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    • by Sue Finley and Katie Petrunyak  For European consignors, the sales season is less a sprint than a marathon, beginning in the August heat at Arqana and running nearly straight through to a frenzied finale of breeding stock sales just as the winter chill signals the season's end. While many Irish and British teams pack up their supplies for the year once their last mare has stepped out of the ring at Tattersalls, plenty see the value in making one final trek across the Channel. It's the last stop in a rigorous sales stretch, but those who go the distance consider Arqana's Vente d'Elevage Sale a fitting finale. Baroda Stud led the way at the Tattersalls December Sale which closed on Wednesday, selling both the sales topper, Barnavara (Calyx), for 4.8 million guineas, and concluding the sale as the leading overall consignor with gross receipts for the 30 sold at 9,713,500 guineas. And though making it through three major sales in less than a month is a grueling prospect, Baroda's David Cox said he wouldn't miss ending the year at Arqana. “Our clients like to sell here,” said Cox, who estimated that he had been selling at Arqana for eight to 10 years. “Arqana are very good to deal with and we've had a lot of luck in the past selling some very nice mares and fillies.” In 2022, Baroda sold a pair of seven-figure fillies at the Arqana December Sale; Burgarita (Sea The Stars), who went to Godolphin for €1.7 million, and Oscula (Galileo Gold), who sold for €1 million to Ted Voute. “This year,” said Cox, “we put together a few horses of our own and then some clients also wanted to sell here so it makes sense. All the buyers come here; there's a really good group of buyers.” Baroda figures to have some attractive prospects this week in Deauville. They will offer lot 196, Beautiful Warrior (Saxon Warrior), a half-sister to French Classic winner Beauty Parlour (Deep Impact), in foal to Kingman. “We've sold some of the family in France before,” said Cox. “She'll stand out here in foal to Kingman. She's a nice big mare; a good-walking mare.” While Beautiful Warrior is one of four mares in foal to Kingman in the sale, Cox said, “We will also offer the only mare in the sale in foal to Lope De Vega in Pretty Milanova (lot 163).” She hails from the family of Blush With Pride. Among their draft of foals, he said, “We have a nice No Nay Never filly foal (lot 145) and a Havana Grey foal (177). They sold very well in the earlier sales and will be very popular.” In order to accomplish the hat trick of the back-to-back-to-back sales, planning is key, said Cox. “The sales are so on top of each other that we have to be very well organized,” he said. “Our crew go to Newmarket when we're still selling at Goffs. We have some good guys in France, so we're set up here with the gear which comes from Ireland before my staff gets here from Newmarket. I came in (Thursday) from the flight and we have to hit the ground running. People are here. We started showing at 2:00 and we were run off our feet by 3:00.” But in the end, the hard work is worth it, he said. “We've been very lucky over the years,” he said. “To be sale topper and top consignor (at Tattersalls) was great. For Tamso and I, it's a lot of hours away from the family, and a lot of time on the road. Padraig (Gahan) and the team I have at home keep the show running when we're on the road. It's great for the brand, and everyone involved.” Second behind Baroda Stud among top consignors this week at Tattersalls, The Castlebridge Consignment is also a consistent presence in Arqana. After a brief hiatus from the December Sale from 2017 to 2021, the perennial leading vendor has seen success here over the past few years. “It's a beautiful place to sell horses,” said The Castlebridge Consignment's UK-based Sales Executive Patrick Diamond. “It's a nice place to be and it gives you an opportunity to bring a slightly different horse to market. We obviously sell a good volume of horses in the mare and foal sales at Goffs and Tattersalls, so it's nice to bring a different type of horse that will maybe stand out a little, separate the drafts from across the way and hopefully suit different clients.” The Castlebridge Consignment was the leading vendor at this year's Goffs Mare Sale and Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale, a reflection of their emphasis on matching each horse to the right sale. Diamond said that bringing a draft to Arqana gives their team more flexibility for positioning horses across the breeding stock calendar. “The benefit of selling quality horses at different places is that you start to realize which clientele suits which sale and where people like to buy,” he explained. “You're trying to put different kinds of horses that suit different kinds of people based on the volume of people that might come to a sale here versus Goffs or Newmarket. It's trying to work out where each horse might deliver its maximum price.” He continued, “I think sometimes a different kind of profile of sire might suit France. In England and Ireland it's more the top-end stallions that are all well-known and sometimes in France you can put a horse that might not be the most obvious horse in the world, but people will still gravitate towards them. There's also quite a nice international contingent we've found over the last few years here. The Australians are quite keen here and the Americans look here as well. Obviously there's a strong contingent from Japan.” The Castlebridge Consignment's 14 offerings feature a mix of mares, foals and racing prospects. In-foal mares include lot 42, Embody (Acclamation), who is a full-sister to Breeders' Cup Mile victor Expert Eye in foal to Havana Grey and lot 185, Decipher (Noble Mission), a half-sister to this season's multiple Group 1 and Classic winner Minnie Hauk (Frankel). “We have a really nice draft,” said Diamond. “We have a bunch of quality fillies and broodmare prospects and then a couple of mares in foals to exciting stallions like Havana Grey. Decipher is in foal on Southern Hemisphere to Starman and is from a current Oaks-winning family. We are also offering fillies and a couple of foals that I think are at all levels of the market here and should attract buyers from across the globe.” Diamond is optimistic that, after record sales over the past few weeks, the trend will continue at Arqana. “The strength of the sales at Goffs and in Newmarket normally means that once you get to Arqana, there are a lot of people that still have orders to fill or are looking to add a quality mare to their broodmare band. It's always a really well-attended sale. It's at the end of a long season of selling horses, but Arqana do an amazing job of getting people to the sale and looking after people. Everyone comes in here in good spirits and is still keen to buy.” The post We Can See The Finish Line: International Vendors Make the Trek to Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Himika could give Bob Baffert his ninth consecutive win in the race and a fifth victory for owners Charlie and Susan Chu.View the full article
    • By Katie Ritz and Sue Finley    There are seven stallions based in France whose first foals will sell at this week's Arqana December Sale. We talked with the connections at their stud farms to find out what they have seen in the foals, what they will bring to market of theirs this week, and what expectations are for the progeny they are about to launch into the sales arena.   ACE IMPACT (Cracksman — Absolutly Me, by Anabaa Blue). Standing for  €30,000 at Haras de Beaumont.  2023 Cartier Horse of the Year. At three–won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano.  Lots selling at Arqana: 233, 272, 290, 334, 354, 446, 491, 519, 532, 612, 778 Mathieu Alex, Stud Manager and Nominations at Haras de Beaumont: We are very pleased with the foals. It's obviously very exciting to get the first crop on the ground. They have his temperament. Ace Impact was fiery when he was racing, but at home he's a very kind horse and very genuine. The foals in our consignment have just had their first shows here (Thursday) morning and they showed very well. They have a good temperament, as well as the strength and size that he had, so it's very positive.  The horse covered 183 mares in year one and 153 in year two, so he's been well supported from all over the world. The Ace Impact foals sold very well at Goffs and Tattersalls, so let's hope we can do the same here.   MISHRIFF (Make Believe — Contradict, by Raven's Pass). Standing for €17,500 at Sumbe Montfort and Preaux.   At three–won the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano. At four–won the G1 Saudi Cup, G1 Dubai Sheema Classic and G1 Juddmonte International Stakes.  Lots selling at Arqana: 340, 344, 473, 659, 695, 699, 880 Mario Gussago, Nominations and Racing Manager at Sumbe: So far he has been very welcomed by breeders who utilized him in his first season. He has produced beautiful models. They are very elegant. Mr. [Nurlan] Bizakov got plenty of mares to him and the foals all look the part. He's stamping them quite well–a lot of class, good walk and good bone.  I was looking at Mishriff yesterday with Mr. Bizakov. He's looking magnificent. He was a bit narrow after he came back from training, but he's developed very well. VADENI (Churchill – Vaderana, by Monsun). Standing for  €15,000 at Haras de Bonneval. Cartier Champion Three-Year-Old. At two-Criterium du Fonds Europeen de l'Elevage. At three-won G1 Prix du Jockey Club, G1 Eclipse Stakes, G3 Prix de Guiche. Lots selling at Arqana: 275, 283, 506, 540, 694, 718, 790 Fanny Cypres, Nominations and Client Relations, Aga Khan Studs: From what I've seen, they are great athletes. I think the first foals from Vadeni are going to be very interesting because there aren't many of them on the market. They have a lot of depth about them, like Vadeni himself; and they are great walkers. Two Vadenis sold at Tattersalls and they were both very attractive foals. One of them sold very well to Japan for 200,000gns (lot 905, out of Zannda, to Paca Paca Farm), which was quite a great result. So we are looking forward to seeing what they're going to sell for here. Some of them are quite similar to Vadeni, and it will be very interesting to see how precocious they will be. Overall, they appear to be strong, great walkers, with good bone. At early stages like this, everyone dreams and speculates on how early they will be, but at the end of the day the horse will tell us.  I would say he had more quality than quantity in his first book. From his first book of mares, he has produced a half-sibling to a Group 1 winner for the Aga Khan this year, Candelari; a half-brother to Rayevka and Rayif, both Group 1 performers this year; and a half to Group 1 performer Zarakem as well. He's a syndicated horse, so he's got the support of many stakeholders and people who are quite active in the business in France. Also, he doesn't only have only French shareholders, but some from England and Ireland, so it goes beyond borders. And at this sale, we will also sell the half-sister to Siyouni (Siyenica) in foal to Vadeni (lot 146).   ONESTO (Frankel-Onshore, by Galileo). Standing for €10,000 at Haras d'Etreham. At two-won the Prix de Villebon. At three-won the G2 Prix Greffuhle and the G1 Grand Prix de Paris.  Lots selling at Arqana: 261, 280, 482, 560, 588, 637, 733, 749, 833 Nicolas de Chambure: The Onestos we know are mainly the ones we have on the farm and we've also done a few tours to see others in the spring and in the summer, mainly in France. And we've been very happy. He's a very correct horse, and the foals' strength seems to be that they are also very correct. They have quality and it looks like they can walk. So that's very positive. There was a very nice one at Tattersalls last week that we bought from the family of Stacelita (lot 451 for 52,000gns) and we'll be looking at one here this week. I think everyone agrees that Frankel doesn't really stamp his horses. So I think Onesto is maybe following Frankel's trend a little bit in the sense that we can see plenty of the mare in them, but I think he does stamp them in the way that they're very correct and athletic. But in terms of size, and colour, I think we can still sometimes see the mare.   ANGEL BLEU (Dark Angel — Cercle de La Vie, by Galileo). Standing for €6,000 at Sumbe.  At two–won the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, G1 Criterium International and G2 Vintage Stakes. At four–won the G2 William Hill Celebration Mile Stakes. m Stakes Lots selling at Arqana: 573, 687, 708 Mario Gussago: They look very precocious and very racey. They have good depth on them. We got good support from first-season breeders. Mr. Bizakov is supporting him with good mares, as well as Mr. [Marc] Chan, so hopefully they're going to be early and speedy like he was.    EREVANN (Dubawi-Ervedya, by Siyouni). Stands for €8,000 at Haras de Bonneval. At two-won the Prix de Saint-Desir. At three-won the G2 Prix Daniel Wildenstein, the G3 Prix Paul de Moussac, and the Prix Comrade. Second, G1 Prix Jacques Le Marois. Lots selling at Arqana: 338, 350, 375, 452, 454, 497, 533, 582, 613, 678, 771, 782, 795, 800 Fanny Cypres: Erevann has been a very busy boy. He has been very, very popular thanks to a good combination of price, pedigree, and performance. I guess people see a little bit in him the possibility of a Zarak, though it's going to be hard to have two Zaraks. But he because he won the same race as Zarak on debut, the Prix de Saint-Desir, and then because they look alike also in their head. They're very Dubawi in their head. But Erevann actually has a lot of Siyouni in him and that's something that he throws a lot in his foals, who are a really good mix of Dubawi and Siyouni.  He has covered more mares than Vadeni, so he's going to have more foals on the ground. Two foals sold at Goffs, one for €78,000, which is quite good when you consider that the covering price is €8,000. And then he had one at Tattersalls who sold for 120,000gns to Paca Paca Farm. And people keep calling for him. We are very early in the season in terms of bookings, but he's still very busy. He never won his Group 1, but he was so close in the Prix Jacques Le Marois, a stallion-making race, that he is worth a Group 1 winner. The feedback from the breeders is that they are delighted and they want to come back and they really believe in him. In his first book of mares he had, there were siblings to Metropolitan, La Parisienne, a half-sister to Daryz, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner. So, there are some quality foals on the ground. And with these handsome boys, we have a lot to look forward to as well.    BELBEK (Showcasing — Bee Queen, by Makfi). Standing for €5,000 at Sumbe. At two–won the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the G3 Prix du Bois. At three–won the G3 Prix Perth. .  Lots selling at Arqana: 471, 586, 660, 691, 732 Mario Gussago: Belbek is a very important horse for us. He's the first Group I-winning homebred in France for the boss. He's a beautiful-looking horse and has done really well. His progeny look racey and precocious enough, like he was as the winner of the Lagardere.  There is going to be a good bunch of Belbeks in this sale at Arqana. We have one Belbek in our consignment for a client. He looks the part. He's strong, with good bone and a good walk on him.  The post The Magnificent Seven: French-Based Stallions Debut Their First Foals at Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • The 2025 Longines World Racing Awards will be held at the Savoy Hotel in London on January 20. The event is organised by Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA). The ceremony will honour the highest-rated horse in the 2025 Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (WBRR) as well as the Longines World's Best Horse Race (WBHR). The Longines WBRR are established by international handicappers according to the performance of the horses in top races. The highest rated race is determined by averaging the rankings of the first four placed horses. For the full list and further information on the Longines WBRR, please visit the IFHA website. The post Longines World Racing Awards Set For The Savoy Hotel In January appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
    • Ironhorse Stallions is welcoming New York breeders to an open house at its new location in Schuylerville on Dec. 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The operation is home to Bucchero, sire of multiple Grade I winner Book'em Danno and multiple graded stakes winner Queen Maxima. Ironhorse Stallions is located at 125 Sherman Lane in Schuylerville, New York/ Visitors are instructed to enter the farm at the intersection of Sherman and Stonebridge Road. The post Ironhorse Stallions Inaugural Open House Dec. 13 in Schuylerville appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions. View the full article
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