By Brian Sheerin
DEAUVILLE, France–The return to the V2 Sale at Arqana worked wonders for the middle market trade on Tuesday with eight six-figure lots going through the ring on a day where over €5.5m was spent on 141 yearlings.
The V2 Sale was replaced by the September Sale 12 months ago due to an oversupply of yearlings but an average price of less than €20,000 on 202 horses sold brought an abrupt end to the new concept.
With the Tuesday average over double that of last year's September Yearling Sale, reverting to the V2 style can be deemed a resounding success for Arqana and tops off a memorable weekend for the sales company following the bonanza of an August Sale.
It didn't take long for the big prices-relative to the stock on offer-to start rolling in at Arqana on Tuesday with lot 328, a Kodiac (GB) colt from Haras de la Louvière, selling to Arthur Hoyeau on behalf of the Windfield Colt Partnership for €200,000.
The Kodiac colt is out of Rainbow Vale (Fr) (Moss Vale {Ire}), herself a half-sister to the black-type performer Rainbow Crossing (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}). She is also the dam of dual listed winner Prince Lancelot (GB) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}).
Hoyeau commented, “He's been bought for a partnership put together to acquire colts. He'll stay here initially and we'll decide later whether he is to be trained in France or Britain.”
“He was one of my favourite colts in the sale and it has been hard going over the first three days so I'm delighted to get him. You have to pay for the nice horses and I think I had Jean-Claude against me so I knew I would have to keep going.”
Of the 167 yearlings offered at V2, 144 were sold at an average of €39,063 and an aggregate of €5,625,000.
Compared to the corresponding sale in 2021, the average climbed almost 30% while the aggregate was up a massive 90%. The clearance rate stood at 86.2%.
The six figure mark has been broken at the #v2YearlingSale as lot 3️⃣2️⃣8️⃣, a brother to PRINCE LANCELOT by #Kodiac @HoStud, was sold to @ArthurHoyeau by Haras de la Louvière for €200,000. pic.twitter.com/kzAl493NSt
— ARQANA (@InfoArqana) August 22, 2023
Breeze-Up Handlers Struggle To Land A Blow
There was a notable turnout from the British and Irish breeze-up fraternity but few managed to land a blow given the competition from the home trainers and buyers from further afield in Europe.
Mick and Sarah Murphy of Longways Stables, who added five yearlings to their team from the August Sale, were not in attendance on Tuesday but still managed to pick up a Galiway (GB) colt (lot 318) for €85,000 from Haras de Beaufay.
Robson Aguiar also picked up a Hello Youmzain (Fr) filly (lot 371) from Etreham remotely for €8,500 while Mark Grant landed a €30,000 Kodiac colt (lot 390) from Haras de l'Hotellerie.
Danny O'Donovan was another breeze-up handler to get on the scoresheet with a Wooded (Ire) colt for €45,000 in what was considered by many players as a competitive day's trade.
Romanised Continues To Earn Plaudits
Romanised was another freshman sire to do well with his only representation in a sale, when a filly of his realised €170,000 at the August Sale, and the Haras de Bouquetot resident posted more decent figures on Tuesday. Of the yearlings offered by the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner, all four were sold for an average of €58,500. That included lot 351, a colt consigned by Haras de Castillon and sold to Pauline Cheboub on behalf of Yellow Agency and Jean-Etienne Dubois, for €87,000.
Al Shaqab Show Loyalty To Wooded
During a busy August Sale where Al Shaqab spent over €4m on 10 yearlings, Benoit Jeffroy described Sheikh Joaan's operation as being back and even hinted that there could be more to come in V2.
That proved to be the case when Al Shaqab demonstrated its loyalty to young stallion Wooded by signing for a colt from Tourgeville for €60,000.
Wooded, who stands at Haras de Bouquetot for €12,000, had one colt in the August Sale and he sold for €140,000.
The G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner enjoyed an encouraging V2 session with nine yearlings making €329,000 at an average of €36,556.
A Sign Of Things To Come With Shaman?
The only Shaman (Ire) colt in the sale was knocked down to Jean-Claude Rouget for €50,000. Best known for his performances in France, including a Group 2 victory over Way To Paris (GB) over 1m2f at ParisLongchamp in 2020, the Yeomanstown Stud-based freshman sire provided connections of lot 347, consigned by Capucines, with a tidy profit for just a €6,000 cover fee. Doubtless we will get a better gauge on how the progeny of Shaman is met by the market in the British and Irish yearling sales in the coming months but he certainly made a decent start at V2.
Good Sale For Galiway
Galiway (GB) is proving himself as one of those good, versatile sires and his stock is clearly on the rise with seven yearlings selling for €519,000 at an average of €74,143.
Bozo Bags Two Nice Fillies
One of the fascinating subplots of the August Sale and V2 was the market's reaction to Etreham's freshman sires Hello Youmzain (Fr) and Persian King (Ire) but one would wager that Nicolas de Chambure and his team will also be happy with how City Light (Fr) has performed in recent days.
City Light has already had runners, of course, and plenty of promising types at that.
Judging by the results posted at Arqana in recent days, buyers have a lot of time for the €7,000 son of Siyouni.
One of the keenest men of City Light's offering was Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International, who went to €115,000 to secure lot 403, a nice filly by the sire and offered by Haras de Beauvoir.
Bozo said, “I thought she was outstanding and she has a great page. For V2, I thought she was outstanding. I loved her. She has a lot of Sea The Stars (Ire) about her.”
He added, “City Light is exciting. He's had a very good start and obviously his sire is fantastic. He's an exciting young sire and has been well-managed by Etreham and the owner of City Light has given the stallion every chance as well.”
City Light had nine yearlings sold at €480,000 on Tuesday. Lot 403 is out of Boscastle, a Sea The Stars half-sister to black-type performers Anothertwistafate (Scat Daddy) and Ajourneytofreedom (Hard Spun).
Bozo went on to add an Olympic Glory (Ire) filly (lot 431) on behalf of Écurie des Charmes to be trained by Christophe Ferland. She was consigned by Haras de Grandcamp and sold for €115,000.
He said, “She is a beautiful filly and has a great page as well and is a half to black-type horses. It was a bit more money than we expected to spend but I think the market is very strong and you have to pay a lot of money for the nice ones. The sales over the past three years have been unbelievably strong and you have to give a bit of money for the best ones.”
He added, “I bought her for old clients and very good friends Carsten Schou and she will be trained by Francois Rohaut, who we have a strong relationship with.”
Buy Of The Day
Lot 420
Galiway filly out of Diamond Lace (Fr) (Iffraaj {GB})
Vendor Haras du Longchamp
Purchaser Coln Pen
Malcolm Bastard may have found himself a bargain at V2. The renowned horseman signed for lot 420, a filly by the rising force Galiway, for just €45,000 and there are plenty of reasons to think he got the value.
Consigned by Haras du Longchamp, there was a lot to like about the Galiway, not least her walk and general conformation.
However, she may not be too early and looks a bit of a project who could flourish in time despite being out of an Iffraaj (GB) half-sister to two black-type sprinters.
She's gone to one of the best outfits there is and, given how well the progeny of Galiway sold all weekend and on Tuesday, she could prove to be excellent value.
Thought Of The Day
Anyone with a mare in foal to Hello Youmzain will be sitting pretty now. Of all the first-season sires on offer here in the past few days, there was an awful lot to like of the Hello Youmzains collectively.
He will be a very short price to end 2024 as the champion first-season sire in France at least judging by the quality of his stock at the August Sale and at V2. As a result, his foals could be hard to buy later in the year.
'V2 Has Found Its Place'
Arqana's President Eric Hoyeau and Executive Director Freddy Powell said, ”The V2 Yearling Sale has found its place in the calendar once again and these exceptional few days at Deauville in August have concluded in the very best way. The sale was particularly dynamic and supported by numerous trainers and agents as well as foreign buyers. The solid demand was underlined by 41 horses sold for over €50,000 in addition to the high clearance rate. We're delighted with these results and we would like to thank our vendors for putting their trust in us as well as our buyers that were extremely active throughout. All these yearlings are eligible for the next edition of the Arqana Series and we hope to see them on the racetrack at Deauville or ParisLongchamp from 2024 onwards.”
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