Vente d'Elevage

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- "Deep German family" was an oft-uttered phrase during Sunday's session of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage, most notably in the case of top lot Qualixia (lot 464), who is set to continue her racing career with Joseph O'Brien after being bought by Blandford Bloodstock's Stuart Boman for €320,000. Last seen making a black-type breakthrough in the Listed Grand Prix de Fontainebleau, Qualixia was offered by trainer Philippe Decouz as the winner of four of her 11 career starts. Bred by Gestut Fahrhof, the four-year-old daughter of Blue Point...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- From Newmarket bargain buy to Deauville showstopper, Half Sovereign made "a dream come true" on Saturday when selling to Henry Lascelles for €2.6 million to headline the opening session of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage. Offered by Consign Ltd on behalf of trainer Karl Burke and his partner in the daughter of Ten Sovereigns, Adam Spratt, the two-year-old has gone from strength to strength since her low-profile appearance at last year's Tattersalls Somerville Yearling Sale. Purchased by Burke for just 12,000gns at Park Paddocks, Half Sovereign has gone...

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE -- For the second time in as many years, the young team at Consign Ltd is bidding to close out the sales season in style when high-class filly Half Sovereign is offered as a wildcard during Saturday's session of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage. When the TDN cameras visited Harriet Jones and Chloe Battam in July last year, the newly-founded Consign Ltd was preparing to get the ball rolling with a bumper draft numbering 18 horses at the Tattersalls July Sale. Then, less than five months later, Jones and...

by Sue Finley and Katie Petrunyak  For European consignors, the sales season is less a sprint than a marathon, beginning in the August heat at Arqana and running nearly straight through to a frenzied finale of breeding stock sales just as the winter chill signals the season's end. While many Irish and British teams pack up their supplies for the year once their last mare has stepped out of the ring at Tattersalls, plenty see the value in making one final trek across the Channel. It's the last stop in...

Nope. Just can't figure it out. Why on earth, at the end of another grueling sales cycle, would so many Americans scrape together the last of their resources, in energy and funds, and get on a plane for one final auction in France? Setting aside, that is, the langoustines and truffles; the calvados and cider; the designer boutiques; the Christmas lights that transform an elegant summer resort into a filmset apt for a French remake of It's A Wonderful Life; the medieval villages huddled, in the early dusk of midwinter,...

A total of nine wildcards, including group winner Half Sovereign (Ten Sovereigns), have been added to Arqana's Vente d'Elevage catalogue. They will be offered on the first evening of the sale on Saturday, December 6. Offered as lot 195 from Consign, Ltd., the G3 Prix Miesque winner is from the same family as dual Group 1 winner Jack Hobbs, as well as group scorers Pollenator (Motivator), Stellaria (Kizuna), and Golden Pond (Don't Forget Me). Arcadia Elevage consigns G3 Prix de Flore second Ginalyah (Chachnak) (lot 205). Rated 106, she is...

High-class fillies Nyra, Egina and Daylight headline the catalogue for the 2025 edition of the Arqana Vente d'Elevage, which takes place from December 6-9. The first part of the catalogue features 248 mares, fillies and foals, with Nyra set to be one of the early highlights when she is offered as lot 187. Trained by Waldemar Hickst, the daughter of Isfahan gained her biggest success to date in July's G3 Hamburger Stutenpreis, before also finishing a close-up third in the G1 Preis der Diana. She is out of a half-sister...

Offered in foal to Persian King (Ire) by Haras d'Etreham, the Pivotal (GB) mare Quara (Ire) topped the third day of the December Breeding Stock Sale at Arqana when being bought by Llama O'Mahony's Whitethorn Bloodstock for €72,000. The 10-year-old Quara is out of the Listed-winning Dubawi (Ire) mare Quanzhou (Fr), a half-sister to the G1 Prix du Cadran hero Mille Et Mille (GB) (Muhtathir {GB}). Though Quara was unraced, Quanzhou is the dam of five winners, including the Listed scorers Hooking (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Le Destrier...

Alex Elliott was in action for G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte heroine Classic Flower (GB) (Calyx {GB}) (lot 191) at €1,800,000 to take the lead at Arqana. The chestnut, consigned by Haras de Beaumont, was purchased on behalf of MV Magnier and White Birch Farm. From the same family as multiple stakes winner and multiple group-placed Bahia Breeze (GB) (Mister Baileys {GB}), Classic Flower changed hands for 45,000gns as a Tattersalls December foal in 2021 when purchased by Arthur Hoyeau. She was bred by Petches Farm, Ltd.   A new top...

Mauricio Delcher Sanchez sent G3 Prix de Psyche heroine Excellent Truth (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) through the ring at Arqana, and the G1 Prix Rothschild runner-up was knocked down for €1,600,000 to Stamford Bloodstock/Meridian Bloodstock on behalf of John Stewart's Resolute Racing, as the first millionaire of the 2024 Vente d'Elevage. Sold as lot 171, the daughter of Moment Of Truth (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) is a half-sister to the Group 3-placed Memo De L'Alguer (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}). Bred by Sandra Russell, the 4-year-old was a €52,000 purchase out of the...

Arqana has moved to allay concerns ahead of its Breeding Stock Sale following a reported outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) in two sport horses near Paris.  A statement released by the sales company on Tuesday read, "With just a few days to go before the Vente d'Elevage, Arqana has sent all vendors a specific equine health protocol to follow as a result of a call for vigilance by the RESPE (equine infectious disease surveillance) after two cases of EHV-1 were reported in mid-November in sport horses located in the...

This year's Oaks d'Italia winner Tomiko (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) has been added to Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale and will be offered by Baroda Stud as lot 170 during the opening day of the sale on Saturday, December 7. Trained by Paolo Aragoni for owner Luigi Ginobbi, Tomiko also finished third in the G2 Premio Lydia Tesio. She is one of two winners from four runners out of the unraced Lawman (Fr) mare Testimony (GB), a half-sister to the 10-time winner--including at Listed level--Saltonstall (GB) (Pivotal {GB}). Her second dam...