Can Arqana Buck The Trend? Breeze-Up Sector Looks To Deauville For Answers

More questions than answers have been generated from a shaky start to the breeze-up season and now the focus turns to Deauville, where the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale will provide the clearest barometer yet about the overall health within that sector. 

Boutique by design, Arqana boasts a broad international reach underpinned by a stellar roll of honour – last year's 2,000 Guineas winner Ruling Court, the ill-fated champion two-year-old Gewan and even this year's 2,000 Guineas third Distant Storm were all sourced here within the past couple of years. 

This is a sale capable of setting the tone rather than reflecting it. However, it comes off the back of a difficult, and at times bruising, opening to the European breeze-up season. 

Many handlers are reeling from those opening skirmishes as the war in the Middle East, coupled with the various other factors such as a lack of a domestic buying bench in Britain and Ireland, exacerbated what had already been a selective market.

There now appears to be three clear tiers to the market; elite, respectable and then friendless. 

“It's been a struggle,” comes consignor Roderic Kavanagh's honest appraisal of the breeze-up season thus far. “Unless you really put your hand up by breezing and clocking well, it's been difficult to trade. It's good to get the reward when you come up with the goods but obviously there's a bit of pain when you don't have the real deal. But, given the economic climate and everything that's going on in the world, I think it has been fair so far.”

That's not to say the elite tier has been simple. While Wathnan Racing has been active, Godolphin has yet to feature on the buyers' sheets. For context, the powerhouse operation had spent almost £4.5 million by this point 12 months ago. Amo Racing is another leading buyer who has been more or less MIA. While Kia Joorabchian put in a token appearance at Doncaster, the £375,000 spent on three juveniles there does not come close to the 3,160,000gns spent at the Craven last year. 

So, the big question now is where does all of that leave us ahead of Saturday's sale.

Well known faces in the crowd at Deauville | Zuzanna Lupa

“I think it is selective,” Arqana's Freddy Powell said about the market following the breeze on Thursday. “I was at the Guineas Sale last week and, in all fairness, they sold well for what they were. Okay, there have been a lot of withdrawn horses, so we know it has not been easy. But the nature of the breeze-ups is this. The selection is made on the track. Therefore, there will be a certain number of horses that the buyers will not be interested in because of the way they breezed. 

“A lot of people say that this is a different game here, a different market, so we are hopeful that the top end of the market will be healthy because we have a lot of horses that are of that level here. I think we have the right horses and I think we have the right people. All of the buyers who were here last year, they are back. The consignors have been our best marketing team throughout the past few weeks. Not only because of the results on the track, but the fact that they said they have kept some very good horses for this sale.”

He added, “There are 28 races at Royal Ascot and only six of those are for two-year-olds. If you want to have a winner at Royal Ascot, you are statistically more likely to have one who is three or older. Okay, if you want to have a runner at Royal Ascot, maybe your best chance is to buy a two-year-old type. But I totally understand the obsession of Royal Ascot among Anglo-Saxons and of course the Americans love having a runner there as well.”

In complete contrast to America, the European breeze-up sector has become increasingly reliant on the select few for the elite level horses. Coming up against the Anthony Strouds and the Richard Browns of this world can be disheartening for clients, according to bloodstock agent Ross Doyle, who believes there is more variety on offer at Arqana and even the Tattersalls Ireland Breeze-Up Sale. To that degree, Doyle revealed he sidestepped Goffs and the Guineas Sale in favour of keeping some powder dry for the latter sales. 

He said, “You have Anthony Stroud and Richard Brown looking after the top end and it's become a bit like the point-to-point sales in that fellas are getting a bit fed up not being able to get near what are perceived to be the nicer horses. I'm talking about clients here. With this sale, and even the likes of Fairyhouse, it's a bit later and you have more of a chance. There has been a little less demand for the earlier, sharper two-year-old types because maybe they [the buyers] are scared it's all going to be over after Ascot. That's a problem.”

He added, “There's a bit of a perception that the horses here have size, pedigree and sire-power. There's probably more options for people here. They have a chance of getting a bit of longevity out of the whole thing.” 

Despite the stuttering start to the year, there is quiet optimism on the ground in Deauville that this sale, which kicks off at 11am local time on Saturday, will provide everyone involved in the breeze-up business with a much-needed shot in the arm. 

Kavanagh concluded, “I'm hoping that the international level of this market should be healthy. I think things seemed to have calmed down a little in the Middle East so the timing could work well. We've good racing on the horizon and I'd be confident that there are good orders from the top buyers and they are probably looking for a horse for the future rather than the here and now. There are only six two-year-old races at Royal Ascot. It's a narrow target.”