Repole Steals Sunday Spotlight At Arqana To Take Overall Haul To Nearly €2 Million

[Wandering Eyes]

Leading American owner Mike Repole opened up about his long-term breeding plan after sourcing six fillies and mares for just shy of €2 million at the December Breeding Stock Sale at Arqana, headed by the Sunday sale-topper Hoshiana (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) at €220,000. 

Fourth in a Listed contest on heavy ground when last seen, Hoshiana is out of Doctor Dino (Fr) mare Galtika Coat Frity (Fr) and was knocked down to bloodstock agent Alex Solis on behalf of Repole. She was sold by trainer Nicolas Perret. 

Speaking from America, the owner said, “The team was represented in France by Alex and Madison [Scott] and honestly Ed Rosen and Jake West and I were working very closely, starting at four in the morning and ending at noon and really it was just about potential broodmares down the road. But we bought five horses that we planned on giving at least a year-maybe two-of racing, then we'll decide if they fit our programme as broodmares. 

“I think as the industry is evolving here. Ed is our pedigree expert but he does so much more for the stable and we're looking at what this game is going to look like two, three years from now. Will there be more synthetic, like New York, or more emphasis on turf racing, like with Kentucky Downs?”

Repole also spent €610,000 on Listed-winning Churchill (Ire) mare Some Skye (Fr) and €450,000 on Wild Pansy (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) for €450,000 on Saturday. His exact spend at Arqana this weekend stands at €1,960,000. 

He continued, “We need to open up our breeding programme and our pedigrees. I'm excited about purchasing in Australia, Japan, England, at Goffs in Ireland and at Arqana in France and mixing those bloodlines with US sires. How many times has an Uncle Mo, an Into Mischief gone to a Siyouni (Fr) mare, or a Deep Impact (Jpn) mare? It probably has never been done. I have my own stallions, a piece of City Of Light, Fierceness in two years, Uncle Mo, 10 per cent of Life Is Good, and I'm trying to use some of these bloodlines as outcrosses with some of the others around the world. I don't know if they're going to dirt or turf or be synthetic horses, but I'm trying to put some of the most global bloodlines together. 

“I'm not going to be dirt-to-dirt or turf-to-turf. When you see a horse like Forte going to be bred to an English, Japanese, or a US mare, it's thanks to the team being willing to spend my money. We'll sell some, we'll keep some. Right now, we have close to 100 broodmares, but I'm excited about this experiment. I think it's really exciting.”

Similarly to Saturday, the key figures on Sunday were on the rise. The aggregate climbed 12% to €9,213,500 while the average was up by 21% to €47,249 and the median jumped by €5,000 to €35,000. The clearance rate dropped by 2% to 81%.

Willie Carson | Zuzanna Lupa

Carson Secures Sentimental Buy At 200k

Legendary rider Willie Carson, who now operates from Minster Stud, provided some entertainment when signing for Frankel (GB) mare Kensington (Ire) in foal to Pinatubo (Ire) for €200,000 through Crispin de Moubray.

Offered by Barton Stud, Kensington won twice for John and Thady Gosden for Lady Ogden and hails from a deep Ballymacoll Stud family. 

Carson, who was sporting a Donald Duck hat, admitted to being quacking mad for the family given he has a long association with some of the horses connected with the mare. 

He said, “It's a family that I rode a lot of the horses from. There's a little bit of sentiment involved.”

Asked which members of the family in particular Carson would have rode, he said, “All of them! Hellenic (GB) (Darshaan {GB}) was my 100th Group 1 winner when she won the Yorkshire Oaks. There's a bit of a story there. Then you go back to Prince Of Dance (GB) (Sadler's Wells), who's actually not on the page, but he was one of the best horses that I ever rode. He was actually better than Nashwan but he got a cancerous growth on his spine [and never fulfilled his potential]. It's a Ballymacoll family through and through.”

The pedigree has benefited from a recent update with the half-sister Rogue Sensation(GB) (Too Darn Hot {GB}), already a winner, placed at Listed level in France for trainer Ed Bethell. 

Carson concluded, “I will have to get on to Dawn [Laidlaw, Head of Nominations at Darley] to get a nomination to Too Darn Hot!”

Talking points 

One of the standout memories from the foal sales at Tattersalls last week was glancing down to the bidders area as the last few lots were being offered on Saturday and seeing Tally-Ho Stud boss Tony O'Callaghan bidding strong while most of his competitors had either gone home or retired to the bar. It was left to Henry to keep the momentum going in France, with the quiet but ultra-shrewd son of Tony signing for two lots to the tune of €212,000. That duo was headed by a New Bay (GB) colt foal from Etreham for €140,000. 

France has been a happy hunting ground for British and Irish pinhookers in recent years and, while the foal offering would not rival that of Goffs or Tattersalls in terms of numbers, it was interesting to see a number of leading operators within that sphere getting on the score sheet. Michael Gleeson of Aughamore Stud was one such pinhooker. Through bloodstock agent Matt Houldsworth, Aughamore Stud picked up a Havana Grey (GB) colt from Baroda Stud for €105,000. The trip represented a first trip to Arqana in nine years for Gleeson, who spent time on the shank working for Anna Sundstrom at Coulonces once upon a time. 

Nobody would deny that some of the gloss went off Ghaiyyath (GB) at the yearling sales but it's remarkable that, within the space of a few weeks, the Darley-based stallion seems to be back in demand. And it's easy to see why. Nobody was expecting the multiple Group 1 winner to be responsible for any Royal Ascot-winning juveniles and recent TDN Rising Star winner Mandanaba (Fr) would suggest that the best from Ghaiyyath's first crop will be seen when those horses run at three. Buyers certainly seem to agree as, of all of the first-season sires, the Ghaiyyath foals seemed to sell quite well and that continued at Arqana on Sunday when Broadhurst Agency went to €130,000 to secure a filly by the sire from La Motteraye.

Buy of the day

Luke Bleahan followed a tried and trusted path to pinhooking success when snapping up lot 346, a colt by hot sire Hello Youmzain (Fr), who the youngster has enjoyed some success with already. It was at this sale 12 months ago when Bleahan picked up a Hello Youmzain colt foal for just €10,000. Obviously taking a chance that the first-season sire would hit the ground running with his two-year-olds, the young pinhooker was rewarded when that initial outlay turned into €75,000, with breeze-up handler Cormac Farrell signing the docket at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale. Given Hello Youmzain is on course to be crowned the leading first-season sire in France and has produced two Group winners, the case can be made for the Haras d'Etreham-based sire kicking onto the next level, which would be reflected in his fee being bumped to €40,000. Having a son of Hello Youmzain to sell at the yearling sales next year may prove to be a wise decision and the €60,000 that Bleahan parted with to secure the colt out of Listed winner Eyeful (GB) (Muhtathir {GB}) could prove money well spent. 

Thought for the day

You never know what nuggets you might pick up when passing an hour or two in the sales bar on a quieter day like Sunday. Eddie O'Leary being cast in Braveheart has to rank as one of the most surprising titbits to have come out of the sale season. Granted, O'Leary was only an extra in the movie that starred Mel Gibson, but the Lynn Lodge maestro confirmed his involvement by simply shrugging and saying, “sure, I'd do anything for a few quid!”

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