Arqana Breeze-up Sale

It is the typically interesting opinion of John Sikura that "a stallion's genetic switch is either on or off." The quality and quantity of his books may affect his profile, but his potency (or otherwise) will be operative the day he covers his first mare. Sure enough, six Grade I winners to date for Not This Time all belong to his first two books, conceived at just $15,000. Whatever he might yet achieve with his upgraded mares, paying $135,000 last year and now $150,000, he did not need their help...

Norman Williamson set a new record for the highest-priced horse sold at the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale when his Justify colt was knocked down to Anthony Stroud on behalf of Godolphin for €2.3 million on what was a banner day for the stallion.  The result came less than an hour after Eddie O'Leary broke his own personal record for the highest priced achieved at a breeze-up sale when his Lynn Lodge Stud-consigned Justify colt went the way of Alex Elliott on behalf of Amo Racing for €1 million before the same...

DEAUVILLE, France--The temperature is rising at Arqana and so, too, are the stakes. Breeze-up consignors young and old have made no secret about the fact that trade this year has been tricky, particularly at the middle to lower tiers.  All duck or no dinner, feast or famine--whatever way you want to describe it, vendors have had to negotiate some choppy waters, meaning a lot is still on the line at Arqana when the sale gets underway at 11am on Saturday. But, weirdly, the optimism is palpable. Maybe it's the baking...

DEAUVILLE, France—Nothing good usually comes from constant scrolling on Instagram. That was until last week, when a poem popped up from none other than Muhammad Ali, widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all time--and not a bad poet and philosopher it would seem.  The poem read, "Friendship is a priceless gift, that cannot be bought or sold but its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold. For gold is cold and lifeless it can neither be seen nor heard. In times of trouble, it is...

The catalogue for Arqana's annual Breeze-up Sale, set to be held May 9-11 at Deauville, is now available online. This year 207 two-year-olds are on offer, including the progeny of leading European stallions such as Dubawi (Ire), Frankel (GB), Sea The Stars (Ire) and Siyouni (Fr), as well as top US-based sires such as Gun Runner and Justify. More than 80 stallions are represented altogether. The breezes will take place on the grass at Deauville-La Touques Racecourse on Thursday, May 9, followed by a day of inspections on Friday, May...

DEAUVILLE, France--Close to €38 million had already been spent on juveniles at the four breeze-up sales in Europe to have preceded Arqana, and that figure has now risen to around €59 million following a bullish day of trading in Deauville. Featuring the season's only seven-figure breezer and with a much larger catalogue than usual, it was no surprise to see turnover increase, though a near-50% upturn was perhaps even better than anticipated, with the 140 sold bringing in a total of €21,110,500 to ring the new record bell. Other indicators...

The fireworks continued at Arqana in the evening, as an Oak Tree Farm-consigned Dubawi (Ire) colt (lot 180) made €800,000 on the bid of Godolphin. The February-foaled bay is out of a Kingman (GB) half-sister to stakes winner and Group 1 producer Prudenzia (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) and G3 Prix de Lutece heroine Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Previously a €150,000 Arqana October Yearling Sale alum, the colt's relatives include Group 1-winning fillies Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and G1 Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}).   Offered by Oak Tree...

Lot 145, a son of Siyouni (Fr) and the Lope De Vega (Ire) mare Isabel De Urbina (Ire), became the most expensive yearling of Saturday's Arqana Breeze-Up session to that point, when selling for €1.2 million to Oliver St Lawrence on behalf of Bahraini buyers. Consigned by Brendan Holland's Grove Stud, the bay colt's dam won twice at listed level, and is a full-sister to dual group winner Manuela De Vega (Ire), who was also second in the G1 Grosser Preis von Bayern. Grove Stud picked up the Merriebelle Irish...

DEAUVILLE, France--It would seem that Arqana has pulled off the impossible. Ask ten different people at the sales a certain question and you'd usually end up with ten different opinions. But there is one thing on which everyone patrolling the sales grounds in Deauville can apparently agree, and that is that a pretty stellar line-up of horses has been assembled for the Arqana Breeze-up Sale. The only thing they can't agree on is which horse is likely to top the sale. We'll know that by Saturday evening, and it is...

DEAUVILLE, France--So many of this season's Classic trials in France have been run in testing conditions but the forecast rain stayed away from Deauville on Thursday morning, allowing the breeze session for the Arqana sale to be conducted amid a pleasant mix of sun and breeze on ground that looked forgiving and fair.  Certainly the various consignors appeared to have a pretty relaxed air about them as their horses galloped on the back stretch of the racecourse in front of a decent-sized crowd gathered on the makeshift grandstand. "The ground...

Nine more juveniles have been catalogued for Arqana's upcoming Breeze-Up Sale on May 13. Among them is a granddaughter of group winner Sea Of Heartbreak (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) by Sea The Stars (Ire) (lot 186); lot 187, a colt by Mehmas (Ire) from the family of Classic winner Resless Kara (Fr) (Akarad {Fr}); Too Darn Hot (GB)'s lot 191, a colt out of a sister to Group 1 winner Cityscape (GB) (Selkirk); and a colt out of Grade I winner Lady Speightspeare (Speightstown) by Calyx (GB) (lot 194)....

The North American breeze-up calendar is a busy one, typically offering around 2,500 juveniles for sale over the course of the spring. And while all eyes will be on Ocala this week, American two-year-old buyers in recent years have been rewarded by adding another sale to their calendar: the Arqana Breeze Up. Held this year on May 13, with breeze shows on the 11th and 12th, the catalogue offers 43 two-year-olds by North American stallions, including Accelerate, American Pharoah, Blame, Candy Ride (Arg), Catholic Boy, Curlin, Into Mischief, Justify, Medaglia...