By Brian Sheerin
DEAUVILLE, France–Moa Sundström is no stranger to sales ring successes–especially at Arqana–but the youngster admits to feeling the pressure ahead of launching her debut foal consignment at the December Breeding Stock Sale here on Saturday.
A daughter of Anna, whose Coulonces Sales has enjoyed many memorable sales at Arqana, Moa will offer six foals under the banner of her own Prime Progeny this weekend.
The six-pronged consignment features filly foals by Too Darn Hot (GB) and Sioux Nation as well as a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt and the 23-year-old is hoping the appetite for well-bred and good-looking foals that was so evident at Goffs and Tattersalls over the past fortnight will continue here in France.
She said, “I'm so nervous-it's all so new. I should think it is the same [as consigning under Coulonces] but it is so different when you go out and do it by yourself. I have my mother's full support and she has my back on everything. It's really nerve-wracking, but in a good way.”
You don't become one of the biggest consignors in Europe by not thinking on your feet. The Sundströms say that they have spotted an opening in the market for foals in France and this sale will test the theory.
Moa explained, “Many clients, be that English, Irish, French, America or whatever, have expressed a wish for more quality foals to be sold at the sales here in France. I travel quite a lot with my mother, going around all of the sales, and we love buying mares, pinhooking and all of that. It was so obvious to us that here in France, we were missing something, and that something is a foal consignment. We just said, 'why not do it?' This is fun and I know that I can do it so I am really looking forward to it. Something I love deeply is going to look at foals and getting involved in the pinhooking of foals. I see what the buyers need. I am young so I feel, 'why can I not bring something to the table', so that's how I decided to launch my own foal consignment.”
So what do the buyers want?
“Quality,” she responds. “We need more quality. We need availability in France. We need a foal consignment where people abroad can look on and say, 'I can sell my foal in France because I know it's so exquisite.' If you have a nice foal here in France, you will sell without any problem.”
Although the Sundströms are renowned breeders, the Prime Progeny consignment features just one homebred. The majority of the foals offered under the hammer over the next few days belong to outside clients with Moa bidding to prove that she is just a chip off the old block when it comes to securing big results in the ring.
“We breed a lot but we actually only have one homebred here-the Naval Crown colt [lot 356]. He's the only French-bred Naval Crown colt in the sale and was bred by my grandparents and my mum. He's a gorgeous individual and I'm very proud to be presenting him here.”
She added, “The Too Darn Hot [99] is absolutely amazing. From a buyer's perspective, if somebody pulled out a foal like her to me, my jaw would just drop. I adore her.”
Of course, it makes it a little easier to branch out into something so daring when you've had a bit of luck previously. This sale ground has been a lucky place for Coulounces in recent times, most notably at the August Sale when the mother-and-daughter team secured €420,000 for a Victor Ludorum (GB) yearling out of a mare [Lilienbloom (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire})] that they sourced for just €12,000.
“That was amazing,” she recalls. “We bought a mare for €12,000 and sold her first yearling by Victor Ludorum for €420,000, which was insane. We have had a lot of luck at Arqana. It was a fairly obvious choice for me to have my first consignment at Arqana as we are based just an hour away so this is my home and this is where my future is. Everything that I am going to work for is for the future of our farm here. The fact that we have been lucky here before is also important.”
There couldn't be a better time to sell a foal in Europe. Records were broken at Goffs and Tattersalls over the past few weeks where trade reached new heights. The hope is that the demand continues when the four-day December Breeding Stock Sale gets underway at 10am on Saturday.
She concluded, “The aim is simple. We just want to start off with getting every single horse sold and by making my clients happy and proud. That would be a success. The market has been crazy for foals-both at Goffs and at Tattersalls-and I hope it will be strong at Arqana. I have heard a lot of good things so fingers crossed. Arqana has been amazing in helping me get set up. They have been my biggest supporters.”
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