Selecta A Success In Tough Times

The second renewal of Argentina's Gran Venta Selecta yearling sale at the San Isidro racecourse sales pavilion on Sunday provided a bright patch during a difficult time for the racing industry and beyond, with co-proprietor Pablo Zavaleta admitting even he was bowled over by the robustness of trade.

Zavaleta, owner of Haras Vacacion, and Julio Menditeguy of Haras Abolengo staged the first Gran Venta Selecta last March. Each committed their best yearlings to the sale with hopes of someday building it into an event for the international bloodstock calendar. They appear to be another step closer to that goal.

A top price of $125,000-excellent for Argentine standards-was paid for lot 2, a Vacacion-bred filly by leading local sire Fortify-a Godolphin-raced son of Distorted Humor-who is out of Group 2 winner The Rosy (Arg) (Hennessy) and a full-sister to G1 Gran Premio Jockey Club winner Roman Joy (Arg). She was bought by Australian Dave Mee, who operates as Pinhook Bloodstock International, and will eventually race in Singapore. Mee signed for two fillies; he also paid $37,000 for lot 8, a daughter of In The Dark (Arg) and a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Lenovo (Arg) (Roman Ruler).

As they did at last year's sale, well-bred fillies dominated the day, and South Africa's Justin Vermaak continued the trend of international trade when paying $90,000 each for a pair of fillies by champion sire Equal Stripes (Arg) and from the same female family. Lot 5 is a daughter of Group 2 winner City Tune (Arg) (Easing Along), while lot 13 is out of a half-sister to City Tune's dam. Both fillies were bred by Abolengo and are from the family of the stud's most famous export, Candy Ride (Arg) (Ride The Rails). Mee's and Vermaak's purchases will all remain in Argentina for their early education before shipping abroad.

Fillies filled the top six spaces on the leaderboard-including a $65,000 filly from the first Southern Hemisphere crop of War Command-and the trend was broken by one of three offerings of Jose Luiz de Pieri's La Providencia: lot 12, a Cityscape (GB) half-brother to Argentine champion and American Grade I winner Hi Happy (Arg) (Pure Prize) who sold for $65,000. The second renewal of Gran Venta Selecta was supplemented by a handful of select offerings from leading studs La Providencia and Embrujo.

With heavy restrictions due to the coronavirus pandemic imposed in Argentina-the country's greatest race, the G1 Latinoamericano, was run the day prior to the sale at San Isidro without spectators-Zavaleta and Menditeguy were operating under testing conditions. Zavaleta said it was the quality of the stock and their pedigrees that saved the day.

“The sale was made by Equal Stripes, Hurricane Cat and Fortify, who are the top stallions in Argentina and South America-Equal Stripes and Hurricane Cat were first and second in the Latinoamericano,” Zavaleta said. “We were also helped by the fact that the top [industry players] from the region were here for the Latinoamericano on Sunday. We were worried it was going to be tough but it turned out very, very good. In a quite difficult environment, what saved the sale was the horses.”

Zavaleta assured that government regulations related to public gatherings were adhered to and attendance restrictions were implemented.

“We followed all the restrictions from the state; our sales pavilion is big and we spread apart the tables and showed the horses in open air,” he said. “We followed all the regulations. There was a big percentage [of shoppers] that decided not to come for obvious reasons but they were connected by phone.”

Zavaleta and Menditeguy spent the months prior to the sale traveling the globe to spread the word and get their catalogue in the hands of horse people.

“We worked hard to promote the sale,” Zavaleta said. “We visited more than 40 trainers in Singapore two months ago. We went to South Africa, Australia, and we dropped our catalogues personally to many trainers. We had conversations with owners who were very excited about the idea of coming and buying in Argentina. We were also able to share ideas and experiences with all the people we visited.” Click here for the catalogue.