Arqana December Starts Strong

The European bloodstock community enters the home stretch of its grueling autumn-winter cycle still full of running, judging from proceedings on the opening day of the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale. For many, of course, yesterday's premier session represented a last chance to pull something out of the fire, and a case in point was James Delahooke, who had found himself repeatedly thwarted at Newmarket last week and feared that he was going to miss out again when offering €1-million for lot 178, Parvaneh (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}).

A 3-year-old out of a Kahyasi (GB) half-sister to the multiple stakes winner Nayyir (GB) (Indian Ridge {GB}), Parvaneh had won a Group 2 race at Baden-Baden in September for Waldemar Hickst after changing hands for €175,000 at the Breeze-Up Sale here last year.

“It was my last bid,” Delahooke admitted. “I thought someone would buy her to race, and be prepared to pay more. So it was quite nerve-wracking until the hammer fell. I'd tried to buy something at Newmarket last week but couldn't, so it was nice that she was here. She's not only a good racehorse but a lovely filly, a gorgeous individual really, and I'm a big fan of Holy Roman Emperor. I've bought her for an American client who trades under the name of Pursuit Of Success, and she'll go to Kentucky to be covered in the new year.”

Such a seasoned observer, Delahooke was suitably impressed with the strength of trade. “This sale has got stronger and stronger over the years,” he said. “You get good horses here, and good value, and it's now a very important sale.”

Sure enough, the indices all held up very healthily. Though the number offered was considerably smaller, 165 compared with 189 last year, at a very similar clearance rate of 80.61%, the aggregate was down just 5.33% at €14,531,000 (from €15,349,000)–reflected in a 5.35% climb in the average from €103,709 to €109,526. (A €70,000 median was virtually unchanged from €69,000).

Camprock Dream Continues…

Cynics would doubtless tell her to quit while she is ahead, but for those of a more romantic disposition the sale of lot 158 provided a 15-year-old Swedish schoolgirl with a spectacular ending to a story remarkable in any walk of sporting life–never mind one as full of hard luck, and harder-headed judgement, as the bloodstock world.

A brief career for Pia Brandt in the first of this year established the calibre of Camprock (Fr) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) beyond doubt. She started with three wins, notably the G3 Prix Penelope at Saint-Cloud, and was then beaten only a head in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary. Not seen again after disappointing in the Prix de Diane, she was arrived here as part of the Coulonces Consignment prepared by Anna Drion, whose tearful reaction, after her sale for €850,000 to Emmanuel de Seroux of Narvick International on behalf of Katsumi Yoshida's Northern Farm sooner reflected the fact that she had herself bred the filly's breeder.

Her daughter Moa had been given Camprock's dam Camporese (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) by Tom Ryan in order “to help give her a good start in life.” It was quite a gesture, Camporese's grand-dam being a half-sister to the dam of the great Hasili (Ire) (Kahyasi {GB}), and doubtless some might have rebuked Moa for entrusting the mare to Myboycharlie (Ire) (Danetime {Ire}), then starting from a new base at just €4,500. But her choice has been amply vindicated since being bought by Brandt and Drion for €30,000 at the October Yearling Sale here, and there was an emotional videophone exchange between mother and daughter as de Seroux extolled Camprock's virtues.

“She's a fantastic looking filly and obviously a very good racehorse, almost a champion,” he said. “She has everything you could want, breeding and class, we've followed her all year and are thrilled to get her. She'll surely get to visit Deep Impact (Jpn) at her new home.”

“I'm overwhelmed,” Drion said, after ending her call to a boarding school in Sweden. “It's a fairytale, a dream come true. It's such a reward for all the passion of my daughter, and for all the hard work not only of Pia and her team but of my team also.”

Talvard Has Appetite For Reponds Moi…

The quality of French cuisine is well known, but it nonetheless felt slightly surreal to observe the sale of lot 153, Reponds Moi (More Than Ready) before a packed ring–as two rival bidders slugged it out for this precious vessel of Wertheimer blood in the sanctuary of the dining room. In the event the final word at €750,000 was traced to Pierre Talvard of the nearby Haras du Cadran, who recently cashed in the dam of this summer's dual Group 1 winner Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) to Shadai Farm in Japan. “We went slightly over budget, and she's the most expensive mare I've ever bought,” Talvard said. “But I just loved her at first sight.”

Reponds Moi, carrying a foal by Intello (Ger), is out of the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Pas De Reponse (Danzig) and so a sister to three stakes performers, including the dam of Dicton (GB) (Lawman {Fr}), twice on a Classic podium this year.

Merry Catches Frankelitis…

One of the defining themes of the season has been the splash made by the first crop of Frankel (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), and so it was fitting that this bookend sale should put another feather in his cap through a wildcard lot 170: a chestnut filly born on Apr. 7 to Ascot Family (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}). A listed winner herself, the dam is a half-sister to the G2 King's Stand S. runner-up Flanders (Ire) (Common Grounds {GB}) and to the dam of dual Group 1 sprinter Lethal Force (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}). With such a speedy pedigree, fireworks could be expected from what was also a very taking physical specimen. Sure enough, Hugo Merry was forced to go as far as €450,000 to secure the foal for Andrew Rosen. “Everyone in the world seems to have got 'Frankelitis' at the moment,” he said. “But this is a beautiful filly, a really loose mover with a great disposition. My client has a lot of very nice broodmares and I expect the idea will be to race this filly and one day send her out to join them at Claiborne.”

Another wildcard to justify her inclusion was lot 150, Stone Roses (Fr) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), a listed winner for Freddy Head knocked down for €280,000 to Hillwood Bloodstock.

Dansili Daughters Prove Popular…

There is more than one stallion at Juddmonte, of course, including one or two with a resume Frankel will do well to match over the years, and the reputation of Dansili (GB) as a broodmare sire received a couple of fresh boosts with two of his daughters making the top six prices of the day. Unraced herself, lot 112, Silimeri (Fr) (Dansili {GB}), is a half-sister to Silasol (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}), winner of the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac at two and of the G1 Prix Saint-Alary this year for the Wertheimer brothers. The second dam, the Storm Cat mare Brooklyn's Storm, is a half-sister to no fewer than six listed or group winners, notably Solemia (Ire) (Poilglote {GB}), who shocked Europe in the 2012 Arc; as a result this 3-year-old shares a third dam with one of the season's very best milers in The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

In order to graft from this family tree, three breeders joined forces to see off a stubborn challenge from Laurent Benoit at €420,000: Lordship Stud, Lady O'Reilly and Haras de Monceaux. “This is exactly the type of mare we look for,” Henri Bozo explained on behalf of the latter. “Young, from a lively family, and from a major breeding operation. Those are the assets we have always sought for our stud and it has worked so far.”

This partnership was back in action towards the end of the session when giving €380,000 for lot 195, Qatar Power (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), a listed winner for Freddy Head at Maisons-Laffitte this summer. “She's a magnificent filly from a family with a lot of speed and will be a good outcross,” Bozo remarked.

Dansili's other big hit was lot 131, the charming dappled grey Iromea (Ire), for whom Crispin de Moubray gave €320,000. The 4-year-old, out of a half-sister to the Group 1 winner and performer Grey Lilas (Ire) (Danehill), won a listed race for Francois Rohaut last year but had failed to build on that when campaigned in the U.S. since, and was returned here by Andreas Putsch's historic Haras de Saint Pair.

As an advisor to Putsch, de Moubray had to bide his time until the reserve had been passed, but he then stepped in enthusiastically on behalf of another client, an unnamed English farm. And, listening to him listing all the various positives bubbling under the page–horses stabled with Andre Fabre, horses in foal to Dubawi etc–it was easy to understand why he had persevered with an investment initially undertaken when this filly was a 150,000gns Tattersalls yearling.

“These families don't exist unless someone starts them,” de Moubray reasoned. “And I know this one backwards. I bought Grey Lilas as a yearling, would never have been able to afford her but for the fact she was covered in ringworm. The more you can get into a family, the more you can look after it, the better it will work out. It's a lot of work, you need to do your research. For instance, on the face of it this filly going to Christophe Clement in America didn't work out, but some horses just don't adapt to the environment out there and the fact is that she was working extremely well.”

Chortle Headed Down Under…

It was in the Aga Khan's draft at this sale six years ago that Neil Jenkinson found the unraced dam of Khan (Aus) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) for just €30,000, and her son is now a top fancy for the G1 Golden Slipper S. Little wonder, then, that he was prepared to spend rather more on lot 72, Chortle (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), a winner discarded by Godolphin and a full-sister to their Group 1 winner Hunter's Light (Ire). The second dam, after all, is a full-sister to damsire legend Darshaan (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}) and half-sister, therefore, to that great fount Darara (Ire) (Top Ville {Ire}), dam of four Group 1 winners. As the icing on the cake, Chortle is in foal to the sire of Khan, prompting Jenkinson to go to €220,000 for the 5-year-old on behalf of John and Fu Mei Hutchins of Element Hill Stud.

“She'll foal here, and then we'll decide whether to have her covered to Southern Hemisphere time by a sire like Siyouni, or send her to Australia to be bred,” Jenkinson said. “Either way she's a very welcome addition to the Element Hill broodmare band. Dubawi is obviously a kingpin sire in both hemispheres, and it's a champion family going back to Darshaan and all the rest. And this mare has great bone, great structure, and good body: I like her a lot. As you know we've been lucky here before and, with Exceed And Excel in the mix, I'd hope there might be a few similarities with Khan.”

There were some equally delicious crumbs from Godolphin's table in lot 81, Mountain Spring (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}), a winning 3-year-old out of a half-sister to Prix du Jockey-Club winner Anabaa Blue (GB) (Anabaa)–their dam in turn a half-sister to none other than the great Urban Sea (Miswaki). Their mother Allegretta (GB) (Lombard {Ger}) was imported by the late Michel Henochsberg, whose friend Eric Puerari of Haras des Capucines was delighted to renew his links with the family for €200,000. “I did not think I would be able to get her,” Puerari admitted. “I thought she would make more than that.”

The justice of that remark was borne out by lot 155, Alpine Spirit (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), carrying her first foal by Kendargent (Fr). She is out of a grand-daughter to Allegretta and Meridian International had to go to €280,000 to secure her.

Benoit Bites For Colonialiste…

Laurent Benoit was enjoying his lunch in the restaurant when lot 88, Colonialiste (Ire) (Lord Of England {Ger}), came into the ring, but showed a greater appetite for this delightful morsel from Wertheimer & Frere. The winning 4-year-old is out of Sahel (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}), a full-sister to three Group 1 winners in Schiaparelli (Ger), Samum (Ger) and Salve Regina (Ger), as well as to the dam of Sea The Moon (Ger) (Sea The Stars {Ire}). Moreover, she is carrying a foal by Intello (Ger) (Galileo {Ire})–a scenario that vividly demonstrated her appeal to the Broadhurst agent.

“It's not only a great family but it's almost free of Northern Dancer, as well,” Benoit said, signing a €200,000 docket. “I'm delighted we've been able to buy into a family that is one of the best in Germany if not in Europe. She has been bought for a long-term client in France and will stay here.”

Certain Sisters Hot Commodities…

Two half-sisters to the dam of Avenir Certain (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) went through the ring consecutively, both in foal to the sire of that dual Classic winner. It is emerging as quite a family, their dam also being a half-sister to the dam of one of the season's most accomplished juveniles in Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), while the third dam is that elite producer Lucayan Princess (GB) High Line {GB}), responsible for Luso (GB) (Salse), Warrsan (Ire) (Caerleon) and company. As such, albeit respectively having offered little and nothing on the track themselves, they looked fair value as young mares: the 8-year-old lot 22, Java Jazz (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}), going to Sylvain Vidal, who stands Le Havre (Ire) at La Cauviniere, for €90,000; and the 7-year-old lot 21, Mishhar, to Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International for €135,000. “It's obviously a very nice family with plenty going on, and of course there's the Le Havre element too,” Bozo shrugged, adding only that he was acting on behalf of “a French breeder.”

Another to reflect the amazing start made by La Cauviniere's young sire was lot 38–this time a half-sister to the dam of his second dual Classic winner La Cressonniere (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), and likewise part of the Coulonces Consignment. Herself a winner, the 5-year-old Louarn (Ire) (Elusive City) was moreover offered in foal to another rising star among French stallions in Wootton Bassett (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) and with a page dignified, as third dam, by a full-sister to Highclere (GB).

“That's very much the kind of profile I like in a broodmare,” said John Tyrrell of BBA Ireland, after signing a €150,000 docket. “A pretty, quality mare from a good, active family. She obviously has plenty going for her, between La Cressonniere and the cover of a promising sire. She's for a commercial stud in Ireland, so I imagine the foal will probably be sold as a yearling, though I've no idea at this stage who they might want to send her to next.”

Australia Filly Finds Favour…

Mags O'Toole was involved in one or two knockout pinhooks in this same ring this year and her judgement of lot 128, a foal from the first crop of Australia (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), commands due respect. She paid €120,000 for this filly, the result of Australia's glamorous appointment with an unraced half-sister to dual Arc winner Treve (Motivator). “She was the best foal here today and a fantastic advertisement for the sire,” O'Toole said. “She's for an existing client and the plan would be to re-sell her next year.”

Australia, the son of Ouija Board (GB) (Cape Cross {Ire}) who won the 2014 Derby, scored a notable hit at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale when another of his daughters fetched £300,000 from Blandford Bloodstock.