By Emma Berry
DEAUVILLE, France–The broodmare shopping spree of Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals several years ago has already resulted in his first homebred Group 1 winner, Blue Rose Cen (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}), a daughter of the Jeremy mare Queen Blossom (Ire) who heads next to the Breeders' Cup at Keeneland.
It was next door to that track that Fernandez Pujals, who operates as Yeguada Centurion, bought Needmore Flattery (Flatter) from Lane's End Farm in 2019. That same year she had foaled a Gun Runner colt, who was later named Taiba and went on to to win this season's GI Santa Anita Derby and G1 Pennsylvania Derby. His trainer Bob Baffert is not known for scouting the European yearling sales, but it would be no surprise to see some transatlantic interest in Taiba's yearling brother from the first crop of Arc winner Waldgeist (GB), who features on the opening day of Arqana's October Yearling Sale as lot 51.
Consigned by the Garcon family's Haras de l'Hotellerie, which boards mares for the Yeguada Centurion operation, the chestnut colt is the fourth foal for his dam, a hard-knocking multiple stakes winner who claimed 17 victories during a four-season racing career and hit the jackpot with her first foal, Taiba.
The October Sale in Deauville was expanded during the pandemic to incorporate some Osarus yearlings and that larger format has remained, with a five-day auction conducted in three parts, commencing from Monday morning.
Part 1 of last year's sale featured as many international names on the buyers' sheet as one might see during the August Sale and, following solid trade throughout the season, we can expect that to roll on this week to Arqana, which has catalogued 781 yearlings, with 333 of those in Part 1, staged over Monday and Tuesday.
Included among the early offerings is a half-brother to last season's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac winner Tiger Tanaka (Fr) (Clodovil {Ire}) by the increasingly popular Mehmas (Ire) who is consigned as lot 42 by Haras d'Etreham. In fact consecutive lots from that draft could well attract plenty of interest as the next through the ring will be the Almanzor (Fr) second foal of the G2 Prix de Sandringham winner Mission Impassible (Ire), who is herself a daughter of Galileo (Ire) and the G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Margot Did (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).
A little later on the opening day, Haras du Logis Saint German will offer lot 157, a full-brother to its Poule d'Essai des Pouliches heroine Dream And Do (Fr), who is one of 19 yearlings by the French champion sire Siyouni (Fr) in the sale.
On of the this season's freshman sires in Europe whose stock will not have been seen too far outside France is Siyouni's fast son City Light (Fr), who is represented by 32 yearlings at Arqana. Trained locally in Deauville by Stephane Wattel, City Light was a dual Group 3 winner in France and runner-up in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot, and he is now standing at the farm that launched Wootton Bassett, Haras d'Etreham.
Selling begins on Monday at the Elie de Brignac complex at 11am local time.
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