Heart Leads Redvers To Return For Sea The Stars Colt

[Wandering Eyes]

DEAUVILLE, France—The seasons may change but the name at the top of the Arqana consignors’ list does not. Ecurie des Monceaux, perennially the leading light in August, also dominated the select opening session of the October Sale on Tuesday, with 19 yearlings sold, including the top lot, for a total of €1,686,000, which was almost 20% of the day’s aggregate of €8,742,000.

Heart Reef (Fr) (Australia {GB}) has made just one start to date for Qatar Bloodstock since being bought at last year’s August Sale for €220,000, but her winning debut in September held enough promise for David Redvers to return to the well, outbidding Michel Zerolo at €400,000 for lot 98, the filly’s half-brother by Sea The Stars (Ire).

“I wasn’t going to be allowed to come home without him—Sheikh Fahad was pretty adamant but as soon as I saw Michel bidding against me I knew he was going to be expensive,” said Redvers. “We bought his sister here last year and she won her maiden very nicely. She runs in the Montrose S. in ten days’ time for Ralph Beckett and he rates her very highly, as do we.”

He added, “This horse is not dissimilar. He’s not very big but he’s a beautiful mover with a lovely action. He’s a Monceaux homebred by a very good stallion out of a very well-bred mare.”

The mare in question, Ignis Away (Fr), is a Gold Away (Ire) half-sister to the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and King George winner Danedream (Ger) (Lomitas {GB}), while another half-sibling, Venice Beach (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), won the G3 Chester Vase.

Beating last year’s top lot by €40,000, the filly’s price helped a decent upturn in the first-session average to €81,701 (+22%), while the median also rose to €60,000 from €52,000. With fewer horses catalogued and sold—just 107 changing hands compared to 162 last year—turnover naturally fell and the clearance rate also dropped, from 77% to 73%.

A ‘Queen’ By Shalaa
Another buyer returning to familiar territory was Kerri Radcliffe. Two years ago she went to €480,000 at Arqana’s August Sale for a first-crop son of No Nay Never out of Jessica Rocks (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). That colt is now Phoenix Thoroughbreds’ Group 2-placed Neverland Rock (GB) and on Tuesday the agent signed for his half-sister by another freshman sire, bidding €370,000 for the daughter of Shalaa ((Ire) (lot 104) consigned by Haras de Castillon.

“I’ve bought her for an American syndicate,” Radcliffe confirmed. “I previously bought her brother at the August Sale and he was stakes-placed at Saratoga this year. She’s a queen, she was the best filly here and she’ll probably stay in France, but we don’t know who will train her.”

The filly was the most expensive of the session and is the third foal of her dam, who is a half-sister to young Tweenhills stallion Havana Gold (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and out of the dual Group 3 winner Jessica’s Dream (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}).

Shalaa, the most expensive new stallion in France on his retirement in 2017, was the leading freshman sire represented on the opening day, with five yearlings sold for an average of €143,000.

Never Again
Five Galileo (Ire) yearlings had been catalogued for the opening session, and though all were withdrawn ahead of the start of the sale, their breeder Coolmore still made their presence felt in the buying role when Arthur Hoyeau went to €300,000 on behalf of MV Magnier for lot 62. The son of No Nay Never was the sole offering from Jean-Philippe Lalanne’s Haras d’Elbe, which was formerly better known as trotting stud and is now home to three Thoroughbred mares. The trio includes the colt’s dam, Chasing Ice (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}), who is out of a winning half-sister to Prix du Jockey Club winner Blue Canari (Fr) (Acatenango {Ger}). Formerly employed at Haras du Quesnay, Lalanne now runs his own farm in the south of France and bred the No Nay Never colt in partnership with Mr Droz-Vincent.

“He’s a quality colt who walks very well and is by a stallion that really improves his stock,” Hoyeau said. “He’s been bought for MV Magnier and will go into training with Aidan O’Brien, who really likes the [stallion]. The whole team really likes No Nay Never—he produces proper racehorses.”

Siyouni Stars
Siyouni provided two late highlights of the session when first a colt from La Motteraye Consignment (lot 151) sold for €220,000 followed seven lots later (158) by a filly offered by Haras du Mezeray and bought by Haras de Victot for €210,000.

Having been outdone by David Redvers on the top lot earlier in the day, Michel Zerolo was the successful buyer of the colt, offered on behalf of breeder Ecurie David Salabi. His winning dam Plain Vanilla (Fr) (Kendor {Fr}) is a half-sister to the G2 Prix de Sandringham winner Volta (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), while another half-sister has produced recent listed winner No Needs Never (Ire) (No Nay Never).

The colt’s new owner, Peter Brant of White Birch Farm, needs no introduction to his sire as he successfully claimed his first French Classic this season with another son of Siyouni, the Prix du Jockey Cub winner Sottsass (Fr).

Under the name of the historic moated Haras de Victot, Sheikh Abdullah Al Thani bought four yearlings through manager Alban de Mieulle on Tuesday, including the Siyouni filly out of a half-sister to Group 3 winner Sasaparella (Fr) (Shamardal) from a family which includes Galileo’s Group/Grade 1 winners Intello (Ger) and Mondialiste (Ire).

Also on the list for the sheikh was a close relation to Shalaa (Ire), by his sire Invincible Spirit (Ire) and out of Nepali Princess (Ire), a Mr Greeley half-sister to the young stallion (lot 136), bought for €180,000. De Mieulle also signed for a son of Shalaa (lot 54) at €110,000. The Haras d’Etreham consigned-colt is out of the Turtle Bowl (Ire) mare Baki (Fr) and from the further family of Anabaa.

Night To Remember
The Duke of Albuquerque and his fellow Spaniard, trainer Carlos Laffon-Parias, combined in the breeding of lot 87, a colt by one of the season’s leading first-season sires, Night Of Thunder (Ire), out of the duke’s dual group-winning mare Frine (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}). The duo was rewarded with a bid of €210,000 from Anthony Stroud, buying on behalf of an undisclosed client.

Initially trained in Spain, Frine won three races for her owner-breeder at the country’s major racecourse La Zarzuela, including the listed Gran Premio de Madrid, and also notched the G3 Prix de Fille de l’Air before switching to the Chantilly stable of Laffon-Parias and adding the G2 Qatar Prix de Royallieu to her record. Her first foal, Reventador (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), was retained and is now in training with Laffon-Parias. He made his debut last week at ParisLonghchamp, finishing fourth in a nine-furlong maiden.

Stroud’s other purchases of the day were lot 107, a colt from La Motteraye Consignment by No Nay Never out of a Whipper half-sister to the stakes-winning trio of Lope De Vega full-siblings, Hero Look (Ire), Manuela De Vega (Ire) and Isabel De Urbina (Ire). The colt was bought for €190,000, the same price given by the agent for lot 113, Jedburgh Stud’s full-brother to classy sprinter City Light (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) who will stand at Haras d’Etreham next season.

Japanese Investors
Sebastian Desmontils has been signing for select yearlings this year in the name of Chauvigny Equine. He is gradually compiling a team of racehorses for an unnamed Japanese client with plans to race in France and on Tuesday he added three yearlings to the Frankel (GB) colt bought at Tattersalls October and a filly by Siyouni bought in August.

At the head of the trio was lot 77, another Frankel colt, secured for €210,000 from Ecurie des Monceaux. Out of the stakes-placed Dubai Destination mare Dubai Rose (GB), he is a half-brother to The Juliet Rose (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}), twice the winner of the G2 Prix de Royallieu which was this year upgraded to Group 1 status.

“This is the second yearling by Frankel we’ve bought this season,” said Desmontils. “It’s a new venture for the client who wants to race horses in France, and this colt with go into training in Chantilly.”

Also bought on behalf of a Japanese owner was lot 36, the Sea The Stars half-brother to Group 1-winning juvenile Wonderment (Ire) (Camelot {GB}).

Agent Daniel Cole signed the ticket at €125,000 on his client’s behalf and confirmed that the colt will also have a Japanese trainer as he is to join the Chantilly string of Hiroo Shimizu, who will be training from John Hammond’s stable next season.
The colt has a deep German pedigree which includes the Arc hero Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and GI Man o’ War S. winner Wake Forest (Ger) (Sir Percy {GB}) among a host of black type-earning relatives.

Class Will Out
Six yearlings by Sea The Stars were sold on Tuesday including the catalogue’s only supplementary lot (44b), who was bought at €200,000 for Ling Tsui by Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International, standing alongside Urban Sea’s former trainer, Jean Lesbordes.

The agent said, “She has a lovely temperament and she’s a good-moving filly. The Tsui family’s policy has been to select all the best foal shares to Sea The Stars through the years and it has worked as they found Sea Of Class (Ire) by doing that. So we keep trying to buy the best that we see and we think that this filly has the potential to be a good racehorse one day.”

Lesbordes added, “She’ll be broken in in Ireland at Gilltown Stud and then we will decide where she goes into training.”

Two Of Each For Foote
Australian bloodstock agent John Foote was active throughout the first session, signing for four offspring of two of France’s leading stallions. At €80,000 each, Foote bought two colts by Le Havre (Ire), the first being Haras du Mezeray’s half-brother to Group 1 winner and young Haras de Bouquetot stallion Mekhtaal (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (lot 44), while the second was no less well-related, being from Monceaux’s high-achieving family of Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and Magic Wand (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). Foote will be hoping for a Group 1 update for lot 152 from a bit closer to home on Saturday as Magic Wand is one of 18 starters for the Cox Plate.

Also on the list were a colt and a filly by Wootton Bassett (GB). Lot 74, the filly out of Diavola (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) was bought for €130,000 from Haras d’Etreham and hails from a family which includes Too Darn Hot (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) and his assortment of talented siblings. The colt, lot 149, was consigned by Haras des Granges and is a half-brother to G2 Prix du Muguet winner Don Bosco (Ire) (Barathea {Ire}).

The second session of the Arqana October Sale begins at 3pm local time on Wednesday.

 

 

 

 

 

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