“Good Selection Of Horses Here” – Top Buyers Target Arqana October Yearling Sale 

Opportunities to source next year's two-year-old talent are running thin on the ground and leading buyers like syndicate manager Nick Bradley, bloodstock agent Federico Barberini and breeze-up handler Johnny Collins revealed that they are hoping to stock up at the October Yearling Sale at Arqana this week.

This year's French 2,000 Guineas winner Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) was sourced at this sale in 2022 and, after a number of buyers reported that they found the competition tough at Tattersalls over the past two weeks, a strong cohort of British and Irish-based buyers have made the trip to Arqana for one of the last yearling sales of the season.

Barberini was one of the busiest agents at Tattersalls and spent over 4.7 million gns on 25 yearlings during Books 1, 2 and 3 of the October Yearling Sale. However, the Italian native still has orders to fill at Arqana this week.

He said, “The strength of the market took us by surprise at Tattersalls. I wasn't surprised by the trade at the top, but the strength of the market at every level was very good. I always come back to Deauville, so I was planning on coming to this sale anyway, but obviously a lot of people were not able to fill orders in Newmarket and they have come here as well in search of a bit of value.”

Barberini added, “It can be frustrating. Unavoidably, you have to stretch sometimes but mostly you just put a value on a horse and stop when it hits that value. On one hand, it is very frustrating but, on the other, the market is healthy. Long may that continue because we need the market to be strong for the overall health of the industry.”

The Arqana October Yearling Sale has been a happy hunting ground for Barberini. It was at this sale that the agent sourced dual Group 2 winner Jadoomi (Fr) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) on behalf of Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum for just €75,000 while Group 2-winning filly Wed (Fr) (Profitable {Ire}) was also picked up cheaply here at just €32,000.

“The stock is good here-as expected,” Barberini continued. “As usual, there is a good selection of horses here and there is no doubt that more good horses will come out of this sale again.”

Bradley has had similar luck shopping in France. He revealed that unlike Collins who is in search of a colt to complete his shopping for next year's breeze-ups, the syndicate manager is solely making the trip to Deauville to find a filly to sport the white and black silks next term.

Interestingly, while a number of British-based trainers have bemoaned the lack of orders for yearlings in the current climate, Bradley reported that he is in front with regards selling shares in Nick Bradley Racing Syndicate horses compared to this time last year. 

He said, “I try to buy the best-looking horses that I can from unfashionable pedigrees. That's my business model and it's what I seem to do best at. I never get orders for horses. I bought 35 yearlings last year and I am on 29 for this yearling sale season. I would like to buy three more fillies and, with regards to sales of shares with Nick Bradley Racing, we are actually in front compared to this time last year. That comes down to the fact we've had another pretty good year and are nearly at 50 winners and a million quid in prize-money. I haven't seen a drop-off. I'd imagine plenty of trainers have, but I haven't.”

Reflecting on trade at Newmarket, he continued, “I looked at 70 fillies on day one at Book 1 and had 20 fillies to follow in. I thought it was ridiculous what they were making. I waved the white flag for the rest of Book 1 after that. But I worked Book 2 hard and saw every filly. I was able to buy five and, whilst it was strong and there definitely was a certain carry over from Book 1, there were still gaps in places. I bought some good pedigrees and some good models-I can't really afford both. So I thought Book 2 was achievable. We also bought some horses in Book 3. There were some very nice-looking horses in Book 3.

“I thought trade at Doncaster and the Somerville was weak. At that point, I thought people would be giving horses away at Book 3 but it didn't turn out that way. When I went over to the Goffs Orby Sale, I was quite bullish about buying something, but Orby Book 1 was very strong. From that sale onwards, things have become very competitive.”

Collins is one of the few breeze-up handlers who is not down on numbers compared to 12 months ago. Many leading operators opened up last week about how a decision to keep their powder dry for the Orby and Book 1 and 2 backfired but Collins says just one more colt would complete his shopping for the season.

He said, “It has been very tough to buy this year. I'm probably short a colt but a lot of other breeze-up handlers are down on numbers. I had dinner with a very big handler the other night and he said that he is nowhere near last year's numbers. I think there are a lot of fellas in the same boat and they will be trying to top up this week in France.”

Collins added, “The problem was, things were very weak to start with and then, suddenly things got very strong. I don't think anyone could have predicted that. Newmarket was exceptional. That was as difficult as I can ever remember it.”

Those needing any extra confidence to go and fill orders in France this week should look no further than the fact Group 1 winners Paddington (GB), Iresine (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}), Audarya (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Wooded (Ire) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Lord Glitters (Fr) (Whipper) and more were sourced at this sale in recent years. The action kicks off at 11am local time on Tuesday.