Arqana

A share in Zarak (lot 1) anchors the Arqana Online January Sale catalogue. The sale is set for Monday, January 19 from 3-5 p.m. local time. One of the best stallions in France, the son of Dubawi has sired 11% stakes winners per runners and 72% winners to runners from all his crops. Among his best progeny is the French 2000 Guineas winner Metropolitan, as well as fellow Group 1 winners Haya Zark and Zagrey. Zarak's yearlings sold for up to €1.1 million last term. Another highlight of the sale...

Potential stallion prospect Havana Cigar led the way on the fourth and final day of the December Breeding Stock Sale at Arqana, where three seven-figure lots were sold this year, headed by the €2.6 million Half Sovereign (Ten Sovereigns). It was bloodstock agent Ajay Anne who signed for Tuesday's top lot, Havana Cigar, for €50,000. The highly-rated son of Havana Grey is understood to be bound for Besnate Stud in Italy. The three seven-figure lots lit up the December breeding stock sale at Arqana where turnover fell by 13% to...

Sam Sangster's gathering of smart mares with which to launch the new National Stud stallion Diego Velazquez continued on the third day of the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville, where he bought the session-topper, Invaluable (Invincible Spirit), in foal to first-season sire Vandeek for €121,000 from the Fairway Consignment. The unraced Invaluable (lot 774), now nine, is a sister to the Listed winner Emmaus, while their dam Prima Luce (Galileo) won the G3 Athasi Stakes. Recent G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern winner Bay City Roller (New Bay) features under...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- "Deep German family" was an oft-uttered phrase during Sunday's session of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage, most notably in the case of top lot Qualixia (lot 464), who is set to continue her racing career with Joseph O'Brien after being bought by Blandford Bloodstock's Stuart Boman for €320,000. Last seen making a black-type breakthrough in the Listed Grand Prix de Fontainebleau, Qualixia was offered by trainer Philippe Decouz as the winner of four of her 11 career starts. Bred by Gestut Fahrhof, the four-year-old daughter of Blue Point...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- From Newmarket bargain buy to Deauville showstopper, Half Sovereign made "a dream come true" on Saturday when selling to Henry Lascelles for €2.6 million to headline the opening session of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage. Offered by Consign Ltd on behalf of trainer Karl Burke and his partner in the daughter of Ten Sovereigns, Adam Spratt, the two-year-old has gone from strength to strength since her low-profile appearance at last year's Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale. Purchased by Burke for just 12,000gns at Park Paddocks, Half Sovereign has gone...

Lily Hart (lot 207) came into Arqana's Vente d'Elevage a sought-after prospect; a Listed winner and Group-placed four-year-old filly, by Galileo and in foal to Wootton Bassett. She was, said Haras du Cadran's Pierre Talvard, his number one selection of the sale, and when the hammer fell and she was his at €1.05 million, he was temporarily too moved to speak. "She was my selection of the sale," he said, wiping tears from his face. "I would have done anything for her. She is a daughter of Galileo, winner of...

Group winner Half Sovereign took the lead at Arqana's Vente d'Elevage when selling for €2.6 million to Henry Lascelles on Saturday evening. A winner of the G3 Prix Miesque for Karl Burke, lot 195 is a granddaughter of the stakes-placed Wedding Party (Groom Dancer), who foaled a trio of black-type horses. Consign, Ltd., offered the juvenile filly, who was acquired by Burke for just 12,000gns out of the Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale. Bred by Haras des Trois Chapelles, the Spratt Properties and Elaine Burke-owned bay is a daughter of Baileys...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- For the second time in as many years, the young team at Consign Ltd is bidding to close out the sales season in style when high-class filly Half Sovereign is offered as a wildcard during Saturday's session of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage. When the TDN cameras visited Harriet Jones and Chloe Battam in July last year, the newly-founded Consign Ltd was preparing to get the ball rolling with a bumper draft numbering 18 horses at the Tattersalls July Sale. Then, less than five months later, Jones and...

by Sue Finley and Katie Petrunyak  For European consignors, the sales season is less a sprint than a marathon, beginning in the August heat at Arqana and running nearly straight through to a frenzied finale of breeding stock sales just as the winter chill signals the season's end. While many Irish and British teams pack up their supplies for the year once their last mare has stepped out of the ring at Tattersalls, plenty see the value in making one final trek across the Channel. It's the last stop in...

A breeding right to Mehmas topped Thursday's Arqana November Online Sale when going the way of Hugo Merry Bloodstock for €180,000. The sire of nine individual Group winners and 48 stakes winners from his first five crops, the Tally-Ho Stud stallion's leading performers in 2025 include the top-level winners Believing and Wise Approach. A share in the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Ace Impact was another highlight of the sale when knocked down to Horse France for €152,000. Based at Haras de Beaumont,...

Nope. Just can't figure it out. Why on earth, at the end of another grueling sales cycle, would so many Americans scrape together the last of their resources, in energy and funds, and get on a plane for one final auction in France? Setting aside, that is, the langoustines and truffles; the calvados and cider; the designer boutiques; the Christmas lights that transform an elegant summer resort into a filmset apt for a French remake of It's A Wonderful Life; the medieval villages huddled, in the early dusk of midwinter,...

A share in Grade 1 sire Nirvana Du Berlais (lot 22) was added to the Arqana Online November Sale set for Thursday, November 27 from 4-6 p.m. local time. A winner of the G1 Prix Cambaceres, the son of Martaline is the sire of G1 Prix Maurice Gillois winner Leader Sport, as well as Punchestown Grade 1 winner Lulamba, who placed at the highest level at Cheltenham. The Haras de la Hetraie resident is also responsible for debut British hurdle winner Manganese. For the complete sales catalogue, please visit the...