Mastercraftsman Popular at Arqana

[Wandering Eyes]

The second day of the Arqana Summer Sale resulted in a solid day of trade and Coolmore sire Mastercraftsman (Ire) sired the top two lots-Listed Derby du Languedoc winner Esteve (Ire) (lot 395) and MSP Masterpiece (Fr) (lot 389), who are both bound for Qatar after agent Gerard Larrieu stepped in on behalf of Shael bin Khalifa Al Kuwari. Offered by Jean-Claude Rouget and  Andre Fabre, respectively, Esteve brought €445,000, while Masterpiece made €345,000 a few lots earlier.

Gonzeville (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) (lot 273), a half-sister to G1 French 1000 Guineas heroine Teppal (Fr) (Camacho {GB}) out of Jummana (Fr) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), was the star of the day for breeding stock. The Haras de Montfort & Preaux-consigned mare caught the eye of Crispin de Moubray, who bid €150,000 to secure the 6-year-old in foal to Recorder (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

“She is going to stay in France but unfortunately I can’t name my client,” said Moubray. “This is a family I have known for a long time as I bought the dam Jummana as a yearling on behalf of Maurice Lagasse and advised him with the matings all along. I

notably chose Camacho because Jummana is a very big mare who needs to visit smaller stallions–and the result was Teppal.”

At the conclusion of the two-day stand, 280 lots had found new homes (73.7%) from 380 offered, good for €7,479,700. The average was €26,713 (-4.2%) and the median was €12,000

(-33%). During the second session on Wednesday, which consisted of breeding stock and horses in training, the gross was €4,078,000 and the average was €25,573.

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