Gabbedy snares Sea The Moon filly at Arqana
Belmont Bloodstock’s Damon Gabbedy, acting on behalf of trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy, made his presence felt during the first session of the Arqana August Sale in Deauville on Friday as he parted with €120,000 (approx. AU$204,900) to secure a filly by Lanwades Stud resident Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars).
The filly was purchased for a client of the McEvoys who had dipped their toe into the Arqana pool at the October Yearling Sale in 2021, when they bought two fillies, one by Camelot (Montjeu) and another by Le Havre (Noverre) for €185,000 and €105,000 respectively.
The daughter of Le Havre, now named Cherlinde, made a winning debut for the McEvoys at Ballarat on July 24 and after that success they decided to go on search for more staying fillies in France.
Gabbedy also acts as the Australian and New Zealand representative for the French auction house and he told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday that the filly was exactly the type they were looking for.
“The McEvoys have a client who did an experiment a couple of years ago and bought two fillies out of the Arqana October Sale in 2021. One of them was a Le Havre filly called Cherlinde and she won first time out at Ballarat and looks promising,” Gabbedy told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“He is interested in middle distance, staying type of fillies and was keen to have a go again. He gave me an open brief to find a nice filly, so I found this one by Sea The Moon.
“She is the third foal of a mare who was very lightly raced, winning first time out and had a lot of ability. She then had a paddock accident and they told me she had black-type ability.
“The filly is just a sweetie, with a beautiful temperament and walk. Every time she came out of the box she had her head down, rolling away and doing her job nicely. I loved her, so we decided to have a go at her. That was the last bid, that was our limit.”
Sea The Moon is the sire of 31 stakes winners, including last season’s Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Durston.
He has been in red-hot form in Germany recently, with his talents advertised by Fantastic Moon, who won the German Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) last month, while his daughter Muskova took out the German Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m) in August, leading home a trifecta for the stallion in the Group 1.
On Friday at Cork, the stallion was handed another new stakes winner when his daughter, Term Of Endearment landed the Give Thanks Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 4f). Gabbedy has been impressed with the stallion’s results, describing him as ‘underrated’.
“I think Sea The Moon is a very underrated stallion, because he is doing an amazing job,” the agent said.
Catalogued as Lot 74 and offered as part of the The Channel Consignment, the filly is out of winning Rock Of Gibraltar (Danehill) mare Skyron, who has already produced one winner.
Skyron is out of Listed winner Epatha (Highest Honor), a half-sister to Group 3 scorer Skins Game (Diktat).
Zargos’ first foal makes €500,000
There was a further smattering of Australian flavour on the first day of the Arqana sale with the first foal out of Gerry Ryan’s 2020 Bow Mistress Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) winner Zargos (Shamardal), a filly by Kingman (Invincible Spirit), making €500,000 (approx. AU$853,700) after being snapped up by Al Shaqab Racing.
A winner of four races overall, Zargos was raced throughout her career by Ryan and when she retired Gabbedy brokered a deal, selling 50 per cent of the mare to Ecurie des Monceaux’s Henri Bozo.
She was then shipped to Europe, with Juddmonte-based sire Kingman elected as her first mating.
“Zargos was raced in Australia by Gerry Ryan, so I sold half of the mare to Ecurie des Monceaux’s Henri Bozo, who was brave enough to buy an Australian Group-winning mare,” explained Gabbedy.
“Him and Gerry put her to Kingman and that was a huge result when she made €500,000. It’s a great result for Gerry and it was good to see the Australian Group form come to the fore. She has a Wootton Bassett at foot.”
Catalogued as Lot 123, Zargos is a daughter of Sisters Rock (Rock Hard Ten), a sister to US Grade 2 scorer Doubles Partner and a half-sister to Listed winner Stormy Venus (Stormy Atlantic) and winner Princess Serena (Unbridled’s Song).
Princess Serena herself is the dam of Group 1 winner Zabeel Prince (Lope De Vega) and Group 2-winning pair Queen Power (Shamardal) and Puissance De Lune (Sharmadal), who stands at Swettenham Stud.
Sheikh Mohammed present as Godolphin land €1.25 million Dubawi colt
Talk ahead of the Arqana August Sale revolved around the presence of the principals from racing’s rival superpowers, with both John Magnier and Sheikh Mohammed sighted on the ground in Deauville.
In the event it was the sheikh who had the most significant impact on proceedings as the Godolphin team secured a well-related son of Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) at €1,250,000 (approx. AU$2,134,100).
The yearling in Godolphin’s crosshairs was the colt out of Pretty Spirit (Invincible Spirit) offered by leading consignor Ecurie des Monceaux. The dam is a winning three-parts sister to three-time Group 1 scorer and first-crop sire Persian King (Kingman).
Shortly after the hammer fell the sheikh appeared at the door of his ringside office and promptly exited the packed auditorium with the rest of his entourage.
“All of us were keen to get him,” said Anthony Stroud, a key cog in the buying wheel. “He’s a very good representation of his sire, who’s done unbelievably well. He was very well presented and Monceaux is a brilliant nursery producing very good horses. It’s a lovely back pedigree. We’re very happy to buy him.”
France Galop lists the colt as being bred in partnership between Monceaux, Langlais Bloodstock, who signed for Pretty Spirit at €150,000 at the 2018 Arqana Breeding Stock Sale, Beauregard Bloodstock and David Redvers.
The colt is a sibling to one winner as the dam’s first foal, So Spirit, claimed a minor race at Craon. Her second foal, the Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) colt Geolocation, sold to Oceanic Bloodstock for €90,000 at last year’s August Sale but was subsequently withdrawn from the Ocala breeze-up sale in April.
Just a few lots earlier Godolphin signed for the Dubawi colt out of Pollara (Camelot) at €550,000 (approx. AU$939,000), after which Stroud reflected on Sheikh Mohammed’s presence, saying: “He’s here and I always think it’s great when he appears.
“He’s an extremely busy man, he’s got a lot going on, so for him to appear, as well as John Magnier and other principals, it’s only a good thing for the whole horse world. It’s great when all the main players turn up.”
The seven-figure transaction capped a typically fruitful sale for Monceaux, whose director Henri Bozo said: “I’m delighted and I’m very grateful to the Godolphin team for the support they’ve given us since we started here.
“This gives us a lot of pleasure and a lot of hope because the colt will go to a good home, so I wish them the best of luck. He’s a very good mover from an active family, it’s a stallion’s pedigree. Pretty Spirit is a mare with a lot of quality and I like the idea of Dubawi with Invincible Spirit.”
When asked about Sheikh Mohammed’s presence in Deauville, Bozo said: “It gives a great buzz to all the vendors at the sale. It’s amazing the support Sheikh Mohammed has shown to the whole industry, France, Britain, everywhere in the world. We must all thank him a lot for that.”
Stroud also expanded on what appealed about the colt out of Pollara, saying: “He’s a really nice horse by a stallion who stands at Dalham Hall Stud and really speaks for himself as a champion sire. He’s had a lot of success. We’re very pleased to be able to acquire him from Monceaux, who have had countless Group 1 winners.”
The colt is the second foal out of Group 3 winner Pollara. Upon her retirement from racing the daughter of Camelot was covered by War Front (Danzig) and began making her way back to France when she was signed for by Arthur Hoyeau at US$975,000 at the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale in 2020.
The result of that initial mating was Palazzo, who was sent into training with Christopher Head after bringing the hammer down at €240,000 at last year’s August Sale. The two-year-old colt opened his account at the second time of asking at Chantilly.
Pollara is a half-sibling to the stakes-winning mare Stormina (Gulch), who in turn bred the Wertheimers’ dual Group 1 winner Silasol (Monsun).
Further back it is the family of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Solemia (Poliglote).
Godolphin’s five-strong haul, which also included a €580,000 (approx. AU$990,200) son of Lope De Vega (Shamardal) from Baroda Stud, totalled €2,960,000 (AU$5,053,600), a sum that made the operation comfortably the leading buyer at the session.
Magnier on the mark for Wootton Bassett colt
Godolphin may have landed the session’s headline lot but Magnier’s men made their presence felt when a bid of €720,000 (approx. AU$1,229,300) was struck for a colt by Coolmore Stud shuttler Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj).
Out of White Satin Dancer (Oasis Dream), the Monceaux-offered colt is the second foal out of the half-sister to Group 2 scorer Wild Coco (Shirocco) and hails from Wootton Bassett’s first crop since he switched from Haras d’Etreham to Coolmore.
“He’s a very nice Wootton Bassett and everybody knows Monceaux do a great job raising horses,” said MV Magnier, who was flanked by his father and other key figures in the Irish operation. “He’s a very nice horse and Wootton Bassett is absolutely flying.”
Expanding on the decision to bring Wootton Bassett to Coolmore, Magnier said: “It was [a big commitment] and it’s one of those things that you need luck on your side. Thankfully it looks like it’s worked out and he seems to keep improving his stock every year.
“We’ve got some very good two-year-olds by him and hopefully the future is very bright for him. We’ve sent a lot of our Galileo mares to him over the last couple of years too, so there’s exciting times ahead.”
Wootton Bassett has enjoyed a banner year on the track, particularly with his juveniles as he currently leads the European two-year-old sire standings by prize-money earnings.
Bucanero Fuerte became his sire’s seventh Group 1 winner when landing the Phoenix Stakes (Gr 1, 6f), while King Of Steel won the King Edward VII Stakes (Gr 2, 1m 4f) and was runner-up to Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact) in the English Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f).
Wootton Bassett also sired this year’s Coventry Stakes (Gr 2, 6f) winner in River Tiber. The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt had been expected to contest today’s Prix Morny (Gr 1, 1200m) at Deauville, though Magnier sounded a note of caution over the Royal Ascot winner’s participation, saying: “Hopefully Aidan will run River Tiber.
“He’s going to canter him tomorrow [yesterday] and if he’s happy enough then we’ll go, but he did miss a week of work two weeks ago so he’s a bit worried about his fitness. He was just a little bit sore, it was nothing serious.”
The second time in the session that the €550,000 (approx. AU$939,000) mark was hit came when agent Mike Akers secured the Wootton Bassett half-sister to Lancaster House (Galileo) on behalf of the US-based Bregman Family Racing.
The operation was represented on this side of the Atlantic when No Nay Mets (No Nay Never) contested the Norfolk Stakes (Gr 2, 5f) at Royal Ascot, but Akers explained the new acquisition was part of a longer-term strategy the owners are taking.
“She’s very well bred from a great breeder who has produced a lot of top-class horses,” said Akers. “She’s for Bregman Family Racing, a racing agency who are investing in nice fillies to race on and who could be potential broodmares.”
First crop of Hello Youmzain well received
A total of five yearlings were offered from the first northern hemisphere crop of Cambridge Stud shuttler Hello Youmzain (Kodiac) during the first day of the Arqana August Yearling Sale on Friday.
Collectively the quintet made €635,000 (approx. AU$1,084,100), with the most expensive of the group a filly, who realised €210,000 (approx. AU$358,500) when selling to Kildaragh Stud’s Peter Kavanagh.
Catalogued as Lot 94 and offered by Haras de la Perelle, the filly is out of Listed winner Testa (Acclamation), a half-sister to Group 3 winner Lismore (Zoffany).
Earlier in the afternoon, a colt by the sire was bought by leading French trainer Jean-Claude Rouget for €140,000 (approx. AU$239,000).
Hello Youmzain will cover his third book of mares at Brendan and Jo Lindsay’s New Zealand nursery this upcoming breeding season, where he will command a fee of NZ$30,000 (plus GST).