Arqana August Sale | Horse Racing Free Tips

Channel’s Filly The Star Act in Classy La Motteraye Draft

Gwen Monneraye and Lucie Lamotte, collectively known as La Motteraye Consignment, have come a long way since setting up their business in December 2009 with €92 in their pocket.

Less than a decade later they topped France's premier yearling sale in 2018 when selling a Dubawi (Ire) colt out of Just The Judge (Ire) for €1.4 million, and at this year's Arqana August Sale their draft is headed by another yearling with two Classic-winning parents. The Sea The Stars (Ire) filly, who will have the lot number 234 attached to her rump as she circles the ring in Deauville, is the first foal of the G1 Prix de Diane winner Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}).

“She's very exciting, and it's exciting that people trust us for this kind of thing. She wasn't raised at our farm, she came to us for the prep, so we put her in cotton wool and she's been really well,” says Monneraye from the couple's farm in the idyllic Normandy hamlet of Les Autels-Saint-Bazile. If you love French cheese as much as you love fledgling racehorses, then this is the farm for you, located between Camembert and Livarot.

The filly was bred at Haras des Authieux by Samuel de Barros, and she represents something of a dream start for the Parisian lawyer and his wife Elodie, for whom Channel was a first foray into owning a racehorse. Channel's racing career is lovingly chronicled on the website for their stud, a breeding operation just five years in the making and currently home to six broodmares. While her story is something of a fairytale, similar can be said for the rise of La Motteraye, though it is one which has involved an enormous amount of work by two people who had travelled the world gaining experience in the bloodstock business prior to returning to their native France.

“It was a dream,” says Monneraye as he reflects on the last 13 years, during which time their operation has expanded to incorporate three farms which are now home to around 50 broodmares.

“We just wanted this and we worked very hard to get it. The only thing we couldn't know beforehand is whether people would trust us to work with them. We need people to trust us and to put their horses with us.

“When we first started, the first five first years, I'm a very hard worker, but thinking back I don't think now if I could do it again. It was madness. We had zero money.

We couldn't just buy 50 broodmares and start a farm, so we needed to earn the trust of people, and it worked. So now we are very happy and we still want to develop the farm. We have had a goal since we started and it's still in working progress.”

As well as results in the sales ring, the farm has also been represented by decent performers on the track, most recently the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Alenquer (Fr) (Adlerflug {Ire}), bred by Michael Andre, who also acts as Coolmore's representative in Germany.

Monneraye notes, “Alenquer was from the first full crop that was bred on the new farm. Before, when the farm was small and we couldn't really breed horses, we just mainly did pinhooking and consigning. And since we bought the other farm, we had the first crop which wasn't fully bred over there, but that included [Group 3 winner] Pao Alto (Fr). And then the next crop was Alenquer, so it gave us belief in what we do and in the quality of the land over there. And we were absolutely thrilled with Alenquer, and especially for his breeder, Michael Andre, who is also a friend.”

La Motteraye's clients also include some English and Irish breeders but it is predominantly backed by those in France, which is enjoying a rejuvenation of the breeding ranks with a notable range of younger participants.

Of the team at Haras des Authieux, Monneraye says, “It's great for France to have these kind of people, and they love the racing. And it is the same with Haras du Thenney and David Salabi. He's very keen in the horses, he's young, he's enthusiastic, and we also sell his yearlings. It's really a pleasure to work with these kind of people because they're nice people, they love what they do, they trust us. And so it makes our job easy.”

Monneraye and Lamotte were themselves at the forefront of a new wave of major consignors in France, their fluency in English making them popular with an increasing number of breeders from across the Channel wishing to take advantage of the lucrative French premium scheme.

“I think the first was maybe Haras de Grandcamp and then Anna [Sundstrom of Coulonces Sales] and then us, and of course we have Monceaux, that was the beginning,” Monneraye says.

“And since then, there have been a lot of young people and they work really hard to set up their consignments. And now we have also a lot of people that are setting up farms, breeding operations, and I think when I look to Europe, there are more young French breeders than probably in the rest of Europe.”

He adds, “I think one of the key factors is that land is more affordable here than in England. It's so expensive there that people maybe have to be a farm manager or they have to find another way of doing it. So that's the luck we have.”

Monneraye and Lamotte keep nine of their own mares on the farm and are keen to develop their families in the long term.

“When I go to England to Tattersalls I say to my English friends 'I want to buy a foundation mare' and they all laugh at me,” says Monneraye. “They say 'do you believe in Santa Claus?' But that's why I came into this business. I didn't come into the business just to trade. I came to one day have an amazing broodmare.”

He continues, “That's the real goal of the whole shebang, rather than to trade. My father is a farmer and I think maybe that's why I see it this way. It's the agricultural part of it, and the breeding. You need to focus on the long term. And of course you need a bit of cash and to be able to sell well at the sales, but you have to think of both ways because otherwise I don't really see the point. I don't see the passion. I think it's a very French thing; the passion is so important in France.”

Away from the farm for the next week, and in Deauville with their four-month-old daughter Olivia and some babysitting parents, Monneraye and Lamotte will be putting all their passion into selling yearlings for their clients.

A recent update has been provided for lot 143, a colt by Wootton Bassett out of Soniechka (GB) (Notnowcato {GB}), who is the dam of recent Glorious Goodwood-winning 2-year-old Sparkling Beauty (Fr), trained by Richard Hughes. He is being sold on behalf of English-based breeders Tim and Gill Bostwick of Biddestone Stud.

Another Wootton Bassett in the draft, lot 68, a filly out of Nouvelle Vague (Ire) (Henrythenavigator), also benefited from a recent update when her 2-year-old half-sister Arinniti (Fr), also bred at La Motteraye, was second first time out at Naas. She has now been sold to Team Valor and will be trained by Paddy Twomey, who has given her an entry for the G2 Debutante S. later this month.

On behalf of breeder Al Shahania Stud, La Motteraye will also consign a filly by American Triple Crown winner Justify, who has made a promising start with his first runners this season. Lot 167 also has a strong Juddmonte family behind her as she is a daughter of Time Being (GB) (Zamindar), a full-sister to Group 1 winner Timepiece (GB) and half to her fellow top-level scorer Passage Of Time (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who has also found fame as the dam of Time Test (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}).

“Sometimes you think to yourself 'I don't know if this horse can really make it to this sale',” Monneraye explains as he expresses his satisfaction with the team of 20 yearlings which has just arrived in Deauville. “But this year, we haven't had this. We really like them all and I think overall it's a very strong draft. In France it's very popular for people to come and see them on the farm, so pretty much every second day we had people visiting. They have had a lot of practice and now we just have to make sure everything goes smoothly at the sale.”

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Saint Pair: A Boutique Operation With a Global Outlook

Performance or pedigree? In an ideal world a breeder would choose both when buying a mare but, depending on budget, almost inevitably there has to be a compromise. In recent weeks in TDN we have heard from Mark Johnston about his selection process when buying yearlings, in which he is particularly keen on a decent rating for the dam. On the opposite side of the equation this week as vendor, Andreas Putsch is in agreement.

“For us it is all about selection, of the matings, of culling, and trying to introduce new blood. When I read the interview with Mark Johnston that was music to my ears because that's very much our approach. The form of the dam is so important,” says Putsch, who at Arqana will be selling seven of the eight yearlings born on his sumptuous Normandy-based Haras de Saint Pair last year.

Indeed, Putsch had outlined this strategy when interviewed in these pages five years ago. At the time he said of his early days in the breeding business, “I was breeding to sell. I tried to buy mares with good pedigrees who didn't have such good racing records. Some of their offspring sold well, so commercially it was a success, but what bothered me was that there weren't enough good results on the racecourse with those horses. Then I read Joe Estes's book which compared mares' performances and I studied all the dams of the good stallions. I decided that the way to go was to buy performance over pedigree–it's very difficult to afford both.”

Certainly that shift in direction, which has been incorporated into the broader perspective at Haras de Saint Pair, has reaped dividends on the track, both with the graduates of the farm who race in Putsch's own colours, such as the multiple group winner Pearls Galore (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), and with those bought by other owners.

It is no surprise that Saint Pair, just outside Cambremer, is capable of producing top-class racehorses as the farm has a rich history rolling, like its paddocks, back to 1883. Four Arc winners have been born there, and in the 15 years in which it has been under the ownership of Putsch, the Group 1 winner Vadamos (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) has been born and raised there among some other notable group winners, including Glycon (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}), Waldbiene (Fr) (Intello {Ger}), Lucky Lycra (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) and Guildsman (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}).

Siblings to two of those mentioned can be found in the septet which forms the Haras de Saint Pair Arqana August draft. The Kingman (GB) colt out of Dardiza (Ire) (Street Cry {Ire}), lot 249, is a half-brother to the American Grade III winner Guildsman, who was also third in the G2 Coventry S. when trained by Archie Watson. It is a family with roots in the Aga Khan Studs and also features the Classic winners Almanzor (Fr) and Darjina (Fr).

A colt and a filly by Kingman's stud-mate Frankel (GB) also feature, with the son of G2 Rockfel S. winner Spain Burg (Fr) (Sageburg {Fr}) being the third horse set to sell on Sunday evening (lot 148). With the remainder of the draft being concentrated on Monday, the Frankel filly appears as lot 284 and is one of three members of the same illustrious family to pass through the ring within four lots. Bred on a cross which has been successfully advertised by Group 1 winners Nashwa (GB), Cracksman (GB) and Hungry Heart (Aus), the filly is out of the Pivotal (GB) mare Girl Friday (Fr), who was a winner at two and is a half-sister to the aforementioned G2 Grand Prix de Deauville winner Glycon. Their dam Glorious Sight (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}) was talented herself, as a Listed winner who was placed in both the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and G1 Prix de Diane. Furthermore, she is a half-sister to another talented Pivotal mare, Beauty Is Truth (Ire), a Group 2 winner who has produced the Group 1 winners Hermosa (Ire), (Hydrangea (Ire) and The United States (Ire) from her repeated matings with Galileo (Ire).

The Frankel filly will be followed through by a daughter of Wootton Bassett (lot 285), whose young winning dam Glad Eye (Fr) is by Dansili out of Glorious Sight, while the third filly from the family (287), and perhaps the draft's pièce de resistance is the full-sister to Glycon, whose sire Le Havre died earlier this year. With Glorious Sight being a Kilfrush Stud-bred descendant of the great matriarch Mill Princess (Ire) (Mill Reef), the family has been given a further boost in recent seasons by the exploits of dual Group 1 winner Tenebrism (Caravaggio) and her sister Statuette (Justify).

“The full-sister to Glycon, certainly, is a superstar,” says her proud breeder. “She will be very popular. And if you look at the pedigree update, at the mares that Coolmore have, Hydrangea has a Deep Impact and two Dubawis, and Hermosa has a No Nay Never and two Dubawis. [Their Dansili half-sister] Fire Lily has two Galileos. There aren't many families that have that sort of support. As Coolmore aren't selling, it's really almost an exclusive entry into the family.”

Putsch adds, “We have a very consistent draft, I would say. The horses are where they should be. The two colts are also very popular, they are very strong, very racy, very well developed. I'm very happy with them. They're all ready to go.”

Only one of the crop of 2021 has been retained this year at Haras de Saint Pair, for practical reasons as well as perhaps a sentimental one, for the Siyouni (Fr) filly is the final foal of another successful Singspiel mare for the stud, Via Milano (Fr), the dam of the black-type trio of Via Ravenna (Ire) (Raven's Pass), Via Medici (Ire) (Medicean {GB}) and Via Manzoni (Ire) (Monsun {Ger}). The G3 Prix Lieurey winner Via Medici has subsequently been exported to Japan, where she produced the dual Group 1 winner and young Shadai stallion Admire Mars (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}).

“We have to keep the filly, because Via Milano is now retired in the paddocks. But we really bring our 'A game' to the August Sale,” Putsch says. “Because we don't know, as the buyers don't know, which ones are going to be the ones who race successfully. If I'd have known that Sicilian Defense was as good as she is, I wouldn't have sold her for, what, €30,000.

“If you look back at the figures, Saint Pair does produce a high percentage of stakes winners year after year, but obviously we don't know which ones are going to be the 20/25% of the stakes winners–and over the last four years, with four or five crops, that's what we've been producing, from small crops of on average 11 foals.”

He continues, “I think if you look at all these operations that are successful, they have a very good ratio of land to horses, and that's the key on our land. We have a strict policy of a minimum of two hectares per horse, and that allows us to rest the paddocks. All our paddocks have a minimum of six months of rest every year, and we see very few horses. We see lots of cows during the season, and empty paddocks. And I think that, in terms of management and especially parasite management, is absolutely key. I couldn't do it any other way.”

As already outlined in Saturday's TDN by Arqana's Freddy Powell, there will be no shortage of international buyers prowling the sales grounds in Deauville. Like many in the business, Putsch can see both sides of the coin when it comes to the increasing globalisation of the racing and breeding industry.

He says, “I welcome it and I am concerned. First of all, I'm not the emperor of racing and breeding so I cannot change the reality. And it's the reality of things right now that Europe has become huge. Look at it historically, I think right now in terms of quality of stock you have Europe and Japan that are leading the world. Japan has different reasons, but why Europe is so good is historically that amazing competition between Coolmore and Darley, and also Juddmonte playing this phenomenal role.”

He continues, “This gives us the stallions, on which we feast. And only because we can feast on these amazing stallions, we have superior breeding. I think really the power, in history, has always been led by stallion power. Where the top stallions are, you have the best breeding. I strongly believe in that.”

Of the sires responsible for the yearlings in the Saint Pair draft, the champion sires of France and Britain and Ireland, Siyouni and Frankel, are represented, along with the proven names of Le Havre, Kingman, and Wootton Bassett. Only one is yet to prove himself, and that is the Darley freshman Blue Point (Ire), whose filly within this consignment (lot 311) features late in the sale and is the second foal of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches runner-up and Listed winner Irish Rookie (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}).

Putsch explains, “I only use first-season sires when I really was impressed with them as a racehorse. Obviously Blue Point winning twice in the one week at Ascot, very few horses can do that. It takes a top horse to do it. And that convinced me to use Blue Point in his first season, but usually I prefer to go with proven sires.”

Returning to the theme of Europe's current glut of classy sires, he adds, “We have this situation in Europe where we breed top stock because of top stallions. But that is not a given that it will last forever, and now we have these very important breeders disappearing for age, slowly, and it's a whole new game. We also have ridiculous prize-money, and I include France in that, all over Europe. If you compare it to America, Australia, Asia, the Middle East, our prize-money is a joke. And that is the big problem, because we're becoming right now a nursery for stock for international racing. I have to look at international markets to market my horses. I've got no choice. And long term that can hurt.”

With a Group/Grade 1 winner in Japan and Hong Kong advertising the strength of the merits of the Saint Pair broodmare band in no less a stallion farm than the Yoshida family's Shadai operation, Putsch can also see the benefits of this global mingling of bloodlines.

“It is positive as well,” he says. “We really try to get our horses in as many jurisdictions as possible. As small as we are, I very much believe in this international market, and also international racing, and again prize-money. If you look at all our races, apart from the Classics that really are for breeding, but once the Classic season is over, the best horses automatically go to the races where the most money is. I think the Japanese showed us that, they're much more progressive than we are, but Europe is catching up, America is catching up. And the championship races today are the big races internationally that have the most prize-money.”

He adds, “So it's important for me, as a breeder, to be represented at the big meetings. Everything that is outside these meetings is just lesser racing, in general, and that is an important development. If you want to be in the limelight as a breeder you have to make sure your horses compete in this kind of company.”

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Classic Deauville Debut For Blue Diamond Stud

Blue Diamond Stud is by no means a new name in the industry, and it has been in the news plenty this season courtesy of the dual Group 1 winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}), but where it has not been seen before is on the list of yearling consignors.

That changes this week with the stud's debut selling yearlings under its own banner at the Arqana August Sale. And as debuts go, it is a pretty dazzling one as the stud's owner Imad Al Sagar will be offering a sibling to his Classic heroine Nashwa. Indeed, Al Sagar can also be credited with having bred the filly's Group 1-winning sire Decorated Knight (GB) in partnership with Saleh Al Homaizi. The fact that the stallion who now stands at the Irish National Stud is by Galileo (Ire) makes the filly a three-parts-sister to Nashwa, and she will be first of the select draft to go under the hammer in Deauville as lot 93 on Saturday evening.

It has been a year of significant changes at Blue Diamond Stud, which is comprised of two farms to the north and south of Newmarket. Ted Voute, a familiar figure on the sales circuit as a leading consignor for many years, and also a long-term advisor to a select group of owner-breeders, joined the team as chief executive officer.

“When Imad brought me on board at the beginning of the year, he said that one of the things that he wanted to develop was the commercial side of of the yearlings,” Voute explains. “He has made a big investment in the stud fees and is continuing to do so with the breeding plans of next year and an upgrade for for this year, whether [for mares] in foal or with foals at foot. And so I spent most of the spring showing the sales companies what we have in its entirety and we've come up with a plan to sell in Arqana, in the Premier Sale, and in [Tattersalls October] Books 1 and 2.”

Key to that new aspect of the operation has been the appointment of Gerry Meehan, widely acknowledged to be one of the best in the business at preparing yearlings for sale, and a former long-time employee at Newsells Park Stud, one of the leading vendors on the scene.

Voute says, “Gerry is a master of yearlings. He worked for Newsells for years and he has topped many sales and prepared many yearlings. He is an excellent person, so we went about headhunting him really. He runs the yearling farm and I think he's looking forward to bringing these three horses to Arqana. He's very on it and has great attention to detail. He knows exactly what he's doing and he's got a good team that he's assembled himself with the show people that he likes.”

There could hardly be a more eye-catching starting point for the Blue Diamond Stud yearling consignment than a close relation to a current Classic winner, and Voute says of Nashwa's sister, “We had her accepted in Book 1 at Tattersalls and Arqana, and the mother is in foal to Frankel, she's carrying a filly, which helped our decision.

“We're really excited. She's a lovely filly, very straightforward. We've got Nashwa, we've got the mother, so we thought we'd take a chance and roll the dice, and we thought it was very sensible thing to do commercially for the farm.”

The second and final member of the draft following one withdrawal will feature in Monday's session. Catalogued as lot 252, he is the only colt in the sale by Invincible Spirit (Ire) and the striking bay is out of the Listed Prix Petite Etoile winner Dawn Of Hope (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}). The nine-year-old mare's first foal, the 92-rated filly Kind Gesture (GB) (Decorated Knight {GB}), has won twice this year at the age of three in the colours of another owner-breeder, Prince A A Faisal. A full-brother to the yearling colt was sold last year at Tattersalls for 200,000gns to American agent Mike Ryan and, named Variable Cost (GB), he is currently on the work tab in Saratoga.

“Dawn Of Hope raced in France and was very successful. There's a French angle for each of the yearlings, and he'll be the only Invincible Spirit colt,” says Voute.

In the past, Blue Diamond's yearlings have been sold under different consignors, but Voute says that he felt it was time for the stud to take a new direction.

“I've always kept in contact with Imad ever since he sent Authorized to me as a foal and last year he said to me he was going to go down the commercial route,” he explains. “He's still going to race some of the horses and there'll be some families that are out of bounds, like the Pearling family, which is particularly dear to him.

“But I just feel with some of these really bespoke breeding operations that if they could showcase their own yearlings, especially when they are good breeders – and in the nick of time Nashwa comes up as a very current homebred – I think with these small-batch yearling drafts, you can do a really good job, and I think people really take notice.”

With Nashwa being primed for her own return trip to France for a potential run in the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Opera on Arc weekend following her twin triumphs in the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Nassau S., there should be plenty of excitement still to come this season for the Blue Diamond Stud crew, which Voute has been happy to join.

He says, “It's like being part of a dream team. I couldn't have imagined it, but I got a call in January after I came back from holiday and Imad said 'would you come and help me out?' The first appointment we made was Teddy [Grimthorpe] for the racing, which has been a great success. He's one of the most knowledgeable racing managers that that we know in this country and Imad has bonded very closely with him very quickly. Obviously, we inherited Hollie [Doyle, first retained jockey], which was an inspired appointment a couple of years ago.”

He continues of the farm's broodmare manager Andrew Rawlin, “Andrew was already here. Andrew has been our hidden masterpiece, actually. He's a very knowledgeable guy. He's passionate with the horses and he's out 24 hours, seven days a week, looking at how these horses are raised.

“Obviously Nancy Sexton came on board as well as the bloodstock consultant who's doing all the PR side of things, pedigrees and mating advice, or information that we need. And it's great. I can't believe it all fell into place. We've got a great team, whether that means we're going to be successful with the yearlings or not, I don't know, but we've definitely got the people there.”

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Arqana August: Back and Better Than Ever

Aside from perhaps the odd delay at the Channel Tunnel for British-based visitors heading to Deauville, the Arqana August Sale should be just about back to normal this year for the first time since 2019. A loaded plane will jet in direct from Saratoga on Thursday morning, when the scene will be set for three days of trade at the auction which routinely acts as the bellwether for the European yearling market.

Small changes to the format can be found this year in the fact that the August Sale is no longer comprised of an unofficial part one on Saturday and Sunday with a follow-up all-day session on Monday. This year, France's elite yearlings (plus some visitors) will be sold alphabetically throughout the three sessions, and with the French holidays meaning that racing takes place on Sunday and Monday, the sale will begin at the earlier time of 2 p.m. on Saturday, 15 Aug., with the two following sessions beginning after racing at 5 p.m. each day. The V.2 Sale, which was traditionally held just after the August Sale, has now been replaced by a new two-day auction in September.

So, that's the housekeeping done. What of the catalogue?

“Arguably it's even better than usual,” states Arqana's executive director Freddy Powell, and there is plenty of substance in his bold claim.

“We have a number of siblings to Group 1 winners, but it's not really even the numbers, it's the Group 1 races they won: the Champion S., two Arc winners, the Prix de Diane, a champion 2-year-old, a Derby winner. And we have the first foal out of a Prix de Diane winner; that's never happened before.”

Indeed, there is plenty to get one's teeth into when compiling lists, and agents working the sale in earnest will simply have to plump for the 'all show' option as they arrive at each new consignment around the sales grounds.

We'll be hearing more from individual vendors as the week progresses, but to whet the appetite, here is a sample of some of the most desirable pedigrees in the book. As mentioned, the Prix de Diane does indeed loom large in the catalogue. Not only does the three-quarter-sister to this year's winner Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) appear on Saturday as lot 93, but, as referenced by Powell, Monday's session features a Sea The Stars (Ire) daughter of the 2019 winner Channel (Ire) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who will be sold by La Motteraye Consignment as lot 234.

Ten days ago, Nashwa backed up her French Classic win with another Group 1 victory, this time against her elders, in the Nassau S. at Goodwood. The fact that physically she appears still to have so much more to give, coupled with the assertion from her owner-breeder Imad Al Sagar that Nashwa will remain in training at four, only adds to the appeal to her younger sister by another Blue Diamond Stud Group 1-winning homebred, Decorated Knight (GB). The filly is the fourth foal of her listed-winning dam Princess Loulou (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}), whose finest moment on the racetrack came when finishing runner-up in the G1 Prix Jean Romanet just across the road from where her daughter will sell.

The two aforementioned Arc winners with siblings in the August catalogue are Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who will himself be represented by first foals at the sales later in the year, and the dual winner Treve (Fr) (Motivator {GB}).

It is fair to say that the family of Sottsass stole the limelight at this sale in its delayed format two years ago, when his half-sister Pure Dignity (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) fetched €2.5 million. Sottsass himself was a more modest €340,000 but we can expect to see his full-brother, who sells early in Sunday evening's session as lot 154, command a higher price tag when sent through the ring by his breeder and leading consignor Ecurie des Monceaux. He has not only Sottsass to recommend him of course, as the first name on the page is his half-sister, the seven-time Grade I winner Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}).

In a year in which Haras du Quesnay sadly lost its patriarch Alec Head, the stud's four-strong draft contains an Intello (Ger) half-brother to the filly who was the apple of her breeder's eye, Treve. The son of the Anabaa mare Trevise (Fr) is set to sell on Sunday evening as lot 171.

Early attention on Saturday could fall on lot 10, Haras de Colleville's full-brother to the G1 Champion S. winner Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), while another horse early into the ring with some pretty smart credentials is Haras d'Haspel's Sea The Stars filly (lot 17) out of a Kodiac half-sister to Classic winners St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and Magna Grecia (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). She is not the only one in Jose Delmotte's draft who has a close connection to a recent European champion 2-year-old as later in that session the Haspel team will present lot 62, a Siyouni half-sister to Native Trail (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}), who of course backed up his championship juvenile honours of last season by winning the Irish 2000 Guineas after finishing second in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

That longer-than-normal opening session is not short on potential stars. A three-quarter-sister to recent G1 Grand Prix de Paris and G2 Prix Greffulhe winner Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) anchors the Camas Park and Glenvale Studs draft, which offers the daughter of Gleneagles (lot 75) on behalf of American breeder Adam Bowden of Diamond Creek Farm.

Eric L'Hermite's Haras de Grandcamp will offer a Dabirsim (Fr) half-sister to last season's G1 Prix Marcel Boussac heroine Zellie (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) as lot 123, while a first taste of the market's response to Darley freshman Too Darn Hot (GB) could be found in the sale of lot 90, who is out of a three-parts-sister to Classic winner Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}).

“We have simplified the format a little bit for people to be able to see all the horses before the start of the sale so they can enjoy the hospitality during the sale,” explained Powell.

“People are more and more professional on that front so we have limited the number of horses to the number of stables we have, so there is no turnover or anything like that. All horses will be there from the beginning of the inspections, and especially now that we have the consistent quality of horses though the three days, it was important that before the first horse goes into the ring that everybody has the opportunity to see the last horse who will go through the ring on Monday night.”

The late former champion sire Galileo (Ire) has been a staple of the elite sales for so long, and three of his penultimate yearling crop will find their way to Deauville, including the daughter of the Group 3 winner and Group 1 runner-up Wind Chimes (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), a member of the Haras des Capucines draft as lot 188. Galileo's close relative Adlerflug (Ger) was also lost to breeders recently, and the late German champion sire has just one representative at Arqana, lot 163, a filly out of a Lope De Vega (Ire) half-sister to the group winners Sevenna Star (Ire) and Savanne (Ire).

Young Coolmore sire Churchill (Ire) has provided arguably the best 3-year-old colt in Europe so far this season in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Eclipse S. winner Vadeni (Fr), and his selection of 15 yearlings in the August catalogue include a half-brother to another Classic winner, the Derby hero Wings Of Eagles (Fr). The April-born colt has another four stakes-performing half-siblings and hails from a family replete with black type which has served his breeder Haras de Montaigu very well through several generations. He will be offered as lot 191.

As the countdown to next Saturday's opening session approaches, Powell has headed off to Saratoga to assist Arqana's American representative Amy Lanigan in making sure that everyone who wants a seat on the plane heading to Normandy is accommodated.

“It's the first big sale since we have had no travelling restrictions and you can feel that people are eager to embrace it as much as they can,” he says. “We have people coming from the US, from Japan, from Australia, from everywhere really. And we are looking forward to welcoming people back to Deauville at full capacity, with all the fun we can have here.

“Anyone interested in attending the sale should get in touch with our local agents for anything they need. We will be happy to help.”

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