By Emma Berry
LA TESTE DE BUCH, France—Trade took a while to hit its stride during the first session of the Osarus September Yearling Sale but it finished with a bit of a flourish as Pierre Yves-Bureau went to €115,000 for a second-crop colt by Anodin (Ire) to race in the colours of stallion's breeders, Gerard and Alain Wertheimer.
Sold as lot 126 through Haras de l'Hotellerie, the half-brother to six multiple winners is a son of the Woodman mare Bahia Gold, herself a daughter of the G2 Prix d'Astarte victrix Lady Winner (Fr) (Fabulous Dancer) from a family that includes Juddmonte's Group 1 winner Aryenne (Fr).
“There are a lot of nice Anodin yearlings in the sale but this is the one I liked the best,” said Bureau, who divulged that the Wertheimers have sent the young Haras du Quesnay resident another 25 mares this year. “We want to continue to support the stallion as we did at the [Arqana] V.2, and as we have done with Intello (Ger). It's our way of thanking the breeders, like Haras de l'Hotellerie, who have supported Anodin. We're very pleased with the start he has made with his first runners.”
That first crop includes another Wertheimer yearling purchase, Harmless (Fr), bought in Deauville for €35,000 and now the winner of the listed Prix Roland de Chambure with an entry for the G1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day.
Making their first visit to La Teste for this sale, Peter and Ross Doyle made their presence felt when signing for the second-top lot of the session on behalf of Middleham Park Racing. The Haras de Grandcamp consignee by the farm's resident sire Dabirsim (Fr) (lot 110) brought the hammer down at €98,000.
Out of the Tertullian mare Amazing Bounty (Fr), a half-sister to the German listed winner Amazing Beauty (Ger) (Bahamian Bounty {GB}), the colt's full-brother All This Time (Ger) is already a winner and listed-placed in France.
“He's a very nice colt, very easy on the eye, and a good mover who looks like he'll make a nice 2-year-old type,” said Ross Doyle, who added that, like Middleham Park Racing's unbeaten juvenile Boitron (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), the colt will be trained in England by Richard Hannon.
Bought at this sale last year by Sylvain Vidal and Nicolas de Watrigant, Boitron races in partnership for Middleham Park and Gerard Augustin-Normand and is under consideration to be supplemented for the G1 Vincent O'Brien National S. during the Irish Champions Weekend after winning at listed level in mid-August.
“We're going to leave the decision until as late as possible to see what the ground is like but we're definitely thinking about it,” said Tim Palin of Middleham Park.
Within the first half an hour of the session, a strong, dark brown son of Manduro (Ger) (lot 9) also from the draft of Haras de l'Hotellerie created an early flutter when selling for €65,000 to Ghislain Bozo. The Meridian International agent has so far bought seven winners of assorted Scandinavian Derbys and this colt will be aimed that way eventually after starting out in Chantilly.
“He's for a Scandinavian client of Pia Brandt and will be trained in France to begin with but will hopefully be considered for the Scandinavian Classics in the future,” said Bozo.
Marc-Antoine Berghgracht went to €45,000 for lot 61, a colt by Makfi whose full-brother Mon Cheri (Fr) is a Slovakian Derby winner and whose dam Skysweeper (Fr) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) is a half-sister to Royal Hunt Cup and listed winner GM Hopkins (GB), by Makfi's sire Dubawi (Ire).
Along with a range of French owners and trainers, international support for Osarus came from Tom Biggs of Blandford Bloodstock, attending the sale with trainer Archie Watson, who signed for three yearlings including a first-crop colt by Haras de Colleville's Galiway (GB) (lot 26). Mark Johnston and Gay Kelleway both made multiple purchases, while breeze-up pinhookers Ambrose O'Mullane and Mary Reynolds of Ardglas Stables, Thomond O'Mara, Katie Walsh and Con Marnane were all on the list of buyers.
In line with the market trend elsewhere in Europe this season, figures dipped a little overall during the first day, though the median held steady at €16,000. The average was down to €20,280 from €21,636, and the aggregate stood at €1,920,000, down from €2,437,000. The clearance rate dropped four points but was still a reasonably encouraging 79% for 100 horses sold from 127 offered.
The second session of the sale commences slightly earlier today at 12 noon local time.
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