By Brian Sheerin
DONCASTER, England–A serious tempo was set to the European yearling sale season at Arqana last week with strong trade recorded in the August and V2 sales. If the momentum is to continue into the Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale this week, Goffs could be in for a productive week.
G3 Princess Margaret S. winner Sacred Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}) was sourced here 12 months ago for £52,000 while similarly smart two-year-old Jasour (GB) (Havana Grey {GB}) cost £85,000.
Both juveniles have flown the flag for the Donny yearlings with their exploits on the track this season and, judging by the footfall on the sales ground on Sunday, there is a long queue of buyers eager to find the next Sacred Angel and Jasour.
The two-day sale kicks off on Tuesday at 10am and there are plenty of pointers to take from Arqana that could shape the way things play out at Doncaster and beyond.
Blue Point Here To Stay
There was huge expectation placed on Blue Point's first runners this season and he has lived up to his billing with a Royal Ascot success and 25 individual winners in Britain and Ireland alone.
Big Evs (Ire) has been the flagbearer for Blue Point (Ire), with Mick Appleby's colt following up his Windsor Castle victory at Royal Ascot with a Group 3 success in the Molecomb at Goodwood before running down the field in last Friday's Nunthorpe.
Blue Point has eight horses rated 90 or above in Britain and Ireland and these are the sort of statistics that are willing buyers to reinvest in the Kildangan Stud-based stallion's yearlings.
An average of €191,364 for 11 yearlings sold at an aggregate of €2,105,000 at the August Sale would suggest that Blue Point has more than justified the belief placed in him by breeders. His yearlings won't be easy to buy this week.
Pinatubo and Earthlight Off To A Strong Start
The strength of the Darley roster was there for everyone to see at Arqana. If it wasn't a son or a daughter of Dubawi (Ire) selling for a couple of million euros, well then it was one of the legendary stallion's sons Night Of Thunder (Ire) or Ghaiyyath (Ire) who were catching the imagination.
Pinatubo (Ire) was the one of the most popular freshman sires at Arqana while fellow Darley stallion Earthlight (Ire) certainly struck a chord with his first yearlings.
Of the nine Pinatubos to sell in the August Sale, they averaged €195,000 with buyers including Wesley Ward, Oliver St Lawrence, Robson Aguiar and more.
There are three Pinatubos and eight Earthlights on offer at Doncaster. One would wager that they will be in high demand.
Sergei Set To Make a Splash
If the first yearlings by Sergei Prokofiev (Can) are as popular as the foals were, the Whitsbury Manor Stud-based stallion could be in for a good week.
Sergei Prokofiev embarked on his stud career on a fee of £6,500 and rewarded breeders with an average of almost £30,000 for 52 foals sold in Britain and Ireland in 2022.
Last weekend was a good one for the Scat Daddy line, as pointed out by Coolmore's Mark Byrne on Twitter, with Ten Sovereigns (Ire), Justify, and Sioux Nation responsible for a number of smart winners.
Good judges Julie Woods, Freddy Tylicki, Larry Stratton, Harry Dutfield and Tom Whelan nominated the progeny of Sergei Prokofiev as being ones to keep the right side of in the TDN last year and plenty can be expected from him this week.
Hello Youmzain One To Take From France
Fair to say Hello Youmzain (Fr) really captured the imagination at Arqana. Etreham's newbie had 19 sell for an average of €128,789 in the August Sale and 12 sell for €42,458 at V2.
Many are tipping him to scoop champion first-season sire honours in France next year and it's easy to see why given how well his stock was received.
The dual Group 1-winning sprinter is represented by two yearlings this week and the momentum could continue to build behind Hello Youmzain at Donny.
Golden Horde A Dark One?
Golden Horde has just one yearling at Doncaster [219] but he could be an interesting sire judging by how his first yearlings were received at Arqana.
They came in different shapes and sizes last week, with Peter and Ross Doyle signing for a strapping colt from Anna Sundstrom's Coulonces draft for €80,000 in the August Sale catching the eye. Six of the seven yearlings by the G1 Commonwealth Cup winner sold for an average of €35,833 at the V2 Sale and it was notable that Richard Fahey, Jean-Claude Rouget and Sheik Sultan Al Khalifa featured among the list of buyers at V2.
Standing at Montfort et Preaux for €8,000, Golden Horde won't have many yearlings to represent him in Britain and Ireland this year. Along with lot 219, a filly consigned by Kildaragh Stud, Golden Horde has a couple of yearlings to sell at Book 3 at Tattersalls.
Nevertheless, judging by his stock at Arqana, Golden Horde remains an interesting young sire at an affordable level.
Breeze-up Handlers Out In Force
Kenny Rogers famously said that one of the gambler's secrets to survival is knowing when to walk away from the table and there was plenty of that in France from the breeze-up fraternity.
While Mick and Sarah Murphy from Longways Stables picked up five yearlings, Tally-Ho Stud added two and different operators like Matt Eves of Star Bloodstock were dotted around the sales results across both sales, the trip to Deauville didn't yield much for the majority of breeze-up handlers.
This will be the week where many operators buy their first breezers for the upcoming season and that will add to what is expected to be strong trade.
Other Newbies To Note
We were provided with an early glimpse of the yearlings by Arizona (Ire), Kameko, Mohaather (GB), Threat (Ire), Without Parole (GB) and Shaman (Ire) at Arqana but Doncaster will mark the debut Far Above (Ire), King Of Change (GB), River Boyne (Ire) and Sands Of Mali (Fr).
Of that bunch, Mohaather could be the pick. His sole yearling failed to sell at the August Sale but he has a nice bunch of yearlings to go under the hammer this week and, with a foal average of over £40,000 last year, plenty can be expected from his yearlings.
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