Arqana February | Horse Racing Free Tips

Encouraging Start To Arqana’s Sales Year

Arqana has its first auction of the year in the book and the activity across the last two days at the mixed February Sale will likely have pleased Eric Hoyeau and his team after some solid trade, particularly for broodmares. That has been very much in accordance with similar sales which have already taken place in Britain and Ireland this year and, from a larger catalogue than last year's lockdown fare, the figures at Arqana have lifted slightly across the board.

Turnover was of course up, with 38 more horses sold this time around at the close of trade, bringing an aggregate of €4,154,00, representing an improvement of 37.7%. The median rose slightly to €6,000 from €5,500 and the average was up by 19.8% at €13,847. The clearance rate was unchanged at 80%.

It didn't take long for trade to click into top gear with the arrival in the ring, five lots from the start of the session, of Osaila (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the dual Group 3 winner in her days in training with Richard Hannon.

It didn't take long for trade to click into top gear with the arrival in the ring, five lots from the start of the session, of Osaila (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}), the dual Group 3 winner in her days in training with Richard Hannon.

Arthur Hoyeau ended up in front as the bidding settled at €200,000 for the 10-year-old mare (lot 224), who is grand-daughter of the great Detroit (Fr) (Riverman {Fr}), one of the rare broodmares to have won the Arc herself and to have produced an Arc winner, in this case Carnegie (Ire) (Sadler's Wells). Osaila will head to Coolmore Stud in Ireland for a date with the European Horse of the Year for 2021.

“She is a very beautiful mare, with one of the best profiles in the sale,” said Hoyeau. “She had a great racing career and her pedigree is exceptional. She is already the dam of a winner and will be covered by St Mark's Basilica (Fr) this season.”

The further family of Osaila, who was not in foal after being covered by Toronado (Ire) last season, includes the G2 Ribblesdale S. victrix Banimpire (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}) and Melbourne Cup winner Twilight Payment (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

The in-foal crew was led by lot 227, the Dubawi (Ire) mare Zomara (Fr), who is a winning half-sister to Listed winner Merveillo (Fr) (Archipenko). With a yearling colt by Starspangledbanner (Aus) already on the ground, she was sold by the Channel Consignment carrying to Haras d'Etreham's young sire Persian King (Ire), with Alain Decrion bidding on behalf of Yeomanstown Stud to €140,000. The mare's dam Merville (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) is a half-sister to the Group 1 winners and stallions Ectot (Ire) and Most Improved (Ire).

The most sought-after mares of the day came through in quick succession, with lot 231 Helcia (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}), who is in foal to Mehmas, selling to David Redvers, bidding on the phone via Freddy Powell, for €115,000. The 6-year-old mare is a daughter of the dual GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint winner Mizdirection (Mizzen Mast).

Among the smart Flat pedigrees were some decent mares with strong dual-purpose credentials, and none more so than Crystal Reef (GB) (King's Best), whose three Group-winning half-brothers Martaline (GB), Reefscape (GB) and Coastal Path (GB) have all posted some notable results as National Hunt sires. Now 17, Crystal Reef has produced the G2 Prix Chaudenay winner Doha Dream (Ire) (Shamardal) and was offered as lot 411 in foal to the most sought-after French jumps sire, Doctor Dino (Fr). Sebastien Desmontils of Chauvigny Global Equine was the successful bidder at €130,000.

Bidding via telephone, agent Paul Harley went to €120,000 for lot 388, the pretty grey Galileo (Ire) sister to stakes winners Pablo Escobarr (Ire) and Roberto Escobarr (Ire). The 8-year-old was offered in foal to Starspangledbanner (Aus) by Haras de Bouquetot, and she will now join Anna Sundstrom at Coulonces. Bouquetot ended the two days as the leading vendor, with 11 horses sold for €809,000.

Top marks in the yearling section went to Domaine de l'Etang's colt by No Nay Never (lot 222). The son of the Galileo mare Meeting (Ire), from the family of Gregorian (Ire) (Clodovil {Ire}), was pinhooked by Charles Briere of the Fairway Consignment at €80,000.

“I bought him for a partnership,” Briere said. “He is a beautiful colt who should mature well and he is bred on a good cross.”

The post Encouraging Start To Arqana’s Sales Year appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Arqana Releases February Catalogue

Arqana has released the catalogue for its February Mixed Sale, which takes place on Feb. 15 and 16 and has 435 horses catalogued comprised of horses in training, fillies, broodmares, 2-year-olds, 3-year-old stores and yearlings, with five wildcards still to be announced.

The Arqana February Sale, which previously sold the dam of last year's GI United Nations S. winner Tribhuvan (Fr) (Toronado {Ire}), this year includes a quality draft from Haras de Bouquetot including Balkis (Fr) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 154), a 6-year-old daughter of the dual Grade I winner Harmonious (Dynaformer) in foal to Bated Breath (GB); Helcia (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) (lot 231), a winning daughter of dual GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint scorer Mizdirection (Mizzen Mast) in foal to Mehmas (Ire); and Middle East (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 283), a stakes-placed three-quarter sister to multiple group winner Nayef Road (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in foal to Ectot (GB).

Haras d'Ombreville offers Black Seed (Ire) (Alhebayeb {Ire}) (lot 176), a 6-year-old half-sister to last year's G1 Prix de l'Abbaye winner A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) offered as a filly out of training, while Wertheimer et Frere's consignment includes the unraced 4-year-old filly Anacronique (Ire) (Kizuna {Jpn}), a daughter of dual Group 2 winner Impassable (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}). The short yearling section of the catalogue includes a Wootton Bassett (GB) half-sister to G2 Prix Greffulhe winner and the multiple Group 1-placed Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}) (lot 148).

The post Arqana Releases February Catalogue appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Trade Strong At Arqana February

The two-day Arqana February Sale came to a close on Tuesday with figures up across the board. After a strong opening session on Monday led by the €250,000 AQPS gelding Hardi Du Mesnil (Fr) (Masterstroke), the sale continued apace during Tuesday's session of fillies, mares and yearlings and was topped by the 5-year-old Princess Isla (GB) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 309), who was bought by Anne-Sophie Yoh of Yohea for €110,000 on behalf of Xavier Marie of Haras de Hus. Marie is a more recent investor in racing stock and bought Anabasis (Ger) (High Chaparral {Ire}), the dam of Grade I winner A Raving Beauty (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}), for €320,000 at Arqana December. Princess Isla is in foal for the first time to dual Group 1-winning sprinter Ten Sovereigns (Ire).

“I've bought her for Xavier Marie of Haras de Hus,” said Anne-Sophie Yoh. “He's a new owner that is well-known for investing in sports horses, who is now turning towards racing. We really liked the mare's pedigree and she is the only one in foal to the sire in the catalogue. We're very happy. We don't know yet who she'll be covered by next–she'll go to the stud first.”

Bred by Dayton Investments, Princess Isla was a winner in March of 2019 at Deauville for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. Her second dam is Peinture Bleue (Alydar), whose four stakes winners are headed by the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Classic winner and sire Peintre Celebre. Princess Isla had been a €420,000 buyback at the Arqana August Yearling Sale of 2017, and Langlais Bloodstock had purchased her for €62,000 out of Arqana's Summer Sale of 2019. Her elder sister Persian Sky (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) was bought by Mandore International Agency for €65,000 at the latest edition of Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale.

At the end of Tuesday's session, figures for the two-day sale reflected positive trade. A total of 261 horses were sold for €3,028,000 at a clearance rate of 80.8%-a big improvement over last year's clearance rate of 66%, when 239 horses were sold for €2,331,100. The average and median were likewise up, by 18.9% (€11,602) and 37.5% (€5,500), respectively.

It was another 5-year-old mare, Jet Setteuse (Fr) (Makfi {GB}) (lot 315) who found favour on Tuesday with Sylvain Vidal, and she is set to visit Le Havre (Ire) for her first covering after being scooped up for €95,000. A winner in her lone start at two for trainer Francois Rohaut, Jet Setteuse was placed in the G3 Prix Imprudence and a pair of listed races at three and was last seen winning a seven-furlong conditions race at Dax last June, after which she was a €90,000 buyback at the Arqana Summer Sale. Jet Setteuse is out of the listed-placed Pretty Panther (Fr) (Hurricane Run {Ire}).

“She's a lovely mare from a nice family of sprinters that were very tough on the racetrack,” said Vidal. “She'll go to Le Havre.”

BBA Ireland was the name on the ticket for the 10-year-old mare Honor Bound (GB) (Authorized {Ire}) (lot 233), who was sold for €60,000 by Haras des Cruchettes on behalf of Al Shahania Stud. Honor Bound won Lingfield's Listed Oaks Trial S. at three but beat just one home in the G1 Epsom Oaks and never won again. Her first foal, Rowland Ward (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}), was a winner over the flat and jumps, while her second foal, the now 4-year-old Bound Edition (GB) (Dansili {GB}), is unraced. Honor Bound has a 2-year-old filly by Sea The Stars, a yearling filly by Lope De Vega (Ire) and is empty for 2021.

The G1 Prix Jacques le Marois winner Al Wukair (Ire) has his first runners this year, and it was a mare in foal to him who found favour with Artemis Bloodstock Investments for €50,000: Swan Valley (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) (lot 330). Unraced herself, the 6-year-old Swan Valley comes from a top-class family, her winning dam Saga d'Ouilly (Fr) (Linamix {Fr}) being a full-sister to the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sagamix (Fr) and the G2 Prix de Malleret scorer Sage Et Jolie (Fr), and a half to G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Sagacity (Fr) (Highest Honor {Fr}) and to Shastye (Ire) (Danehill), the dam of Group 1 winners Japan (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and Mogul (GB) (Galileo {Ire}). Swan Valley's first foal, a filly by Sidestep (Aus), died as a yearling, and she has a yearling daughter of Pedro The Great (Fr).

Trois Rivieres's Leaf Blower (Hat Trick {Jpn}) (lot 238) was another young mare offered in foal to a stallion with his first runners this year, in her case Caravaggio, and the winning full-sister to the dual Grade III winner Tricky Escape was picked up by Mandore International Agency for €44,000. The 6-year-old is carrying her second foal, having produced a colt by Karakontie (Jpn) last year. That colt, bought in utero by Samuel Blanchard when the mare was picked up for $13,000 at Keeneland November in 2019, was sold for €28,000 at Arqana December last year to Stroud Coleman Bloodstock.

Upon the conclusion of trade for the Arqana February Sale, Arqana President Eric Hoyeau said, “We're extremely pleased with this first sale of the season. The market showed itself to be dynamic throughout the two days, and aside from the final figures, there was also a real atmosphere. These results are very encouraging at this stage in the year, when the entries for the yearling sales are taking place and we're putting together the Breeze-Up catalogue. All the racing countries of Europe were represented with both buyers and vendors. The bidding online also worked very well. There has been real progression in the activity online since the Autumn. We have adapted it as we have evolved. This has borne its fruit and should continue to progress.”

The post Trade Strong At Arqana February appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Arqana February Begins On Monday

Following online trade at Tattersalls and Goffs during the past fortnight, winter mixed sale trade moves to Deauville on Monday and Tuesday, where horses in training, broodmares, fillies, 2-year-olds and short yearlings will be offered at a physical Arqana February sale with strict COVID safety protocols in place.

The catalogue includes offerings from the reduction of Haras du Mont-dit-Mont, and the dispersal of the late Fabrice Petit. Mont-dit-Mont brings 13 lots, including Akemi (Ire) (Footstepsinthesand {GB}) (lot 232), an 11-year-old listed winner who is the dam of the winning Mastercraftsman (Ire) colt Hurricane Bill (Ire) and who is in foal to Bated Breath (GB); and Riptide Wave (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) (lot 328), a daughter of the stakes-winning Rock Me Baby (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}) in foal to Belardo (Ire). The 18 horses that Marc Pimbonnet will offer for the Petit reduction, meanwhile, include a 2-year-old colt from the first crop of Al Wukair (Ire) out of the listed-winning Medolina (Aragorn {Ire}) (lot 55).

Maiden fillies are always a popular attraction at Arqana's breeding stock sales, and the February sale boasts some intriguing prospects. They include the 7-year-old Lady Paname (Fr) (Soldier Of Fortune {Ire}) (lot 160), who was a winner and multiple group placed in France for Elie Lellouche before being sold for €400,000 at Arqana December in 2017 and joining Chad Brown in the U.S., where she won the GIII Long Island S. the following autumn. Lady Paname was offered at Keeneland November last year but was bought back for $100,000.

The 5-year-old Jet Setteuse (Fr) (Makfi {GB}) (lot 315) was a dual winner at two and was three times stakes-placed in the subsequent two seasons, including a third behind subsequent Group 1 winner Watch Me (Fr) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) in the G3 Prix Imprudence. Jet Setteuse was last seen winning a seven furlongs conditions race at Dax last June.

The catalogue likewise features some attractive in-foal mares. Those include Quesnay's Oh Beautiful (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 148), a 12-year-old listed winner who has produced three winners and is in foal to Shalaa (Ire). Oh Beautiful is a granddaughter of Rahaam, whose legacy includes Halfway To Heaven (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and her Group 1-winning daughters Magical (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Rhododendron (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), as well as multiple Grade I winner Photo Call (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and her Group 2-winning half-brother Land Force (Ire) (No Nay Never), a young sire, and G1 Melbourne Cup winner Cross Counter (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}).

The winning 11-year-old mare Ingot Of Gold (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 165) is offered in foal to Almanzor (Fr), while Leaf Blower (Hat Trick {Jpn}) (lot 238), a full-sister to multiple Grade III winner Tricky Escape, is carrying to another young stallion with his first runners this year, Caravaggio. The winning Pebbles Place (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) (lot 258), an 8-year-old full-sister to G2 Superlative S. third Maxi Boy (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) from the family of Group 1 winners Mandean (GB) (Manduro {Ger}), Wavering (GB) (Refuse To Bend {Ire}) and Earthlight (Ire) (Shamardal), is offered in foal to Phoenix Of Spain (Ire). Princess Isla (GB) (Frankel {GB}) (lot 309) is also carrying to a sire with his first foals due in 2021, the multiple Group 1-winning sprinter Ten Sovereigns (Ire). Princess Isla is a winning 5-year-old daughter of the multiple group placed Peinture Abstraite (GB) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), a half-sister to the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, G1 Prix du Jockey Club and G1 Grand Prix de Paris scorer and sire Peintre Celebre (Nureyev) and his three stakes-winning siblings.

Another popular fixture of Arqana sales is the wildcards section, and this time around that features five offerings. The 3-year-old filly Otambura (Ire) (Kingman {GB}) (lot 150) is offered from the yard of trainer Christophe Ferland. Owned by Haras du Saubouas and Haras de Montaigu, Otambura has finished third in a pair of starts at Pau, going 1400 metres on Dec. 20 and going a mile on Jan. 30. She is out of the stakes-winning and G3 Prix Miesque second Kambura (Fr) (Literato {Fr}).

The progressive chaser Laskalin (Fr) (Martaline {Fr}) (lot 70) should be among the popular National Hunt offerings, the 6-year-old having been added to the sale last week. Laskalin's 2021 form includes a win in the Listed Prix Bernard de Dufau over fences at Pau.

A share in Haras de la Tuilerie stallion Masked Marvel (GB) was also added to the sale last week as lot 170. Masked Marvel, the winner of the 2011 G1 St Leger, has made a favourable start to his stud career, his first crop including the Grade 2-placed hurdler Gars En Noir (Fr) and the black-type performer Pacha Senam (Fr).

The catalogue also includes nearly 100 horses in training on the flat and over jumps, as well as 69 yearlings and 28 2-year-olds by sires like Almanzor, Iffraaj (GB), Kendargent (Fr), Le Havre (Ire), Shalaa and Sioux Nation.

The post Arqana February Begins On Monday appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post