By Emma Berry
LA TESTE DE BUCH, France—A Grade I winner from the 2016 sale and a Group 1 entrant from last year's graduates are just two of the factors which will boost the confidence of the Osarus team heading into the September Yearling Sale, which starts its two-day run today.
Fatale Bere (Fr), from the first crop of Pedro The Great, became her sire's first top-level winner when landing the GI Del Mar Oaks on Aug. 19. Her brother is among the draft of Haras de la Haie Neuve, which stands the 8-year-old son of Henrythenavigator, and he is set to sell for breeder Jean-Luc Rouxel as lot 275, just five lots before the close of the sale tomorrow.
There should be plenty of action to come before then, and indeed the spacious parade grounds at La Teste de Buch racecourse played host to plenty of yearling inspectors on Monday, including trainers Mark Johnston, Archie Watson and Jean-Claude Rouget, as well as Peter and Ross Doyle, who are visiting the Osarus sale, close to Bordeaux, for the first time.
The Middleham Park Racing team of Tim and Tom Palin and Mike Prince are also in France and on the hunt for the next Boitron (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), who was bought from this sale last year by Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International and Sylvain Vidal for €45,000. The first horse to run in the partnership of prolific French owner Gerard Augustin-Normand and Middleham Park Racing is now unbeaten in three races, most recently scoring impressively in the listed Denford S. in mid-August. Trained by Richard Hannon, he is now likely to be supplemented for the Vincent O'Brien National S. on Sept. 16.
Along with the recent stakes performers, last year's sale can also boast of 33 individual 2-year-old winners to date this season, the most recent addition to the group being Australien (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), a winner at Pornichet on Friday and one of 17 purchases by Con Marnane at the sale last year to make him the leading buyer.
'King Con' was one of the first to arrive at the sale and was busy on Monday perusing this year's offerings with his wife Theresa and daughters Amy and Olivia.
In the years since the September Yearling Sale was first staged in 2008, plenty of improvements have been made to the stabling and viewing facilities at La Teste de Buch. It has less swank than France's premier yearling auction in Deauville but it offers a viable alternative selling option for the rising number of domestic and international breeders taking advantage of the resurgence in the French breeding industry, not to mention the generous premiums on offer for owners and breeders of French-bred runners.
New on the consignors' list this year is a draft name that will be unfamiliar to some, though the man behind it is known to many. Guillaume Vitse, former manager of Guy Pariente's Haras de Colleville for 11 years, is now operating his own business with his wife Camille under the banner of Normandie Breeding, which offers four yearlings over the next two days.
“The opportunity came up to buy our own farm at Beuvron-en-Auge close to our home and it seemed the right time in life to do it,” said Vitse.
“It was a pleasure to be at Colleville for the rise of Kendargent. That was very exciting, and the French stallion market is very strong now, so I'm doing what I love—breeding horses and boarding mares for clients—right in the heart of Normandy, which was why we decided on the name.”
The first of the Normandie Breeding draft to go through the ring this week is lot 10, La Chambotte (Fr), a filly by Wootton Bassett (GB) and the first foal of the four-time winner One And Only (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}).
Vitse's former employer, Haras de Colleville, also has four yearlings catalogued, all by resident stallions Kendargent (Fr) and Galiway (GB). They include lot 7, named Norwegian Sir (Fr), a brother to Kenadargent's listed Prix Marchard d'Or winner Princedargent (Fr) and a half-brother to another stakes winner, the five-time scorer Private Jet (Fr) (Aussie Rules {GB}).
By the end of play last year, just over €4 million had been traded for 201 yearlings sold (including private sales) at an average of €21,674 and median of €16,000. A slightly larger catalogue has been formed for this year's sale and after withdrawals, 264 will be offered over the next two days, starting from 1pm local time today.
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