Arqana August Ends On A High

While the action moved down a notch for Monday's Part II of the Arqana August yearling sale in Deauville, trade remained vibrant, with increases in average, median and aggregate. A total of 131 horses were sold for €10,626,000 Monday, compared to 136 for €9,716,000 on this day last year. The average climbed 13.5% to €81,115 for the session, while the median was up 16.7% to €70,000. The clearance rate dropped slightly more than 2% to 77.8%. The Arqana August yearling sale concluded with 259 sold for €42,233,000, compared to 261 sold for €38,592,500 last year. The three-day average was up 10.28% to €163,062, while the median was up 5.56% to €95,000. The clearance rate dropped three points to 77.5%. “The superb results of this sale show that Deauville is more than ever a major market place on the international bloodstock scene, attracting a deep and extremely diversified range of investors,” Arqana President Eric Hoyeau said. “The sale broke new grounds this year with the sale of a colt by Dubawi for €2.6 million, a historical record for a yearling selling at Deauville, as well as a record turnover and average price. We have taken another step up in the quality of the catalogue, and the change to a three-day format, operated in 2013, has enabled more weekend buyers to stay for the final session. Such outstanding results are the combined effects of upgrades in the production of our vendors, the quality of their preparation and the confidence that buyers place in Arqana. I would like to thank and congratulate all vendors and their teams, who work tremendously hard to bring yearlings of such a high standard to the market. The dynamism of the market bodes very well for tomorrow's v.2 Yearling Sale as well as for the October sale.” Monday's trade was topped by lot 310, a stoutly bred daughter of reliable sire Dutch Art (GB) from Ecurie des Monceaux. Bertrand le Metayer picked up the March-foaled bay for €450,000 and declined to name the client, although he frequently buys for Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Thani's Al Shahania Stud, which has raced such top fillies as Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast) and Vorda (Fr) (Orpen) in France. Charlie Gordon-Watson was the underbidder. “She's a gorgeous filly from a great family–it's a good pedigree for a [future] broodmare,” said le Metayer. The filly is out of Nuit Polaire (Ire) (Kheleyf), whose 2-year-old, Elombo (Fr) (Elusive City), has won since the catalogue but was disqualified from that victory at Deauville Aug. 1. The colt is therefore placed in two starts. Nuit Polaire is a half-sister to G2 Oaks d'Italia winner Night Of Magic (Ire) (Peintre Celebre), herself the dam of this year's G2 Diana-Trial winner Nightflower (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}). Nuit Polaire is also a half-sister to the dam of Group 1 winner Nymphea (Ire) (Dylan Thomas {Ire}). Siyouni Stars in Part II… Siyouni (Fr), Europe's current leading second-crop sire, proved popular Monday, siring two of the top five lots, both fillies from Haras de Grandcamp. Siyouni, who stands at the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval in France, leads his barnmate Makfi (GB) on the second-crop sire table and was second only to Lope De Vega (Ire) on the European first-crop sire list last year. His first crop includes this year's G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Coronation S. victress Ervedya (Fr) and four other stakes winners. Mandore International Agency's Nicolas de Watrigant, acting on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing, went to €320,000 for lot 224,a filly by Siyouni that traces back to a prolific American family. The February foal is the 12th produce of Byre Bird (Diesis), a half-sister to GI Californian S. victor Roanoke (Pleasant Colony). Another half-sister to Byre Bird produced the dam of Leslie's Lady, herself the dam of Into Mischief (Harlan's Holiday) and Beholder (Henny Hughes). Another half-sister to Byre Bird is the second dam of dual Classic winner I'll Have Another (Flower Alley). “She's a pretty filly by Siyouni; she's precocious and racy and from a good family,” de Watrigant remarked. “She's for Al Shaqab and she'll stay in France.” De Watrigant later signed for another filly for Al Shaqab: lot 308, a daughter of Dark Angel (Ire) who was hammered down for €260,000. De Watrigant declined to name a trainer for the daughter of Nepali Princess (Ire) (Mr. Greeley), but did his bidding alongside newly licensed trainer and former champion jockey Richard Hughes. U.S.-based agents Alex Solis and Jason Litt struck early in the session when going to €250,000 to secure lot 195, a daughter of Siyouni (Fr) on behalf of LNJ Foxwoods, also from the Haras de Grandcamp consignment. “We love Siyouni,” said Litt. “We came last year and saw him for the first time and we loved him, and we were certainly happy to see a lovely filly with a nice page that could run anywhere on any surface.” Litt said the April-born bay, who is a half-sister to the stakes-winning and Grade I-placed Odeliz (Ire) (Falco), will go to the U.S. “She'll go back to the United States, we'll get her broken then come up with a plan for where we want to send her.” Lot 195's pedigree suggests she could excel stateside; her dam, Acatana (Efisio), is a half-sister to GI Del Mar Oaks and GI John C. Mabee H. winner Amorama (Sri Pekan), who is also the dam of this year's G2 Prix Hocquart winner and G1 Grand Prix de Paris second Ampere (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}), as well as Japanese stakes winner Uncoiled (Giant's Causeway) and French listed winner Table Ronde (Ire) (Astronomer Royal). Litt said his team had bid on others over the weekend, but had been shut out until landing the Siyouni filly. “We've taken a shot on a few, and others seem to have a bit more money,” he said. “It's a great sale, they've really put together a beautiful group of horses.” Grandcamp Comes Full Circle at Arqana… Eric Lhermite's Haras de Grandcamp enjoyed a red-letter day in Deauville yesterday, sending two six-figure daughters of Siyouni through the ring. Haras de Grandcamp was founded by Lhermite in 2004 and while the operation has enjoyed numerous highs–as the consignor of such Group 1 winners as Vision d'Etat (Fr) (Chichicastenango {Fr}) and Dabirsim (Fr) (Hat Trick {Jpn})–Lhermite admitted that hasn't always been the case. “We started in February 2004 and our first consignment in August 2004 was a catastrophe–only three of the 11 yearlings consigned sold,” Lhermite recalled. “After that our clients kept confidence and said, 'don't change anything, keep doing what you're doing. The horses are good, it's just the market needs time to get used to a new face and a new name.' We've stuck with the same clients, the same way of doing things. [Arqana's October sale in 2004] was much better, and December that same year we topped the yearling and the foal session at the breeding stock sale.” “We've had the same clients from the very beginning,” he added. “The clients have grown up with us. They've increased their investment and broodmare bands.” Lhermite, who started in show jumping but later moved to the racing industry, started Grandcamp with about 10 mares–“a mix of my own and some of clients”–and in 11 years the operation has grown to number 50 mares. Lhermite explained he left school at the age of 17 and got his first experience in the Thoroughbred industry doing nightwatch on a farm. He later spent 2 1/2 years at Haras d'Ommeel, progressing from a stud hand to a stud groom before moving to Haras de Buff and later Haras du Mezeray, where he spent nine years before a stint as assistant manager to Antoine Bozo. In the four years before he started Grandcamp, Lhermite was stud manager of Haras d'Etreham. Lhermite said he started Grandcamp with the intention of breeding to race, but the operation has since taken on more of a commercial feel. “In the beginning we had more of an intention to breed our own and do a bit of consigning for clients; it wasn't really started as a commercial operation,” he explained. Lhermite said he has grown the operation by improving his and his clients' broodmare bands. “The key is to invest in quality broodmares, and that's what we've been doing since the beginning,” he explained. “We have 15 mares of our own, and we support our own stallions with our own mares. That's why we're looking for bloodlines that can cross with our stallions. Because we have the stallions, the main spend is not the coverings, but the mares, and we're always looking to upgrade our broodmare operation.” Haras de Grandcamp is home to eight stallions and the operation has come full circle by standing Vision d'Etat and next year Dabirsim, who has returned to his country of birth after starting his stud career in Germany and will next year stand in France for the first time. Lhermite explained that he likes to use American bloodlines as he focuses his program on speed, and Dabirsim is an example of how his strategies have worked. Grandcamp purchased Dabirsim's dam, Rumored (Royal Academy), on behalf of a client for $60,000 while she was carrying the eventual G1 Prix Morny and G1 Jean-Luc Lagardere winner at Keeneland November in 2008, and later sold Dabirsim for €30,000 at Arqana August in 2010. Grandcamp sold an Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt out of Rumored to Al Shaqab Racing for €320,000 Sunday. “I'm keen on speed and American bloodlines,” Lhermite explained. “Dabirsim especially is interesting for French breeders because his bloodlines are quite rare in France, being by Hat Trick.” Grandcamp also stands Zanzibari, a son of Smart Strike, and Evasive (GB), who is by Elusive Quality. Lhermite explained that Grandcamp's client base is also international in nature. “Our main clientele today is German breeders, and a bit of English and Irish, because French breeders mostly have their own farms, and there aren't that many breeders that board mares on commercial farms, so we're mostly relying on foreign breeders who are keen to breed to French stallions and be eligible for the premiums,” he noted. Another high-profile sale–and the best price of the weekend–for Grandcamp was lot 107, a Shamardal filly who is the first foal out of G1 Prix du Cadran winner Molly Malone (Fr) (Lomitas {GB}). She was sold to John Ferguson for €350,000. Molly Malone was bred at Grandcamp. Yesterday's two Siyouni fillies were sold for two different clients of Lhermite's. Requinto Colt A Coulonces Home Run… Etienne and Anna Drion of Coulonces Consignment are perennial leaders at the Arqana August sale, but Monday's third session provided a particularly special result for the couple, who enjoyed a significant return on a colt they bred themselves when selling lot 306, a colt from the first crop of Requinto (Ire), for €320,000. The successful bidder was agent Amanda Skiffington. An emotional Anna Drion explained they purchased the colt's dam, the unraced Narva (Grand Slam), for “very cheap” sight unseen from Sweden. Narva is a half-sister to the G3 Musidora S.-placed Golden Bubbles (Street Cry {Ire}). Drion explained that she and her husband landed on Requinto as a mate for Narva after traveling to Castlehyde Stud in Ireland to inspect stallions. “We saw Requinto, who stood for €5,000 at the time, and we just absolutely fell in love with the horse,” she said. “He's the best-looking horse you could find and we said, 'this is what we want to do,' to bring him to Arqana in the August sale–a big-moving horse–and hopefully we'll get a bit of money, but we weren't expecting this.” The colt was the lone offering by Requinto in the sale. Narva's first foal, a Peintre Celebre filly, made €27,000 at this sale two years ago. Al Shaqab Stocks Up… The first crop of G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Coral-Eclipse winner Nathaniel (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) proved popular at the sales last year, with 19 foals averaging $140,600, and Charlie Gordon-Watson–acting on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing–dug deep to secure lot 200, a Nathaniel colt from a deep female family, for €200,000 early Monday. Stephen Hillen was the underbidder on the bay from Ecurie des Monceaux, who is the ninth foal out Alabastrine (GB) (Green Desert), a half-sister to G2 Nassau S. winner Last Second (Alzao), the dam of G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains victor and sire Aussie Rules (Danehill). Also appearing under the second dam are Group 1 winners Allegretto, Alborada and Albanova, as well as full-sisters Yesterday (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Quarter Moon (Ire), the latter being the dam of this year's G1 Pretty Polly S. winner Diamondsandrubies (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). Alabastrine was purchased for 40,000gns carrying this colt at Tattersalls December in 2013, and she foaled a filly this year by Style Vendome (Fr) (Anabaa). Later in the session, Gordon-Watson went to €260,000 for lot 324–an Invincible Spirit (Ire) colt from Ecurie des Monceaux–again for Al Shaqab. The bay is out of the stakes-winning Precocious Star (Ire) (Bold Fact), a half-sister to GI E.P. Taylor S. victress Lahaleeb (Ire) (Redback {GB}). Arqana's Deauville Yearling Festival wraps up Tuesday with the v.2 Yearling Sale.