By Brian Sheerin
'Tis the season to be jolly and, on the eve of the December Breeding Stock Sale where a number of high-class racemares and broodmare prospects, including powerful drafts from Godolphin, the Aga Khan and the Wertheimer et Frere consignment, there was giddy excitement in the air at Arqana.
Fresh from snapping up the 5.4 million gns sale-topper Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) at Tattersalls last week, Yuesheng Zhang was kept busy viewing horses with BBA Ireland's Michael Donohoe while representatives of Juddmonte, Moyglare Stud and a host of high-end buyers combed through the stock on offer at the four-day sale.
The Wertheimer family, who will forever be associated with Breeders' Cup legend Goldikova (Ire) (Anabaa), added Group 1 winner La Petite Coco (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}) to the broodmare band last week but will return to the market as sellers with 21 fillies and mares going under the hammer at the eagerly anticipated end-of-season sale.
Pierre-Yves Bureau, manager of the Wertheimer et Frere stable, revealed that footfall at Barn D on Friday was lively and described himself as hugely satisfied with the job Arqana has done in attracting the international buyers.
He said, “We have been selling here at Arqana for four years now. It has become clear in everyone's mind that we need to sell fillies and mares every year because we want to keep the broodmare band to a certain size.
“We are very happy by the job Arqana does and I also feel a lot of buyers think that it is important to buy from the big consignments because they know we have the families. We still have the siblings, the dams, the daughters, etc, etc, so buyers know that we will continue to support these families.”
He added, “This sale can be good for us as well because sometimes the commercial buyers would do some things that we wouldn't do. We breed to race so, mostly, we use proven sires because we're not going to be selling the yearlings. When buyers try to do something different it can be a win-win.
“I think the catalogue is very strong and all of the main buyers are here which is very important. We will see how it goes on Saturday but the market was very strong in America and at Tattersalls so we hope it will be the same here at Arqana. It is probably the last big sale of the year and it looks like people are still looking for the good ones. There are plenty of people here and we have been very busy.”
Freddy Powell is one of the men faced with the task of attracting buyers and putting the catalogue together but the Arqana executive director wears such responsibility with a smile.
He simply said, “They saw the catalogue and couldn't not be here. The top horses attract the top buyers.”
He added, “We had good results last year, especially with some really good wildcards, and it hasn't gone unnoticed. The challenge this year was to consolidate the catalogue and I think we have done that. It is strong.”
Tattersalls brought the curtain down on a bountiful year with a bonanza of a December Mares Sale by recording sales in excess of 80 million gns. Powell admits that even he cannot make sense of the strength of the bloodstock market at present and is hoping for similarly lucrative results in the next few days.
“It was a very interesting year, talking with potential vendors who had good fillies and mares. Obviously Tattersalls and Goffs had very good sales, so there was a bit of competition, but it was healthy and sound. It was quite fun to put together this catalogue.
“There have been some very good results all around the world from European bloodlines and these pedigrees are very sought after which is why all of the international buyers are here. The Japan Cup winner Vela Azul (Jpn) (Eishin Flash {Jpn}) can be traced back to a good Wildenstein family, the Melbourne Cup winner Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}) came from an Aga Khan family and even the Arc winner Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) came from an Aga Khan damline. People recognise that so it is great to be able to sell horses for those big breeders.”
He added, “I have stopped trying to understand the bloodstock market. It all stems back to what is happening on the racetrack and it has been another really good year for European racing. It's an inspiration for everyone.”
La Petite Coco, bought for 1,000,000gns at Tattersalls, has been retired from racing and will visit Dubawi (Ire) next year, according to Bureau, who revealed the classy Thinking Of You (American Pharoah) was snapped up for $1.5 million at Fasig-Tipton last month.
He said, “We bought a nice mare in America, Thinking Of You, who is in foal to Justify. She was a very nice buy. We also bought La Petite Coco, who is a Group 1 winner, at Tattersalls last week so, if we can find a mare of that level here, we would be very happy. We will keep an eye on what is going on.
“La Petite Coco was a very good performer and she has a wonderful page. She will be retired and we will be looking forward to all of her offspring running for us. We are going to send her to Dubawi to start with and we're looking forward to that. I am sure she is going to be a very nice mare for us.”
Asked what mares he expected to highlight the Wertheimer draft on Saturday, he added, “Solania (GB) (Zoffany {Ire}) is from one of our best families, is group-placed and has a nice rating. It is the family of Plumania (GB) and we are keeping Vagalame (Ire) (Lope de Vega {Ire}), who has been a good 3-year-old, to race on next year.
“Nohand (GB) is a Dansili (GB) mare and is sold in foal to Camelot (GB). She is a sister to Left Hand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) who has a very promising two-year-old called Left Sea (GB) (Frankel {GB}). She was actually a 'TDN Rising Star' when she won on debut at Deauville and she is really exciting for next year. Regalis is also very exciting. We have a very popular group of fillies and mares but those are the three I am expecting to go down best.”
The December Breeding Stock Sale, which boasts Rougir (Fr), Al Riffa (Fr) and Gold Trip among its roll of honour, kicks off at 10am on Saturday.
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