It is unlikely that Arqana will want to make South Yorkshire the permanent home for its breeze-up sale, but swapping Deauville for Doncaster worked perfectly well last year and, with ongoing tricky travel conditions, the return to the Goffs UK complex in 2021 was perhaps inevitable.
Owing to the relative lateness of last year's sale–which was held several weeks after Royal Ascot on July 1–and the change of location, only 77 juveniles stood their ground, but the returns were good for those vendors who held their nerve. Having been staged in England, the sale was conducted in pounds rather than euros, but even in an unfamiliar currency Arqana returned the top price of the European season–£650,000(€715,000) for a daughter of War Front–as well as posting a record average of £140,698 (€152,417) and a clearance rate of 83%.
It is fair to say that plenty is expected of this year's edition. The jitters that accompanied the start of last year's breeze-up season had largely dissipated by the conclusion of the sales as prices and clearance rates held up far better than had been anticipated in the midst of a global pandemic. We're not out of the woods yet, particularly not in Britain where prize-money concerns will linger far longer than any virus, but the Arqana breeze-up has always appealed to an international market, offering some of the best bred juveniles outside the clutches of the major owner/breeder operations. Even if the buyers can't travel again this year, we can safely assume that they will be engaged, either online, or through agents on the ground at Doncaster.
The persistent rain that has marred the month of May in England continued through to Wednesday's breeze session, ensuring that the turf on Town Moor was on the soft side for the 2-year-olds.
“The track was in magnificent order,” reported John Cullinan, one half of the Church Farm & Horse Park Stud consignment which has its own daughter of War Front for sale this year, and in fact the only juvenile by the stallion in the catalogue (lot 127). This is an auction at which horses by American-based sires have traditionally been well received, with one of its more notable graduates being the GI Preakness S. winner War Of Will, who has now joined his sire War Front at stud at Claiborne.
He continued, “Obviously the rain made it a bit softer than we would have liked but it held up well for the breeze and I think visually it all looked very good and the standard of breezing was very good. There's a very good standard of horse here.”
For a while this spring it had seemed as though the sale would be able to be held in France but with the rate of the Covid vaccination programme in continental Europe not being able to lay up with the strong gallop set in Britain, restrictions on travel would have been too onerous for the largely Irish and British contingent among the group of breeze-up consignors.
“It was a very difficult decision for the sales companies and I wouldn't have liked to have been in their shoes,” commented Cullinan. “Naturally, we would have preferred to have been in Deauville under normal circumstances but that's not the situation at the minute. We're just happy to have a sale and obviously it's difficult for visitors too, so there won't be so many international buyers here but let's hope that won't affect trade too much. There's plenty of data out there for people to work from, and people have become more used to buying online.”
Over the years, buyers have also become more used to the fact that breeze-up graduates can be found across the gamut of races, not just in the early 2-year-old competitions. Indeed, recent G2 Yorkshire Cup winner Spanish Mission (Noble Mission {GB}) is one such example. He was overlooked when offered by Tally-Ho Stud in 2018 and was bought in at 60,000gns. But he was out and winning at two–albeit in November–before developing into a classy international campaigner for Team Valor and Gary Barber. Now five, his earnings have passed the £1 million mark.
The position of the Arqana sale in the calendar , along with its rising profile, has encouraged vendors to aim a later-maturing, classic type of horse at this particular auction.
“We try to match the horses to the sale and when we're buying we try to buy racehorses first and foremost,” said Cullinan. “For this sale here we tend to have the scopier types that won't come to hand as quick at home so the later date [of the sale] tends to suit this type of horse. Most of ours will be next year's horses–they could run at two but the majority will benefit for time and be mile-plus horses.”
He added, “We were very happy with how they breezed–they did what they can do at home which was all we could ask for. They've done the hard part and they've all come back sound, so let's hope the market agrees with us.”
Another departure from the normal routine at the current round of sales is the introduction of an extra viewing day between the breeze and the sale.
“For a sale of this type of profile it is important, especially with the current restrictions of travel,” Cullinan noted. “It helps the overseas people to get involved. It takes time for the data people to get their thoughts down on paper and it also takes time to liaise with overseas people with veterinary reports and so on. It may not be entirely necessary for some of the lesser sales but for this sale I think it's important.”
The level of investment at the yearling sales by the breeze-up buyers has increased in recent years, with many choosing to focus on quality over quantity. From an original catalogue of 158, five wild cards have been added, but at least 35 of the group has been withdrawn, with some of the French-consigned horses having been rerouted to the Osarus breeze-up last month. Just over 120 lots will go through the ring on Friday, with 22 of those horses having already made six-figure sales prices as yearlings.
Cullinan added, “With such a fantastically strong catalogue, a lot of good physicals and expensively bought horses, we are hoping for the best.”
The Arqana Breeze-up Sale takes place on Friday from 11am.
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