Schwartz Hopes to Repeat Elusive Success at Arc Sale

[Wandering Eyes]

It would be remiss to allow all these “turfistes” to fly into Paris for the weekend, from all round the world, and then leave them nowhere to spend their money besides the Rue de Rivoli. Arqana obligingly fills that void with its Arc Sale—a pioneering auction in its time, and one that lit the path for other sales houses and jurisdictions to emulate France-Galop by, for instance, permitting 11th hour re-registration even of horses running the next day.

If the concept is opportunist, so is the market. These horses are literally moving targets, sometimes exposing both vendors and prospectors to wild fluctuations in value. This time, in fact, we not only saw horses sold on the eve of Group 1 appointments at Longchamp, just across the Bois de Boulogne, but also one that had actually won there barely three hours previously.

Year-on-year comparisons at sales of this type are virtually pointless: a small catalogue of horses offered as a roll of the dice, with one or two knockout sales liable to skew all numbers, tells you zilch about the broader state of the market. Anecdotally, there was some scepticism about the relative strength of this catalogue, and that was reflected—for the little it may be worth—in reduced indices from last year. But the clearance actually improved, 24 sold of 37 offered (64.9%) compared with 25 of 44 (56.8%) at Chantilly last year. Total business of €4,318,000 dipped from €5,978,500 for an average of €179,917 (from €239,140) and median of €122,500 (from €180,000).

One of the best advertisements for this sale is Elusive Wave (Ire) (Elusive City), who was acquired for Martin Schwartz here in 2008 for €660,000 on the eve of her second place in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac—and who proceeded to Classic success the following spring in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

Michael Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock was responsible for that transaction and applied the same principles in spending a total of €790,000 on two fillies with Group 1 entries on today’s card. First was lot 4, Lily’s Candle (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}), a listed winner at Vichy in the summer for Fabrice Vermeulen and since beaten only a length when fourth in group company at Longchamp. She will carry Schwartz’s colours in the Boussac today after changing hands for €390,000—a fairly spectacular dividend on the €15,000 docket signed by Bertrand Bourez at the same house’s October Yearling Sale in Deauville last year.

Zerolo also paid €400,000 on behalf of Schwartz for Night Of England (GB) (Lord Of England {Ger}) [lot 18], who has already been Classic-placed and holds an entry in the G1 Prix de l’Opera today. She, too, has transformed her value since being picked out as a foal by Sepp Hellmich and Wolfgang Lau for just 12,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale of 2016. Credit, in this instance, goes to Henk Grewe, her young trainer, who saddled her to finish second in the G1 Henkel-Preis der Diana (German Oaks).

“Does Martin Schwartz like this sale?” repeated Zerolo. “Martin Schwartz likes action, that’s what he likes. It’s the same formula: it’s worked most of the time. Lily’s Candle is a nice filly, with good form, and though she’ll obviously be an outsider tomorrow we’ll take our chances.”

He was not yet able to confirm that Night Of England would line up today, leaving Grewe on tenterhooks. “I hope she runs, of course, but whatever happens I think she will keep improving,” he said. “The whole family has got better with maturity. She is also a beautiful mare, physically. She wasn’t perfect in front when she was young, which is why the owner was able to get her so cheaply.”

Whatever fresh excitements await Schwartz today, the top price of the session was paid for a team who already have ample to stimulate them at Longchamp.

Sea Of Class (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), perceived as the biggest danger to the favourite in the Arc itself, runs in the colours of the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holdings—made famous by that filly’s sire in the 2009 running. And it is a syndicate of the Tsuis’ friends in Hong Kong who will be racing Insandi (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) after Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International paid €470,000 for lot 6. Insandi broke his maiden at Deauville in the summer before outrunning his odds when second in the G3 Prix des Chenes at Longchamp last month.

“The winner is favourite for the G1 Prix Lagardere tomorrow, and the third is also running, so we’ll see what the form looks like after that. But whatever happens he looks, physically, like he’s going to be a 3-year-old: he stands beautifully, has a great attitude, and physically a lot of class. He’s been bought for a group of Mrs. Tsui’s friends so is likely to end up in Hong Kong, but initially he’ll stay in Europe.”

Christopher Tsui, still every bit as fresh-faced as when Sea The Stars was racing, was keeping an anxious eye on the overnight forecast. “We’re very excited, of course, though we know it will be a difficult race,” he said. “We just hope the sky holds up and that we don’t get the rain they’re talking about. If not, we’d be very hopeful.”

Also on hand was Insandi’s breeder Jan Krauze, who had failed to find a buyer for him at €42,000 at the Arqana August Sale last year before the colt’s eventual transfer to M’hammed Karimine.

“It feels a little bit sad, if he is to leave France, because it’s obviously nice to be able to watch him,” Krauze said. “But at the same time I feel very proud: his mother [Insala Mala (Ire) (Bahhare)] only produces nice horses, she doesn’t know how to do anything else.”

The most striking spectacle of the evening was the arrival, in a condition that reflects splendidly on trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias and his staff, of lot 26: Alignement (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), who had barely had time to be hosed down after winning the G2 Prix Dollar.

Obviously his options remain fairly limited as a 5-year-old gelding, but the homebred’s hard-working and accomplished career for the Wertheimer brothers was not lost on a regular shopper here, Jassim Mohammed Gazhali, who duly gave €310,000 to export him back to Qatar.

“He was on my list already, a really nice horse, but when he ran like that today he went to the top of it,” said the perennial champion trainer of Qatar. “I come here every year, the sale has brought us a lot of luck, and I hope he will be another suited by racing in my country. The Emir’s Sword will be his target I hope.”

Laurels are also due to Amy Murphy, who found Happy Odyssey (Ire) (Camacho {GB}) for just £14,000 as a private sale at the Doncaster breeze-ups and here sold the recent Maisons-Laffitte listed winner, as lot 35, for €300,000 to Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland on behalf of Zhang Yuesheng’s Yulong Invesments.

“She’s a nice individual, with progressive form, and she’s also got a decent pedigree to back her up,” explained Donohoe. “Mr. Zhang has a big broodmare operation in Australia, so that is something to have in mind for down the line. I don’t know yet where she’ll be trained, Amy’s done a good job with her so far and she has her in a Group 3 in a couple of weeks, so we’ll see. Arqana were good enough to sponsor at Mr. Zhang’s private racecourse in China, so I guess this kind of reciprocates that–but he did particularly like this filly.”

The same price was paid to dissolve the partnership fortunate enough to have raced dual listed runner-up filly Tresorerie (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) with Christophe Ferland. “We really wanted to keep her,” Antoine Krainc explained, after the 3-year-old filly was sold back to part-owner L’Ecurie Vivaldi as lot 29. “We saw the horse as a baby, we’ve believed in her all the way, and there’s a whole team behind her. You can’t help but become emotionally attached.”

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