BBAG Yearling Sale

A member of the Gestut Ammerland dispersal, listed winner Sea The Sky (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}--Sanwa {Ger}, by Monsun {Ger}) realized a €1.25 million final bid from Godolphin during the opening session of Arqana's Vente d'Elevage in Deauville Saturday. The €820,000 Baden-Baden September yearling purchase is a full-sister to German Derby victor Sea The Moon (Ger), out of a full-sister to German Classic winners Schiaparelli (Ger), Samum (Ger) and Salve Regina (Ger).

IFFEZHEIM, Germany--From the established Classic sires to the young pretenders, the full range of the stallion scene was on offer at BBAG, with the yearlings in the main underpinned by some long established German dynasties. It was only right that as his last yearlings took to the ring in the country in which he earned a reputation that eventually spread worldwide, Adlerflug (Ger) was on top for one last time when his daughter (lot 52) from a solid Gestut Rottgen family brought the hammer down at €300,000. Eleganz (Ire) she...

IFFEZHEIM, Germany--Baden-Baden, so good they named it twice. Okay, so the BBAG sales complex and its neighbouring grand racecourse may be in the small nearby village of Iffezheim but it is Baden-Baden that lends its name to the current stop on the European yearling sales tour, now that Donville is in the rear-view mirror. The caravan rolls on, and it is always wise to stay on for a few days in Baden-Baden if time allows as, whether you're a pedigree purist or you simply enjoy a good day out at...

A 235-strong catalogue, featuring a Guiliani (Ire) half-sister to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Tromphe hero Torquator Tasso (Ger) (Adlerflug {Ger}) and a full to Group 1 hero Tunnes (Ger) (lot 75), was revealed for the BBAG Yearling Sale on Saturday. Set for Baden-Baden at 10 a.m. on Sept. 1, the sale boasts an additional 37 full- or half-siblings to group winners, with 51% of the yearlings catalogued out of black-type dams or dams who are siblings to black-type horses. Some of other lots of note include lot 44, a...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--A German breeder, a British stallion, an American buyer. In a fully reopened world, the international participation that had been anticipated ahead of BBAG's major yearling sale was played out as Jason Litt made a splash on his first visit to Baden-Baden when signing for the sole Kingman (GB) yearling in the sale, offered by the day's leading vendor Gestut Fahrhof and commanding the top price of €450,000. Along with Litt, buyers from Britain, China, Ireland, France, Italy, Dubai, Hong Kong, the Czech Republic, and of course Germany underlined...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--His name has been etched into the annals of German racing history as the winner, in 2018, of the Grosser Preis von Berlin, followed three weeks later by the Grosser Preis von Baden. Best Solution (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) then turned this Group 1 double into a treble by flying to the other side of the world and adding the Caulfield Cup to his fine record as a 4-year-old.  In 2020, the Godolphin colour-bearer retired to stud in Germany with a powerful syndicate of some of the country's leading breeders...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--In a special year for German racing as the country celebrates the sport's 200th anniversary, what better way to bring the curtain down on Baden-Baden's Grosse Woche than by having dual German Horse of the Year Torquator Tasso (Ger) return to defend his crown in Sunday's G1 Grosser Preis von Baden? Before that, however, there is the not insignificant matter of around 200 of the country's best yearlings coming under the hammer on Friday in a catalogue that a number of potential buyers around the BBAG sales ground on...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--There has been much for German racing and breeding to celebrate since its premier yearling sale of 12 months ago. That same weekend, Torquator Tasso (Ger), a graduate of the 2018 sale, landed the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden just across the road from the auction house before going on to his memorable victory in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. A reminder, if one were needed, that German bloodlines can mix it with the very best in the world, as also exemplified recently by the GI Beverly...

The catalogue for the BBAG Yearling Sale is now online. Featuring 224 yearlings--38 of which are full- or half-siblings to group winners--one of the most intriguing lots is an Areion (Ger) half-brother to this year's G1 Deutsches Derby hero Sammarco (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) as lot 157 from Gestut Park Wiedingen. Three other lots are full- or half-siblings to Group 1 winners, with lot 58, a Gestut Fahrhof-consigned Frankel (GB) half-brother to Potemkin (Ger) (New Approach {Ire}); lot 134 is a full-brother to G1 German Oaks heroine Diamanta (Ger) (Maxios {GB})...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--After a day of a few false starts and high-priced vendor buy-backs, BBAG's major yearling sale presented its headline act late in the afternoon when Gestüt Haus Ittlingen's Frankel (GB) half-brother to the G3 Hamburger Meile victrix Calyxa (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) sold for €350,000 to Godolphin. From a smaller catalogue this year,195 horses went through the ring and though some of potential star acts were returned to their breeders, the day's clearance rate was greatly improved on recent years at 79.5%, with 155 yearlings sold. That upturn from 66.5%...

BADEN-BADEN, Germany--There was a dramatic start to the day on the eve of Germany's premier yearling sale at BBAG when a number of agents, vets and consignors were evacuated as the Radisson Blu Badischer Hof Hotel caught fire in the early hours of Thursday morning. Solenn Gouesnard of Haras d'Ombreville was taken to hospital temporarily with smoke inhalation but everyone else escaped unscathed, though many were left without clothes and passports. "We spent all night on the street in pyjamas," said Matt Coleman, who had arrived with a group which...

Baden-Baden's 'Grosse Woche', which includes some top-class racing action alongside music festivals and Germany's major yearling sale at BBAG, begins on Sunday, with the G3 Preis der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe as the highlight of an 11-race card. After a 10-month break, and with the racecourse at Iffezheim under new management, the 'Super Sunday' fixture ushers in four meetings--down from six in previous years--throughout the week, culminating in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden the following Sunday. Among those set to line up in this Sunday's Group 3 contest over 2,000 metres is...