By Emma Berry
NEWMARKET, UK–The Arqana Breeding Stock Sale may not start until Saturday but there is plenty of French-flavoured fare to be served up at the Tattersalls December Mares' Sale this week in Newmarket.
The partial dispersal from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Thani's select band of broodmares based at Haras des Cruchettes in Normandy provides an obvious point of interest, with two young Group 1 winners among the eight mares to be sold through the Newsells Park Stud draft.
“The connection was natural because Newsells has been boarding all our mares for the breeding season since the start of Al Shahania and we always have eight or ten mares in the UK every year. It was obvious to go with them as they have been doing such a good job for us for such a long time,” said Bertrand Le Metayer, racing manager to Al Shahania Stud.
Blond Me (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}), a star on the track for Barbara Keller and Andrew Balding with her six victories including the GI EP Taylor S. and G2 Middleton S., is offered as lot 1837 and is carrying a foal by leading French sire Siyouni (Fr). Out of the winning Docksider mare Holda (Ire), the 9-year-old hails from a family with its recent roots in Lord Weinstock's Ballymacoll Stud and includes the European champion 3-year-old Conduit (Ire) and Irish 2000 Guineas winner Spectrum (Ire).
“Blond Me's first foal is a nice, scopey 2-year-old by Dubawi (Ire) with Francis Graffard,” said Le Metayer. “We purchased the mare privately before she won the EP Taylor and then she returned to the farm as a broodmare. Her yearling filly is also by Dubawi and will be trained in France. That Weinstock family is awesome and she is a scopey mare who performed extremely well over 10 furlongs, which is exactly what you want if you are looking to breed a Classic winner, and with her pedigree she is very easy to mate.”
Immediately preceding Blond Me in the Newsells Park Stud draft is Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast), an outstanding filly in her racing days when winning the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches for her owner/breeder. Now 11, Flotilla (lot 1836) is in foal to Sea The Moon (Ger), who enjoyed yet more decent results at last week's foal sale, with 14 weanlings sold for an average in excess of 50,000gns.
Le Metayer continued, “Flotilla is a very imposing mare. We have an exciting Dubawi filly in training with Francis Graffard called Safaria. He has been raving about her so let's hope he's right. And we also have her mother, Louvain. That family has been very kind to Sheikh Mohammed as we also had Big Five, a brother to Flotilla, and we have another Frankel out of Louvain. Flotilla also a very nice American Pharaoh foal and yearling.”
There has been plenty happening in Flotilla's family in recent seasons, with Crossfirehurricane (Kitten's Joy), out of her half-sister Louvakhova (Maria's Mon), having won last season's G3 Gallinule S., while Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}), out of another half-sister, has provided a Group 3-winning update since the publication of the catalogue.
“It's a family which has loads of speed and has been very active,” added Le Metayer.
Breeders looking for a young daughter of Galileo (Ire) to add to their broodmare band will doubtless inspect 4-year-old Listentome (Ire), who is in foal for the first time to Al Kazeem (GB), whose sire Dubawi has crossed so well with Galileo mares. Furthermore, Listentome (lot 1495) is out of the Group 2-winning Monsun (Ger) mare Longina (Ger), from the family of multiple Group 1 and Japan Cup winner Lando (Ger).
“We sold Listentome's yearling half-sister through Newsells for 800,000gns to Juddmonte at Book 1,” said Le Metayer. “The big farms have an appetite for this family and she's a winning daughter of Galileo from a top German family. The reason we have used Al Kazeem is that we stayed on board as partners even with his low fertility and we have always had great luck with him. The first mare we sent to him bred us Aspetar (Fr), so we have bred a Group 1 winner by him. Oakgrove Stud have done a very good job with him and we are very fond of the horse.”
He added, “We have been quite careful over the years to have some outcrosses in the broodmare band. Sheikh Mohammed is the world's leading owner of Arabian horses and with his success in that field he has had incredible success with homebreds. With the lines we are using with Thoroughbreds and Arabians he has always tried as much as possible to use outcrosses.”
Galileo's fine record as a sire and broodmare sire needs little recounting here but one of his young sons who has been making quite an impression in France in recent seasons is Galiway (GB), the sire of G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Champion S. winner Sealiway (Fr). Only one mare in the catalogue is in foal to him and her eventual offspring will be bred on the same cross as Sealiway as Queenhope (Fr) (lot 1814) is a daughter of Kendargent (Fr), whose is also emerging as a broodmare sire with promise.
Galiway will have had more opportunity than most stallions to cover daughters of Kendargent as both sires stand at Haras de Colleville and their owner Guy Pariente, breeder of both Sealiway and Queenhope, has no shortage of Kendargent mares. Even so, it is encouraging at this early stage in Galiway's career that four of his eight stakes winners are bred on that cross.
“Her female line is very strong as it goes back to Flame Of Tara,” said Patrick Barbe, who bought the dual winner Queenhope as a yearling at Arqana. The 4-year-old mare's full-sister, the Group 3 winner Kenhope (Fr), is already proving her worth as a broodmare in Japan, where she is represented by the G2 Hochi Hai Revue winner Pourville (Jpn) (Le Havre {Ire}) and Grade 2-placed Super Hope (Jpn) (Quizzing {Jpn}).
Barbe added “I think Queenhope would have gone to Galiway anyway but Sealiway winning the Champion Stakes has confirmed that it is a super cross. There are only two Kendargent mares in the sale and he is really making it as a broodmare sire even though he is still quite young.”
Queenhope features as one of ten well-credentialed young mares to be consigned by European Sales Management, which routinely offers a select group of broodmare prospects with broad international appeal at the December Mares' Sale. This year that team includes the Group 2 winner Plainchant (Fr) (Gregorian {Ire}) (lot 1818) and Russian Camilla (Ire) (Camelot {Ire}), a winning sister to the dual Australian Group 1 winner and young sire Russian Camelot (Ire) who is in foal for the first time to the Arc winner Sottsass (Fr). She sells immediately after Queenhope as lot 1815.
Haras la Cour Blanche, a first-time consignor at Tattersalls, makes quite an entrance at the Newmarket venue with a Group 1-winning filly in its draft of two. The 3-year-old Tiger Tanaka (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}) has won six races, headed by her Group 1 strike in the Prix Marcel Boussac last year on Arc weekend, providing a memorable first win at the highest level for her jockey Jessica Marcialis. Offered on behalf of Miguel Castro Megias, Tiger Tanaka is catalogued on Tuesday as lot 1822.
A strong draft from Haras d'Etreham, which includes mares in foal to the stud's young stallions Persian King (Ire) and Hello Youmzain (Fr), also features the 8-year-old Mondelice (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}). The unraced grand-daughter of champion 2-year-old Damson (Ire) (Entrepreneur {GB}) is already a Group 2 producer but that could be upgraded as early as Dec. 12 when her son Dubai Honour (Ire) (Pride Of Dubai {Aus}) lines up for the G1 Hong Kong Cup in a bid to go one better than his runner-up finish to Sealiway in the Champion S.
Mondelice (lot 1756) is in foal to New Bay (GB), who was represented by his first Group 1 winner this season in Saffron Beach (Ire).
Selling begins each morning at 9.30 from Monday to Thursday for the final sale of the year at Park Paddocks.
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