Transatlantic Team To Sell At Arqana

One vendor will be making its Deauville debut at this weekend's Arqana August Yearling Sale, while another is returning after a lengthy hiatus. The two operations, America's Taylor Made Sales and France's Haras de Gouffern, will team up to offer five colts under the banner Gouffern Taylor Made Sales.

While the monikor is new, the business relationship between Jean-Pierre de Gaste's Haras de Gouffern and the Taylor Brothers' Taylor Made goes back almost 20 years to when de Gaste purchased the Group 2-placed Attractive Crown (Chief's Crown) on behalf of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan for $260,000 at the 2001 Keeneland November sale through his commercial arm International Thoroughbred Consultants. De Gaste and the Taylors soon struck up a friendship and a successful business association that saw de Gaste purchase numerous mares-as well as stallions-from Taylor Made for his main client base in the Middle East. De Gaste's son Philippe, now the stud manager of Haras de Gouffern and Haras de Genevraye, Gouffern's sister stud, even spent a stint at Taylor Made in Kentucky.

Duncan Taylor, president and chief executive officer of Taylor Made Farm and the eldest of the four brothers who share responsibilities at the helm of Taylor Made, said that discussions began more recently with de Gaste about what more they could do in conjunction on an international level.

“We had been working together for several years selling stallions to Saudi Arabia and different countries. And so, we started saying, 'How could we do more together?'” Taylor explained. “At Taylor Made, we have a 20/20 vision where we're trying to accomplish more on an international level. Jean-Pierre said he thought it could work, bringing some Kentucky-breds to France to sell and we could also have some European-breds.”

De Gaste said the idea to join forces with a consignment was the brainchild of Gouffern and Genevraye's Bloodstock Manager Alexandra Saint Martin, who joined the team four years ago after a stint as Arqana's media and communications director.

“Alexandra had the idea to try to build on our relationships and all the connections I have in the U.S.,” de Gaste explained. “She proposed to Duncan and I to create a consignment in Europe, because [overseas vendors] isn't something that's done very much with yearlings.”

De Gaste also touched on the popularity of American-bred 2-year-olds at the breeze up sales, and the success they've gone on to have on the racetracks in Europe.

“More and more American-bred 2-year-olds are being sent to Europe for the breeze-up sales, and American horses are doing fantastically in Europe,” he said. “There are not many consignments of yearlings from the U.S. in Europe, while the horses are running very well here. So we thought it was an idea to build on. If we take yearlings that suit Europe, horses by sires like Giant's Causeway or Kitten's Joy, I think those kinds of horses could be very attractive in the European market.”

The first of the five Gouffern Taylor Made Sales colts to hit the ring will be a colt from the penultimate crop of the aforementioned Giant's Causeway who will go through the ring early in the sale's second session as lot 92. He and the Union Rags colt, set to be sold on Monday as lot 315, were offered up for the French experiment by an existing client of Taylor Made and sent from Kentucky over to Gouffern to prep for the sale a few months ago. The Giant's Causeway colt is out of the Empire Maker mare Grey Lina, whose second foal is the U.S. listed winner Royal By Nature (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire}). Alexandra Saint Martin pointed out the while the colt is grey like Grey Lina's maternal grandsire Linamix (Fr), he is more in the mould of Empire Maker. “He's a tall horse and a great mover with a great temperament,” Saint Martin said.

Union Rags is a name that will be much less familiar to the European audience, but he has established himself as an exciting young sire in America. A Grade I winner himself at two and victorious in the GI Belmont S. at three, the son of Dixie Union sits second among his sire crop by cumulative earnings. He has sired three 2-year-old Grade I winners from four crops of racing age in addition to the brilliant Paradise Woods, a dual Grade I winner at three. Union Rags's Catalina Cruiser is knocking on the door of a Grade I win, having taken four Grade IIs including the July 20 San Diego H. Union Rags stood at Lane's End Farm for $60,000 this year.

Lot 315 is out of the listed-placed Palazzo Babe (Rahy), and de Gaste said he thinks the colt will appeal to the European market because he looks like his damsire, who is well known on the continent as the sire of Noverre, in turn the sire of leading French stallion Le Havre (Ire), and the damsire of Giant's Causeway. The 2-year-old out of the mare, Constitutional Pal, is by Constitution, a son of Tapit who vaulted to the top of the American first-season sires' table over the weekend when his unbeaten filly Amalfi Sunrise took the GII Sorrento S. at Del Mar. Constitutional Pal has yet to start but posted three works last month at Monmouth Park.

Gouffern and Taylor Made were able to secure a first-crop colt by Gutaifan (Ire) privately after he was led out unsold at 26,000gns at Tattersalls last December, and that move has proven shrewd thanks to positive updates on both sides of the pedigree. Gutaifan has hit the ground running at stud and is Europe's leading first-crop sire by winners with 18 while the female family features Japan (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), winner of the G1 Grand Prix de Paris since the catalogue was printed. The Gutaifan colt's dam, Sakarya (Ire) (Duke of Marmalade {Ire}), is a three-quarter-sister to Japan's dam Shastye (Ire) (Danehill), and the page also features the likes of G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sagamix (Fr), G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud victor Sagacity (Fr) (Highest Honor {Fr}) and G2 Middleton S. winner Secret Gesture (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). The colt's 3-year-old half-brother Sound of Victory (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) could provide a last-minute update with an entry in the Aug. 17 G3 Prix Daphnis at Deauville. The Gutaifan colt will be the first horse through the ring on day three as lot 159. “He is a very, very strong colt, a good mover and a very correct horse,” said Saint Martin.

Lot 184 is by first-crop sire The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who will resonate with the French audience as the winner of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the G1 Sussex S. He was bought by de Gaste's International Thoroughbred Consultants for 40,000gns at Tattersalls December, and as Saint Martin explained he comes from a family that turns up stars of the European turf year after year.

“The colt is out of Skimmia (GB) (Mark of Esteem {Ire}), who is a proven broodmare. She has produced two black-type horses and is a sister to 2017 G1 Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), and this is the fantastic family of Souk (Ire) (Ahonoora {GB}), who every year provides Group 1 horses. This year, for example, the family has produced Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), who was recently second in the G1 Pretty Polly S.; Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who won the French Oaks, and Aspetar (Fr) (Al Kazeem {GB}), a Group 2 winner who was fourth in the G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud recently.”

Finally, lot 281 is a colt by Iffraaj (GB) out of the listed-placed Imperialistic Diva (Ire) (Haafhd {GB}) who was bought by ITC at Goffs November for €62,000. The colt is a half-brother to Queen of Bermuda (GB) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}), last year's G3 Firth of Clyde S. winner who is now in training with Graham Motion. The 2-year-old out of the mare and full-sister to Queen of Bermuda, Mia Diva (GB), was bought by Phoenix Thoroughbreds for £70,000 from Goffs UK's Premier Yearling Sale last summer and was a winner on her second start for trainer John Quinn since the catalogue was printed.

“He's very much a typical Iffraaj with a lovely head and, as we say in Europe, a lovely expression,” said de Gaste. “He's built to be a miler. He's a lovely looking horse.”

For de Gaste, Arqana August will mark a return to the consigning ranks after a hiatus of around 20 years. He had been a prominent seller while focused on Haras de Genevraye, which has been in his family since 1453; he is the 21st generation of his family to run the estate, which sits on about 1300 acres in the Merlerault region. Since purchasing the 350-acre Gouffern in the nearby Pays d'Auge region, however, his focus has turned primarily to serving clients from the Middle East and their breeding interests. De Gaste's main client is Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Emir of Abu Dhabi and President of the UAE, who keeps around 200 mares with de Gaste under the moniker Al Asayl. Remember the aforementioned Attractive Crown, bought by de Gaste from Taylor Made? She produced the 2017 G1 Prix Vermeille winner Bateel (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) for Al Asayl.

Taylor Made, meanwhile, is perennially among the leading sellers at all of America's major yearling and breeding stock sales and has raised or consigned over 100 Grade I winners. Taylor Made was founded over 40 years ago and is today still run by brothers Duncan, Ben, Frank and Mark Taylor-sons of the late legendary Kentucky farm manager Joe Taylor-and their lifelong friend Pat Payne. Taylor Made also encompasses a stallion operation-its current flagbearer is California Chrome, and it was also home to the late Unbridled's Song-and a boarding farm while also offering various investment opportunities at the yearling and racehorse levels. Taylor Made raised and sold last year's Cartier Horse of the Year Roaring Lion (Kitten's Joy) and was also the seller of Dayjur and Dancing Brave, as well as the dams of Giant's Causeway, Lady Aurelia, Nathaniel (Ire) and Shamardal. In its first foray consigning in Europe, Taylor Made offered six mares at Tattersalls December last year, selling the likes of Midnight Crossing (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) for 400,000gns and Glade (GB) (Bertolini) for 190,000gns.

“We're good horse people,” Duncan Taylor said when asked what the European market should know about Taylor Made. “We have core values. We put customer satisfaction as second to honesty, and we think that those are the two things that our father really put in the four brothers. You have to be honest, you have to do what you say you're going to do, and you have to do the best you can raising a good horse and taking care of the horse. If you take care of the horse right, you're taking care of the customer. People, when they deal with Taylor Made, they're going to get a fair shake, and we're always going to do the right thing for the customer.”

De Gaste said it was, undoubtedly, these shared values that promoted the two operations to partner.

“We have exactly the same integrity with the client,” he said. “This is the most important thing, and we're devoted to the client to be able to provide them with the best services. Since we've been working with Taylor Made we have had a great relationship. Our aim was to start slowly and to build it step-by- step.”

Taylor admitted that, despite the successes of horses like Roaring Lion, Lady Aurelia and Tepin in recent years, and the popularity of American-sired horses at the European breeze-ups, the interest from Americans in selling their yearlings in Deauville wasn't quite what he had hoped. The consignment is smaller than anticipated, however, they have focused on quality and Taylor said he is pleased with the horses they have. He said an option next year could be to run a pinhooking partnership like they do in the American market.

“We really didn't accomplish, in the first year, everything that we would like to accomplish,” he said. “People were reluctant. We didn't get a Kitten's Joy to bring over, and I think with Roaring Lion being over there and being Horse of the Year last year, I think this would have been a great year to bring a Kitten's Joy into that market. And, it would actually help the customer that owned the Kitten's Joy-he wouldn't be selling it against 50 other Kitten's Joys in Deauville.”

Taylor said, however, they are committed to the project long term.

“It's not a one-time thing,” he said. “We're going to continue to do it. We wanted to make sure that our horses were nice horses in the first consignment, and we just didn't want to be bringing a horse to bring a horse. We have five colts this year and they're nice horses. We're hoping they will sell well, that will kick us off, and then the idea will continue.”

Saint Martin also expressed a long-term commitment to the project.

“We are working very closely with Taylor Made to target the right pedigrees with European activity,” she said. “You want to find some European horses in the pedigree mated with good U.S. sires, and we are aiming at identifying these horses and convincing the breeders to bring them to Deauville to sell. There's still a lot to do, but like we say, Rome wasn't built in one day. It takes time.”