Arqana

A filly by Toronado (Ire) (lot 535) showed the way during the fourth day of the Arqana October Yearling Sale and the first day of Part III. Consigned by Hestia Farm, she was purchased for €50,000 by Nicolas Clement, John Hammond and TS Bloodstock on behalf of new syndicate Racing France. Clement and Hammond have been busy sourcing horses for Racing France this season, and there are now approximately 10 horses involved so far. The idea behind Racing France is to encourage overseas owners to get involved in shared ownership...

Group winner and G1 Cheveley Park Stakes runner-up Daylight (Fr) (Earthlight {Ire}) will be offered by Haras de Beaumont during the first evening of the Vente d'Élevage on Saturday 7 December at Arqana.  A winner on her debut in the spring and third in the G3 Prix du Bois on her second outing, Daylight struck at Group level when winning the G3 Prix de Cabourg at Deauville. The juvenile boasts a rating of 110 and is out of the Group-placed mare Latita (Fr) (Silver Frost {Ire}). Haras de Beaumont's Pauline...

Domestic buyers dominated the concluding Part 2 session of this year's October Yearling Sale at Arqana on Thursday where a Pinatubo (Ire) filly offered by the La Motteraye Consignment sold to Emeric Guétin on behalf of Ecurie des Charmes for €125,000.  Pinatubo is just three winners off Sergei Prokofiev--who has 21--in a wide-open first-season sires' championship in Britain and Ireland. From just seven runners in France, he has sent out four individual winners, including some highly-touted performers.  Thursday's top lot hails from a family Lucien Urano of Ecurie des Charmes...

Part II of the October Yearling Sale kicked off on Wednesday with another 124 lots going through the Arqana sales ring, headed by a Showcasing (GB) colt from the Haras du Mont Dit Mont consignment who went the way of Ross Doyle and Meridian International for €170,000. It was another notable result for the Mont Dit Mont team after they sold the Night Of Thunder (Ire) colt who shared top billing on Tuesday when bought by trainer Yann Barberot for €500,000. Lot 235 is out of the Dream Ahead mare...

While torrential rain had poured over Deauville in the last few days, a late summer atmosphere floated around the Arqana sales complex when the first lot made its way through the ring for the October Yearling Sale. In the wake of buoyant renewals of the Tattersalls October Book 1 and Book 2 sessions, the opening day set new records for both average and median price, at €104,882 (+15%) and €73,500 (+5%), respectively. Eighty-six percent of the 197 yearlings on offer changed hands, a 4% increase from a year ago, and...

Opportunities to source next year's two-year-old talent are running thin on the ground and leading buyers like syndicate manager Nick Bradley, bloodstock agent Federico Barberini and breeze-up handler Johnny Collins revealed that they are hoping to stock up at the October Yearling Sale at Arqana this week. This year's French 2,000 Guineas winner Metropolitan (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) was sourced at this sale in 2022 and, after a number of buyers reported that they found the competition tough at Tattersalls over the past two weeks, a strong cohort of British and...

Strawberry Lace (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) will be offered during the first day of Arqana's Vente d'Elevage, the sales company announced on Friday. The sale will run from Dec. 7-10. The dam of GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf hero Unquestionable (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) is carrying a full-sibling to the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere runner-up. Offered by Normandie Breeding, the 9-year-old mare was bred by Swettenham Stud Bloodstock, Ltd., and is out of the listed winner Crying Lightening (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}). The extended family features Group 1...

Once again this year Arqana will be fundraising for the François Baclesse Centre in Caen through the Octobre Rose initiative, with all vendors invited to take part in a charity challenge during the October Yearling Sale. 'La Marche Rose' will start on Monday, October 21 and finish on Friday, October 25 when the gavel falls on the final lot. Vendors wishing to take part must form a team with some or all of their employees. At the end of each day, the team will calculate the average number of steps...

Tres Magnifique (Fr) (Zoffany {Ire}), the dam of G1 Sun Chariot Stakes heroine Tamfana (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}), will be offered at Arqana's Vente d'Elevage. The sale runs from Dec. 7-10. Consigned by Gestut Etzean, the 11-year-old mare will go under the hammer on the sale's first day, Saturday, Dec. 7. Carrying to Soldier Hollow, Tres Magnifique is out of the listed winner Ticana (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}), a sister to the group-placed Timos (Ger) (Sholokhov {Ire}), and a half-sister to Group 1 winner Sea Calisi (Fr) (Youmzain {Ire}), and multiple...

Following the 180-strong Arqana November Yearling Sale on Nov. 16, the Autumn Sale will take place from Nov. 18-21 in Deauville. The catalogue features 290 Flat and National Hunt horses-in-training during the Monday session; 60 2-year-old stores start Tuesday's trade followed by 197 National Hunt yearlings, which also will be sold on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The final day sees 83 well-bred foals and 130 fillies and mares go under the hammer. All sessions begin at 11 a.m. each day. High-class past graduates of the sale include this year's Grand National...

Saturday evening's Arqana Arc Sale is always a boutique affair, and Sumbe's Ramadan (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) went the way of Vin Cox signing for Lion Rock Bloodstock's Ben Kwok of Hong Kong for €1.5 million to top the sale at Saint-Cloud. He was one of four seven-figure lots to sell among the 40 offered with the gross passing the €10-million mark for the first time. Consigned by Christopher Head, the bay son of Raushan (Ire) (Dalakhani {Ire}) (lot 41) and half-brother to G3 Hoppings Stakes second Rasima (GB) (Iffraaj...

The penultimate lot in the ring at lot 54, Trafalgar Square (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) duly attracted plenty of attention and hammered at €1.15 million to Sheikh Omar Ismil Ghrghar as the fourth seven-figure horse of the night. The 3-year-old gelding, a listed winner in April, also sports a trio of group placings on his record prior to a win in the valuable Arqana Series des 3 Ans on Aug. 15. The Ecurie X-bred was two lengths adrift of Illinois (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) when second in the G2 Prix Chaudenay on...