Returning Sea The Stars Colt Heads Arqana Opener 

DEAUVILLE, France–Everything changes, especially the format of bloodstock sales, and Arqana's five-day Octoberfest is no exception. This year Part I has been extended to two days from one, and after the first session in Deauville on Monday, it is probably also fair to say that the more things change the more they stay the same.

Sea The Stars (Ire) was the sire of the top lot. Ecurie des Monceaux, that juggernaut of a French sales consignment, was the session's leading vendor, and Stroud Coleman Bloodstock the leading buyer, but Haras d'Etreham also enjoyed a good day, selling 18 yearlings for an average price in excess of €85,000, and the buyers' list, which naturally featured many local names, also included three purchases for Klaravich Stables as well as a number of Australian interests.

As ever, a reshuffled format, with an expanded Part I, makes a year-on-year comparison tricky, but for the record, a decent day of trade saw 165 yearlings sold (81%) for an average of €77,479 and median of €55,000. The first-day tally stood at €12,784,000.

It's the diehards hanging in there now as the 2022 yearling season begins its steady descent, having generally flown higher than ever, amid the odd bout of turbulence, from Arqana August to Tattersalls October and everything else in between. Those people you were delighted to see strutting around Deauville in swanky shorts in August have moderated their stride to a resigned shuffle and their daily greeting to not much more than a grunt. And who can blame them? We've all seen each other week after week for the last two months, through thousands of yearlings and over endless cups of coffee and the odd bottle of wine. The bonhomie has been replaced by Berocca. 

But, in Normandy this week there are still plenty of reasons to be cheerful. As ever, when there is racing on next door, the sales schedule is dictated by the stakes-race programme, so Tuesday's action in the ring will begin at 2pm once the Prix des Reservoirs and Prix Zeddaan have been run. 'Tis a marvellous three-day meeting this week at the Hippodrome de la Touques, and one which can drop plenty of clues for next year. Take last year's Prix de Saint-Desir for unraced 2-year-olds, for example. Won by Erevann (Fr), who has subsequently won the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein and finished third in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois, the race also featured G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano winner and Arc fourth Al Hakeem (GB), Poule d'Essai des Poulains third Tribalist (GB), and G2 Prix Niel winner Simca Mille (Ire).

Plenty of these yearlings will end up on Deauville's hallowed turf in the years to come, but not the duo of fillies by Wootton Bassett (GB) who provided an early reminder of the international forces still at play when signed for by Michel Zerolo on behalf of American-based Klaravich Stables, which has had such noted success on the US turf with graduates of the Tattersalls October Sale trained by Chad Brown. Zerolo's recruitment on the owner's behalf included lot 90, the late May filly out of Rhodalia (GB), a daughter of Galileo (Ire) and the GI Beverley D S. winner Royal Highness (Ger), at €250,000. This purchase followed the earlier strike for lot 29, the first foal of the G3 Prix de Royaumont runner-up Malevra (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), herself a grand-daughter of the Oaks d'Italia winner Lady Bentley (GB) (Bellypha {Ire}).

Audarya (Fr), bought from this sale by Anthony Stroud five years ago, advertised to a wider audience the scope of Wootton Bassett's capabilities when winning the GI Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, and the sire was met with approval by American buyers on Monday as lot 97, the Le Thenney-bred filly out of Salve Sicilia (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), was sold by La Motteraye Consignment to Steven Rocco at €140,000. The filly's dam is another to have a European Oaks winner as her grand-dam, this one the G1 Preis der Diana winner Salve Regina (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), the sister to Samum (Ger) and Schiaparelli (Ger). 

The top price of the day, the supplemented lot 111b, a Sea The Stars (Ire) colt, was taking his second turn in the Arqana ring in two months, as he was signed for during the August Sale by Chauvigny Global Equine at €675,000. Reoffered here by by co-breeder Haras du Mont Dit Mont to dissolve a partnership, the first foal of listed winner Shamtee (Ire), who is both by Shamardal and from his family (the colt's fourth dam is Irish Oaks winner Helen Street) was bought by David Menuisier at €340,000.

“He will come back to England and we'll try to do our best with him,” said the Sussex-based French trainer. “He has been on our radar for some time as he was here in August but the sale didn't go through. He has been bought for a client who has supported my stable for a long time.” The colt was later listed as bought by Didier Reed's Prime Equestrian. 

Phillipe and Gitte Allaire of Haras de Bouttemont stepped in to buy a strapping daughter of Lope De Vega (Fr) from Coulonces Sales. Offered as lot 200 on behalf of Elisabeth Fabre's Haras de Saint Laurent, the chestnut filly is out of the Listed Prix Dahlia winner Alzubra (GB) (Dansili {GB}) and is a full-sister to Arapaho, a stakes winner in both France and Australia. 

“She has three black-type siblings and we thought she was really elegant,” said Gitte Allaire. “We would like to breed from her later as she has such a lovely pedigree. Now we just have to find a nice name for her.”

Anthony Stroud and Michel Zerolo accounted for the next six lots in descending price order. The Sea The Stars colt from JK Thoroughbreds (lot 164) will race for Godolphin after being signed for by Stroud at €300,000. A three-quarter brother to young Haras du Logis stallion Cloth Of Stars (Ire) out of the War Command mare Warless (Ire), he has one of the strongest pages in the book, which includes the Oaks winner Light Shift (Ire), her son Ulysses (Ire) and the mare's full-sister Shiva (Jpn), both of whom are Group 1 winners. 

Acting on behalf of a client of trainer Simon Crisford, Stroud also signed for Haras du Quesnay's Nathaniel (Ire) colt (lot 144) whose dam Toride (Fr) (Fuisse {Fr}) is a haf-sister to Treve (Fr) and who is already a black-type producer herself, with listed winner Lady Day (Fr) (Motivator {GB}) and Group 3-placed Maximus (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) to her credit.

“We thought he was a very well-balanced, good-moving horse,” Stroud noted. “Nathaniel is of course a Derby-winning sire and this is a good family going back to Treve, and from a wonderful farm that keeps producing good horses.”

Further international interest was provided by Australian agent John Foote, a regular at this auction, who signed for lot 9, Haras d'Ombreville's daughter of Almanzor out of the Listed Winterkonigin Trial winner Komische (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), for €140,000.

The breeze-up boys (and some girls) were still hard at it in Deauville. It will be worth keeping an eye on the Dubawi (Ire) colt bought by Mags O'Toole and Norman Williamson for €150,000 from the Monceaux draft (lot 48). When a yearling by a top sire sells for relatively little, there can be a tendency to think 'what was wrong?', but it's also easy to imagine that those blockbuster names can be off-putting to some who may assume that buyers with deeper pockets will be there to pick them off. 

Williamson is a passed master of turning a well-bred individual into a stellar breezer, and he did so with a Dubawi colt last year. The St Leger winner Eldar Eldarov (GB), who is one of three Group 1 winners in three countries for breeder Kirsten Rausing in 2022, mystifyingly made 'only' £110,000 as a yearling and returned to the Arqana Breeze-up to sell for £480,000. On paper the yearling colt bought on Monday has claims to be every bit as classy as Eldar Eldarov: the first foal of his winning dam Mulan (Ire) (Kingman {GB}), his relatives scattered about the page include Chicquita (Ire), Magic Wand (Ire), Magical Romance (GB) and Channel (Ire).

Tom Whitehead of Powerstown Stuf recruited 12 yearlings at Keeneland in September along with those bought in Europe. The latest batch includes a filly by Siyouni (Fr) from Haras d'Etreham, who was  for €130,000. Her dam Lady Baker (Pioneerof The Nile) is a daughter of the dual Group 3 winner Peace Royale (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}) whose other offspring include the stakes-winning fillies Peace In Motion (Hat Trick) and Peace Society (Iffraaj {GB}).

Underlining the increasing scope in pedigree recruited by those working the breeze-up sector, the same family attracted the attention of Mick Murphy of Longways Stable, who went to €180,000 for lot 68 from Haras d'Etreham. The Lope De Vega colt is out of Penny Lane (Ger) (Lord Of England {Ger}), a Listed-winning half-sister to the aforementioned Peace Royale from a black-type-laden German family.