‘You Need To Zig When Others Are Zagging’ – Crow On First Trip To Arqana

American bloodstock agent Liz Crow, best known for sourcing GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winners Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) for 280,000gns and British Idiom (Flashback) for $40,000, Jack Christopher (Munnings) for $135,000 and the mighty Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) for $100,000, says that her first trip to Arqana October was a success after picking up four well-bred fillies this week.

Crow bought Aunt Pearl at Book 1 at Tattersalls in 2019 for 280,000gns but, in anticipation of a buoyant trade at Park Paddocks this year, opted to sidestep the sale that has served her so well in the past.

Instead, a maiden trip to Deauville for the October Sale was pencilled into the diary and, after leaving France confident that she secured value during a time when the price of well-bred yearlings have been skyrocketing, Crow insists that Arqana will be factored into plans for the foreseeable future.

She explained, “I really enjoyed the sale and I see us going back next year with more clients. I am trying to think outside of the box here. You need to think of ways to keep developing your business and go zig when others are zagging. This felt like that. It felt like an opportunity.”

Crow added, “I wanted to go to Goffs and Tattersalls but it was record sales and record prices there–it was just too tough. Our clients like to shop at the maximum $300,000 range.”

The influx of American buyers at Goffs and Tattersalls bidding to capitalise on the strength of the dollar may have been excellent news for vendors but the buyers found the going tough.

Revealing that she regretted the fact that she failed to pick any European-bred fillies to bring back to America this season, Crow made the late decision to travel to France and said she is confident that the trip will pay off in the long run.

She said, “I had heard that the Arqana October Sale was a little like the Fasig-Tipton October Sale in that it had a mixed bag of physicals and pedigrees but, if you did the work and were prepared to look at a lot of horses, you could find value.

“I regretted missing out on buying at Goffs and at Tatts so I was thinking if I want to get a few European pedigree fillies, maybe this is the way to do it.”

Crow added, “Freddy [Powell, chief executive at Arqana] was nice enough to accommodate myself and Lindsay Schultz. She's a young trainer who has got off to a fast start in America and she just wanted to experience it. We had never been to Arqana before and we really enjoyed it.

“Deauville is such a beautiful place, full of history and atmosphere. The October Sale was my kind of sale–lots of horses to dig through and a few nice physicals and prices where I felt we got value.

“Everything we bought was in the €160,000 to €170,000 range. That's great value to me because you still have to spend $20,000 to get them over to America. I felt I found value for my clients.”

Well-bred fillies were what Crow came to France for and that's exactly what she got. From a Siyouni (Fr) filly (lot 239) out of Montjeu (Ire) mare Cherriya (Fr) who has already produced two black-type performers, to a more stoutly-bred Waldgeist (GB) filly out of Deauville Shower (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), who is from the family of Eagle Rise (Ire) (Danehill) and Eye Of The Tiger (Ger) (Tiger Hill {Ire}), the pair amassing four Group 2 victories in Italy and Germany between themselves, Crow thinks she filled the brief.

All bar one of the four fillies she selected have been allocated trainers already and Crow says she is excited about the new recruits.

“We bought a Siyouni, whose yearlings average €400,000, but we bought a filly by him for €170,000. She was really pretty.

Siyouni has done really well in America and we had Etoile (Fr), who we sold, by him. I thought this filly had similar characteristics to Etoile but had some power and speed. That also reminded me of Aunt Pearl–that body shape.”

Crow added, “Almanzor (Fr) was a really interesting sire for me. We kept landing on a bunch of those and learned that he's in a 'wait and see' phase at the moment. I see he had a big winner [Rajapour (Ire)] on Wednesday. I liked a lot of his physicals and was able to buy one [lot 321] for Stuart Grant.

Wootton Bassett (GB) is another sire who has done well in America so we looked at a lot of those and got out bid on several but I was happy to land one. That filly [97, signed for by Steven Rocco for €140,000] will go to Christophe Clement. The Siyouni will go to Chad Brown and is for Peter Brant.

“We also got a Waldgeist (GB) filly [260, signed for by NBS Stables for €160,000]. I had a client looking for a two-turn or three-turn type of filly and I thought that's what she was. She's going to be trained by Kelsey Danner. That's the group.”

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International Double For Almanzor

Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}–Darkova, by Maria's Mon), who serves mares at Haras d'Etreham in France and at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand during the Southern Hemisphere breeding season, achieved a remarkable multi-national double Aug. 20, with winners minutes apart in Japan and in Australia.

Over a rain-affected course at Niigata, the well-related first-starter Via Luce (Ire) defied an awkward draw in gate 15 of 17 to validate $1.90 (9-10) favouritism and become the first Japanese winner for her sire. Beaten for pace despite being asked by jockey Yasunari Iwata, the bay filly traveled several paths off the inside while under a ride on the turn and followed the move of Santa Ana Tesoro (Jpn) (Speightstown) into the straight. Via Luce drew alongside that one inside the final 200 metres and came away late to score by 1 1/2 lengths (see below, SC 15).

The March foal, bred by Katsumi Yoshida, is the first foal for her stakes-winning and three-times group-placed dam Via Firenze (Ire) (Dansili {GB}), a daughter of G3 Shadwell Prix Lieurey winner Via Medici (Ire) (Medican {GB}), who counts 2018 champion Japanese 2-year-old male and dual Group 1 winner Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) as her most notable produce. A foal half-brother by 2017 G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Rey de Oro (Jpn) (King Kamehameha {Jpn}) to Via Luce fetched ¥170 million (£1,049,810/€1,236,766/$1,241,572) at last month's JRHA Select Sales on Hokkaido.

 

 

About five minutes earlier at Moonee Valley Racecourse in Melbourne, the 3-year-old colt Virtuous Circle (NZ) was winning for the second time in three appearances, taking out a 1500-metre handicap as a $26 (25-1) roughie. Settled towards the rear of the field down the side of the course, the son of She Is Stryking (Aus) (Stryker {Aus}) was ridden for luck into the short straight and kept grinding it out to the line for a narrow success (video). Virtuous Circle was last seen defying long odds to graduate at second asking at Mornington Mar. 26.

“He went to the paddock straight after that and he just came back in, and he knows what it's all about,” trainer Liam Howley told Racing.com. “I'd like to think he's a [G1 Caulfield] Guineas horse, but otherwise I thought 2000 metres might be in his hitting zone. Maybe 2400 metres, so maybe he's a Derby horse.

“Mentally he is [ready], but we will space his runs and run next in the [1600-metre G2] Stutt [S.] back here in four weeks. That gives us time to look after him. That gives us two weeks to the Guineas and gives us a read at that point whether he's a Guineas horse or we go to the [2040-metre G2] Vase. Hopefully we are still knocking around in late October.”

Purchased for A$360,000 out of the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, Virtuous Circle is out of a listed-placed dam who has also bred Danger Strykes (NZ) (Astern {Aus}), winner in New Zealand of the Castletown S. Virtuous Circle is one of eight Australasian winners for Almanzor.

 

 

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Observations: Half to Palace Pier Introduced at Newmarket

6.15 Newmarket, Mdn, £8,000, 2yo, 8fT
CASTLE WAY (GB) (Almanzor {Fr}) makes his debut for Godolphin and Charlie Appleby and is a 425,000gns Book 1 graduate and half-brother to the high-class multiple group 1-winning Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}). The stable's Lenormand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is the mount of William Buick, but the 600,000gns Tattersalls December Foals graduate has to progress from his initial outing when sixth at Newbury last month.

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Stallion Share Tops Initial Fasig Digital Sale

A stallion share in Almanzor (Fr) topped Fasig-Tipton's inaugural March Digital Selected Sale when selling for $250,000 to Riviera Equine SARL/Haras d'Etreham when online bidding concluded Tuesday afternoon. The 9-year-old stallion, who stands in France at Haras d'Etreham, will be represented by his first crop of 3-year-olds this year. A Group 1 winner on the racetrack, he is the sire of Dynastic (NZ), who is Group 1-placed in New Zealand, as well as the group-placed Andalus (NZ) and Queen Trezy (Fr).

Also bringing six figures at the auction was Bramble Berry (Brethren) (hip 18), who sold for $150,000 to Kiki Courtelis of Town and Country Farm. The 5-year-old mare was most recently second in the Mar. 12 GIII Hurricane Bertie S. for owner RyZan Sun Racing and trainer Kent Sweezey.

“We haven't decided if we are going to keep running her or not,” said Town and Country President Shannon Potter. “We were just looking to add something to the broodmare band. We like these young racemares. We had a couple of people go look at her for us because she is in Florida right now.”

Bramble Berry is out of Regal Rose (Empire Maker) and she is a half-sister to multiple stakes winner and graded placed Bramble Queen (Silent Name {Jpn}).

“Her sire is a Florida-sire, but she's out of an Empire Maker mare, so her page is better than most that you would think would come from there,” Potter said. “So we were kind of excited to buy her.”

Fasig-Tipton offered 17 lots at its first-ever digital auction, which opened for bidding last Thursday and closed shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday. Ten of the offerings sold, while buyers still had the opportunity to make offers on the remaining hips.

“I know [Fasig-Tipton Director of Digital Sales] Leif [Aaron] being the new guy on the block over there has been hitting the ground hard trying to jump start the Fasig program of the digital sale and I think he did a pretty good job with his first go at it this time,” Potter said.

Aaron said he was pleased with the results of the company's first digital sale.

“Overall, it was very encouraging to see that we could successfully sell offerings from across the country, and the world,” Aaron said. “We sold racehorses, broodmare prospects, in foal mares–some of which were on 2022 covers–and an international stallion share. We had an impressive number of registered bidders from both within the United States and internationally, and we got a good feel for what the market wants in the digital space. The sale's average price exceeded $65,000, which was great, and I think that we built positive momentum for the future. We're already thinking about how and what we can improve for our next sale.”

Of the digital platform, Potter added, “I feel like you get a little more time to look at them this way and do your homework and it's not as many horses. It makes it a little bit easier than having to go look at 300 head in one day.”

Town and Country has been active as both buyers and sellers during Keeneland's online auctions and Potter agreed Bramble Berry would not have been a horse on the operation's radar without the digital offering.

“Kiki likes to say the time to sell is when someone is looking to buy,” Potter explained. “A lot of us, even when I was working at Taylor Made, we don't know when somebody is ready to buy or somebody is ready to sell. So having all these multiple options to be able to play the game at different levels, it really helps. The people we just purchased this mare from, it allows them to go buy another horse. They are not breeders and now they can go buy another 2-year-old and the money just keeps running over through the business. It's what you want.”

Meg Levy's Bluewater Sales sold two offerings through the digital sale.

“I'm very happy with the process and result of the Fasig Digital sale,” Levy said. “It fills a need for constant trade in an easy, comfortable, and transparent way. We had a good turnout of people coming to the farm to see [our offerings], and they brought a fair value–a win/win option for sellers and for buyers. It was fun and I'm looking forward to doing it again.”

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