Where Did They Come From?

[Wandering Eyes]

Featuring a sale-topper and a €12,000 vendor buy-back, the field for the G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains has colts bought at all levels of the market, with only three of the 11 runners never having passed through a sale ring.

Olmedo (Fr) (Declaration Of War)

Bred by Jean-Pierre Dubois under his Dream With Me Stable banner, Olmedo could become a first Classic winner not just for his young sire but also for Arqana’s V2 Sale, having been bought there for €100,000 by Jean-Claude Rouget.

Dice Roll (Fr) (Showcasing {GB})

Giacomo Algranti’s G3 Prix Djebel winner is also an Arqana graduate and was bought by Amanda Skiffington for €130,000 at the October Sale. He’s the fourth foal of the Pulpit mare Schlague (Fr) and was bred by the Swiss-based Gestut Zur Kuste.

Hey Gaman (GB) (New Approach {Ire})

A vendor buy-back at 100,000gns as a Tattersalls October Book 1 yearling and subsequently withdrawn from the Craven Breeze-up last year, the Rabbah Bloodstock homebred is the first foal of the stakes-placed Arsaadi (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who died the year after he was born. The mare’s second and final foal, also by New Approach, was bought by Godolphin for 240,000gns last October.

U S Navy Flag (War Front)

Bred, like his dam Misty For Me (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), by Coolmore associates, the brother of treble Group 1 winner Roly Poly is a grandson of Butterfly Cove, a Storm Cat half-sister to Fasliyev (Nureyev).

Infernal Majesty (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr})

Another Arqana October Sale graduate, Infernal Majesty was bought for €55,000 for owner Jean-Louis Bouchard by Gerard Larrieu. He was bred in partnership by Antoinette Tamagni and Cocheese Bloodstock, who bought his Niarchos-bred dam Healing Dream (Fr) (Montjeu {Ire}) as a yearling for €17,000.

Louis d’Or (Fr) (Intello {Ger})

Bought by his trainer Tony Castanheira for €27,000 at the Arqana October Sale, this Wildenstein-bred colt is out of a sister to the G1 Gran Premio di Milano winner Sudan (Ire) (Peintre Celebre).

Magic Bibou (Fr) (Panis)

Bred by Sebastien, Stephane and Romuald Joucla in partnership with Eric Dupont, Magic Bibou races in the colours of Francis Teboul’s Gemini Stud, which also campaigned the multiple Grade 1-winning hurdler Gemix (Fr), who now stands at Haras de Victot. Teboul was also the co-breeder of G2 Prix du Muguet winner Jimmy Two Times (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}). His dam Hidden Magic was bought as a 2-year-old for €12,000 at Arqana’s December Sale in 2007.

Wootton (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB})

Guido Sels of Ecurie Haras de Quetieville, which raced the colt for his first start until Godolphin bought him privately, bred both Wootton and his dam, the Group 3-placed winner American Nizzy (Fr) American Post (GB). Quetieville was also the birthplace of G2 Lonsdale Cup winner and G1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite (Fr).

Il Primo Sole (GB) (Raven’s Pass)

A graduate of three sales at three different auction houses, the dual winner was sold by his breeder Biddestone Stud as a foal for 20,000gns. He then returned to the ring for the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, at which Mags O’Toole bid €40,000 for him on behalf of Eddie O’Leary who breezed him at Goffs UK where he was bought for £55,000 by Blandford Bloodstock. Biddestone also bred his dam Sweet Alabama (GB) (Johannesburg), having bought grandam Alybgood through Hugo Merry for $18,000 at Keeneland in 2009.

Francesco Bere (Fr) (Peer Gynt {JPN})

This grandson of Sunday Silence was unsold at €12,000 at the Arqana V2 Yearling Sale when offered by Haras de la Haie Neuve, which stands his sire. After winning the Listed Criterium du Fonds Europeen d’Elevage, he was offered at the Arqana Arc Sale but again didn’t reach his reserve, being unsold at €400,000. Bred by the Regnier family, he is out of a Hector Protector half-sister to Sir Prancealot (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}).

Kings Shield (Scat Daddy)

The Rosemont Farm-bred top lot at last year’s Craven Breeze-up Sale when sold for 675,000gns was purchased privately by pinhooker Jim McCartan after being bought in for $65,000 at the Keeneland September Sale.

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