Siyouni Filly Leads Arqana Finale

By Emma Berry and Kelsey Riley

DEAUVILLE, France—Arqana's Deauville Select Yearling Sale drew to a close on Friday with its Part II session, where trade settled to a more workmanlike pace following the frenzy of bluebloods that went through the ring earlier in the week. The third-day clearance rate of 79% outpointed Part I's 70.5% clearance rate, with vendors appearing to set reasonable reserves. Part II returned an average of €52,433 and a median of €43,000 for 142 sold for an aggregate of €7,445,500; the comparable third day of Arqana's August yearling sale last year saw 72% (116) of the 161 offered sold at an average of €87,362 and a median of €68,000, with turnover of €10,134,000.

Cumulatively, the Deauville Select Sale saw 416 yearlings go through the ring with 310 (74.5%) finding new homes. The aggregate was €37,697,500, the average €121,605 and the median €70,000. At last year's Arqana August Sale, 228 yearlings (75%) were sold over the three days from 304 offered for a record aggregate of €42,789,000. The average and median of €187,671 and €125,000 12 months ago were both also records.

Ecurie des Monceaux made it nine consecutive years as leading vendor at Arqana's flagship yearling sale, and they struck late on Friday to provide the session-topping filly in the form of lot 467, a daughter of Siyouni sold to Deauville-based trainer Yann Barberot for €290,000 on behalf of owner Olivier Thomas of Normandie Spirit. The filly is the fourth foal out of the unraced Special Gift (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), herself a half-sister to stakes winners Do The Honours (Fr) (Highest Honor {Fr}) and Seba (Fr) (Alzao) and from the extended family of the blue hen mare Cassandra Go (Ire). Siyouni had 19 yearlings sell over the three days for an average of €201,053.

“She's a lovely filly that's a real Siyouni,” said Barberot. “She walks well and is from a very current family. We saw her at the stud with Olivier Thomas, Gitte and Philippe Allaire and we liked her a lot. We didn't think she would be so expensive but she was our favourite.”

Buyers Keen On Bassett

Wootton Bassett (GB) has recently left France to stand at Coolmore in Ireland but the legacy of the successful first half of his stud career was felt keenly at Arqana on Friday as two of his sons were among the three most expensive yearlings of the final session of the Select Sale.

With several French-bred crops to come, Wootton Bassett remains high on the list of purchasers following a season which has included the G1 Prix Jean Romanet victory of the James Fanshawe-trained Audarya (Fr). His current yearlings were bred from his 2018 fee of €20,000 and his yearlings sold at Arqana this week have sold at an average price more than five times that fee.

Lot 437 was for a few hours the session leader but eventually settled for the second spot on the leaderboard at €180,000. He goes by the name of Samos (Fr) and is out of an unraced War Front half-sister to G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Cursory Glance (Distorted Humor). The family has been given further currency by another of the mare's siblings, Willow View (Lemon Drop Kid), who features as the dam of the recent GI Old Forester Bourbon Classic  winner Digital Age (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International made a determined effort for the colt on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing and said, “He looks like he could be a really nice, sharp 2-year-old. I've had some luck with the stallion before, as we bought Wooded (Fr), who is running on Sunday in the G3 Qatar Prix de Petit Couvert for Francis Graffard, so we were happy to invest in his stock again. Jean-Claude Rouget is keen to train the colt but Sheikh Joaan will decide that later.”

The co-third-top lot (414) of the final day was a colt from the farm that made the stallion, Haras d'Etreham, and he was sold to Coolmore through Lauren Benoit of Broadhurst Agency for €140,000. He is out of the winning 2-year-old Mezzo Mezzo (Fr) (Mount Nelson {GB}).

“He will be trained by Andre Fabre, who goes right back with Wootton Bassett to his grandsire Zafonic but has not yet trained any of his offspring,” Benoit said. “We had a good look at all of them and this was our first choice in the sale. He's a strong colt from a very good farm and he seems to have a very good mind, like the sire.”

Also among those in demand by the stallion on Friday was lot 300, a filly out of the listed-placed Raven's Pass mare Alta Stima (Ire). Offered by the Channel Consignment, she was bought for €100,000 on behalf of Ecurie Melanie by Jean-Michel Lefebvre.

“We really fell in love with her,” said the trainer. “She looks precocious and could make a nice 2-year-old. We wanted a daughter of Wootton Bassett and now we have one.”

Breeze-up pinhooker Mick Murphy of Longways Stables will be taking a Wootton Bassett colt back to Ireland having struck early for lot 295 from the Fairway Consignment for €90,000. The half-brother to the dual juvenile winner Feroe d'Illiat (Fr) (Naaqoos {GB}) hails from a family which includes GI Kilroe Mile S. winner River Boyne (Ire) (Dandy Man {Ire}).

Murphy said, “We're still planning to spend a similar amount on horses for the breeze-ups as we did last year but we will aim to improve the quality of the horses we buy, so we will likely have fewer horses for next year.”

Longways Stables enjoyed a good result at least year's Arqana Breeze-up when selling a Kingman (GB) filly for €650,000 to Lady Bamford. Now named Queen Of Love (Ire), she is unbeaten in two starts, including Friday's Listed Prix Coronation.

Kodiac Colt Back To Ireland

On the day that Kodiac (GB) was represented by another juvenile group-race winner in the G2 Flying Childers S. victor Ubettabelieveit (Ire), Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland picked up one of the early highlights of the day when going to €140,000 for the penultimate yearling by the Tally-Ho Stud stallion in the sale. The half-brother to King Power Racing's useful Group 3-winning stayer Alounak (Fr) (Camelot {GB}) looks an earlier type, and he will head first to Ireland to be broken in before a trainer is decided upon.

“I've bought him for a Middle Eastern client who has horses in Britain, France and Ireland. He was a really good physical specimen by a stallion who has had a really good year and Danehill has worked really well with this family before,” said the agent of lot 312.

The influences to which he refers are the three-parts siblings to the colt's dam Awe Struck (GB) (Rail Link {GB}). While she was unraced herself, she is a sister to three stakes winners by Dansili (GB): G1 Matron S. heroine Emulous (GB), G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron winner First Sitting (GB) and the listed-winning juvenile Daring Diva (GB). As the pedigree suggests, Awe Struck was bred by Juddmonte and was bought for €92,000 at Arqana in 2014 by East Bloodstock, who co-bred her colt with SCEA Des Prairies and consigned him through Haras de Castillon.

Kodiac's final yearling through the ring at this sale also figured among the top lots of the day, Alain Decrion and Mandore International went to €130,000 for lot 443, the first foal out of the Rip Van Winkle (Ire) mare Purple Magic (GB), who won four times and two and three and was fourth in the Listed Beckford Fillies' S. Purple Magic was a 12,000gns purchase from Tattersalls December in 2017.

Leagues Apart

Different League (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}), the filly that sparked a thousand parties, was picked up for just €8,000 by Con Marnane as a foal at Arqana. Thanks to her victory in the G3 Albany S. and two placed finishes at Group 1 level, Different League's full-sister (lot 334) was always likely to be a much more expensive acquisition and Federico Barberini eventually got the upper hand in the chase for the March-born daughter of Danseuse Corse (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) at €120,000.

The co-breeder of the filly, Jean-Pierre Le Hegarat, bought Danseuse Corse at the same Arqana December Sale at which Different League was offered as a foal and, at €6,000, she fetched even less than her subsequent celebrated daughter. Le Hegarat bred the yearling in partnership with Eric L'Hermite of Haras de Grandcamp, which is also home to Dabirsim.

Different League was returned to the ring at the end of her juvenile season and was sold on to White Birch Farm and Coolmore for 1.5 million gns. Her first foal is a colt by Galileo (Ire).

The Al Shaqab team gathered around Nicolas de Watrigant as he bid on lot 359, the daughter of Siyouni with a strong family behind her, and looked delighted to have secured the deal at €100,000.

Consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux for British breeders Trevor and Libby Harris of Lordship Stud, the filly is the second foal of Fleeting Dream (Ire) (Dream Ahead), a half-sister to G1 Haycock Sprint Cup winner G Force (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) and the G3 Prix Miesque winner Louvain (Fr) (Sinndar {Ire}), herself the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Flotilla (Mizzen Mast). The family boasts plenty of top-class speed credentials as it also includes Lethal Force (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), who shares his grandam Family At War (Explodent) with Fleeting Dream.

Rouget Buys Dover's Sole Yearling

With 20 horses bought through the three days, Jean-Claude Rouget has been the busiest buyer on the sales ground and on Friday he gave €135,000 for a first-crop son of the Haras de la Have Neuve freshman sire Whitecliffsofdover.

The sole representative for the son of War Front in the catalogue, lot 417 was sold by the stud which stands the stallion and is a half-brother to the Listed Prix Californie winner Hurricane (Fr) (Hurricane Cat) and to fellow listed winner Francesco Bere (Fr) (Peer Gynt {Jpn}), both of whom also represent Have Neuve sires.

Named James Bere (Fr), the yearling colt is out of the Hector Protector mare Monitor (Fr), a half-sister to the now California-based stallion Sir Prancealot (Ire).

Another Pearl For Desmontils

Sebastien Desmontils was busy throughout the three-day sale adding yearlings to the burgeoning racing stable of Japanese-based owner Hisaaki Saito, and among Desmontil's purchases on Friday was La Motteraye's Golden Horn (GB) filly (lot 411) who he bought privately for €130,000. The filly's winning dam is a half-sister to dual Grade III winner and multiple Group 1-placed Wekeela (Fr) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) as well as the stakes-placed Matauri Pearl (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}), whose 2-year-old filly Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) provided a timely update with a debut victory at Churchill Downs this month that earned her 'TDN Rising Star' status.

Almanzor Leading First-Crop Sire

Almanzor's first-crop yearlings had found favour during Part I of the sale earlier in the week, and that trend continued on Friday when the Etreham sire had three sell for six figures. Leading the way was Etreham's own lot 458, a half-brother to the G3 Prix Djebel winner Dice Roll (Fr) (Showcasing {GB}) who now races in Hong Kong as Gold Win. He was bought by Broadhurst Agency for €110,000. Haras de la Louviere sold a granddaughter of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Yesterday (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) (lot 431) to Oceanic Bloodstock for €105,000, while Prime Equestrian went to €100,000 for lot 386, a filly related to Friday's G2 Doncaster Cup winner Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}). Almanzor was the sale's leading first-crop sire by average with three or more sold, with 19 sold at an average of €126,789.

Another first-season sire to crack six figures on Friday was Coolmore's Churchill (Ire), whose lot 370, a filly from Ecurie des Monceaux, sold to Yann Barberot for €100,000. The bay is the third foal from her dam, a half-sister to five-time Group 1 winner Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}). That price was matched by a first-crop daughter of G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Zarak (Fr) in the form of Haras des Capucines's granddaughter of Group 3 winner Albisola (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) (lot 433) who was bought by Jean-Claude Rouget.

Breezers To The Fore

Plenty of breeze-up pinhookers from England and Ireland remained in Deauville for the final session, keeping a keen eye on events on the track as well as in the ring.

Along with the listed victory for the aforementioned Longways-consigned Queen Of Love in France, over in Doncaster the G2 Flying Childers S. went the way of Ubettabelieveit (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), who, like G2 Norfolk S. winner The Lir Jet (Ire) (Prince Of Lir {Ire}), was a horse sold privately to a trainer as the sales season was hit by delay and uncertainty.

Bred by Ringfort Stud, whose glorious season has also included Group 2 victories at York for graduates Miss Amulet (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) and Minzaal (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), Ubettabelieveit was pinhooked as a yearling for 50,000gns by Roger Marley and John Cullinan of Church Farm & Horse Park Stud.

“We bought him from Book 1 at Tattersalls so he was eligible for the Book 1 Bonus. We liked him a lot from day one and as soon as we started to quicken him up in his work he was just a natural,” said Marley in Deauville. “I took two horses to Malton for Nigel Tinkler to have a look at and he rode both of them and decided to buy this one. His owner Martin Webb was there that day with his wife and watched Nigel gallop him. I'm thrilled for them both, it's a fantastic result.”

Marley and Cullinan were also the pinhookers of this season's leading first-season sire, Mehmas (Ire), whom they bought as a yearling for 62,000gns and sold to Peter and Ross Doyle for Al Shaqab for 170,000gns at the Craven Breeze-up.

Mehmas, who has been represented by another three winners in the last three days and heads the table on 27 individual winners, now stands alongside Kodiac at Tally-Ho Stud.    Tally-Ho's Roger O'Callaghan also had an eye on Doncaster on Friday, with particular interest in the G2 Doncaster Cup, which was won by one of his former breezers, Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}).

“See, the breeze-up boys can sell slow horses too,” he said with a laugh as he headed back to the ring.