The Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, the final auction of the season, started on Saturday with a session that posted solid results and showed good resilience given the exceptional circumstances. A total of 79% of the mares, fillies and foals that went under the hammer changed hands for an average of €122,961 (-12%), generating a turnover of €18,936,000€ (-18%). The online bidding platform Arqanaonline.com was once again in force, shown by the number of international buyers, notably from Japan and the United States, which generated nearly €2,2 million in purchases.
Two well-bred mares for James Delahooke
Active throughout the day, James Delahooke made his presence felt when signing for two lots in quick succession, just a few minutes apart. His first purchase came for dual German Group winner and Grade 1 runner-up DURANCE (lot 174) consigned by Ronald Rauscher, that turned out to be the top price during the session when knocked down for €750,000 to the agent. With a current rating of 50 (110), the four-year-old filly is a sibling to no less than seven black-type performers.
Following a long battle in the ring, Delahooke said, “She’s a filly from a lovely family, and it is rare to find as much black-type under the first dam in addition to her race record speaking for itself! She is also a very good-looking filly. I really fell in love with her when I first saw her a couple of days ago. I’ve bought her for an American client that already has some mares in Kentucky and in England. We don’t know yet where she’ll go.”He then went on to secure TRUTH (lot 178), a sister to multiple Group 1 winning globetrotter MAGIC WAND and half-sister to CHICQUITA, offered in foal to Siyouni by Haras de Bouquetot.
The agent said after signing the docket for €580,000, “A few years ago we were beaten on her sister, Magic Wand, that was also sold here. We were very disappointed not to get her. Today, we had the final say on her sister and we are delighted. I’ve bought her for Willie Carson that breeds under Minster Stud in England with a lot of success.”
EUCLIDIA sokd for €525,000 to Gerard Larrieu
This year’s 2020 Prix Panacee (L.) heroine EUCLIDIA (lot 172) was another that proved popular from the Wertheimer Brothers’ consignment when selling for €525,000 to Gerard Larrieu. The daughter of Maxios is a half-sister to Stakes winners SOUSTRACTION and MATEMATICA, and comes from the family of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr.1) SOLEMIA.Gerard Larrieu commented, “I’ve bought her for Jean-Louis Bouchard who has a small breeding operation close to Deauville and wanted to add a quality mare like her to his broodmare band.
I hope that the Wertheimer breeding will be lucky for us. Her dam and half-sister have been sent to the best stallions like Dubawi, and if we continue with that theme, things should go well!”
SPINNING MEMORIES Japan-bound
Japanese investors made their presence felt throughout the day, notably with dual Group 3 winning mare SPINNING MEMORIES (lot 134), that was knocked down to Teruya Yoshida (Shadai Farm) for €500,000 when bidding online following a long battle with Satoshi Kobayashi in the ring. Now a five-year-old, the winner of the Prix de Meautry and Prix du Palais-Royal was offered from Pascal Bary’s stable.
She hails from the family of MEMORIES OF SILVER and WINTER MEMORIES. A little earlier in the sale, Teruya Yoshida also went to €430,000 for MAGEVA (lot 93). The three-year-old daughter of Wootton Bassett from Haras des Capucines was placed twice at Listed level this season and finished third in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (Gr.1) for trainer Fabrice Chappet.
€500,00 for PSARA
Ecurie des Monceaux’s consignment was once again in demand, notably with a mare from one of the stud’s best families, PSARA (lot 148), a daughter of Invincible Spirit out of Group winner Pacifique, that was knocked down for €500,000 to Ghislain Bozo (Meridian International). The granddaughter of PLATONIC is also a half-sister to the Prix de Lutece (Gr.3) winner PAIX.The agent said afterwards,“I love everything about her! She’s a lovely mare, with a lot of quality and is very well bred. There’s everything to like about her. She’s in foal to Churchill, a stallion that I like a lot and I think it is a great cross. I’ve bought her for a partnership.”
Group winner NO LIMIT CREDIT sold for €480,000
NO LIMIT CREDIT (lot 192), this season’s Schwarzgold-Rennen (Gr.3) winner with a current rating of 105, will return to Germany after being bought by Jean-Pierre Deroubaix (F.B.A) for €480,000. Third in the Premio Lydia Tesio (Gr.2) after the catalogue was printed, the three-year-old daughter of Night Of Thunder was consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux.The agent said, “I”ve bought her for a long-standing German client, Jurgen Sartori, who hasn’t had horses for 20 years but is now coming back into racing. Mr Sartori loves racing – our association started when I bought him a horse, Val des Pres, trained by Elie Lellouche, that won shortly afterwards.”
DIRECTA to Oiwake Farm
This season’s Prix Fille de l’Air (Gr.3) and Prix Vulcain (L.) winner, DIRECTA (lot 170), proved to be very popular before finally being knocked down to Haruya Yoshida (Oiwake Farm). It was Satoshi Kobayashi that had the final say for the Joël Boisnard trained filly on behalf of the Japanese entity for €470,000. “She’ll go to stud in Japan,” said the Chantilly based Japanese trainer. “Maybe she’ll be covered before leaving, her new owners haven’t yet decided.”
MALEVRA knocked down for €430,000
Buyers were keen to see Group 3 placed MALEVRA (lot 90) through the ring, with the daughter of Le Havre making €430,000 to Frederic Sauque. Offered from Haras d’Etreham carrying for the first time to Wootton Bassett, the daughter of Le Havre finished runner-up in the Prix de Royaumont (Gr.3). After signing the docket, the agent said, “I’ve bought her for an investor that has come from the trotting world, that I met there. This is his first broodmare. I liked her race performances and her physique. She’s in foal to a good stallion!”
