Hestia Farm Bids To Begin First Yearling Offering With A Bang At V2 Sale

DEAUVILLE, France–The V2 session of the August Yearling Sale at Arqana brings an entirely different clientele to town. Many new faces-be that trainers, agents and breeze-up handlers-have been spotted sifting through nearly 200 yearlings that will be offered under the hammer here on Tuesday. 

There are some new faces in the consigning ranks as well. Sebastian Defontaine will offer a filly by Goken (Fr) and a colt by Armor (GB), the first yearlings his Hestia Farm has brought to the market, and the excitement is building towards what the French native hopes to be a profitable sale. 

“This is my first time consigning yearlings in August,” he said. “We have sold some mares here in December but these are our first pinhooks, so that is exciting. We bought the Armor colt here in December for €13,000. We also bought the Goken here in December for €11,000. 

“The Armor is a lovely colt and it's the stallion's first crop. We really like the horse–he's very nice and has a great walk. He was very nice as a foal so I was afraid that he may not progress but, actually, all he has done is improved. He looks precocious and could be a horse for the Irish and English buyers and maybe even for the breeze-ups. Goken is a very good stallion here in France and the filly is also an early type. It seems to be what the market wants right now so we're excited to see them here tomorrow.”

Consigning under his own banner has always been the objective for Defontaine. After cutting his teeth working for some of the biggest consignors in the business, the Defontaines purchased their own farm in Normandie. Substantial investment has been put into Hestia and now the team are ready to rock. 

The 36-year-old said, “I worked at Haras du Quesnay for five years before going travelling. I went to Indian Creek in America, where I spent three years, and I also spent a year in Australia. I always wanted to come back to France and, when I did, I spent five years working as a manager at  Haras de Montaigu. The dream was to start something on my own so last year my wife Camille and I bought a 60-acre farm in Normandie.”

He added, “Everything is brand new. We are re-doing the entire place, which is almost finished. That's exciting and has kept us very busy for the past while. It's a good area, right in the middle of Normandie, so we look forward to building the business. We already have a few clients but would obviously like to grow and get more clients. We have 10 mares on the farm and the plan is to try to grow to 20 mares in time.”

A good sale on Tuesday would mean a lot to this burgeoning operation. The couple, who have put horses first their whole lives, are expecting their first baby in November. Now its time for the horses to repay the favour. 

He concluded, “Camille is pregnant with a baby girl. That's also very exciting and gives us an extra kick to get the farm up and running. We have been living in a very modest place for a long time because we had always been putting the horses first. The horses feed us, so we need to look after them and that is why we put everything back into the farm.The farm is almost finished so it would be nice to have a good sale here on Tuesday.”