Starspangledbanner Filly Tops V2 at 115K as Key Figures Dip at Arqana

One of the first indicators as to how strong the middle tiers of the European yearling market will be this autumn was provided at the V2 session of the August Sale at Arqana where a Starspangledbanner (Aus) filly led the way at €115,000 when sold to Arthur Hoyeau.

The filly was consigned by Charles Brière's Fairway Consignment and was one of only two yearlings to break the six-figure barrier, the other being a Siyouni (Fr) filly that was sold to Nicolas de Watrigant on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing for €100,000.

Tuesday's top lot was bred by Tony Parker at his Haras de Quétiéville. She is out of a sister to the former basketball player's French 1,000 Guineas heroine Mangoustine (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

A 79% clearance rate, which was down 6% on this corresponding sale last year, followed on from the 6% drop in the August Sale. The average fell by 14% and the aggregate by 19% to €4.523 million. The median was also down by €3,000 to €27,000.

“The day ended with very satisfying results, following on from an historic year in 2023,” read an Arqana statement on behalf of Freddy Powell and Olivier Delloye. “With 80% of horses sold and an average price of €33,000, this sale was one of the best v.2 sales since its creation. This sale is now well established in the yearling sales calendar and the very good turnout from French trainers is testament to this, and we would like to thank them warmly. Many of the yearlings sold today will remain in training in France and we wish them every success in the ARQANA Series next year!”

Brière had strong representation in both sales and described trade as “patchy”. He also revealed that the breeze-up buyers, who accounted for just four of the horses sold at the August Sale, were not as active this year which ultimately proved bad for business.

“I'm delighted with that price for the Starspangledbanner,” Brière said. “Obviously she is by the right sire and we sold the sister here last year for €105,000. The high end of the market, I wouldn't say that it is easy, but it's strong. The lower end of things was much more difficult and I think we have been missing a lot of breeze-up buyers here over the past few days. That makes a bit of a difference. French trainers are usually a little bit more active at V2 than at August Sale, which we saw today, but the breeze-up people buy quite a lot of horses between €50,000 and €100,000 and you could see that they weren't here this year.”

He added, “It wasn't easy for the breeze-up handlers this year. You know, if they don't sell their horses, they need to be more careful going forward. There are more sales coming and this is only the first one so we will see how the next few weeks go but I think it's definitely gone very selective. I think it will be more difficult at the lower end this year. Last year, we saw a bit of a drop in Britain and Ireland but we were actually okay in France. Everywhere is the same. Look, it's not dramatic–I think the clearance rate was up to 79% when I last checked-and we still need to be positive. The sales have been so strong for the last few years, maybe we have to be realistic in this industry to what is going on in the world.”

All told, Fairway sold nine of the 11 yearlings offered at an average of €37,556. The outfit sold five of the six yearlings offered at the August Sale for an average of €108,000. Brière, who has spent time working with Coolmore, Castlebridge and even Peter O'Callaghan in Kentucky, says that he remains positive about the health of the market at every level in France.

“It can be very hard to decide what you are going to do next. Do you buy higher quality horses for the top end which seems to be as strong as ever? Then if you are a breeder, you need to decide whether you go to the big stallions who obviously cost a lot of money. I only have 10 mares on the farm and I do a lot less pinhooking nowadays than I did before. I've started to buy a few more mares for myself and my clients.”

He added, “There are lots of positives. The French premiums mean that, if you don't sell, at least you still have a chance of getting a bit of money back on the racetrack. The other good news is that there seem to be some nice sires coming through. The progeny of Armor (GB) and Victor Ludorum (GB) seemed to sell well here this week so there are positives as well.”

First Galiway For Emmet Mullins
The secret has long been out that the dominant National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins is a big fan of Galiway (GB). Not only has Galiway proved to be a source of top-notch talent on the Flat, with Sealiway (Fr), Sunway (Fr) and even Mullins's high-class Vauban (Fr), but many of his stock have done well over jumps.

Grand National-winning trainer Emmet Mullins, a nephew of the champion handler, went to €80,000 to secure his first ever Galiway.

The colt was offered by Haras de la Cauviniere and was reported by Mullins to have been purchased with a Flat career in mind first and foremost.

He said, “I thought he was one of the nicest horses here today-a nice stamp of a horse with a good pedigree. He could be a dual-purpose type and the sire is doing well. It's a good cross with Galiway and Kendargent (Fr), as we saw with Gala Marceau (Fr).”

Mullins added, “I haven't had a Galiway before so it's nice to land one. He should make up into a nice backend two-year-old and that will all stand to him if he does end up going jumping further down the line. But we'll give him every chance on the Flat first.”

Dream Debut For Hestia
Sebastian Defontaine of Hestia Farm spoke of the heightened importance to his debut draft of yearlings at Arqana on the eve of the sale. He and his wife Camille are expecting their first child together in November meaning good results in the ring would be timely.

The couple couldn't have dreamed of a better start when their Armor (GB) colt that was picked up for just €13,000 in December was knocked down to Al Shaqab Racing for €55,000 while their €10,000 Goken filly sold to Federico Barberini for €15,000.

Armor proved himself a fast and precocious two-year-old for Al Shaqab, winning the Molecomb Stakes and finishing third in the Middle Park before retiring to stud at Haras de Bouquetot. His first crop seems to have been well-received by the market this week, with six yearlings selling for an average of €47,000.

Commenting on his excellent pinhook with the progeny of Armor, Defontaine said, “Very happy. We bought the Armor with some friends and everything went well so everybody is happy. The horse looked great and I am very happy that he will stay in France because I really want to see him run. It's a great result for us but, not even the money, getting a bit of success can only be a help for business.”

Menuisier Adds 85k Armor Filly To His Shopping List
David Menuisier set out on assembling a bunch of early two-year-olds for next season when snapping up a half-sister to his Golden Mile winner Toimy Son by Armor. Conscious that he can sometimes be pigeon-holed as an exceptional trainer of only stayers, Menuisier is keen to attract some sharper, quicker horses to his stable and the Armor filly is from a family he knows well.

He said, “I bought Toimy Son at the Arqana Sale a couple of years ago and he needed a bit of time to adapt to England. He has turned a corner this year and won the Golden Mile at Goodwood the other day. This half-sister to him seems to be a quality filly and is precocious. That is what I am looking for because I have a tag on my face that says I only train stayers!”

He added, “I am trying to have a few sharper types to tackle the early two-year-old races next year. I think she is exactly in that range. She has been bought by pretty much the same partnership who own Toimy Son. It's a nice group of friends and we get on really well so it's a pleasure.”

Talking Points

• Armor may not have been on many people's radar heading into the sale but his stock was bought by some shrewd judges here on Monday and he could well be something of a surprise package. At just €5,000, Armor might be a decent source of speed for breeders who can't afford access to the Scat Daddy line.
• The French-based trainers didn't appear to be too active at August which may have been one of the reasons why trade was down, but the domestic handlers supported V2 quite strongly. Jean-Claude Rouget, who recently announced that he was joining forces with Jerome Reynier next year, was the busiest trainer. In fact, Rouget was listed as the buyer of five yearlings for €222,000 which made him the strongest buyer at the sale.
• The Premier Yearling Sale at Doncaster and the Somerville Sale at Tattersalls should provide a proper insight into the strength of the market later this month. It will also be interesting to track whether the strong US buying bench that was so notable during the August Sale will continue on to the Book 1 and the Orby.
• John Stewart could be an important player. Through Resolute Racing, Stewart spent just shy of €2 million on three yearlings. He could prove to play a leading role at the top yearling sale markets in Britain and Ireland.

BUY OF THE DAY

LOT 370, filly by Sioux Nation
There may not have been a huge representation from the breeze-up fraternity but Glending Stables got up and running for the new season with lot 370 and the €48,000 that Roderic Kavanagh forked out through agents Peter and Ross Doyle made a lot of sense.

A daughter of a listed-placed Pivotal mare, who has already produced two winners, including the black-type performer Bakhchisaray is sure to have been on many buyers' lists given how well Sioux Nation has done on the track and in the ring.

A late May foal, the Sioux Nation filly will need to thrive in order to be ready in time for the breeze-ups, but she couldn't have gone to a better nursery with Glending's roll of honour headed by the brilliant dual Group 1 winner Vandeek.

Quite a leggy filly, who looks as though she could blossom over the coming months, it wouldn't be any surprise to see Kavanagh and his team turn their €48,000 outlay into six figures at the Tattersalls Ireland breeze-up sale next year.

If they got a dream run, who knows, she could even be the type to come back to Arqana for the breeze-up sale in May. She looks well bought.