Reasons To Be Cheerful

DEAUVILLE, France—The Life Of Brian anthem 'Always look on the bright side of life' is one that could easily be adopted by the bloodstock industry. There have been crises in the past—in modern times perhaps none so all-pervading as the one we currently face—but, extraordinarily, the horse traders as a collective always bounce back, even if some individuals are lost from the merry band along the way.

Merry would be too strong an adjective to describe the current mood on the Arqana sales grounds but, amid the nervousness of some vendors and the COVID-inspired anxiety of travellers from fellow European countries, there is also a sense of relief that France's major yearling sale is taking place at all, albeit out of its usual season-opening slot in mid-August. 

There is though still something of the holiday atmosphere about the place. This is, after all, Deauville and the sun is shining. And, with apologies for jumping from Monty Python to Ian Dury and the Blockheads within three paragraphs, if that's not a good enough reason to be cheerful, I'll give you two more. Despite quarantine restrictions on returning to Ireland and Britain, plenty of agents and prospective buyers from both those nations have decided to make the trip to France and forfeit 14 days to quarantine once home. What's another fortnight behind closed doors if it means gaining access to some of Europe's best yearlings and still being released in time for the Goffs Orby Sale?

Then there's the continuing air of cooperation between the famously competitive sales houses: witness Arqana and Goffs UK teaming up to host a combined breeze-up sale and, later in the year, Arqana sharing its October auction with its domestic rival Osarus. Furthermore, there's plenty of talk of entente cordiale between agents, with some of those on the ground in France acting as the eyes and ears of their counterparts in America and beyond. 

That global market is fundamentally important to the elite yearling sales in Europe and one which has come to be expected. At Arqana alone last year, Japanese, American and Australian buyers played a significant role in their pursuit of some of the sale's more expensive yearlings. Let's hope their physical absence isn't felt too keenly in the coming days and it will have been reassuring to some to see Mick Kinane viewing horses from Sunday morning on behalf of the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

Dream Is Real For Logis Saint Germain
As this preview was being written on Monday, Michael Tabor's Star Seeking (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) earned her first victory at Leicester and a TDN Rising Star in the process. The team behind Olivier Carli's Haras du Logis Saint Germain will be hoping that another youngster by Gleneagles will be displaying a touch of star quality by this time next year, and the stud's yearling colt by Coolmore's dual Guineas winner certainly has notable markers in his pedigree for this to be far from fanciful.

Being offered on Thursday as lot 277, the colt who carries eligibility for French owners' premiums is a half-brother to this season's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches winner Dream And Do (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who bore Carli's colours to glory in front of empty stands at Deauville when the racing had to be switched out of Paris's COVID red zone. A further crack miler, Charm Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), appears under the colt's second dam, while in the farther realms of his pedigree can be found the likes of Kheleyf (Green Desert) and Holy Roman Emperor (Ire) (Danehill).

While this year has been frustrating for owners who were unable to go racing in the early post-lockdown weeks, there was nevertheless great satisfaction to be derived for the Logis Saint Germain team from the farm's first Classic winner. 

“It has been a strong year of racing for us,” said the stud's manager Jerome Glandais at Arqana on Monday. “Obviously we would have enjoyed going to see our horses racing, especially for the Classic, because we couldn't share the joy with anybody, but having said that we were just grateful that racing was able to take place. For us, being a Classic breeder is something that changes your life.”

Dream And Do will continue her racing career for Katsumi Yoshida, having being sold to Japan's leading owner-breeder after her Classic success. But there should be more to come from the offspring of her 11-year-old dam, Venetias Dream (Ire) (Librettist).

Glandais added, “We kept Dream And Do's [2-year-old] sister by The Gurkha (Ire), who came here to Arqana to the October Sale and didn't make her reserve, so we put her into training with Frederic Rossi.

“With this colt, obviously if he sells well we will let him go, but if we can't sell him we will race him. We will see what the market wants to give for the horse and the idea is very much to sell him.”

Glandais was heartened by the busier sales yards at Arqana on Monday, which included teams from Coolmore, Godolphin and Al Shaqab.

He said, “There seem to be enough people here looking at horses. Obviously not as many as usual as some people have not been allowed to travel, but I believe some bloodstock agents have been asked to do short lists for people who couldn't come, which is a big help. We all need to work together to help the industry because we are all in the same boat.”

The sale's move, first from mid-August to late September, and then forward to this week, has meant only minor adjustments to the schedule for the Normandy stud, which is consigning four yearlings, including another colt by No Nay Never and fillies by Camelot (GB) and Dabirsim (Fr).

“We are missing two weeks' prep because the sale was arranged for the end of September, but I think people will excuse that,” Glandais noted. “The good thing is that the sales are still later than they would usually be and August can come a bit too soon for some horses. The English sales are in October and, generally, from my own experience, the yearlings are better in October as they don't have to be pushed and they have some extra time at grass.”

Olivier Carli, who keeps 25 of his own mares at Logis Saint Germain among a similar number for clients, also has a string of Flat and National Hunt horses in training in France.

“This year, we have changed our direction a little bit because of the success of the filly, so we are inclined to race some more fillies,” said Glandais. “We have about 20 horses in training, some of those in partnerships, and we want to get a good balance between our racing yard and the farm. We also have five or six jumpers and we buy some horses in training as well.”

The sale of Dream And Do, though a loss to the farm as a future broodmare prospect, will help to keep the wheels turning as the racing string expands.

Glandais acknowledged, “Sometimes when the right offer comes you have to let them go, and she has gone to a great owner and we still have her sister. Also the mare has a Ribchester (Ire) filly foal and she is back in foal to Siyouni, so there is a lot to look forward to, we hope.”