The Arqana August Yearling Sale was held from 16 – 18 August 2014 at Deauville. There was a wide spectrum of international buyers, ranging from the United States, Japan, China, South Africa, Australia, the Gulf (Qatar, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait), Russia and the whole of Europe.
The new format, tightened to 3 days, produced pleasing results. The turnover reached €39,217,500, up nearly 13% on last year. The average price of €146,998 is the best ever achieved at an August sale and showed an increase of nearly 9% on 2013. Three yearlings were sold for €1 million or more, 16 for €400,000 or more and 54 for €200,000 or more. The percentage of yearlings sold was a record high of 81.48%.
Eric Hoyeau
Arqana chairman Eric Hoyeau was very satisfied with this August sale saying: “The superb results of the August sale prove that Deauville is more than ever a stronghold at the international level, attracting an audience as large as it is varied. This year the huge number of new faces and the depth of the client base in every price bracket were particularly remarkable and are a testament to the genuine strength of the market at Deauville. The quality of the horses on offer and the recurring success of graduates of the sale as well as the well-known attractions of Deauville create an unbeatable package for buyers hailing from all over the world. And of course, the excellence of the French racing system, of our infrastructures and of French industry professionals attracts an increasing number of foreign owners with the ambition of developing a high class racing operation. The dynamism of the August Sale bodes very well for the v.2 yearling sale, which will be held for the second time tomorrow and for the October Yearling Sale. Finally, I would also like to congratulate the formidable work put in by vendors to get yearlings of such quality to the sale as well as that of our teams and of the FRBC who put in such considerable effort for this sale to be a success and I wish every success to the buyers of the 270 yearlings sold since Saturday.”
Lot 11 (Monsun x Sasuela)
The first sale got off to a strong start when Tony Nerses, racing manager to Derby-winning owners Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar, parted with the blockbuster sum of €1.2 million for lot 11, a stunning filly from the final crop of Monsun. The filly’s pedigree received a timely update earlier in the day when her Dalakhani half-brother Seismos, who is a Group 1 winner in Germany, struck in the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury. The session-topper, who was consigned by Henri Bozo’s Ecurie des Monceaux, also had the attraction of sharing her page with a host of talented runners, including five-time Group 1 scorer Schiaparelli and last month’s runaway German Derby winner Sea The Moon. “She was my pick of the sale – an absolute standout,” said Nerses, who was making his first appearance at Arqana since 1990. “Pedigrees like this don’t come on the market very often – it was the best page in the catalogue. I just had to have her. We will take her back to Blue Diamond Stud in Newmarket and make a decision on a trainer after that.”
The sale also proved a rewarding hunting ground for newly crowned SA champion owner, Markus Jooste. Derek Brugman, acting on behalf of the South African syndicate Mayfair Speculators and bidding through Peter Doyle, went to €700,000 for lot 36, a Monceaux-consigned Sea The Stars filly out of an unraced Selkirk half-sister to Group 2 winner Vadamar. “Sea The Stars is doing very well, she’s a good filly and we’re hopeful. She’ll stay in France although we haven’t decided on a trainer yet,” said Brugman.
Lot 81 (Galileo x Dance Secretary)
He went to €170,000 for lot 38, a daughter of High Chaparral out of a full-sister to Welcome Millenium, and bidding through Anthony Stroud, went to €1m for a daughter of Galileo. Lot 81, consigned by Haras de la Reboursiere et de Montaigu, is the first foal out of the Danehill Dancer mare Dance Secretary, who was a winner and Group 3-placed for John Oxx. “She’ll stay in France,” said Brugman. “She’ll eventually join the broodmare band, but we hope she can become a black-type performer before that. She was a cracking filly – we just loved everything about her.” He also spent €650,000 for lot 87, a daughter of Monsun out of a Listed-winning half-sister to the Pretty Polly Stakes scorer Hanami.
Lot 178 (Invincible Spirit x Prudenzia)
The second session, held on Sunday, 17 August 2014, was stolen by lot 178, an Invincible Spirit (Ire) half-brother to G1 Irish Oaks winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) who was also knocked down to Mayfair Speculators for €1.1 million. Consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux, the colt was the third produce of Prudenzia (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) to sell for a seven-figure sum in Deauville in as many years, with her two previous fillies by Galileo (Ire) having made €1.1 million and €1 million, respectively. Derek Brugman, sitting with agent Peter Doyle, said, “In my opinion he was the best colt in the sale. Just a lovely horse–probably still a little bit immature but we have time, and after buying so many fillies we needed to buy a colt as we might need a stallion later on, and hopefully that’s what he’ll be when he retires. Like the others he will stay in France to be trained. We want to expand in Europe and France is a good place with the premiums and the program.
Monday was the final day of the sale. The outstanding lots gave rise to some lively bidding and 34 yearlings were as a result knocked down for €100,000 or more compared to 18 on the same day last year. These yearlings came from 17 different studs including Haras de Tourgeville, Haras des la Reboursière et de Montaigu, Haras d’Ommeel, Haras des Capucines, Haras des Sablonnets, Haras du Mézeray, Haras de Colleville, Haras de Beauvoir, Haras du Logis Saint Germain, Haras des Loges, Haras du Cadran, Haras de Grandcamp, Haras d’Etreham, Coulonces Consignment, as well as Haras de la Louvière, Ecurie des Monceaux and La Motteraye Consignment. Though a number of players from the weekend continued their shopping sprees on Monday, new buyers also emerged including most notably French bloodstock agents and trainers such as Jean-Claude Rouget, who finished at the head of the buyers’ leaderboard for the day. The Pau based trainer bought no less than eight yearling for a total of €645,000.
Lot 294 (Fastnet Rock x Fine And Mellow)
Ecurie des Monceaux had another excellent day with 4 of its protégés among the top 10 highest prices of the session. Highest of the lot was lot 294, top price of the day and a well bred colt by the Coolmore stallion Fastnet Rock out of the Listed winner Fine And Mellow. The latter has already produced two black type horses including Gloomy Sunday, who won the Henry II Stakes (Gr.3) at Sandown. It took a final bid of €210,000 for the colt to be knocked down to Horse France at the end of a duel with English bloodstock agent Ed Sackville. A few hours earlier Ecurie des Monceaux led lot 205 through the ring, a filly by the precocious and very popular Exceed And Excel out of the Listed placed Sweetie Time, a young mare from the family of the matriarch Coup de Folie. The yearling filly was knocked down for €165,000 to Anthony Stroud who was acting on behalf of Robert Jeffcock, an English owner who has been successful at the highest level thanks to Siyouma, a sister to Siyouni who was bought at the ARQANA December breeding stock sale.
Elsewhere the Normandy-based stud had another good result with lot 183, a colt by Iffraaj, sire of the dual Group 1 winner Rizeena, out of Raisonnable, who happens to be as sister to Légèreté, a mare who won both the Prix de Malleret (Gr.2) and the Prix de Royaumont (Gr.3). Acting on behalf of Darley, Richard O’Gorman pushed the bidding up to €160,000 to get his hands on the Monceaux consigned colt. The same agent also had the pleasure of signing the docket at €190,000 for lot 217, a yearling colt consigned by the Haras de la Louvière and also boasting a great pedigree. This son of Classic winner Lawman out of the dual Group 3 winner Top Toss is a brother to Dastharon, second in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (Gr.1) last year and more importantly to the excellent Lesstalk In Paris, twice a Group 3 winner and placed at Group 1 level.
Ecurie des Monceaux received €150,000 for lot 263, a filly by Teofilo out of Bagarreuse, herself a sister to the Group winners Daneskaya and Silverskaya. The filly caught the eye of Chantilly-based trainer Freddy Head, who was standing alongside his client Olivier Thomas. A very new owner Olivier Thomas saw his colours carried to victory this year by another Monceaux graduate named Free Port Lux, a three-year-old colt which he purchased at Deauville and who won the Prix Hocquart (Gr.2) in May before finishing fourth in the Grand Prix de Paris (Gr.1) and second in the Prix Guillaume d’Ornano (Gr.2).
Early in the day MAB Agency set its sights on lot 209 presented by Motteraye Consignment, a horse which he bought for €155,000. This son of Rip Van Winkle will soon run for the same owner as his Listed placed half-brother Frankyfourfingers.
137 of the 170 yearlings on offer changed hands, putting the percentage of horses sold at over 80%. The turnover generated was €9,741,000, an increase of 22% on 2013. The average sale price was €71,102, up by 17.34% compared to the same session last year.
In all, Mayfair Speculators came away with a total of 4 sale lots, spending €2.62million, which put them 3rd on the buyers list, behind Mandore International (principally purchasing on behalf of Sheikh Joaan Al Thani’s Al Shaqab Racing) and Coolmore’s MV Magnier.
A full list of the results is available here
