Arqana December Sale Posts Gains
By Kelsey Riley and Alix Choppin
Arqana’s December Breeding Stock Sale continued its upward trend during the third session Monday. The aggregate reached €2,196,500, a 20% hike from 2013 despite a lower number of horses sold, a fact that reflected on the average price, which at €11,440 was up 32.8%. The median increased 14.3% to €8,000 from €7,000 last term.The clearance rate was the only indicator to take a downturn, at 74.7% against 86.6% for the same session last year.
As on the previous day, a mare from the draft of the Aga Khan Studs claimed top billing. Clariyn (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}) (lot 683) was knocked down for €86,000 to MAB Agency. The 5-year-old winner, who ran fourth in the Listed Prix Coronation, is out of the black type Clodovina (Ire), herself a half-sister to G1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Clodovil (Ire) and Group 3 scorer Colombian (Ire). She was offered carrying her second foal, by Kyllachy {GB}.
“This session served its purpose, which is mostly to allow these mares and foals to change hands,” commented Olivier Delloye, General Manager of Arqana. “It is a service we provide to breeders, so a 75% clearance rate is a cause for satisfaction, although this figure is slightly down from last year. Trade was particularly strong for foals, notably for the progeny by young French-based sires such as Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr), Rajsaman (Fr), Rio de la Plata and Evasive (GB).”
Vidal Takes Two for the Team…
Sylvain Vidal of Haras de la Cauviniere signed for two of the leading lots during the early part of trade yesterday when snapping up a pair of colt foals by Cauviniere residents Le Havre (Ire) (lot 572) and Rajsaman (Fr) (lot 579). The youngsters cost €46,000 and €38,000, respectively. The Le Havre colt was consigned by Haras d’Ommeel and is from the family of G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Torrestrella, while the Rajsaman, consigned by HSV Agency, counts group winners Stella Berine and Beaujolaise as his second and third dams.
Vidal explained that the Le Havre was bought for a partnership including himself and his longstanding client Gerard Augustin-Normand, who owns the Classic-winning Le Havre, as well as Philip Jeanneret. Augustin-Normand and the Cauviniere team are well familiar with the colt’s family–Augustin-Normand sold his dam, Sabi Sabi (Fr) (Orpen) carrying him for €24,000 at Osarus’s mixed sale in January.
“Le Havre is doing so well, so I thought it was a good idea to buy the foal, and we know the mare,” Vidal said. “He’s a lovely foal, he has a good athletic walk and a lovely attitude. We know the family as well because we still have [the colt’s 2-year-old Lope De Vega half-sister] Sandouville, and she is a nice filly. We know the family, so that’s why we bought him.”
The Rajsaman colt was secured for Vidal and Augustin-Normand. Rajsaman, who won four group races in France over a mile, is represented by his first foals this year.
“The plan was to support the stallion, so we’re going to buy a few foals and a few yearlings this year by Rajsaman,” Vidal explained. He added that both foals would be retained to race.
A History Of Success…
The association between Vidal and Augustin-Normand goes back much farther than yesterday’s transactions. Augustin-Normand–a financial analyst and President and Chairman of Richelieu France–has been pivotal in the development of Cauviniere, prompting Vidal and his wife, Elisabeth, to expand their business after they purchased the property–situated between Lisieux and Orbec in Calvados–in 2006. Prior to the Vidals’ accruement of Cauviniere–one of France’s oldest stud farms, dating back 2000 years–the historic farm had sat empty for 20 years, and Vidal explained that he and Elisabeth have crafted the current facilities from scratch.
“We’ve built everything, everything is brand new, the barns, the fences–we now have 250 acres and 150 boxes,” he said. “We have three stallions on the farm.”
It was Augustin-Normand’s decision to stand his G1 Prix du Jockey Club winner Le Havre in France that has likely had the greatest impact on Cauviniere. Le Havre has sired 10 stakes winners from two crops of racing age, including this year’s G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane victress Avenir Certain (Fr)–bred and sold by Vidal–and G2 Prix Chaudenay and G3 Prix de Lutece winner Auvray (Fr).
Le Havre has been a red-hot commodity at the sales this season. Auvray topped Arqana’s Arc Sale when hammered down to the China Horse Club for €800,000 just hours after his Chaudenay score, and the second- and third-highest prices of that sale were also progeny of Le Havre purchased by the China Horse Club for a combined €2.12 million. The same operation swooped for another Le Havre stakes winner, Summer Surprice (Fr), for €420,000 during the opening session of the Arqana December sale Saturday. Le Havre’s fee will jump to €20,000 in 2015 from €7,000 this year.
“It’s like a dream,” Vidal remarked. “When you have a horse like that it changes your life. The phone is ringing all the time, and that’s better than having to phone people. Three years ago I had to call everyone, now everyone is calling me.”
He continued, “We’re very happy with Le Havre of course. It’s a dream for La Cauviniere, for Mr. Augustin-Normand, for the French industry and for the European industry. We can have good stallions in France, we just need good clients who want to harvest the money in France. That’s what Mr. Augustin-Normand did. Guy Pariente did the same thing with Kendargent, and now we have Sheikh Joaan, too.”
Vidal and Augustin-Normand have worked diligently to support Le Havre–and indeed, each of their stallions–from the beginning. Vidal noted that Le Havre has covered upwards of 145 mares every year. Last year the figure was 175, and it currently sits at 182 for next year.
The Vidals will certainly be hoping the momentum from Le Havre carries over to Rajsaman when his first foals hit the track in 2016.
“We’re very happy with Rajsaman,” Vidal said. “[Lot 579] was very athletic with a good walk. Rajsaman was a very good racehorse. He beat Siyouni and Lope De Vega. He’s been fully booked the last three or four years. We have 25 yearlings by him on the farm.”
La Cauviniere’s third stallion, Air Chief Marshal (Ire), has enjoyed a promising start to his stud career with his first runners in 2014. He sits second on France’s 2-year-old sire list with nine winners.
The 41-year-old Vidal has traveled far and wide to learn his trade, including 10 years with the nominations team at Coolmore in Ireland and stints with the Niarchos Family and Lane’s End. Vidal revealed he learned plenty about running a successful business through those experiences, but stressed managing a stallion should not adhere to a country’s customs, but rather what is best for the horse.
“It’s not about the French, the English or Irish way,” he said. “It’s the way we manage the stallion. We have to manage the horse and the mares coming to him.”
Today, Vidal has his hands in many facets of the industry, from standing stallions at his own farm to breeding from his 40-odd own mares and selling yearlings and keeping some to race. He also manages Augustin-Normand’s racing interests.
“You have to find some good clients,” Vidal said when asked about the intricacies of setting up his business. “I was very lucky to have Mr. Augustin-Normand. He’s been a big help because everything costs a lot of money in this industry. I have Mr. Augustin-Normand, and I have some clients I’ve had since the beginning.”
Vidal added a vital team member in his former Coolmore colleague Mathieu Alex in 2011. Vidal stressed that for all involved in La Cauviniere the business is all about the love of horses.
“I love horses,” he said simply. “I love competition and I love horses. The rest is only a game. You have to have the good cards on you, and we’re lucky we have Le Havre. I’m very lucky to have a good team as well on the farm. I’m working with my wife, who loves horses as well, and we have Mathieu Alex. Of course we’re often talking about business and money and the future, but we all love horses. They can be magical.”