Purplepay Among Three Arqana Wildcards

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 wildcard list are 3-year-old filly Rumbles Of Thunder (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) (lot 180), 102-rated and the winner of a pair of listed races this season for Jerome Reynier and a descendant of GI Kentucky Oaks winner White Star Line; and 4-year-old filly Frankel's Magic (Fr) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 190), who was second behind Rumbles Of Thunder in the Listed Prix Panacee on Oct. 4 and is from the productive German line of Goonda (GB) (Darshaan {GB}).

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Speak Of The Devil To Be Offered At Arqana December

Speak Of The Devil (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}-Moranda {Fr}, by Indian Rocket {GB}) will be offered at Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale on Dec. 4.

The winner of her lone 2-year-old start in 2019 for owner Rashit Shaykhutdinov and trainer Fabrice Chappet, Speak Of The Devil was second, beaten a nose by Dream And Do (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches of 2020. Fourth in the G1 Prix Rothschild two months later, Speak Of The Devil earned a first black-type win in ParisLongchamp's Listed Prix de Saint-Cyr over seven furlongs last October. Transferred to Frederic Rossi in July, Speak Of The Devil picked up another listed win in Deauville's one-mile Prix de la Calonne and was third, beaten a neck, behind Mother Earth (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and ahead of the subsequent G1 Prix de l'Opera victress Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) in the latest edition of the Rothschild. Speak Of The Devil was last seen finishing sixth in the G1 Prix de la Foret on Oct. 3.

Speak Of The Devil is a half-sister to the triple middle-distance Group 3-winning Morando (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}), with plenty more stakes winners on the page tracing back to the Pouliches-winning fourth dam Silvermine (Fr) (Bellypha {Ire}).

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Durance Heads Arqana At €750,000

Under tight restrictions similar to those experienced in Newmarket over the previous fortnight, Arqana’s Breeding Stock Sale began its four-day run in Deauville on Saturday with a strong international feel to proceedings. Participation at this select session from owners and breeders in America and Japan in particular ensured that trade held up pretty well in extraordinary circumstances as the French lockdown continued. The clearance rate was down slightly, but was a healthy 79%, and the turnover of €18,716,000 dipped 18% on last year, when ten more horses were sold. This time around, the 154 lots to have found a buyer returned an average price of €122,961 (-12%), while the median remained unchanged at €75,000.

German Influence
As highlighted in yesterday’s TDN, the German entry for this year’s sale was strong, particularly through the draft of Ronald Rauscher, and it was Durance (Ger) (Champs Elysees {GB}) who proved the most desirable of the fillies in training, with the 4-year-old Gestut Ebbesloh homebred eliciting the day’s top price of €750,000 from James Delahooke. 

The winner of last year’s G3 Mehl-Mulhens Trophy in her native country for Peter Schiergen, Durance (lot 174) followed that up with victory in the G2 Gran Premio di Milano this season and the half-sister to seven black-type performers is now under American ownership, with Delahooke having been acting on behalf of Bryant Prentice’s Pursuit Of Success LLC.

“She was the one that I really wanted in the sale,” said the agent. “Her family has really produced with sires that I’m ashamed to say I’ve never even heard of. The first dam fills the entire page: that’s rare these days. She herself has an admirable race record. I bought her for a very nice American gentleman who has mares in Kentucky and England. Durance will head to stud and her offspring will go to the sales.”

He added, “The sale is very strong for the right profiles despite so few people around the ring. A lot of people must be bidding from offsite.”

Another of the Rauscher draft, the Group 2 winner Satomi (Ger) (Teofilo), was bought by Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock on behalf of breeder Andreas Putsch for €300,000. Trained. By Markus Klug to win three times and to finish fourth in the G1 Preis der Diana, the 4-year-old (lot 197) is a daughter of German champion juvenile Swordhalf (GB) (Haafhd {GB}).

While G1 Preis Von Europa winner Donjah (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}) was bought back by her owner Dr Stefan Oschmann of Darius Racing at €720,000, this year’s G2 German 1000 Guineas runner-up No Limit Credit (Ger) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) was knocked down to Jean Deroubaix of the FBA at €480,000. Both fillies were bred by Gestut Karlshof, with the latter (lot 192) having raced in the colours of the Faust family of Gestut Karlshof to win four times, including the G3 Schwarzgold-Rennen.

Deroubaix said of No Limit Credit, “I have bought her for a German client, who hasn’t owned a horse for 20 years. I bought him a horse in the 1980s, Val Des Pres, and then he then moved away due to work commitments, and stopped having horses. Now he is retired and is reinvesting. She will go back into training in Germany.”

Carson Wants Truth
The offspring of Prudenzia (Ire) (Dansili {GB}) have long ruled over Arqana’s August Sale, and one of the great mare’s daughters again played a leading role in December when Truth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) brought the hammer down at €580,000. Again it was James Delahooke doing the bidding but this time he was acting on behalf of Willie Carson’s Minster Stud.

Now eight, the sister to Group 1 winner Magic Wand (Ire) and half-sister to Classic winner Chicquita (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) had been sold for €1 million as a yearling and raced in a partnership for Al Shaqab and Coolmore. Her one placed finish for Aidan O’Brien may have been disappointing but she has plenty of black-type earners for relations and she was sold in foal to Siyouni (Fr) as lot 178. Thus, a member of the celebrated family returns to England, where her grandam Platonic (GB) (Zafonic) was bred by the Cumani family’s Fittocks Stud before being bought as a foundation mare for Ecurie des Monceaux by Henri Bozo and Patricia Boutin.

Another of Platonic’s grand-daughters, Psara (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), also brought one of the day’s highest prices when sold to Ghislain Bozo’s Meridian International for €500,000.

The 4-year-old mare (lot 148) is a daughter of the G3 Prix de Lutece winner Pacifique (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) and, a winner herself last year, is now in foal to Churchill (Ire). As a yearling she was bought for €250,000 by Monceaux partner Victor Langlais.

“She’s a lovely mare from a very good family,” said Bozo. “She is carrying to Churchill and the mating should suit her. Certain partners have come out and the sale has allowed new partners to come in.”

Japan Calling
All three Yoshida brothers of Japan’s leading racing family were represented during Arqana’s opening session. 

Spinning Memories (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) has been a highly consistent campaigner for Pan Sutong and  Pascal Bary since her impressive maiden win on debut in Ireland and subsequent purchase from Andy Oliver’s stable. Her tally of two Group 3 and three listed wins over the last two seasons vouch for her talent and, though her first two dams were unraced, she traces back to another talented and consistent race mare, the dual Grade 1 winner Memories Of Silver (Silver Hawk), who has in turn also proved to be a classy producer.

Now five, Spinning Memories (lot 134) has thus earned her place among the illustrious broodmare band of Teruya Yoshida, who bought her online for €500,000. She will be joined on the flight to Japan by Mageva (Fr), the 3-year-old daughter of Wootton Bassett (GB) who was trained by Fabrice Chappet to take third in the G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and was picked up for €430,000, also by the Shadai Farm principal.

Katsumi Yoshida had already bought the winner of that French Classic, Dream And Do (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), in a private deal earlier this season to join his own equally impressive collection of broodmares at Northern Farm, and he was also a prominent buyer in Deauville. Through Emmanuel de Seroux of Narvick International, Yoshida went to €400,000 for the wildcard entry Petite Folie (GB), the Australia (GB) half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Persian King (Ire) (Kingman {GB}).

“She has been bought for breeding purposes and she will join Northern Farm,” said de Seroux. “There is a very strong chance that she will head to Japan in the new year to be covered.”

Petite Folie, who ran just once for her breeder Diane Wildenstein’s Ballymore Thoroughbred Ltd, was sold as lot 150 through La Motteraye Consignment and she continues the European spending spree for Katsumi Yoshida, also bought five mares at Tattersalls last week for 1.6 million gns.

Haruya Yoshida also made his presence felt with the purchase of another wild card (lot 170) in the recent G3 Prix Fille de l’Air winner Directa (Fr). The half-sister to German listed winner Mc Queen (Fr) (Silver Frost {Ire}) was bought for €470,000 through Satoshi Kobayashi and will join the breeder’s Oiwake Farm in Hokkaido.

Kobayashi said of the 3-year-old, “The filly has been bought as a breeding prospect and she won’t race again. She may be covered by a European stallion before she travels to Japan.”

Another mare on the way to Japan from Arqana is Considerate (GB), a Dansili (GB) half-sister to Enable (GB), who was bought by Keisuke Onishi of JS Company for €65,000. The 10-year-old mare (lot 32) was sold by Haras d’Etreham in foal to Enable’s sire Nathaniel (Ire). She also has a colt foal by the Newsells Park Stud stallion on the ground among her four offspring to date.

Euclidia Joins Select Local Team
Owner Jean-Louis Bouchard is turning his success on the track into a boutique breeding operation and, acting though agent Gerard Larrieu, went to €525,000 to buy the listed winner Euclidia (Fr) (Maxios {GB}) from the Wertheimer consignment (lot 172).

“Jean-Louis Bouchard has just started a little farm here near Deauville,” Larrieu explained. “He doesn’t want to have many mares, just eight or ten maximum, and he wants to improve the quality of his broodmare band. This is a lovely Wertheimer family and they cover their mares with top sires.”

The 3-year-old Euclidia is a half-sister to G3 Prix d’Aumale winner Soustraction (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac runner-up Matematica (Fr) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) from a deep Wertheimer family which includes the Arc heroine Solemia (Fr) (Poliglote {GB}) and Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner The Gurkha (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).

From Trotting to Galloping
Malevra (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) was one of the young in-foal mares to sell well on Saturday, and she will remain in France to become the foundation mare for an unnamed breeder from the world of trotting. 

Offered as lot 90 by Haras d’Etreham, the 4-year-old is in foal for the first time to that stud’s former stallion Wootton Bassett (GB). A half-sister to listed winner and Group 3-placed Moonlife (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), Malevra gained her own black type last season when runner-up in the G3 Prix de Royaumont on the back of two wins at Deauville and Lyon-Parilly.

Bloodstock agent Frederic Sauque signed the ticket on behalf of his client from and said, “I have bought her for a new investor and she will be his first Thoroughbred mare. We liked both her conformation and her form on the track, and she is carrying a foal by a good stallion.”

American Engagement
Along with the day’s top lot, two well-credentialed 3-year-old fillies piqued the interest of Americans, one to remain in training and one to join the broodmare band at Gainesway Farm.

Conte De Fee (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) has already earned black type through her victory in the listed Prix Occitaine this summer. Bought as a yearling by Tina Rau for 100,000gns for owner Alexis Adamian, the grand-daughter of Irish Oaks winner Petrushka (GB) (Unfuwain) was sold on by her trainer Nicolas Clement for €410,000 to Newmarket-based agents Mark McStay and Jamie Piggott.

“I bought her with Jamie Piggott on behalf of Medallion Racing and a client of Jamie’s in America,” explained McStay of Avenue Bloodstock. “She’ll go to the United States. Medallion is Taylor Made’s racing arm and both Jamie and I felt she was a lovely filly. She’s been really well trained by Nicolas Clement and she looks like to be progressing the right way.”

Piggott added, “I’ve had a lot of luck at this sale over the years and you only need to look at the recent success of French-bred horses in America to see what fillies like this can do over there.”

Also heading across the Atlantic is the unraced but well-bred Lasy W (War Front) (lot 144), who was bought online for €320,000 by Alex Solis acting on behalf of Gainesway’s Antony Beck and Andrew Rosen.

“It’s a great American family,” said Solis. “It’s very rare to have a Grade I winner who is out of a Grade I winner and there are so many current stakes horses on the page. We’re excited about that; she’s a beautiful War Front filly. I had some people look at her over there for me and the report was out that she was very, very good-looking.”

This particular brach of the family ended up in the care of the Wertheimer brothers after they bought Lasy W’s dam Zaftig (Gone West) for $1.4 million at Fasig-Tipton in November 2011. The mare’s most accomplished runner to date is the GII Louisiana Derby runner-up Spinoff (Hard Spun), and she is also the dam of listed-placed Rugbyman (Tapit).

Solis added, “Antony Beck and Andrew Rosen bought her together and the plan will be to breed her to Tapit next year. The mare [Zaftig] has a yearling colt by Tapit right now and Rugbyman is a Tapit and he’s a nice horse, so we figured that made a lot of sense for us.”

Double Handed
The demand for the stock offered by the Wertheimer brothers continued with Right Hand (GB), a Lope De Vega (Ire) half-sister to G1 Prix Vermeille winner Left Hand (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), who was bought by  Victor Langlais for €370,000. The 3-year-old (lot 168) was acquired on behalf of a partnership that will include Henri Bozo and Bertrand Le Metayer, and we will doubtless hear more of her in the Arqana ring in years to come as she will reside at Ecurie des Monceaux, the perennial leading consignor at the August Yearling Sale. 

Langlais also bought lot 154, Light Dream (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}), the three-part-sister to G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner Plumania (Fr) (Anabaa), from the Wertheimer draft and said, “I bought her for a partnership. Henri Bozo and I are both among those involved. The idea is to find good mares and to then sell their yearlings at the sales. She comes from a great family and is from a very good breeding operation.”

The Arqana Breeding Stock Sale continues on Sunday at 10am local time.

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Faust To Finish Year Strong At Arqana

It hasn’t been a bad year for Holger Faust’s HFTB Agency, all things considered. They have been involved in the sale or purchase of three Group 1-winning fillies in 2020, namely Princess Zoe (Ger), Sunny Queen (Ger) and finally, Donjah (Ger), who will be the only Group 1-winning filly in training to be offered at public auction in Europe this year when she goes through the Arqana sales ring on Saturday afternoon.

Faust’s involvement with the G1 Preis von Europa winner, who is catalogued as lot 182, is certainly not a fleeting one. Indeed, the daughter of Teofilo (Ire) was bred by his family’s Gestut Karlshof before he purchased her as a yearling at Baden-Baden for his client Dr. Stefan Oschmann’s Darius Racing.

Donjah is a filly that Faust speaks of fondly, and understandably so, but despite her accolades on the racecourse–an unbeaten 2-year-old season, two group race wins and multiple group race placings – he can’t help thinking that with a little more luck, the best is very much still to come.

“I liked her from the very start, when she was a foal,” says Faust. “She was always special, but I have to say, when you look at her racing career she has been quite unlucky so far. I think that she could be even better than she already is.”

“She was meant to run as a 3-year-old in May as a trial for the German Oaks,” he explains, “but she got lightly injured during a morning canter beforehand, so we needed to put her out for four weeks and start again. She started first time out in the German Oaks and still ran a big race to finish sixth. A riderless horse took her wide outside at the beginning of the straight which hampered her chances. She might have won that race otherwise because she has proven many times that she was by far the best filly from that crop of 3-year-olds.”

Donjah’s 2020 campaign, while hampered by COVID-19 like most others, saw her finally land the Group 1 she deserved in the Preis von Europa at Cologne which was planned to serve as a warm-up for the Breeder’s Cup, as Faust explains.

“This year we focused everything on the Breeder’s Cup and we made the decision at the very last moment whether to run in the Filly & Mare Turf or in the Turf,” he says. “Her preparation was quite good and up until the race we were very excited but, unfortunately she slipped around the second corner and lost her action. You cannot run in one of the biggest races in the world, against the best horses with a faux pas like that. It’s a shame because we think she would have run a good race otherwise.”

Perhaps luck has not always been on her side but there is no getting away from the fact that Donjah is a hugely consistent Group 1-winning filly, who at four years old is still relatively lightly raced. When it comes to her next options, Faust says he believes that the world is her oyster.

“I think she is good enough to run all over the world,” he says. “She could handle the races in the U.S. over a long trip and try the Breeders’ Cup again with a bit more luck. She would also possibly suit Japan. She’s by Teofilo, so if Australians are looking for a potential Cup horse and a good broodmare afterwards she could go down there too.”

Such is the regard for the Darius Racing colourbearer that Faust warns that they would be happy to hold onto her if she doesn’t reach her true value on Saturday.

“The thing is she is not sold yet,” he says. “It depends what happens in the ring. If we don’t get a fair price on her then we will keep her racing next season.”

Faust first met German businessman Dr. Stefan Oschmann in 2012. The following year he began buying yearlings for him and by 2014 Darius Racing was formed. The relatively young operation became Germany’s champion owner in 2016 after winning the German Derby with Isfahan (Ger) and has since ranked consistently among the top five leading German owners. A first foray into breeding by Darius Racing, under the guise of Anahita Stables, produced 2020 Group 1 winner Sunny Queen.

It is safe to say that the relationship between Faust and Dr. Oschmann has been a fruitful one and another interesting lot representing Darius Racing at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale is the listed-winning daughter of Holy Roman Emperor (Ire), Apadanah (Ger) (lot 132). Plagued by problems in the starting stalls, she is another that Faust says he believes has the potential to be far better than she looks on paper.

“She’s got so much class but she lost her races a couple of times at the start,” Faust says. “When she won her listed race at Dortmund she lost five to 10 lengths at the start. When you look at her performance in the German St Leger she loses 25 lengths at the start and was beaten by five lengths, so you can imagine how much ability she does have. If she was a good starter, I think she is a horse that could run in every Grand Prix race all over Europe.”

“To be honest, she is a very interesting lot from either a racing or a breeding perspective,” continues Faust. “She’s by Holy Roman Emperor and there are a lot of things happening in her family. She has Alson (Ger), Step By Step (Ger) and a Melbourne Cup winner, Almandin (Ger), in the family as well. Apadanah’s Sea The Stars (Ire) half-sister sold for 400,000 guineas as a foal at Tattersalls last year and the mother is a young Alderflug (Ger) mare so there is still plenty to happen too.”

The Faust family’s Gestut Karlshof is also represented by two standout lots to be offered at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale on Saturday, under the Ecurie Des Monceaux banner. Catalogued as lot 192 is the Classic-placed daughter of Night Of Thunder (Ire) No Limit Credit (Ger), who reminds Faust of another Gestut Karlshof-bred, the dual Grade I winner A Raving Beauty (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

“No Limit Credit is a fantastic racehorse,” he says. “She was the second richest 2-year-old filly of all time in Germany. Despite doing a lot at two her form didn’t decline as a 3-year-old when she was Classic-placed and won a group race. Her lifetime best form was in the Lydia Tesio in her last start where she got stuck on the inside so the jockey had to go the long way round and she was flying at the end. She proved then that she can stay.”

“We thought all along that she could stay,” continues Faust, “but we prepared her for the German Oaks which she ran a poor race in. It turns out she had an infection afterwards, but as it was her first disappointing race we thought she should go back to the mile. We ran her at a mile and the jockey said she needed further but we did the opposite and ran her over seven furlongs on heavy ground where she was an easy winner just because of her class.

“I have a lot of respect for her and I think she is a lot like A Raving Beauty because of her toughness. A Raving Beauty became a star in America as a 5-year-old and I think she can do that next year as a 4-year-old. I definitely see No Limit Credit running in the U.S. because she can do 1700 metres or 2000 metres, smaller tracks, short straights, performs on all ground, everything suits her and I think she could have a great career in the States.”

On the subject of A Raving Beauty, Gestut Karlshof are also offering the dam of the multiple Grade I winner and performer, Anabasis (Ger) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 164), who at 12 years old is already well proven as a broodmare with plenty more potentially still to come.

“There are two reasons for selling her on,” explains Faust. “First of all, we are packed with the family at the stud. We have a sister of hers and daughters, including A Racing Beauty (Ger), full sister to A Raving Beauty who was listed placed this year and remains in training. Secondly, we noticed that for German breeders, it’s hard to get a really good result in the sales ring for the yearlings and the racing prospects and broodmares have been sold for better money in recent times. Maybe because we don’t have the same yearling preparations here or maybe because German breeding is a little more backwards than Irish, English or French. That’s why we said, ‘ok, if we get a fair price on her then we will sell her,’ but obviously she has a reserve price so we shall see what happens.”

Indeed, there will be plenty to keep an eye on for Faust on Saturday as he follows four very exciting lots through the Arqana sales ring and he’ll be hoping that what has already been a good year for HFTB Agency can finish on a high note.

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