Paddington 2: The Sequel?

DEAUVILLE, France–The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe trophy, a pared-down replica of Paris's mighty monument, was in residence at the Arqana restaurant, where diners were treated to a complimentary glass of champagne courtesy of the owners of Ace Impact (Fr), Serge Stempniak and Kamel Chehboub. Some of us had work to do, however, and a solid opening day of Arqana's October Yearling Sale had more than a little fizz about it here and there. 

Frankel (GB) may rule at Tattersalls, but in Deauville we are in the court of France's champion sire Siyouni (Fr), whose 10 yearlings sold on Tuesday returned an average price of €189,500 and included one of the day's co-top lots at €420,000.

With a touch of déjà vu, that colt bore several similarities to one of the leading lights of the sale a few years ago. Both were bought on behalf of Coolmore by Laurent Benoit, who, after outbidding Anthony Stroud, said,  “He's by Siyouni out of a Galileo mare. It's the same price, same stallion and also the same underbidder as Paddington, and I think he will have the same trainer as Paddington. Let's hope he's as good as him.”

One of the differences in this case was the vendor of lot 132, which was Haras d'Etreham, who sold the son of the Grade III-placed Galileo (Ire) mare Decorating on behalf of his breeder Craig Bernick of Glen Hill Farm.

Sharing his podium at the top of the leader board was Fairway Consignment's colt by Zarak (Fr) (lot 101), who will head to Norway after being signed for by Ross Doyle on behalf of his longstanding clients Magne and Bente Jordanger.

“We were given the mandate to find a horse to win Classics in Scandinavia, the Norwegian Derby, hopefully that's the plan. He was on a very short list and the one we wanted to get,” Doyle said.

“He's for Magne and Bente of Stall Perlen and will go to trainer Wido Neuroth. He was a magnificent colt and every time we saw him he was very relaxed.”

He added, “They've won the Norwegian Oaks recently with a filly we bought them by Night Of Thunder [Thunder Sea]. Scandinavian owners are very competitive. Mr Jordanger said to me that he's at the stage of his life where he wants to drink the best wine and buy the best horses.”

We can all drink a toast to such a sentiment, and the largesse of the Jordangers, along with plenty of other buyers on the day, led to an upturn in trade from last year. The 170 yearlings sold on the day pushed the clearance rate up slightly to 82%, while turnover rose by 21.5% to  €15,581,000, and the average was also up, by 18%, to €91,653. The median increased from €55,000 to €70,000.

Another busy day for Stroud

Despite being denied one son of Siyouni, Anthony Stroud had already secured lot 47, a half-brother to last year's October Sale topper, at €350,000. Offered by Haras du Mont dit Mont, the colt is out of Shamtee (Ire) (Shamardal), a Listed winner from the further family of stallions Territories (Ire), Street Cry (Ire), Shamardal and Victor Ludorum (Ire).

The Siyouni colt will join Andre Fabre's string for Godolphin, and was one of 14 purchases by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock during a busy Tuesday. Also on the list, for an unnamed client, was the Sea The Moon (Ger) half-sister to Group 1 winner Simca Mille (Fr) (Tamayuz {GB}), who was sold by her breeder Haras de la Perelle for €260,000.

In a further fitting tribute to the late Lady Chryss O'Reilly, her Haras de la Louivière draft was responsible for the joint-top-priced filly of the day (lot 29), a daughter of Wootton Bassett (GB) who was bought by Jerome Glandais of Ecurie de Launay for €260,000.

Out of the unraced Sablonniere (Fr) (Verglas {Ire}), she is a full-sister to the Listed Prix Ridgway winner Dream Works (Fr) and a half to the Group 3 winner King Malpic (Fr) (King's Best).

Pair of fillies for Sumbe

Sumbe had a busy day announcing two new stallions for next year [see accompanying story] and Nurlan Bizakov's team also recruited two new yearlings on Tuesday, lots 77 and 131. The first, a daughter of Bated Breath (GB) from La Motteraye Consignment, is a half-sister to the dual Listed winner Shalromy (Fr) (Shalaa {Ire}) and was bred by Frederic and Jennifer Bianco. She was bought for €240,000 and Sumbe later went to €260,000 for a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly out of a half-sister to the Arc winner Danedream (Ger) (Lomita's {GB}) from Ecurie des Monceaux.

After signing for the Bated Breath filly, Nurlan Bizakov said, “It's a lovely family which we know well as Shalromy was born and raised at the stud for her breeders. The mare also boarded at Hesmonds Stud when she went to England to be covered. I am a fan of Bated Breath who is a consistent sire.”

One and done for Holland

Brendan Holland of Grove Stud completed his set for next year's breeze-up sales with the purchase early in the session of a colt by Siyouni (Fr) out of the Group 3-placed Over Reacted (Fr) (Planter {Ire}) from a family that includes the recent G1 Preis von Europa winner India (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}). Catalogued as lot 4, he was sold by Haras de Grandcamp for €175,000.

Reflecting on the yearling trade in general this year, Holland said, “I've found it difficult to buy the colts that I wanted. The market was more selective and maybe I'm getting more selective. I was also selling and the market was a bit patchier, for sure, and more selective, so that made it more difficult on both sides. 

“That was the same starting in Doncaster and all the way through Keeneland, it was difficult to buy nice colts. We had to stretch to buy the colt this morning. He's a nice colt with a good pedigree, out of a good mare by a good sire, but that type of colt is getting harder to buy.”

He added, “The spend has gone up the last five years to produce these two-year-old horses. My numbers are always around 20 to 25 horses and everyone is trying to up their quality, it's not just me, but the rest of the lads as well. The results of that have been showing on the track, too. And we're looking at a broad range of horses as well, it's not just a narrow band of two-year-old types.”

Camelot is King for Brummitt

Ecurie des Monceaux sold 20 of its 25 yearlings through the ring on Tuesday. The full-brother to Sottsass (Fr) was withdrawn on the day but among those to be sold was a Pinatubo (Ire) colt out of the Group 3 winner Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Offered as lot 6, the half-brother to black-type performers Paix (Fr) (Muhaarar {GB}) and Sir Bob Parker (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) was knocked down to Jean-Claude Rouget at €210,000. 

From the same family and eight lots later was a Camelot (GB) half-brother to the G2 Debutanate S. winner and G1 Moyglare Stud S. runner-up Vespertilio (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}). The son of Pacifique's half-sister Prudente (GB) (Dansili {GB}) was selected by an avowed fan of Camelot in Jeremy Brummitt. 

He said of lot 14, “What sets apart Camelot and Montjeu is the way they move, and this is the only yearling I've seen all year who moves in the way that I'm looking for. Nothing wins a race standing still. So I bought the horse that moves in the way that I want, because I think that's why that particular line, or those two stallions, father and son, are so good.”

Brummitt added, “He's been bought for an existing, undisclosed client called Bjorn Nielsen.”

Nielsen previously raced a close relation to this colt, English King (Fr), who is also by Camelot and is a half-brother to the yearling's dam Prudente. He won the Listed Derby Trial at Lingfield before running fifth in the Derby itself.

Talking Points

• Monceaux once again leads the vendors' list with 20 sold for €2,368,000, and Charles Briere's Fairway Consignment had a good day selling five yearlings for an average of €167,000.

• Anthony Stroud and Matt Coleman of Stroud Coleman Bloodstock were the most active of the buyers and signed for 14 lots to the tune of €2,180,000.

• Haras d'Etreham's freshman sire Hello Youmzain (Fr) continued his run of popularity at Arqana with 15 sold through the first day for an average of €78,000, which is more than three times his opening fee.

• Chachnak (Fr)? Yep, I had to look him up too. The dual Group 3-winning son of Kingman (GB) stands at Haras de la Gastine for his owner Jean-Pierre Dubois and has three members of his 33-strong first crop catalogued at Arqana this week. The first sold for €15,000 to trainer Christophe Escuder.

• In keeping with so many sales, the figures at Arqana's October edition have been increasing in recent years. The first day's aggregate this year, which weighed in at €15,581,000 for 170 sold, is not that far off the turnover for the whole sale in 2019, which stood at €16,957,000 for 414 yearlings. 

Buy of the Day 

Lot 37: Colt by Waldgeist (GB) – Sassella (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire})
Vendor/breeder: Gestut Ammerland
Buyer: Richard Venn, €35,000

Those associated with Waldgeist would probably have liked to see him have a few more winners by now but it's never wise to make judgments on stallions until at least the end of their second year with runners. As a progressive middle-distance horse bred jointly by three of the best operations in Europe it is fair to expect to see his offspring make more of an impact at three. It is also worth remembering that two of the buzz names of the year, Arc winner Ace Impact (Fr) and young sire Justify, did not appear on the racecourse until their three-year-old seasons.

In the case of lot 37, the colt was bred by one of the Waldgeist trio, Gestut Ammerland, whose impact on European racing has been pronounced over several decades, and whose presence we will miss after the stud's remaining breeding stock is sold at Arqana in December. 

Ammerland's Dietrich von Boetticher was not only the co-breeder of the colt's sire but also bred his dam and broodmare sire. Sassella won the Listed Prix Belle de Nuit, while her dam Sevenna (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) has produced another four stakes winners, including Sevenna's Knight (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), who runs in the Listed Prix Vulcain at Deauville on Thursday.

There's a lot of pedigree for that price and, if given the time he may well need, his owner and trainer could well be rewarded. The colt is heading to England to new Lambourn trainer Charlie Pike for owner Gary Gillies. Best of luck to them.

Thought for the Day

Boy, did the Arqana auctioneers speed things up on Tuesday. Bravo, merci, et encore!