The Fugue relation tops Arqana at €730,000
The top lot on day two of the Arqana August Yearling Sale came around two hours into the post-racing session on Saturday when Solis/Litt Bloodstock struck an online bid of €730,000 (approx. AU$1,207,500) for Haras de Castillon’s Sea The Stars (Cape Cross) filly out of La Vie (Shalaa). The filly was bred in partnership by Al Shaqab and Sunderland Holdings.
The youngster, the first foal out of a Shalaa (Invincible Spirit) half-sister to champion racemare The Fugue (Dansili), was purchased on behalf of US-based owner LNJ Foxwoods, the banner under which Larry, Nanci and Jaime Roth race and breed. The filly was bred in partnership by Al Shaqab and Sunderland Holdings.
“Sea The Stars is a premium stallion and she’s a beautiful filly,” said Jason Litt. “We’re very happy to have her and hopefully we get lucky. Nothing is decided at this stage [with regards training plans] but we’re just delighted to get her. They always have good horses here so we’re just fortunate to acquire her.”
Tasleet relation heads to Saito
Hisaaki Saito continued his high-level investment in France with the purchase of Ecurie des Monceaux’s colt by New Bay (Dubawi) out of a winning full-sister to Tasleet (Showcasing) for €620,000 (approx. AU$1,025,500).
The winning bid was struck by longtime adviser Sebastien Desmontils of Chevigny Global, who purchased Prix Jean Prat (Gr 1, 1400m) winner and Tally-Ho resident Good Guess (Kodiac) as well as Group 3 winner Topgear (Wootton Bassett) for Saito.
The colt was bred by China Horse Club out their Showcasing (Oasis Dream) filly Lady Light, who was third in the Bosra Sham Stakes (Listed, 6f) on what turned out to be her second and final racecourse appearance.
“We saw the horse on the farm and we liked him,” said Desmontils. “He is by a very good sire. The dam was a good two-year-old winner and has black type as well.
“She’s a sister to Tasleet from the family of Battaash and The Antarctic, who was a very good two-year-old for Coolmore.”
Desmontils added: “We liked him and he has the pedigree to be a stallion if he turns out to be very good, so that’s why he made the price.
“He’ll go on holiday for a couple of weeks and then we’ll break him in and see where he goes.”
At €620,000, the colt becomes New Bay’s third most expensive yearling to date.
Al Shaqab fall for St Mark’s Basilica filly
The full range of Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani’s racing and breeding interests were on show in Deauville on Saturday as Al Shaqab Racing enjoyed a day of big results on the track and in the sales ring.
On the racecourse Ollie Sangster saddled the owner’s Simmering (Too Darn Hot) to an impressive success in the Prix du Calvados (Gr 2, 1400m) while the string was added to at the Arqana August Sale a short while later when a half-sister to Feed The Flame (Kingman) and Sacred Life (Siyouni) was secured for €550,000 (approx. AU$909,700)
Offered by Ecurie des Monceaux, the blue-blooded filly by Coolmore Stud shuttler St Mark’s Basilica (Siyouni) is the eighth foal out of Knyazhna (Montjeu) and was bred in partnership by the Normandy nursery, Lordship Stud and Clear Light SAS.
“She’s a lovely filly and Sheikh Joaan is very happy to get her, as are all the team here like Khalifa [Al Attiya, Al Shaqab general manager], Nicolas [de Watrigant, bloodstock agent] and Benoit [Jeffroy, stud manager],” said Mohamed Abdulrahman Al Mansour, Al Shaqab’s director of operations.
“Everyone here has made a great effort to put together a shortlist for today and she was definitely one we liked a lot.
“She comes from a great family that keeps improving – Feed The Flame, Sacred Life – it just keeps getting better. St Mark’s Basilica was an amazing racehorse. Obviously this is his first crop but we’re happy to support the stallion because his progeny look like good horses. Hopefully they will prove that on the track.”
Al Mansour also reflected on the success of Simmering, who landed the Princess Margaret Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) on her previous outing having also finished a fine second to Fairy Godmother in the Albany Stakes (Gr 3, 6f) at Royal Ascot.
“Horses like that always give you a bit of an extra boost when they do it on the track and she’s been lucky for us so far,” said Al Mansour. “We bought her after her run in the Albany Stakes and now she’s won a Group 3 and a Group 2, so it’s time to go for a Group 1 next hopefully.”
By the close of trade on Saturday Al Shaqab had secured eight yearlings for an outlay of €2,615,000 (approx. AU$4,325,500), a spend that saw the operation sit in the number one spot on the leading buyers’ table. Second on that list of big spenders was John Stewart, who added to Friday’s session-topping €1.4 million (approx. AU$2,315,700)Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) colt with the €550,000 (approx. AU$909,800) acquisition of the Dubawi (Dubai Millennium) colt out of Mulan (Kingman) offered by Ecurie des Monceaux.
Stroud hot on Too Darn Hot colt
The first lot to break the half-a-million mark was a colt by former Darley shuttler Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) out of the Listed-winning and Group 1-placed Irish Rookie (Azamour) who was consigned by Andreas Putsch’s Haras de Saint Pair.
Bloodstock agents Amanda Skiffington and Michael Donohoe appeared to be taking a keen interest in proceedings, but ultimately it was Anthony Stroud who won out with a bid of €520,000 (approx. AU$860,100).
The colt is closely related to Irish Rookie’s first foal, Mithras, a son of Too Darn Hot’s sire Dubawi who won at Newcastle and Newbury for John and Thady Gosden before he transferred to Douglas Whyte in Hong Kong, where he ran second in the Premier Plate (Gr 3, 1800m) under the name Turin Redsun.
“Too Darn Hot is doing really well,” said Stroud. “He was a very good racehorse and had that nice winner today [Simmering], so he seems to be heading on a positive trajectory. I’m very encouraged by his start.
“This was a particularly nice horse that comes from an excellent farm. Last year Godolphin bought Aomori City, who won the Vintage Stakes, from Haras de Saint Pair, so I’m very happy to get this horse. He’s been bought for KHK Racing but no trainer has been decided yet.”
Irish Rookie herself went through the ring on three occasions. She first fetched €16,000 from Ladyswood Stud and Dermot Farrington at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale in 2013. The next time she appeared on the market was in 2016, by which time she had won the Listed Montrose Fillies’ Stakes (Listed, 1600m) and finished second to Ervedya (Doyoun) in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Gr 1, 1600m).
She also filled third place behind Esoterique (Danehill Dancer) in the Sun Chariot Stakes (Gr 1, 1m), efforts that saw her valuation increase to 935,000gns (approx. AU$1,546,600) when Crispin de Moubray signed on behalf of Haras de Saint Pair.
Her most recent visit to the sales came at Arqana last December, when she was knocked down to BBA Ireland at €195,000 when offered in foal to Zarak (Dubawi).
Sumbe strike for Dark Angel filly
The combination of Monceaux and China Horse Club scored another notable success with the sale of Dark Angel (Acclamation) filly out of a half-sister to Hong Kong champion and Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) Romantic Warrior.
Bidding from outside the ring it was the Sumbe team which won out at €420,000 (approx. AU$694,700), as Nurlan Bizakov seeks to continue a run of success with Yeomanstown Stud’s stalwart, most recently with the Queen Anne (Gr 1, 1m) and Prix Jacques le Marois (Gr 1, 1600m) victories of Charyn.
“She is the only Dark Angel filly here and I loved her,” said Bizakov. “She is a strongly made filly and I would say a very good first foal. And Henri Bozo is a good breeder, as we know.”
Sumbe already stand Angel Bleu (Dark Angel) at their Monfort et Preaux stud in partnership with Marc Chan, while Sacred Angel was third in last season’s Cheveley Park (Gr 1, 6f).
“Dark Angel has been a very lucky stallion for us so fingers crossed that she will be as good as some of my other Dark Angels,” said Bizakov. “She will hopefully be a good broodmare for me one day as well.”
The filly’s Exceed And Excel (Danehill) dam, Melodic Charm, was a dual winner and just missed out on earning black type when finishing fourth in the Sirenia Stakes (Gr 3, 6f).
In addition to Romantic Warrior and Melodic Charm, second dam Folk Melody has produced End Of Romance, a son of Showcasing who won on his debut at Pontefract for Karl Burke earlier this month.
State of play
As was the case on day one, trade struggled to keep pace with the giddy highs registered at the record-breaking sale 12 months ago. Turnover on day two was €13,296,000 (approx. AU$21,992,900), a 16 per cent year-on-year drop, while the average and median prices fell by 17 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. The former closed at €201,455 (approx. AU$333,200) and the latter was €155,000 (approx. AU$256,400).
The clearance rate was 80 per cent as 66 lots sold from 82 offered.