American Pedigrees Shine At Deauville

U.S. participation at the Arqana December sale has grown over the past few years to the point that you're as likely to hear English being spoken–often with an American accent–as you are French. It couldn't be long, then, until pedigrees appealing to both Europeans and Americans would start to shine in Deauville.

Embellishment (Ire) (lot 177) has just that kind of crossover appeal; offered for sale by Haras d'Etreham, she is a daughter of Galileo (Ire) out of the Serena's Song daughter Sophisticat (Storm Cat), herself a full-sister to the stallions Grand Reward (standing at Argentina's Haras La Quebrada), and Schramsberg, and a half-sister to Harlington. Serena's Song's daughter Serena's Tune (Mr. Prospector) is the granddam of GI Whitney and Metropolitan winner Honor Code, who stands his first season at Lane's End Farm in 2016.

Embellishment sells in foal to the popular first-season stallion Kingman (GB), the 2014 Cartier Horse of the Year and 3-year-old colt, a four-time Group 1 winner, who stands at Banstead Manor Stud for a fee of £55,000.

Embellishment is the property of Etreham, said the farm's Nicolas de Chambure. “We acquired her last winter. We had purchased her half-sister, the Kingmambo mare Sefroua, and she was good to us as a listed winner in France and group-placed in America. Her first foal, Sivoliere (Ire), is also a listed winner and group-placed.”

With Serena's Song–the champion 3-year-old filly in America whose 18 victories and 11 Grade I wins included the Haskell Invitational over males–as her second dam, the family, observed de Chambure, “is mainly known in America. Almost every year, we see on the track the great results from that family. So we were keen to get another one, a daughter of Galileo, from this family. It's really because we have her half-sister that we are putting her on the market.”

Physically, said de Chambure, “she is a nice mare as a type. We picked Kingman for her because he was the right type, a good match, and it was good to bring a bit of Green Desert to that family. I loved Kingman as a racehorse.”

“She is a good mix between Galileo and Storm Cat,” said de Chambure. “To me, she has more strength, more hindquarter than some of the Galileo fillies, who can be a bit more light-framed. She has a great shoulder and she's a very good walker, with a nice presence to her.”

After being covered by Kingman Apr. 9, she returned to France and has been at Etreham since that time, and should have tremendous crossover appeal to Americans and Europeans alike, said de Chambure.

“It's quite an opportunity. I would think Americans could think it's a cheaper way to get into the family because she's being sold in France, but at the same time, she has great appeal in Europe because she's by Galileo. To have that American female line with that great Galileo family, who is doing such a good job as a broodmare sire, is pretty unique. She is carrying a son or daughter of Kingman who could be any kind of yearling and racehorse in America or in Europe.”