Arqana's four-day Autumn Sale begins on Saturday with a single session of flat-bred yearlings, with 220 set to be offered after scratches. Following a dark day on Sunday, the sale will pick up on Monday and continue through Wednesday with horses in training, stores and National Hunt-bred yearlings. The single-session National Hunt Breeding Stock Sale will take place immediately following the Autumn Sale on Nov. 19, comprising the jumping stock that was set for the December Breeding Stock Sale.
With France in the midst of its second national lockdown due to the coronavirus, it is remarkable that the sale is happening at all, but Arqana officials have worked with government in recent weeks to agree on protocols including restricting the sale to those attending in a professional capacity and staging the sale in its outdoor main yard walking ring rather than in the indoor pavilion.
Highlights of the yearling catalogue on paper include lot 4, a Dabirsim (Fr) half-sister to Group 3-winning juvenile Evasive's First (Fr) (Evasive {Fr}); lot 25, a Myboycharlie (Ire) filly from the great family of Miesque and Karakontie (Jpn); lot 33, a colt from the first crop of Recorder (GB) who is a half-brother to stakes winner Mister Hughie (Elusive City); lot 42, a Dream Ahead filly out of stakes winner Chasing Stars (GB) (Observatory) from the family of the excellent producer Modena; a pair of colts out of half-sisters to Classic winner Brametot (GB) (151, by Shalaa {Ire} and lot 156, by Ultra {Ire}); lot 176, an Iffraaj (GB) filly out of multiple stakes winner Persona Grata (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}); and lot 212, an Anodin (Ire) filly out of a half-sister to stakes winners Silver Pond (Fr) (Act One {GB}) and Silver Point (Fr) (Commands {Aus}).
The Aga Khan and Wertheimer et Frere are among the breeders that bring quality drafts to Deauville, and representatives of those include the 97-rated 3-year-old Irshad (Fr) (Raven's Pass) (lot 393); 3-year-old Vardani (Fr) (Charm Spirit {Ire}), the winner of two of his three starts (lot 394); 4-year-old Flambeur (Mizzen Mast), a stakes winner last year who took his most recent start (lot 427); and 3-year-old Healer (Fr) (Medicean {GB}), a winner on debut and runner-up in a Clairefontaine Class 2 race (lot 428).
Many leading trainers also field drafts, like Andre Fabre with the 102-rated ParisLongchamp stakes winner Arapaho (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (lot 418) and the listed-winning the Group 3-placed Measure Of Time (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), rated 103 (lot 419).
There are many quality National Hunt offerings and wildcards also on offer. The full catalogue is available here.
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