Arqana

Graham Smith-Bernal last week bought out partners Gestut Ammerland to purchase the sale-topping Waldlied for 2.2-million gns at Tattersalls, with Ammerland the underbidder. Ammerland would not be defeated for Waldlied's three-quarter sister Wildfeder (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 188) at Arqana on Saturday, however, going to €2.05-million to own the winning 3-year-old outright and dissolve the partnership with Smith-Bernal's Newsells Park Stud. Wildfeder and Waldlied are out of Waldlerche, and therefore Wildfeder is a full-sister to the Arc winner Waldgeist.

DEAUVILLE, France-the sales caravan has rolled into its final stop of the season, the European bloodstock community having made its annual descent upon Deauville, France over the past two days for the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale. With an expected deluge of rain remaining at bay through the first part of Friday, the usual suspects from across Europe and further afield were out of full force inspecting the cross section of fillies, broodmares and foals that will take their turns in the ring beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday. "People...

Grand Glory (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) has taken her connections on a remarkable ride over the last three years, and after a short sojourn in Tokyo-where she picked up fifth-place prizemoney in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup-the G1 Prix Jean Romanet winner and G1 Prix de Diane third-place finisher rolls into Deauville this weekend to go through the ring at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale as lot 192 from Haras de Castillon. Grand Glory is trained in France and owned by a trio of Americans, but her story has a...

Covid PCR or antigen tests will be available on site at the sales complex for visitors to the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville, which begins on Saturday. The testing site is located close to the main entrance at Arqana and will be open from Thursday, Dec. 2 to Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. No booking is required.  To gain access to the sales complex, visitors are required to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test.                

The Christophe Ferland-trained Inuit (Fr) (Caravaggio), a two-time winner from three trips to the races, has been added as lot 240bis to the upcoming Arqana Vente d'Elevage Sale Dec. 4. A debut second on turf at Bourdeaux Le Bouscat Sept. 19, the gray colt has since put them back-to-back, winning his maiden by three lengths over the all-weather track at Lyon La Soie Oct. 22 ahead of a 1 1/2-length victory in a conditions event over the synthetic track at Chantilly Nov. 19. Rated 95 at present, Inuit is the...

Charlie Gordon-Watson purchased a 1/50th share in His Highness The Aga Khan's Group 1 winner Zarak (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) for €350,000 to top the Arqana Online Sale on Tuesday. Sold as lot 2, the promising young sire already has the Group 1-placed horses Times Square (Fr) and Purplepay (Fr). Fellow first-season sire Zelzal (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (lot 3) also proved popular, with Meridian International's Ghislain Bozo extending to €125,000 for a 1/50th share in the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner. The Haras de Bouquetot stallion has 10 winners...

Purplepay (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}), the four-length winner of the Criterium Arqana and third in the G1 Criterium International, has been added as a wildcard to the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale and will sell on Dec. 4 as lot 150. The 108-rated filly is from the productive family of Group 1 winners Ectot (GB) and Most Improved (Ire) and Group 3 winner and G1 1000 Guineas third Daban (Ire). Purplepay was offered through an Auctav online sale earlier this month and was bought back at €1.35-million. Joining Purplepay on the...

Arqana's Autumn Sale drew to a close on Wednesday with a single-session National Hunt Breeding Stock Sale that was highlighted by a pair of mares from the dispersal of Magalen Bryant. Topping trade was the 6-year-old stakes-winning AQPS mare Fabulous Dragoness (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}) (lot 743), who was sold in-foal to Doctor Dino (Fr) to Pegase Bloodstock for €300,000. Rupert Pritchard-Gordon swooped for another 6-year-old mare from the dispersal, Laterana (Fr) (Saint Des Saints {Fr}) in foal to Great Pretender (Ire) (lot 703), and her pricetag was €140,000. The two...

A €170,000 Doctor Dino (Fr) colt set a new record price for a NH-bred yearling at this sale as the Arqana Autumn Sale proper concluded on Tuesday. Buyers' appetites remained keen overall, with eight yearlings bringing €77,000 or higher. Consigned by Haras des Sablonnets, lot 518 is out of the listed-placed jumper Lofte Place (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}), who has already provided the goods as a NH broodmare as the dam of three-time listed winner Thrilling (Fr) (Network {Ger}), who ran second in the G1 Prix Maurice Gillois and G1 Ferdinand...

Jumping was at the forefront of many buyers' minds in Deauville on Monday, where a strong first day of the Autumn Sale featuring horses-in-training and 2-year-old stores saw 13 horses change hands for six-figure sums. The session was led by the 3-year-old gelding Foxfire Glow (Fr) lot 419d, though mystery surrounds the identity of the buyer who bid €315,000 for the son of Vadamos (Fr) via Freddy Powell. The Arqana director could say only that the horse's new owner wished to remain anonymous and that the former Francois Nicolle trainee,...

Arqana staged the second renewal of its November Yearling Sale on Saturday, with figures in line with its 2020 edition held amid the pre-vaccine pandemic. Last year, 215 yearlings were offered and this year it was 207. More were sold this year, 167 compared to 155, allowing the clearance rate to rise to 80.6% from 72%. The aggregate settled at €1,057,500, while the average was €6,332 (down slightly from €6,981) and the median was the same at €5,000. The top price was €30,000 compared to €57,000 last year, and that...

A selection of stallion shares and breeding rights, anchored by 1/50th of a share in top French sire Siyouni (Fr) (Pivotal {GB}) (lot 1), will be offered at the Arqana Online Sale on Nov. 23. Seven lots have been revealed so far, and His Highness The Aga Khan's bay continues to go from strength to strength this season after his son Sottsass (Fr)'s victory in the 2020 G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. In 2021, Siyouni is responsible for St Mark's Basilica (Fr), a dual Classic winner of four Group...