By Alix Choppin
Trade was steady on day one of Arqana's February Mixed Sale yesterday, which was inaugurating a new two-day format on the back of last year's outstanding results. Of the 176 horses through the ring, 127 found new homes at a clearance rate of 72.16%, grossing €895,500. The average price was €7,051, down 30.4%, and the median was €4,000, down 33.3%. Comparisons are difficult to draw with last year's renewal, where 100 more horses were offered over a single session.
The highest-priced lot of the day was Vangaug (Fr) (Gentlewave {Ire}) (lot 74), a 3-year-old colt from the yard of Henri-Alex Pantall. The bay ran on three occasions in the provinces as a juvenile, scoring at third attempt over 2000 meters at Angers, in a fashion suggesting there was some improvement in store. He is a half-brother to the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris runner-up Dupontal (Ire) (Blackdoun {Fr}). Andriy Ostapchuk of Imperial Bloodstock got the last word at €70,000 and commented, “I was looking for a middle-distance horse with a bit of upside so he fitted the bill. He is for an existing owner who has several horses in training in France, and will likely join Pia Brandt in Chantilly”.
From Ukraine to Coolmore and a Career as a Bloodstock Agent…
Now a well-established figure on the buying bench at Arqana–he bought a record 37 horses at last year's Autumn Sale–Andriy Ostapchuk has followed a most unusual career path. He was born in Ukraine, a country with a virtually non-existing racing industry.
“My first experience in the Thoroughbred business was a rather random one,” he recalled. “I wanted to become an engineer and was looking for a way to pay for my college fees in Ukraine–that's how I ended up applying for a job as a stud hand at Kildangan Stud. I spent a year there, and actually never made it back to college. While I was in Ireland, I heard that Darley was starting a training program and thought I would give it a chance. So I became one of the 12 students on the initial Darley Flying Start.”
Upon graduating in 2005, Ostapchuk gained some more experience alongside James Wigan before seizing an opportunity to join Coolmore Stud, where he spent three years on the Primus team. In 2008, with the financial crisis taking its toll in Ireland, the young man had to look further–and quickly bounced back. “During the Darley Flying Start, I had made contacts with some Russian owners who had horses in Dubai, and kept in touch with them,”
Ostapchuk explained. “In 2008, I contacted them again and they said they were looking for a good horse. I bought them a 3-year-old out of Ballydoyle called The Bogberry (Hawk Wing), and three weeks later he won a Group 3 at Leopardstown. That finished to convince me that I wanted to pursue a career as a bloodstock agent.”
A trip back home came next, where Ostapchuk started building a clientele of mainly Russian, Kazakh and Kyrgyz owners. It is also at that time that he was approached by Arqana and became the company's representative in Eastern Europe. The successes kept on coming, notably courtesy of the filly Beautiful Heroine (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), an €82,000 yearling purchase at Arqana who went on to win at listed level for trainer–and fellow Darley Flying Start graduate–Francis-Henri Graffard, in the colors of a new Russian client.
“Due to the political unrest in Ukraine, I am now based in France,” said Ostapchuk. “I buy horses and also advise my clients with all the paperwork, transport, how to recoup VAT, etc.” Asked about the appeal of the French market to Eastern Europeans, he offers, “There is good value for money here, and the tight ban on race-day medication is also important. The owners know that they are buying sound horses.”
Soundness has to be a major criterion for those buyers, particularly with regards to the lesser-priced horses they are looking to take home. As Ostapchuk explained it, “Racing is rather big in countries like Kazakhstan, but it is very different to what we know. Races take place in large fields, over distances of 7, 11 or 17 kilometers.”
Kitten's Joy's Italian Connection…
Among the other high prices of the day was lot 124 Enough Paint (Ire) (New Approach), a well-bred 3-year-old filly with one win and five places to her name from seven outings, who commanded €46,000 from Marco Bozzi Bloodstock. She is set to join the yard of one of Bozzi's many compatriots who now call France home, Maisons-Laffitte-based Gianluca Bietolini.
The Roman native made the move to France 18 months ago on account of the enduring crisis affecting Italian racing, in contrast with France's attractive purses. His debut in the French training ranks did not go unnoticed, with 21 individual runners in 2014 securing 12 wins, including the Listed Prix des Jouvenceaux et des Jouvencelles with the 2-year-old colt Jolly Good Kitten (Kitten's Joy), in the colors of Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
There are very few Kitten's Joy's in training in France–in fact, the vast majority of them are with Bietolini. “I was introduced to Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey by John d'Amato, who is of Italian origin and a mutual friend,” Bietolini explains. “Five years ago, when I was still training in Italy, they sent me a horse called Real Solution (Kitten's Joy), who won his first three starts for me and ran sixth in the G2 Italian Derby. Then of course he went to America, where he won the GI Arlington Million and GI Manhattan S.”
Last January, Bietolini and Bozzi travelled to Kentucky where the Ramseys offered them to pick three yearlings. All three won later in the year. “In fact, every single Kitten's Joy that has come to me has run and won,” Bietolini said.
The young professional has found his footing in France in no time at all, and is at loss to find any negative about his move. “I still have a base in Italy, where my father and brother are. We do the pre-training there, as the climate is milder over the winter, then the better horses come to France. The facilities in Maisons-Laffitte are fantastic and I have some very good staff. Obviously the style of racing is a bit different, you could say it is more tactical over here, but the horses do whatever you teach them to do. It is only a matter of adapting your methods.”
Stable star Jolly Good Kitten will be entered in the French Classics, with the hope that Bietolini's Midas touch with his sire's offspring continues.
G1 Deutsches Derby hero Sea The Moon (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is likely to gain another quality mate after Pierre Boulard signed the docket at €47,000 for Waldblume (Ger) (Halling) (lot 157). From the draft of La Motteraye Consignment, the 13-year-old boasts a stellar pedigree and is closely related to a pair of new French stallions. Her half-brother is the Deutsches Derby winner Waldpark (Ger) (Dubawi {Ire}), who has recently taken up stud duties at Haras du Thenney, while one of her sisters produced G1 St Leger scorer Masked Marvel (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}), the latest addition to Haras d'Etreham's stallion roster. Currently in foal to Makfi (GB), Waldblume is set to visit Sea The Moon at Lanwades Stud, after Boulard indicated that he was acting on behalf of Heike Bischoff, breeder of Sea The Moon at her Gestut Gorlsdorf.
The sale continues tomorrow with breeding stock and short yearlings, starting at 11 a.m.
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