Global Commodities At Argentinean Sale

[Wandering Eyes]

Arqana will break new ground on Mar. 21 when it becomes the first international sale company to conduct a yearling sale in Argentina.
The French firm has teamed up with leading local stud farms Haras Abolengo and Haras Vacacion to sell 91 select yearlings at San Isidro Racecourse. The sale has already drawn interest from leading breeders in Europe and the U.S., according to Arqana’s Executive Director Freddy Powell, and the goal is to push Argentina back into the international bloodstock marketplace and rekindle some of the country’s intercontinental relationships.

“The idea of this sale is to re-create–because they did exist 40 or 50 years ago–those bridges between Europe and South America, and between South America and North America,” Powell said. “The shuttling of stallions kind of stopped South Americans from buying mares overseas because they felt they could import the different blood only by shuttling stallions, but the idea now is to re-create that synergy and dynamic between the different continents, and to create new business relationships for everyone.”

Powell said about 800 catalogues have been sent out to international breeders.

“We were hoping to get some of the bigger operations from Europe and America interested in this sale,” he said. And apparently, that has happened. “Straight away, without us even calling them, just because they saw the press release, they were calling us.”

Those breeders were likely remembering the impact that Argentina-breds continue to make globally. Leading American sire Candy Ride (Arg) was bred by Abolengo, as was Interprete (Arg), the broodmare sire of Uruguayan and American Horse of the Year Invasor (Arg) (Candy Stripes). More recently, Abolengo bred the GI Santa Margarita S. and GI Zenyatta S. winner Vale Dori (Arg) (Asiatic Boy {Arg}) and Si Que Es Buena (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}), winner of the GIII La Prevoyante S. on the GI Pegasus World Cup undercard on Jan. 26.
Argentinean mares have had plenty of success in Japan. On Saturday last year’s G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies winner and champion 2-year-old filly Danon Fantasy (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn})–who is out of the dual Argentinean Group 1 winner Life For Sale (Arg) (Not For Sale {Arg})–cemented her status as the favourite for the G1 Oka Sho (Japanese 1000 Guineas) with a win in the G2 Tulip Sho. Multiple Group 1 winner Malpensa (Arg) (Orpen) produced the Japanese champion 3-year-old colt of 2016 Satono Diamond (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), winner of the G1 Kikuka Sho (Japanese St Leger) and G1 Arima Kinen, and another Argentinean Group 1 winner, Real Number (Arg) (Rainbow Corner {GB}), is the second dam of G1 Tokyo Yushun and G2 Prix Niel winner Makahiki (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}). With more accomplished young Argentinean mares exported to Japan in recent years, this list could very well grow.

Further back in the record book, but undiminished by time, Vacacion bred the unforgettable 10-time Grade I winner Paseana (Arg) (Ahmad {Arg}), winner of the 1992 Breeders’ Cup Distaff. With an annual foal crop of about 7,000, Argentina is the leading producer numerically of Thoroughbreds in South America, and about 20% of the foal crop annually is offered for sale at public auction, with a large number of yearlings also sold privately.

Both Powell and Matias Villamil, Arqana’s South American representative, said they believe breeders from around the world could benefit from tapping into Argentinean bloodlines, but a major barrier to that has been the way that Argentinean sales are conducted. Rather than having a set calendar of sales that breeders divide their stock among, Argentinean breeders will–on their own or teaming up with one or two others farms-organize their own sales and market their own stock and simply hire the sales company to conduct the selling. That means during the sales season, sales could be held twice a week over a period of a few months, making it impractical for international buyers to jet in and out to comb through the stock.

“I have been coming to Argentina for 10 years or so, and I met Matias five or six years ago,” Powell said. “I’ve always been impressed by the quality of the stock, the horsemanship; everything to do with the horses there.

“The only thing I was always scratching my head about was how they were marketing their horses. The system of the sale works within South America and Argentina, but Argentinean horses have proven themselves all over the world, and there was no opportunity [for international buyers] to buy young Argentine stock, because they would have had to go to every single farm sale to find the best of the stock. The idea here is to have all the best stock on the same day for the international people to come and discover what the country has to offer.”

Because the South American sales market has historically been isolated, top prices have remained capped at about the US$100,000 mark. An international sale could help improve prices, benefitting the local breeders and encouraging them to re-invest, while still representing value for international buyers. At a time when top-tier fillies and mares are becoming more and more scarce in the marketplace in America and especially in Europe, and the competition for them is becoming increasingly fierce, South America could represent an opportunity to tap into some different top-class lines.

Villamil described the market in Argentina, Brazil and Chile to be particularly strong for fillies in the US$40,000 to US$80,000 price range, while Powell added, “There are a lot of countries now producing top-class horses and they’re becoming more and more expensive Argentina has a lot to offer because it has the volume of horses and they’re still very affordable-the value for money is amazing.”

Villamil said Abolengo and Vacacion will be offering more of their high-profile fillies than normal.

“There are 91 horses catalogued, seven of them are full-brothers or sisters to Group 1 winners and four of them are half-brothers to Group 1 winners,” he said. “There are 11 siblings to Group 1 winners from 91, so it’s a very select sale. Abolengo and Vacacion don’t usually send this high of quality of fillies to the sale. They normally will keep their really good fillies so this is the first time we’ll have such good fillies in the sale. We haven’t had a sale as good as this one [in Argentina] for many years.”

It has become popular practice worldwide to conduct select sales in appealing destinations for visitors-Arqana’s headquarters in Deauville being a prime example-and the company has also grasped that concept for its Argentinean sale.

“We thought we needed to have an international sale where international people can come to Buenos Aires and visit the city,” Villamil said. “We have a lot to show them, and we have good horses.”

The sale catalogue is available online and includes walking videos of each offering. With hip 1 withdrawn, the sale is expected to begin with a bang with hip 2, a colt from the final crop of leading local sire Roman Ruler who is a full-brother to Imagen de Roma (Arg), winner of last year’s G1 Gran Premio Jockey Club, the middle leg of the Argentine Triple Crown. Just one lot later, hip 3 is an Equal Stripes colt that is a full-brother to two Group 1 winners: Positive Mind (Arg), winner of the Gran Premio Estrellas Juvenile Fillies, and Paulinho (Arg), Argentina’s champion 2-year-old and winner of the Gran Premio Estrellas Juvenile. The Estrellas is the Argentine Breeders’ Cup.

The pedigree of hip 6 will resonate with Americans. The dam Que Piensa Cat (Arg) (Easing Along), a Group 1 winner at two, was exported to the U.S. for her broodmare career before later returning to Argentina, and has supplied the listed turf sprint winner Always Thinking (Street Sense). This filly is by Roman Ruler.

Equal Stripes, who stands at Abolengo, is also represented by hips 8 and 9. Hip 8 is a full-sister to Schoolmistress (Arg), winner at two of the G1 Gran Premio Jorge de Atucha (like the G1 Fillies’ Mile or GI Frizette S.) and at three of the G1 Estrellas Distaff. Hip 9 is a full-brother to South African Group 1 winner Bambina Stripes (Arg), while seven Group 1 winners appear under the second and third dams, as well as three stakes winners in the U.S.

Hip 11 is a filly from the first crop of the beautifully bred Group 3 winner John F Kennedy (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a son of champion 2-year-old filly Rumplestiltskin (Ire) (Danehill) and a grandson of the great Miesque. The filly’s dam Gamuza Fina (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}) was champion 2-year-old filly and the winner of the Estrellas Juvenile Fillies and Jorge de Atucha. Her first foal is a three-time winner. Hip 14 is a filly by Serena’s Song’s son Grand Reward and is a full-sister to Group 1 winner City Wonder (Arg) and Group 2 winner City Glam (Arg).

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