Arqana October Comes To A Close

[Wandering Eyes]

Arqana’s four-day October Yearling Sale drew to a close on Friday with an abbreviated final session of 82 yearlings. Sixty-four of those found new homes, adding a further €636,000 to the sale’s aggregate, which wrapped up at €17,692,000, down 4% from last year’s €18,493,700 when 34 more horses were sold.

Following the theme of this fall’s yearling sales, figures were largely consolidated from 2018. While the clearance rate dropped slightly to 74% for 417 total sold, the average climbed 2% to €41,201. The median dipped 3.8% to €25,000.

Sharing top honours during the final session were a colt from the first crop of Goken (Fr) and a filly by Goken’s sire Kendargent (Fr), which each fetched €26,000. The colt, lot 532, is a half-brother to Wootton’s Colt (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), a listed winner in Italy since the catalogue was published, and he was bought by Tina Rau. The filly, lot 565, is a granddaughter of GI Beverly D. S. winner England’s Legend (Lure) and was bought by Agence BHB.

Sheikh Abdulla bin Khalifa Al Thani was busy buying at the sale through agent Alban de Mieulle, having recently purchased Haras de Victot, France’s oldest stud farm, and he came away as leading buyer with 11 yearlings bought for €1,085,000. Stroud Coleman Bloodstock spent €960,000 on five yearlings, including Wednesday’s €300,000 session-topping Showcasing colt for Godolphin.

Five vendors returned in excess of €1-million, headed by Ecurie des Monceaux with €1,898,000 for 22 sold.

The October Yearling Sale was presented in a more graduated format this year, and Arqana President Eric Hoyeau reflected, “With the aim of being more comprehensible for buyers, the new format has worked well. We worked on the sections to ensure that each horse was in its rightful place, and this was understood by all. Nevertheless, we are operating in an uncertain environment, and the increase in the average price was not able to maintain the turnover, reflecting the selectivity of the market. Demand remained strong on the right profiles and despite the decrease in most of the figures, the October Sale, more than ever, continues to attract a wide range of buyers from Europe, Australia, Japan, the United States and North Africa. In addition, the attractiveness of French bloodstock and the popularity of our stallions continue to grow, as evidenced by the combined results of the first three yearling sales of the year, with an average price that continues to rise.”

The October Yearling Sale is Arqana’s final yearling sale of the year reserved for flat-bred horses, and in that realm the firm sold 1,094 yearlings this year (75.05% of the offerings) at an average of €84,887, up 14% from last year, and a total of €65,629,500.

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