Arqana has announced that its Select Sale, which had been rescheduled from August to September 24 to 26, will now be brought forward by a little over a fortnight to the new date of September 8 to 10.
The change is a result of the recent imposition of a new 14-day quarantine requirement on travellers to the UK from France, which would not allow participants at the major European yearling sales to attend the three major sales at Arqana, Goffs and Tattersalls.
A statement released by the French sale company on Wednesday read, “Immediately after the announcement by the British government that any person entering the United Kingdom from France would be subject to 14 days of self-isolation, Arqana undertook extensive consultation of vendors represented in the Select Sale catalogue as well as buyers potentially affected by the new constraint. The schedule of premium yearling sales is exceptionally dense this year as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, and the initial date of 24-26 September would not have allowed buyers to take part in all three major European sales while abiding by the quarantine rule.”
The new dates for the Deauville auction allow sales travellers sufficient time to quarantine ahead of the Goffs Orby Sale on September 29 and 30 and Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, which begins its two-week run on October 6. The Arqana Sale now clashes with the Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale, which is being held in Newmarket this year on September 8. Quarantine restrictions remain in place in Ireland for 14 days of isolation for visitors from most overseas countries.
In a joint statement, Arqana's CEO Eric Hoyeau and Executive Director Freddy Powell said, “The catalogue for the Select Sale is of outstanding quality and we are committed to providing these exceptional young horses with the best possible marketplace. This requires holding the sale at a time that maximises the chances for French and international buyers to be on attendance in Deauville. We wish to pay tribute to the reactivity and adaptability of all our vendors, who have immediately thrown their support behind this unusual change. Arqana will charter private flights from several locations in order to make the trip to Deauville as quick and secure as possible. We are also working day in day out to make remote participation easy. Online bidding will be available via Arqanaonline.com, while all yearlings are currently being filmed on the farms. Videos will be visible on our website, allowing buyers wherever they are to get a foretaste of the extraordinary collection of colts and fillies on offer.”
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