A total of 158 2-year-olds have been catalogued for the 2021 Arqana Deauville Breeze-Up Sale, to be held Friday, May 14, beginning at 1pm, one day after all the lots will perform their under-tack breezes at Deauville-La Touques Racecourse.
The catalogue is enriched with pedigrees to appeal to an international buying bench, with many prominent sires from either side of the Atlantic strongly represented. European stalwarts include the likes of Dark Angel (Ire), Dubawi (Ire), Exceed and Excel (Aus), Galileo (Ire), Invincible Spirit (Ire), Mehmas (Ire), No Nay Never, Sea The Stars (Ire), the late Shamardal, successful dual-hemisphere stallion Showcasing (GB), Siyouni (Fr) and Wootton Bassett (GB). The young progeny of first-crop sires such as Almanzor (Fr), Caravaggio and Churchill (Ire) are also set to go under the hammer in Deauville.
The May Breeze-Up Sale can proudly boast of having sold American Classic winner War of Will (€250,000, 2018 sale), who added last year's GI Maker's Mark Mile to his victory in the 2019 GI Preakness S. There is no shortage of American horse power in this year's event, as Triple Crown winner American Pharoah–sire of the €1.1-million sales-topping Ocean Atlantique–the reliable Distorted Humor, leading sire Into Mischief, Medaglia d'Oro, More Than Ready, Speightstown and War of Will's sire War Front all feature in the catalogue.
Seven of the sale's offerings are either out of Group 1 winners or are related to top-level scorers, including lot 22, a Dark Angel (Ire) son of G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Jet Setting (Ire) (Fast Company {Ire}) from the draft of Star Bloodstock; and lot 143, a Caravaggio half-sister to dual South African Grade 1 winner Queen Supreme (Ire) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) from Kilbrew Stables.
Brendan Holland's Grove Stud was responsible for last year's €715,000 sales-topping daughter of War Front–Beauty Parlor (Elusive Quality) and that operation will be represented by 10 juveniles, chief among them lot 76, a colt by American Pharoah and the second produce of Queen of the Sand (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}), a Grade III winner and Grade I placed in America. A total of 35 vendors will travel from France, Ireland and Britain to Deauville.
Already in 2021, Arqana Breeze-Up graduates have made their mark at the Dubai World Cup Carnival. Al Tariq (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}), a €150,000 graduate of the 2018 sale, took out the G3 Al Shindagha Sprint and is one of 14 entered for Saturday's US$1.5-million G1 Dubai Golden Shaheen at Meydan. Midnight Sands (Speightstown) made a successful Dubai return in the G3 Burj Nahaar S. on Super Saturday Mar. 6 and the €80,000 grad figures to take plenty of beating in the G2 Godolphin Mile earlier on World Cup Saturday. Summer Romance (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), the €800,000 second-dearest lot in 2019 when purchased by Godolphin, added the G2 Balanchine S. to her success in last year's G3 Princess Elizabeth S. at Epsom.
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