By Emma Berry
LA TESTE DE BUCH, France—A steady start on the opening day gave way to much more buoyant trade during the second and final session of the Osarus September Yearling Sale, with a top lot of €120,000 being the second-highest ever recorded at this auction and significant boosts in median and average.
The stallion name at the top of the list was a familiar one—Siyouni (Fr), who last week provided the co-top lost at the BBAG Sale in Germany—but the vendor and breeder of lot 167, Jose Delmotte of Haras d'Haspel, is relatively new to the business of consigning sales-toppers.
One of the most prolific house-builders in France, Delmotte has owned his Normandy farm for a little over a decade and was shrewd enough to buy a share in the Aga Khan Studs stallion whose profile continues to rise.
He said, “To me this was a really, really good colt, a very good walker, and I wanted to bring him here as there were lots of Siyoni yearlings in Arqana.”
Delmotte bought the colt's dam Desert Sunrise (GB) (Green Desert) in 2016 for 62,000gns when carrying to Iffraaj. The 8-year-old is a grand-daughter of Peter Harris's Pendley Farm matriarch and G1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Connaught Bridge (GB) and is a half-sister to the G2 Cherry Hinton S. winner Dora Carrington (Ire) (Sri Pekan).
Haras d'Haspel has not been restricted to success in the sales ring this season as it is also the breeder of the Chad Brown-trained dual Grade III winner Elysea's World (Ire) (Champs Elysees {GB}).
Paul Basquin of Haras de Saubouas signed for colt after outlasting underbidder James Toller and though he is a regular fixure at breeze-up sales Basquin said that it has not yet been decided that his new purchase will follow that route.
“Siyouni is an outstanding stallion—we see it on a daily basis,” he added. “The mare has already produced a winner and this looks like a real racehorse.”
Basquin also stepped in to buy another two of the more expensive lots on Wednesday, both by popular first-crop stallions. He went to €85,000 for lot 182, the only yearling by current leading freshman No Nay Never. The Haras de Grandcamp-consigned filly is out of the listed-placed treble winner Fast Lane Lili (GB) (Fasliyev), whose two winners from two runners include listed Prix Isonomy victor Under The Radar (Fr) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}).
Eight lots later, Basquin was the successful bidder at €80,000 for lot 190 from Haras de Langerais. The son of the listed runner-up Footloose (Fr) (Numerous) continued a good run in the sale for his sire Anodin (Ire), who had 11 sell for an average of €40,545, including the top lot of the first session at €115,000 and a half-sister to Group 3-placed five-time winner The Commissioner (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) out of listed winner Lessing (Fr) (Orpen) (lot 247) who sold for €56,000.
With three six-figure lots across the sale compared to just one last year, and a notably stronger middle-market during the second session, this was the first yearling sale of the European season to show some improvement on last year's returns.
A healthy clearance rate of 82.5% was achieved, compared to 78.5% in 2018, with 213 of the 258 lots offered finding new homes. The median increased to €17,000 from €16,000, while the average was also up, at €23,059 from €21,674. Turnover of €4,504,500 was also up, from €4,001,000, though 12 more horses were sold this year.
There was plenty of attention paid to a bright chestnut daughter of Havana Gold (Ire) in the parade ring and when lot 177 entered the sales arena bidding was swiftly opened at €80,000 by Ghislain Bozo. The agent held his own for a while against Tina Rau but the verdict eventually went the way of the latter at €105,000.
“Her dam was my favourite yearling of her year and she won at two but was then injured,” said Rau, who bought the daughter of Exceedingly Rare (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) on spec with trainer Nicolas Clement.
“I've always followed her progress and this is her first foal who really reminds me of her mother. Let's hope she can fulfil the potential her dam held.”
Exceedingly Rare is a half-sister to the listed winner and group 3-placed Sunday Nectar (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {Ire}). Her Havana Gold filly was originally sold as a foal by breeder Qatar Bloodstock for 50,000gns to Tim Richardson on behalf of Equine Advisory Agency.
When trainer Ed Dunlop and agent Federico Barberini last teamed up to buy a son of Champs Elysees (GB) they ended up with the G1 Ascot Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris (Ire). The duo had to go to more than three times that amount to secure the only Champs Elysees yearling in the Osarus catalogue but were happy to come away with lot 192 at €75,000.
“He was my favourite horse in the sale,” said Dunlop. “Obviously we've been really lucky with Trip To Paris but we really liked this colt and it was worth the trip to be able to buy him.”
Just a handful of lots from the end, the full-brother to recent GI Del Mar Oaks winner Fatale Bere (Fr) (Pedro The Great) was sold as lot 275 for €65,000 to Nicolas de Watrigant. The Haras de la Haie Neuve-sonsigned colt will be trained initially in Chantilly with a view to continuing his career in America having been bought for a partnership which includes a combination of Fatale Bere's owners and Gerard Augustin-Normand.
With an improved set of figures and an increase in the number of trainers in operation, both from home and abroad, Osarus's Managing Director Emmanuel Viaud was satisfied with trade over the last two days. He said, “We've worked hard to try to encourage more buyers to the sale and it was great to welcome Peter and Ross Doyle, Ed Dunlop, Mark Johnston and Archie Watson for the first time. I'm pleased with the clearance rate and we will continue to look at ways to improve the sale but I think more and more people now feel that this is a sale they should attend.”
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