot 10, a half-brother to this season's Group 3 Prix de Royaumont winner The Juliet Rose.

This year offers the final chance to buy a yearling by the late Coolmore sire High Chaparral (Ire), who has six catalogued to sell in Normandy, including lot 51, Haras de la Louviere's colt out of Lawless Lady (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), a winning sister to Lawman.

While Monceaux has become accustomed to ruling the roost in Deauville, one British-based farm which has consistently fared well overseas is Newsells Park Stud, which has consigned the Group/Grade 1 winners Masked Marvel (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Gitano Hernando (GB) (Hernando {Fr}) from Arqana in the past.

“It's a sale that's been good to us over the years, both in the prices that we've made and the good horses to have come out of the sale,” admits Newsells Park's General Manager Julian Dollar.

“We've produced loads of stakes winners from Arqana. People may question why we sell what we do but we are a commercial operation and we pretty much offer everything we have. Sometimes it's a bit hard to part with lovely fillies but from the buyers' point of view, at least they know everything is on offer.”

All bar two of Newsells Park Stud's 37 individual Group or stakes winners over the last five years have gone through a sales ring, including the G2 Prix de Malleret winner Yellow And Green (GB) (Monsun {Ger}), whose Invincible Spirit half-brother features as lot 27 in this year's August catalogue.

Dollar adds, “This is a sale that [Newsells Park's owner] the Jacobs family has always been keen to patronise. We did perhaps back off a little a few years ago but this year we are lucky to have a very strong crop of yearlings at the farm and we're taking a couple of Book 1 horses to France instead. We look to take horses who perhaps have a French twist and also they need to be a more mature type to stand out in that sale.”

One colt which has both these bases covered is lot 53, by the late Scat Daddy––the provider of two juvenile Group winners at Royal Ascot this year––out of the American-bred Grade 3-placed Long Face (Whywhywhy) who hails from a strong Wildenstein family which includes the Group 1-winning brothers Loup Solitaire and Loup Sauvage.

“It's a lovely family with a French accent to it and he looks a real early-maturing 2-year-old,” says Dollar.

Two of the rising stars of the French stallion ranks, Siyouni (Fr) and Le Havre (Ire) feature prominently at Arqana, with 15 and 13 yearlings apiece, while Haras d'Etreham's up-and-coming Wootton Bassett (GB), sire of Prix du Jockey Club winner Almanzor (Fr), has five to be offered.

Kitten's Joy has enjoyed a major European breakthrough this year as sire of the G1 Coral-Eclipse winner Hawkbill, and Voute Sales will offer two (lots 12 and 130) on behalf of Ramsey Farm, the first being a brother to the Grade 3-placed Fear The Kitten while Monday's offering is the first foal of the winner Sweet Harp (Aragorn).

Among the 16 freshman sires represented in the catalogue, Camelot and Intello head the list with 19 yearlings apiece. The latter spent his first two years at stud in Newmarket and has now returned to France to stand at Haras du Quesnay. Among his first yearlings offered are lot 93, daughter of Platonic (GB) (Zafonic), whose previous August offerings––by Frankel, Dansili and Galileo––have sold for €1.15 million, €500,000 and €280,000 respectively.

Last year, buyers from Australia, South Africa, America and China joined the regular big European names and, once again, Arqana is looking forward to hosting buyers from all over the world in Deauville.

“We always try to promote our sale all through the year. We've recently been to Australia and Japan and Freddy Powell is off to Saratoga. We have confidence in our agents all over the world and we try to have a presence at the major events to try to encourage buyers to come to this sale,” says Eric Hoyeau.

“In the last few years the quality has improved and in turn that has improved confidence in the sale. We've only existed for 10 years but the Arqana name is now well known internationally.”