The Arqana Lowdown: Coulonces

Arqana's August Sale bursts from the stalls next Friday which means it will be Christmas before we know it. It also means that over the three days which follow the spotlight will be shone on some of the finest yearlings from France and beyond as the European yearling season gets underway in its customary fashion of part-holiday/part-serious business in Deauville.

In the days building up to the sale, we will be profiling some of the largest drafts at Arqana, beginning with Anna Sundstrom's Coulonces, which has 20 set to go through the ring after a few withdrawals. 

If you are a sales veteran you will know that a chat with the Swedish-born but long-time French resident is the equivalent of an afternoon being bathed in warm sunshine or a good dose of Prozac, depending on your preference. Sundstrom simply does not know how to be negative, which in itself is a great positive in this business.

It is no surprise to hear then that she is brimming with confidence as she counts down to next Friday and, while pulling the manes of some of the members of her select draft, she also took the time to tell TDN exactly why that is so. Selling one of the four seven-figure lots at the 2023 sale, at which Coulonces was the fifth-leading vendor with 14 yearlings sold at an average of €224,714, may have something to do with it.

Sundstrom's two daughters, Moa, 23, and Lillie, 13, are also actively engaged in preparing the yearlings at home as well as showing them at the sales. This week, her friend and co-breeder Charlotte Hutchinson has returned to Coulonces temporarily from her own farm in England to join the team at Arqana as a familiar and welcoming face among that strong team of females.

Anna Sundstrom says: “I think the sale is going to be fabulous. What happened last year is something that everybody in France has been waiting for. The sale was so dynamic and we found it really easy to sell our yearlings because there was such a wide range of buyers. The French horses have been doing great abroad; prize-money is amazing, and we have just been waiting for people to feel that France is an important country as well. It has perhaps always been a little brother to Britain and Ireland, but this year we are there now. There have been so many phone calls and people are feeling that they can't miss being in Arqana. I feel that more than ever it has become a sale that people have to come to.

“For us, it's kind of our Jockey Club, our Derby – a time to show everybody why we've been in hiding all year. And if we've done all that we can I think the people in the stables who encounter these horses later on will love them, because they will be easy.

“I'm so proud to be working alongside both Moa and Lillie. If they were not interested in horses I don't think I would have continued with this passion. I would have always continued with horses, but not with this, because it's so time-consuming, and then I wouldn't be a good mum if they weren't with me. But now we work together during the days and we probably see more of each other than most families do. 

“Moa is 23 now and she takes care of so many things on the farm. I didn't know she wanted to do this but I was always hoping she would want to do this with me. She loves it and she is so interested in all the networking and all of those things. Lillie also has the bug. 

“I think with our family it comes down to the fact that we just really love horses. Whether it's a thoroughbred or not, it really doesn't matter at the end of the day. “The girls have grown up with having to take the responsibility for the horses and all their needs. I'm thankful that they want to be a part of this. And I think it also makes it easier to take a defeat in life because when you are racing there is only one horse who can win the race, and how often is it your own horse? It's a good life lesson.”

Draft highlights

Lot 54, a filly by Sottsass (Fr) ex American Beauty (Fr) (Dark Angel {Ire})

“I worked at the Wildensteins for a couple of years and when I arrived [her granddam] American Adventure was there and she was carrying to Dark Angel and this little filly was born,” says Sundstrom. “She didn't race and she ended up being sold at Arqana as a three-year-old, and Charlotte and I bought her for €20,000. It was very special for us to have such a pedigree but we didn't know how things were going to keep happening in the family.”

Indeed, plenty has happened since then, not least the emergence of Little Big Bear (Ire) and Whistlejacket (Ire), both group-winning sons of American Beauty's half-sister Adventure Seeker (Fr) (Bering). The latter runs in Saturday's G1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes.

Lot 250, a colt by Frankel (GB) ex Palmas (Ger) (Lord Of England {Ger})

The January-born colt is the first foal of the G1 Preis de Diana winner and is being sold on behalf of longstanding Coulonces clients James and Erika Gilliar, who also raced the Listed Prix Rose de Mai winner Fun With Flags (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}). 

“They bought him as a foal with Paul Harley from Gestut Etzean for €260,000. He's very special and Charlotte has direct orders to stay on him!”

Lot 108, a filly by Blue Point (Ire) ex Diantha (Ire) (Dansili {GB})

Out of a half-sister to G2 Dante Stakes winner Thunderous (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), she was a €150,000 pinhook.

“I can't wait for you to see her. You won't find a horse at this sale who walks better than her,” Sundstrom says boldly. “We bought her at Goffs with our Scandinavian friends, and she is from Oghill House Stud, who are such good breeders.”

Claim to fame: Sundstrom and her parents Maya and Jan bred the Prix du Jockey Club winner Le Havre (Ire), himself a graduate of the 2007 August Sale.

“He started everything for a lot of people – not just for us, but for Mathieu Alex, for Sylvain Vidal,” she says. “His success really gave me the wish to do this and to breed, and financially it made a lot of things possible as well. He was incredible and we are always searching for the next one. Maybe it will be this horse whose mane I am pulling at the moment.”

Last word: “We have a very strong draft – on paper but also as individuals. The pedigrees were perhaps lacking a little bit last year even though we had a good sale, so we said what we don't have we will go out and buy, and we knew what horses our clients would support us with. We've never had a draft like this before. It's so exciting. We're counting days.”