The next round of yearling sales is currently taking place in La Teste de Buch near Bordeaux, with the two-day Osarus September Yearling Sale having got underway on Monday.
This auction has been in steady decline in recent years and that appears to have continued through the first session, which recorded a clearance rate of 58%, with 67 of the 115 yearlings offered finding new homes for total sales of €627,750.
Few will have made much profit along the way, with an average price of €10,425 and median of €9,000, both of which were slightly down on last year's opening day trade.
The session was jointly led by a colt from the first crop of Sumbe's G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde (Ire) and a filly by Goken (Fr), each of whom sold for €30,000. The former, consigned by Elevage de Traou Land, was bought by Equos Racing International, while Haras de la Haie Neuve's daughter of Goken out of the treble winner Terra Nova (Fr) (American Post {GB}) was picked up by Katie McGivern of Derryconnor Stud.
This sale has been a happy hunting ground for the breeze-up sector, with the Group 1 winner Sands Of Mali (Fr) its most notable graduate. Con Marnane bought that son of Panis back in 2016, and he was back in action on Monday, signing for a pair of colts by Romanised (Ire) and Yafta (GB).
Nick Bradley also selected a yearling filly by Yafta, a son of Dark Angel standing at Haras de la Haie Neuve, and the syndicator added a filly by France's leading first-season sire of 2023, City Light (Fr), to his list of purchases.
Pau-based trainer Simone Brogi is currently the leading buyer, with four yearlings purchased on the first day and, as ever, Alain Chopard's Haras des Faunes played a leading role on the vendors' table, with 11 sold so far for €119,000.
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