Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale | Horse Racing Free Tips

Group 1 Winner Sweet Lady To Sell At Arqana December

Group 1 winner Sweet Lady (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) will be offered during the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale during Dec. 3-6. A winner of the G1 Prix Vermeille, the 4-year-old landed the G2 Prix Corrida, G3 Prix de Flore, and the Listed Prix La Camargo in the Gemini Stud silks for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard earlier in her career.

Graffard said, “It's been a pleasure to train this magnificent filly for the last three years. Very brave and with a great temperament, she achieved all her objectives this year by winning the best races reserved for fillies and mares in France, the Prix Corrida and the Prix Vermeille. We always love going to the races with her and I'm very lucky to train her.”

Added Gemini Stud representative Francis Teboul of the filly, who will go through the ring on Dec. 3, “Don't be fooled by her name Sweet Lady because she is a real warrior and the bravest horse we own.”

Out of the English and American stakes winner High Heel Sneakers (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who also placed in the G2 May Hill S. and G3 Prix Vanteaux, Sweet Lady is a half-sister to the stakes winner Tourjours l'Amour (GB) (Authorized {Ire}). She was bred by Stratford Place Stud and was a €100,000 Arqana August Sale graduate.

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Arqana December Topper Rougir Runs by Them All in Beaugay

Peter Brant and Chad Brown enjoyed a productive GI Kentucky Derby week with victories in the GIII Modesty S. and GII Churchill Distaff Turf Mile S., and they picked up right where they left off Saturday with Michael Tabor getting in on the action.

Having repeatedly come out on the wrong end of blanket finishes last year while campaigned by trainer Cedric Rossi and Le Haras de La Gousserie, Rougir got her nose down on the line in the G1 Prix de l'Opera Longines at ParisLongchamp Oct. 3 before settling for seventh after a rough journey in the GI Breeders' Cup F/M Turf Nov. 6. She returned to France to top Arqana's December Breeding Stock sale at €3,000,000, and was looking to become the third seven-figure buy from that auction to run back and win, following in the hoofsteps of her Distaff Turf Mile-winning stablemate Speak of the Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) (€1.95 million) and G3 Prix Allex France Longines heroine Grand Glory (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) (€2.5 million).

Dropping out the back early as is typical of this type, Rougir began to inch closer while three deep after a sluggish :52.13 half. She continued to build momentum after six furlongs in 1:16.24, and showed off her closing kick to run up the score.

“I was thrilled with her race,” said Brown. “She showed a nice turn of foot that she shows us in the morning. It certainly looks like she'll stretch out fine. She's proven at a mile and a quarter previously and I think that's where she's headed. We'll take a look at running her back in the [June 10 GI] New York Handicap. There was an easy pace and such and she was still able to overcome and run well.”

Brown added, “I'm the lucky recipient of some nice fillies [Peter Brant] bought over there [in Europe]. Me and my team are very grateful for all the horses Mr. Brant sends us. It looks like we're off to a great season. This is his tenth graded win already this season. He's having a great year and deservedly so. He's done the right thing by his horses [this] winter resting them.”

Winning rider Flavien Prat was coming off a double-digit score in the GIII Peter Pan S. one race earlier.

“I had the chance down the backside and got myself outside the slow pace and it felt like it wasn't going to be any good to stay on the inside,” said Prad. “So, I gave myself the chance to go around and it was a big help for me.”

Prat, who moved his tack from California to New York this spring, has become Brown's go-to rider.

“It's been a pleasure to ride for him,” said Prat. “I just try to do my best. Obviously, he's given me some great horses to ride, so I'm just a really spoiled guy right now.”

Saturday, Belmont Park
BEAUGAY S.-GIII, $150,000, Belmont, 5-14, 4yo/up, f/m, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.40, fm.
1–ROUGIR (FR), 122, f, 4, by Territories (Ire)
                1st Dam: Summer Moon (Fr) (SP-Fr), by Elusive City
                2nd Dam: Kalatuna (Fr), by Green Tune
                3rd Dam: Kalasinger, by Chief Singer (Ire)
(€11,000 Wlg '18 ARQDE; €55,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG;
€3,000,000 3yo '21 ARQDEC). O-Peter M. Brant and Michael
Tabor; B-Jan Krauze (FR); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Flavien Prat.
$82,500. Lifetime Record: GISW, 15-5-1-3, $635,143.
Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Werk Nick
Rating: A+.
2–Our Flash Drive, 120, f, 4, Ghostzapper–Dynamotor, by
Dynaformer. O-Live Oak Plantation; B-Live Oak Stud (FL);
T-Mark E. Casse. $30,000.
3–High Opinion, 118, m, 5, Lemon Drop Kid–More Respect, by
More Than Ready. ($130,000 Ylg '18 KEESEP). O-Woodford
Racing, LLC and Team D; B-Fred W. Hertrich III & John D.
Fielding (KY); T-Anthony W. Dutrow. $18,000.
Margins: 3, NO, 3/4. Odds: 0.60, 28.50, 14.60.
Also Ran: Lemista (Ire), Runaway Rumour, Stolen Holiday, Plum Ali. Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

Pedigree Notes:
Rougir (Fr) hails from the first crop of Dalham Hall Stud's Territories (Ire) and the French Group 1 winner is his best runner to date. His three Northern Hemisphere black-type winners and additional nine stakes-placed runners include five graded performers. Most are out of European-based broodmare sire lines, but, like Rougir, MGSP-Ire Teresa Mendoza (Ire) has a Gone West-line damsire (Mr. Greeley). Elusive City, the Beaugay winner's broodmare sire, counts 21 stakes winners out of his daughters.

Summer Moon (Fr) was black-type placed in France for Jean-Claude Rouget, then shipped stateside to Chad Brown's barn for one start in 2015 before she was retired and bred to Blame and Mizzen Mast for her first two foals. Shipped back across the pond again, she has switched hands a couple of times, most recently at Arqana December in 2019 for €15,000 to Genovaa. The mare, who has several generations of Aga Khan breeding behind her, has a 2-year-old filly named Benvenuti (Fr) (Style Vendome {Fr}). That one sold at Arqana's October yearling sale last year for €100,000 to Paul Nataf.

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After Some Hurdles, Seven-Figure Filly Rougir Begins Full-Time U.S. Residency

Few things can dump cold water on the seven-figure purchase of a racing prospect like finding out the horse's previous trainer has been arrested for doping.

Thoroughbred Daily News reports that the partnership of Peter Brant and Coolmore discovered this first-hand, following the 3-million Euro (about $3.3 million) purchase of French Group 1 winner Rougir at last year's Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale. On his own, Brant also bought the French Group 1-placed Speak of the Devil for 1.95 million Euros (about $2.2 million) at the Arqana sale.

Three days after the fall of the hammer, Rougir and Speak of the Devil's former trainer, Cedric Rossi, was among several in his family arrested in connection to a horse doping probe.

Going into the sale, Rougir was a high-level runner in Europe, having won the Group 1 Prix de l'Opera Longines and G3 Prix des Reservoirs in her native France. She had most recently traveled overseas to compete in last year's Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, where she finished seventh for owner Le Haras de La Gousserie. Having her trainer under suspicion for cheating would understandably cast doubt over the legitimacy of those performances, and in turn, the expensive purchase.

However, Brant said both of his purchases have jumped through every testing hoop. Had they not, or if the horses' records were damaged by anything pertaining to Rossi's arrest, Brant said he and the Coolmore partners had discussed contingency plans with the auction company.

“We were assured these horses were not involved in this thing,” Brant told TDN. “We had all sorts of tests taken on these horses. Samples were sent to Germany. They checked out very well. We were led to believe that these horses were not part of the investigation, that they checked out very well.”

Rougir and Speak of the Devil have been moved to the Florida-based barn of trainer Chad Brown, with short-term and long-term targets in New York turf graded stakes races.

Curtain Lowers on Arqana December Sale

The frenetic pace of the breeding stock sale season finally came to a halt on Tuesday, as, after four days of selling during Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale, the last horse passed through the ring at Deauville.

Overall, the aggregate grew by 58.5% to €42,007,700, up from €25,253,500 during the first year of the Covid pandemic and the first time the sale breached the €40-million mark. There were 689 lots sold from 907 offered (76%), and 13 horses made at least €500,000, compared to six in 2020. The average of €60,314 rose 33% from 2020, and the median decreased slightly to €15,000 (-6.3%).

Saturday's quintet of seven-figure mares were led by G1 Prix de l'Opera heroine Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), who was sold for €3,000,000 to the sale's leading buyers Peter Brant's White Birch Farm and MV Magnier. She was followed closely by the €2.5-million G1 Prix Jean Romanet victrix Grand Glory (GB) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), while Gestut Ammerland bought out their partners when going to €2,050,000 for Wildfeder (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), a full-sister to G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Waldgeist (GB).

New consignor Sumbe stood firmly on top of the leading vendors' table with six sold for an aggregate of €5,352,000. Haras de Capucines was next with 22 sold for €3,373,000, while Haras de Castillon's draft brought €3,155,500 for 18 lots.

Wednesday's session sported a higher clearance rate of 80.5% for 128 of 159 offered for a total of €586,000. Both the average at €4,578 and the median of €3,500 were down when compared to the corresponding session last year, by 28.6% and 22.2%, respectively.

Four mares made €20,000 or more led by lot 977, the winning Hurrym (Fr) (Hurricane Run {Ire}). A half-sister to the black-type winner Landym (Fr) (Lando {Ger}), the La Riviere-consigned bay brought €28,000 from George Mullins and is in foal to Rio de la Plata.

Nicola Fitzgerald snapped up Anna's Star (Ire) (Hernando {Fr}) for €26,000 from Haras du Petit Tellier. Lot 987, a daughter of the G3 Deutscher Stutenpreis heroine Anno Luce (GB) (Old Vic {GB}), herself out of the German champion Anna Paola (Ger) (Prince Ippi {Ger}), is carrying to The Grey Gatsby (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), whose first-crop runners this season include the listed winner Mylady (Ger).

Arqana Chairman Eric Hoyeau and Executive Director Freddy Powell said, “After a turbulent 2020, 2021 has been marked by tremendous resilience at all levels and concluded with an outstanding Vente d'Elevage that exceeded all our expectations. With five millionaire fillies in the first session and a turnover in excess of €40 million for the first time, the sale continued its upward trajectory and has now taken on a whole new dimension. All the ingredients were present and this resulted in very good prices in the ring. Four of the five fillies sold for a seven-figure price were acquired as yearlings at Deauville in August or October, and some owners did not hesitate to reinvest during the sale, such as with Tickle Me Green and Sun Bear. The quality of the catalogue attracted many buyers from the United States, Japan, England, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, Spain, Italy, Turkey and all over France. We would like to thank our vendors who entrusted us with the best of their breeding and racing stock as well as all our teams who worked tirelessly to make this sale a success. We wish everyone a very happy holiday season and look forward to seeing you in February.”

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