The Magnificent Seven: French-Based Stallions Debut Their First Foals at Arqana

[Wandering Eyes]

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. 

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