Arqana

Four wildcards have been added to Arqana's Grand Steeple Sale at Auteuil Racecourse after racing on Saturday, May 16. Debut hurdle winner Stecaster (Telecaster) (lot 10) is joined by 2850-metre winner and AQPS Nils Holgerson (Ivanhowe) (lot 9). Lot 8 is Don Dandy (Sea The Moon), a five-length winner over hurdles at Compiegne lasts out; and Azou (The Grey Gatsby) (lot 7) was runner-up in a hurdle race and from the family of Adagio (Wiener Walzer), winner of the G1 Finale Juvenile Hurdle. For the complete catalogue, please visit the...

Godolphin's G1 Jebel Hatta hero Opera Ballo (Ghaiyyath) was like greased lightning exiting the stalls in Friday's G2 Bet365 Mile and, having stolen a march on his five rivals, made all to defeat G1 Irish 2000 Guineas and G1 St James's Palace Stakes winner Field Of Gold (Kingman) by a mightily impressive three lengths in a stellar renewal of the Sandown feature. "William [Buick] and I were chatting away yesterday and there wasn't a pace angle declared, so we said let him do what his father did and jump and...

Empyrean sold for €210,000 during the Arqana Online Pop-Up Sale on Friday. Harold Kirk, Willie Mullins and PB Bloodstock signed for the son of Nirvana Du Berlais. Consigned by Hugo Merienne, the bay has been placed in all of his outings over jumps. He is a half-brother to Grade 3 winner Imperil (No Risk At All). This is the extended family of stakes graded winners Irja Has (Dream Well) and Irouficar Has (Dream Well). The other three lots did not meet their reserves.

Carlos and Yann Lerner trainee The Last Dance (Iffraaj) attained TDN Rising Star status with a stunning display at Chantilly last month and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane entry doubled up in style in Thursday's Prix du Louvre, a one-mile condtions heat, at ParisLongchamp. Held together in fifth before slipping one spot at halfway, the even-money favourite made smooth headway in the straight to seize control with 300 metres remaining and was pushed out in the closing stages to easily hold the late bid...

Osarus and Arqana have partnered on the La Teste Yearling Sale on September 8-9. This collaboration between the two sales agencies aims to give new momentum to the sale, benefitting French yearling breeders and vendors. Osarus, under the direction of Emmanuel Viaud, will remain the organiser of the La Teste sale. Arqana will contribute the following: providing payment guarantees to vendors, as is the case for its own sales, leveraging its commercial strength to promote the catalogue to buyers, and bringing its resources and expertise in event organisation. Yearling breeders...

The placed jumper Empyrean (Nirvana Du Berlais) has been entered in the Arqana Online Pop-Up Sale on Friday, April 17. The four-year-old jumper has been placed in all three starts over obstacles for Hugo Merienne. He is a half-brother to Grade 3-winning jumper Imperil (No Risk At All). This is the extended family of graded winners Irja Has (Dream Well) and Irouficar Has (Dream Well). The sale begins at 3 p.m. local time and ends at 4 p.m.

Al Pacino's Inch By Inch speech in the film Any Given Sunday resonates strongly with jockey Killian Leonard, who has been making waves on the breeze-up circuit in recent years.  With the Miami Sharks down and appearing almost certainly out in the Super Bowl final, Al Pacino, who plays coach Tony D'Amato, tells his team that they can claw themselves back into the game, 'inch by inch, play by play'.  He goes on, "The margin for error is so small. I mean, one half step too late or too early,...

Willie Mullins has another classy French recruit to look forward to after Pierre Boulard and Harold Kirk teamed up to buy the Xavier Blanchet-trained Nippon Go (Beaumec De Houelle) for €300,000 on Arqana Online. A winner of a French bumper by over three lengths at Lignieres En Berry earlier this month, the three-year-old will go into training with the dominant Irish Champion National Hunt trainer. Nippon Go was the most expensive horse sold during the latest Arqana Online session.

It's what keeps everyone going: the chance that somewhere out there may be a single horse capable of transforming your whole career. For most, of course, the quest yields no more than near-misses: horses that don't quite work out, for one reason or another, but that hopefully show enough to get you noticed, keep you in the game. Every now and then, however, somebody turns up a real game-changer. Every now and then, along comes Mage. Before turning up the 2023 GI Kentucky Derby winner, Ramiro Restrepo's eligibility to describe...

Over 200 two-year-olds, one of them a St Mark's Basilica half-brother to G1 Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck (Galileo), have been catalogued for the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale. Breezes will take place over the Deauville turf on Thursday May 7 from midday, before the sale begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 9. Set to sell as lot 174, the bay is also a half-brother to G1 Railway Stakes heroine Bounding (Lonhro), while multiple group winner and sire Kuroshio is under the second dam. Other choice lots include lot 19, a...

The catalogue for the Arqana Online March Sale set for 3-5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 25, is now available. Leading the three-strong group is debut winner Nity Galeste (City Light) (lot 1), who took a 1900-metre race at Chantilly. Related to top-tier winners Potri Pe (Potrillazo) and Mukhalif (Caerleon), he is joined by Nippon Go (Beaumec De Houelle) (lot 3). From the family of AQPS graded winners Hispanic Moon (Spanish Moon) and Jordans (Coastal Path), he has a bumper win and novice victory to his credit. Rounding out the catalogue...

Arqana has revealed sponsorship details for the upcoming season, which features the addition of three Listed races at regional tracks - La Teste de Buch, Craon and Marseille-Borély racecourses. The sponsorship includes the Prix Milkom at La Teste de Buch on August 26, the Critérium de l'Ouest at Craon on September 5 and the La Coupe de Marseille at Marseille-Borély on September 14.  Arqana president Olivier Delloye said, "We are very pleased to sponsor these three prestigious races and to partner with the racecourse societies of La Teste, Craon and...