In-Foal Mares Lead Arqana Sunday

DEAUVILLE, France-Following a record-breaking opening day on Saturday, the tempo of the trade dropped down a few notches for the second session of Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale on Sunday. Nonetheless, the clearance rate remained solid for lower-level trade as of late at 74%. The total accrued for 198 sold was €5,260,500. The average and median both dipped slightly: 5.8% at €26,568 and 6.5% at €21,500, respectively.

The draft of the Wertheimer brothers-who cull exclusively at Arqana each year-is perennially sought after, with prices reaching up to €450,000 on Saturday for their carefully cultivated families. Sunday's top lot didn't quite reach those heights, but nonetheless leading Czech breeder Jiri Travnicek has secured a mare with plenty to like on pedigree for €150,000 in Kapitale (Ger) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 479). The 10-year-old mare, who is carrying her fifth foal by Maxios (GB), is a Group 3-winning and Group 1-placed half-sister to G1 Deutsches Derby winner and sire Kamsin (Ger) and G1 Preis von Europa victor Khan (Ger).

Thomas Janda of Janda Bloodstock signed the ticket on behalf of Tavnicek, who around 10 years ago purchased a farm called Haras de Beaufay about an hour from Deauville. Having spent the last decade renovating the nursery, Tavnicek is now beginning to stock up on mares.

“We tried to buy [on Saturday] but didn't succeed so we are pleased to have been able to buy two today,” Janda said. “We like the family of this mare and the fact that she is a group winner by Dubawi. Her progeny may be destined to be sold so we are looking at commercial pedigrees.”

Eric Puerari and Michel Zerolo of Haras des Capucines bred the multiple Grade I winner Zagora (Fr) (Green Tune {Ire}) and sold her on two occasions-as a yearling for €95,000 at Arqana August and as a broodmare prospect for $2.5-million at Fasig-Tipton through Zerolo's Oceanic Bloodstock-so when Haras d'Etreham's 7-year-old mare Bartira (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) (Lot 401) from the same family came up for sale on Sunday through Haras d'Etreham, the team found something they were plenty familiar with. Puerari and Zerolo went to €135,000 to ensure the mare, who is carrying to Dream Ahead, joins their paddocks.

A one-time winner, Bartira is out of the G2 German 1000 Guineas winner Briseida (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and a half-sister to the German Group 3 winner Brisanto (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The second dam, Party Doll (Be My Guest), is the third dam of Zagora. Bartira is carrying her fourth foal and her first, Pappalino (Fr) (Makfi {GB}), was stakes-placed this year at two.

Puerari said the team hadn't began to imagine a mating yet.

“We have to think about the mating; we have a hard enough time thinking about the matings for the mares we already have, let alone the ones we haven't bought yet,” he quipped. “She's from the family of Zagora, who we bred, so we know the family well and she has a good mating in her. It's all positive for her; a nice young mare is not easy to get.”

Capucines sold the sale-topping Lily's Candle (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}) for €1.1-million on Saturday.

Dschingis Secret (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) was certainly amongst the best of his generation in Europe, last year stringing together consecutive victories in the G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis, G1 Grosser Preis von Berlin and G2 Prix Foy over Iquitos (Ger), Hawkbill and Cloth of Stars (Ire), respectively. The 5-year-old enters stud next year at Haras de Saint-Arnoult, and he gained a new member of his first book on Sunday when his owner Horst Purdwill and partners went to €100,000 through agent Chris Richner to secure the 4-year-old mare Waldfee (Fr) (Dansili {GB}) (Lot 343). The winning mare is currently in foal to Charm Spirit (Ire), and connections will be hoping she becomes as prolific a producer as her second dam Wurftaube (Ger) (Acatenango {Ger}), the dam of three stakes horses and the second dam of a further five, including G1 Irish St Leger winner Masked Marvel (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Waldlerche (GB) (Monsun {Ger}), the dam of dual Group 1 winner Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

Just The Judge (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) lit up the bid board during Saturday's opening session of the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale when her weanling filly by Dubawi (Ire) sold to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock for €1-million, and it was a close relation to that G1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner that made headlines on Sunday. Ecurie des Monceaux's 3-year-old filly Aumale (GB) (Dansili {GB}) (Lot 366) fetched a much more modest sum of €90,000 from Australian-based agent John Foote on behalf of Cambridge Stud, but Foote reasoned that with a page like that, it is unlikely her value will ever drop.

“She's something that could be worth a lot more one day, and probably won't be worth any less,” he said.

Aumale was a 300,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling two years ago when scooped up by Mayfair Speculators and Monceaux, and she was a winner in the French provinces earlier this year for Nicolas Clement in the third of her six starts. She is the first foal out of Amber Silk (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), a winning full-sister to Just The Judge who was bought by Will Edmeades for 400,000gns at Tattersalls December in 2013. A year later, Just The Judge lit up that same sale when making 4.5-million gns from Qatar Racing and China Horse Club to dissolve the former's partnership with the Sangster family, and the 8-year-old mare has this year gone a fair way towards repaying that investment. Prior to Saturday's sale-topping foal, Just The Judge's yearling colt by Dubawi had topped the Arqana August yearling sale at €1.4-million.

“She's a nice filly,” Foote said of Aumale. “She's by Dansili and has a good pedigree. The half-brother was only beaten a nose first time out in Newmarket and the mother has been bred very well. We'll just hope for the best.”

Cambridge Stud has been busy buying mares through this weekend and last week at Tattersalls; they have bought six so far at Arqana and signed for seven in Newmarket. Foote said Brendan and Jo Lindsay-who purchased the famed stud from Sir Patrick and Lady Justine Hogan earlier this year-are doing some culling and sourcing new mares for their suddenly expanded broodmare band.

“Before they bought Cambridge, they had a good broodmare band of their own, but only about 25 mares,” the agent said. “They inherited 85 mares from the old Cambridge and they're going to sell some of them, so they're just restocking and getting some new blood and some European blood that suits New Zealand. But we're just trying to buy a bit of value, and it's working out pretty well. So we just have to hope they're good-it's the easy part buying them, we just have to hope they produce winners.”

Haras d'Etreham announced last month that Wootton Bassett (GB) would next year stand for €40,000, double his fee of the past two years, on the back of a successful season both on the racetrack and in the yearling sales rings. Wootton Bassett–who had announced himself as a serious sire immediately with European champion 3-year-old and Etreham stallion barnmate Almanzor (Fr) in his first crop-added five new stakes horses and two new Group 1 horses in 2018 and had 12 yearlings sell for over €100,000. The stock of the G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere winner were popular at Arqana on Sunday, too: he was responsible for the day's top-priced foal, Haras de la Louviere's lot 522, bought by Jamie Railton for €120,000 out of the unraced Misty Night (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Wootton Bassett also had a colt (lot 399) sold for €70,000 to Mick Flanagan, while Saubouas Bloodstock bought another colt for €52,000.

Another established French sire, Montfort & Preaux's Le Havre (Ire), was similarly popular, with a filly foal bought by Margaret O'Toole for €76,000 (lot 454) and a colt sold for €50,000 to Charel Bloodstock. O'Toole also bought a Showcasing (GB) filly for €70,000. Zoffany (Ire) had a colt bought by Nicolas Lefevre's Equos Racing International for €50,000.

Coolmore's dual Group 1-winning juvenile Pride of Dubai (Aus) may have been bred and raced Down Under, but his pedigree offers plenty of appeal to European breeders and this season has seen the shuttlers first-crop foals offered at the sales. His name was near the top of the sheets for foals at Arqana on Sunday after Philip Stauffenberg signed for a German-bred half-brother to the Norwegian Group 3 winner Fearless Hunter (Alhaarth), for €57,000. Pride of Dubai is by Street Cry, and leading European sires Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB) appear under his second dam. Other first-season sires with prominent results on Sunday were Darley's Territories (Ire), who had a colt sell for €68,000, and Belardo (Ire), with a colt sold for €57,000.