Arqana has released the catalogue for its breeze-up sale which, for the second year running, will be held in Deauville instead of Saint-Cloud to coincide with the relocated French Guineas meeting.
The Classics were moved to the Normandy track last year while Longchamp undergoes extensive refurbishment and, while the races will almost certainly return to Paris in 2018, the meeting proved to be a great success in Deauville. This year it has been divided to run across two days, with the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches on Saturday, May 13 and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and G1 Prix Saint Alary to be run the following day.
This means that the breeze-up sale will be staged on the Friday, with the 137 lots on offer set to breeze at noon on Thursday, May 11.
Johnny Collins of Brown Island Stables was responsible for the sale's most notable graduate of 2016, the unbeaten G3 Acomb S. winner Syphax (Arch), who was bought by Stephen Hillen for €100,000 having been a €25,000 Keeneland yearling selected by Collins in partnership with Chad Schumer. The Kevin Ryan-trained colt has subsequently been purchased by Godolphin and is entered for the G1 QIPCO 2,000 Guineas which will be run the weekend before this year's sale. This time around Brown Island Stables will consign a draft of five juveniles.
Those buyers on the lookout for Classic contenders will have plenty to choose from in France, with two of the country's leading stallions, Siyouni (Fr) and Le Havre (Ire), represented by 12 and nine 2-year-olds respectively.
The Channel Consignment offers the only Galileo juvenile in the catalogue (lot 91), a colt out of a Street Cry (Ire) half-sister to the Belmont-winning duo of Rags To Riches (AP Indy) and Jazil (Seeking The Gold), while the same draft also contains the sole representative from the first crop of Animal Kingdom (lot 77), a filly out of a winning half-sister to last year's Prix Saint Alary winner Jemayel (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).
Larissa Kneip's Haras de Saint Arnoult presents another well-related filly of a freshman sire in lot 81, who has been named Siena Firenze (GB) and is a Cityscape (GB) half-sister to G1 St Leger winner Harbour Law (GB) (Lawman {Fr}). Another of her half-brothers, the Group 3-placed Moheet (GB) (High Chaparral {Ire}), sold for 800,000gns at the Tattersalls Craven Sale of 2014.
The multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Dream Ahead is a notable breeze-up graduate, having been bought for £36,000 at Doncaster in 2010. He is standing his first season in France this year at Haras de Grandcamp and is the sire of lot 125, who is certainly bred to be fast. The colt, offered by Glending Stables, is a half-brother to G1 Haydock Sprint Cup winner G Force (GB) (Tamayuz {GB}) as well as the dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast). The family also includes another top-class sprinter and current freshman sire Lethal Force (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).
Commenting on the catalogue, Arqana's Head of Bloodstock Freddy Powell said, “We saw some very good juveniles on our inspection tours starting in January and are thrilled with the selection that we will offer to our buyers. We are particularly happy to welcome some new vendors, a sign of the sale's momentum and attractiveness. Figures for the breeze-up sale have risen tremendously over the past few years, since we amended the date. It has allowed us to cater for more diversified profiles, naturally including 2-year-old types but also some less precocious horses who will develop into excellent 3-year-olds. Our graduates' performances on the track reflect this diversity.”
He continued, “During the first Deauville-based edition of the sale, the facilities and track pleased vendors and buyers alike. We have made some additional improvements this year in order to further upgrade our quality of service.”
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
