Tag: Arqana

Lope De Vega’s Sweet Lady Makes All For Vermeille Glory

Rebounding off a fourth in a quality renewal of July's G1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, Gemini Stud's G2 Prix Corrida victrix Sweet Lady (Fr) (Lope De Vega {Ire}–High Heel Sneakers {GB}, by Dansili {GB}) showed a clean set of heels to her 10 rivals and made all to register a first elite-level triumph in Sunday's G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille at ParisLongchamp. Swiftly into stride and passing every marker in front, she was scrubbed along as the pack threatened off the home turn and called upon abundant reserves under an all-out drive inside the final quarter mile to hold on bravely for a career high.

“The plan this year has always been to target the autumn races with this filly as she loves soft ground,” revealed trainer Francis-Henri Graffard. “The spring had been positive, with her victory in the Corrida, and she had an ideal preparation for this. Everything has gone very smoothly at home in the mornings and she was ready for this. When I saw her travelling nicely, with her ears pricked, I thought she could do well. She wasn't stopping in the straight and didn't stop lenghthening. She is now a Group 1 winner and I am sure that her owners will be pleased to let her take her chance in the Arc. The softer the better on the day, so who knows what might happen on the day.”

Sweet Lady, who becomes the 16th Group 1 winner for her sire (by Shamardal), is the latest of seven reported foals out of Listed River Eden S. victrix and G2 May Hill S. runner-up High Heel Sneakers (GB) (Dansili {GB}), who also produced Listed Oaks Trial winner Toujours L'Amour (GB) (Authorized {Ire}). Sweet Lady's third dam Charmie Carmie (Lyphard) is the dam of MG1SW Peruvian champion Faaz (Fappiano) and her descendants also include G1 SA Fillies' Classic heroine Zaitoon (SAf) (Count Dubois {GB}). Charmie Carmie is kin to MGISW American Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Chris Evert (Swoon's Son), whose descendants are headed by Belmont S.-winning sire Chief's Crown (Danzig), GI Frizette S. and GI Gazelle S. heroine Classic Crown (Mr. Prospector) and MGISW dual GI Beldame S. victrix Sightseek (Distant View). Charmie Carmie is also kin to stakes-winning GI Delaware Oaks third All Rainbows (Bold Hour), herself the dam of GI Kentucky Derby heroine and MGISW US champion Winning Colors (Caro {Ire}).

Sunday, ParisLongchamp, France
QATAR PRIX VERMEILLE-G1, €600,000, ParisLongchamp, 9-11, 3yo/up, f/m, 12fT, 2:35.50, sf.
1–SWEET LADY (FR), 130, f, 4, by Lope De Vega (Ire)
1st Dam: High Heel Sneakers (GB) (SW & GSP-Eng, SW-US, GSP-Fr, SP-Ity, $212,137), by Dansili (GB)
2nd Dam: Sundae Girl, by Green Dancer
3rd Dam: Charmie Carmie, by Lyphard
(€100,000 Ylg '19 ARAUG). O-Gemini Stud; B-Stratford Place Stud (FR); T-Francis-Henri Graffard; J-Gregory Benoist. €342,840. Lifetime Record: 14-6-2-0, €593,880. *1/2 to Toujours L'Amour (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), SW-Eng. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Lilac Road (Ire), 130, f, 4, Mastercraftsman (Ire)–Lavender Lane (Ire), by Shamardal. O/B-Jon & Julia Aisbitt (IRE); T-William Haggas. €137,160.
3–La Parisienne (Fr), 122, f, 3, Zarak (Fr)–Skysweeper (Fr), by Hurricane Run (Ire). (€65,000 Ylg '20 ARQSEP). O-Peter R Bradley III, Ecurie JML Racing, Marc Leonetti, Meridian International SARL & Remy Dupuy-Naulot; B-Ecurie Haras du Cadran, Ecurie Patrick Klein & SCEA Haras du Ma (FR); T-Carlos & Yann Lerner. €68,580.
Margins: HD, SNK, 1 1/4. Odds: 12.50, 18.00, 4.60.
Also Ran: Tuesday (Ire), Baiykara (Fr), Fall In Love (Ire), Grand Glory (GB), Agave (GB), History (Ire), Love Child (Ire), Albaflora (GB). Video, sponsored by TVG.

 

The post Lope De Vega’s Sweet Lady Makes All For Vermeille Glory appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Arqana’s September Sale Ends With Steady Demand

The sales action in Deauville's ring ended on Friday, with the second and final session of Arqana's new September Yearling Sale. Demand for young stock at the sales has continued through the summer, and Friday's session closed with a 77% clearance rate for 103 sold from 133 offered. They grossed €1,797,000 and averaged €17,447. The median came in at €14,000.

After two days of selling, a colt by the former shuttle stallion and now permanently Swettenham Stud-based Toronado (Ire) made six figures at €120,000 on Thursday, and 11 lots changed hands for €50,000 or better throughout the two days. The total gross stands at €3,929,000 for 203 sold of 274 through the ring (74.1%). The average flirted with €20,000 at €19,236 and the median was €15,000.

Leading Friday's proceedings was a €74,000 filly by Goken (Fr) (lot 274). Named Cuncerta (Fr), the French-bred yearling was consigned by Haras de Colleville and was bought by SAS Le Marais. She will carry the colours of Bernard Giraudon. Her dam is a half-sister to the listed winner Impulsive Dancer (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}), while third dam Danelissima (Ire) (Danehill) won the G3 Noblesse S. and is a half to the dam of G1 Dewhurst S. hero Intense Focus (Giant's Causeway). The last-named's half-sister produced smart juvenile Skitter Scatter (Scat Daddy), who won the G1 Moyglare Stud S. in 2018.

Lot 184, a daughter of promising first-season sire Sioux Nation, caught the eye of Nicolas de Watrigant of Mandore International Agency. He spent €65,000 for the Haras de l'Hotellerie-consigned bay. Out of an Areion (Ger) half-sister to GIII Florida Oaks heroine Outburst (GB) (Outstrip {GB}), the late-April foal is also related to German stakes winner and Group-3 placed Abraxa (Ger) (Is Tirol).

De Watrigant also went to €55,000 for a Haras des Capucines-consigned filly by Phoenix Of Spain (Ire), lot 294. Her dam, Goodthingstaketime (Ire) (Canford Cliffs {Ire}) placed four times at the group/graded level in both Ireland and the States, including runner-up finishes in both the G3 Curragh S. and GIII Florida Oaks.

Wootton Bassett (GB)'s lot 217 went to Carlos and Yann Lerner for €50,000 after being a €35,000 buyback as an Arqana December weanling. The colt is already a half-brother to three black-type horses including listed winners Bocaiuva (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) and Beauty Of Love (GB) (Elusive City), with the former also second in the G3 Prix de Flore. Their dam, the G3 Premio Chiusura-scoring Breath Of Love (Mutakddim) is herself out of dual Group 3 winner Breath Taking (Fr) (Nureyev). The last-named's descendants include several graded winners, while the 1976 G2 Marlboro Cup went to this filly's third dam Cap D'Antibes (Aus) (Better Boy {Ire}).

Arqana President Eric Hoyeau and Executive Director Freddy Powell said, “We still have some adjustments to make to the format of this young sale, which must find its place. We would like to thank all the vendors who put their trust in us. The percentage of horses sold is satisfactory and many French professionals, including many trainers, have been active, which is encouraging. Let's remember that all these yearlings are eligible for the Arqana Series, with the first races taking place next year. We will analyse all the segments of yearling sales at the end of the October sale, when we will have a more global overview.”

The post Arqana’s September Sale Ends With Steady Demand appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Toronado Colt Shines At Arqana September

Arqana's inaugural September Yearling Sale, a replacement for the v.2 Yearling Sale, started its two-day run on Thursday, and a smart colt by the former French-based stallion Toronado (Ire) brought a session-topping bid of €120,000 from Mathieu Alex on behalf of Pauline Chehboub's SAS Yellow Agency.

Part of the Fairway Consignment draft and already named Tomokay (Fr), lot 34 is the fifth foal from his dam, the winning Hold That Tiger mare Loumaxaye (Fr). His half-brother Hayejohn (Fr), by first-season sire Johnny Barnes (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), carried all before him in the Listed Prix des Jouvenceaux et des Jouvencelles at Vichy after the catalogue was published.

This is also the extended family of the dual listed winner Sully (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and G1 Futurity S., G1 Queen Elizabeth S. and G1 Caulfield Cup S. heroine Aqua d'Amore (Aus) (Danehill).

Second on the buyers' sheets was lot 82, Tiger King (Fr) (Inns Of Court {Ire}). Originally a €9,500 in utero purchase by Jean-Claud Olivier out of the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in 2020, the colt was re-sold one year later in that same sale for €19,000 to Six of Us. Offered by Haras de Grandcamp on Thursday, the February-foaled colt was snapped up for €85,000 by John Hassett of The Bloodstock Connection for GET IN THE GAME. Out of the listed-placed Pink Cloud (Fr) (Octagonal {NZ}), his dam is a half-sister to two-time listed winner Pink Gin (Fr) (Kouroun {Fr}), as well as the stakes-placed Pink Anabella (Fr) (Anabaa).

John Hassett said, “He's a magnificent colt, that comes from a good stud. I'm very pleased with this purchase. It's possible that he might come back to Deauville for the Breeze Up next May, but nothing is decided yet.”

Hassett had struck for a colt by Shalaa (Ire) earlier in the day, when shelling out €68,000 for lot 71 as JCH Bloodstock. Haras de Castillon consigned the bay, whose dam is a half-sister to none other than outstanding third-crop sire and dual Group 2 winner Mehmas (Ire) (Acclamation {GB}), who was also runner up in the G1 National S. and third in the G1 Middle Park S.

John Hammond bought four on the day for owner Gerard Augustin-Normand ranging in price from €5,000 to €80,000. Leading the quartet was a colt by City Light (Fr) (lot 101) from the draft of Haras d'Aspel. His dam is a half-sister to the stakes winner and stakes producer Rioticism (Fr) (Rio de la Plata), responsible for three-time stakes winner and G3 Round Tower S. third Ladies Church (GB) (Churchill {Ire}), while his half-brother by Birchwood graduated at Deauville this summer for Joel Boisnard. This colt will also join the Boisnard string.

Thursday's most expensive filly was a daughter of Ten Sovereigns (Ire) (lot 47). Purchased for €77,000 by Hammond from Haras de la Haie Neuve, the well-bred miss is from the same family as Group 1 winner Sequoyah (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), the dam of dual Classic winner Henrythenavigator (Kingmambo), and the Classic-placed Group 3 winner Queen Cleopatra (Ire) (Kingmambo); while Sequoyah's half-sister Listen (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) took the G1 Fillies' Mile and was runner-up in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. Carrying this filly, her dam brought €55,000 from Narvick International at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in 2020.

“She's a lovely filly, that is very like her sire,” said Hammond. “I really like her physique and she has a lot of strength. We'll decide on her future at a later date.”

At the end of the day, 101 yearlings (71.6%) had sold from 141 offered. The gross was a respectable €2,113,000. The average was €20,921 and the median settled at €15,000.

The sale continues Friday at 2 p.­m.

The post Toronado Colt Shines At Arqana September appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

‘The Dream Is Alive’ – Willie Browne on TDN Rising Star Sakheer

Breeze-up king Willie Browne, who sold G1 1000 Guineas heroine Speciosa (Ire), G1 Ascot Gold Cup winner Trip To Paris (Ire) and many more top-notchers, is allowing himself to believe that recent graduate Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) could be the real deal after he coasted to an effortless victory at Haydock on Thursday.

The 76-year-old bought Sakheer for $65,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sales in 2021 before producing the colt to top the Arqana Breeze-up Sale in May of this year.

Sakheer was bought by Oliver St Lawrence for €550,000 on behalf of KHK Racing Ltd. and went some way in justifying that price tag when bolting up by six lengths second time out at Haydock under David Egan for Roger Varian.

It was a performance that left tongues wagging, with the G1 Middle Park S. entrant earning himself a 'TDN Rising Star'  badge in victory, and Browne hopes that Haydock triumph can prove a launchpad for Sakheer's career.

He said, “Visually, it looked very good and we'd like to think he's smart. The third horse was a winner and the time looked good considering he could have gone faster if he [Egan] pressed a button.”

Browne added, “He was always a nice horse and he breezed very well for us. I think he breezed in the top four or five at Arqana and obviously we got well paid for him. He looked a special horse and hopefully he will go on and be that for his connections.”

Operating under the Mocklershill banner, Browne has been breezing horses since 1978 and described the current landscape of the profession as the best it's ever been.

 

“We're getting old but sure we'll try to keep going for as long as we can. It's hard to stop,” – Willie Browne

Thursday represented a good day for his renowned Tipperary-based operation, not only because Sakheer lived up to the high opinion he had always been held in by Brown, but because fellow Arqana graduate Ensued (Lemon Drop Kid) posted an encouraging debut at Salisbury.

He said, “We get it right a fair bit but we have also had quite a lot of horses through our hands so we need to produce a few good ones. Sakheer is one of them.

“I went out and bought him by chance at Keeneland last year. He was an expensive foal [80,000gns] in Europe and then the vendors brought him to America to re-sell him for whatever reason.

“He did have a sibling [half-sister Lemista (Ire) (Raven's Pass)] who did well out there so maybe that was part of the thinking in bringing him to America but he didn't make his reserve in the ring and we got him outside it [for $65,000].”

Browne added, “He was a beautifully put together horse and it wasn't rocket science. The fact that he could gallop, though, there was a certain amount of good fortune in that. Sometimes you can buy beautiful-looking horses and they might not be able to gallop. He could.

“The plus about Arqana is, even though this horse breezed very well and we got well paid, we'd another horse there, a Lemon Drop Kid, and we got well-paid for him even though he didn't break the clock.

“He [Ensued] actually ran yesterday, was a very good third on debut at Salisbury for James Fanshawe, and he's a good middle-distance horse going forward. He breezed like a middle-distance horse but the people who buy in Arqana can see beyond speed and that's a plus for us.”

 

Browne has been breezing horses ever since it was a thing and Mocklershill is recognised as one of the premier consignors of 2-year-olds in Europe. He has overseen a kaleidoscope of change in the industry and admits that, in order to get well paid, you don't always need to break the clock anymore.

He explained, “A fast horse will always get you money, no matter where you go, but the Lemon Drop Kid was a good example of a middle-distance horse making good money at the breeze-ups, as we got €260,000 for him.

“If yesterday's run is anything to go by, he's also an exciting horse in his own right, so there's two horses at the opposite end of the stick. The fast horse, Sakheer, who showed up well, and the middle-distance horse, Ensued, who may not have been as fast, but showed different qualities and made a good price.

“It's a great thrill opening the paper every morning and seeing the percentage of 2-year-old winners who are graduates from the breeze-ups. It's just off the charts. It's unbelievable what's going on in the breeze-ups at the moment. There's a lot of good people breezing horses and they know what they're doing.”

Asked where Sakheer may rank in the pantheon of top-notchers to have graduated from Mocklershill, he replied, “When he wins a group race, come back to me. He needed to do what he did yesterday. It gives you great satisfaction when you produce a good horse, it's as much relief as anything else, but when they cost what Al Sakheer did, you like to see them go on and be good.

“Sometimes it happens and other times it doesn't but the dream looks well and truly alive right now. If he goes and wins a group race, maybe we'll be able to put our chest out a little bit more.”

Browne has already been making his presence felt at the yearling sales and has been busy re-stocking for next year's breeze-ups.

He said, “I didn't go to the August Sale at Arqana this year. Maybe I should have, but I didn't. We went to Doncaster and bought a few there alright.

“We gave a good few quid for a Showcasing (GB) horse, we gave 140,000gns for him, which is plenty of money for a breeze-up horse, but he looks a fast horse to me. I'm hoping the money is well spent.

“We bought a Ten Sovereigns (Ire) for 50 grand as well, so that's the start of it all. We're getting old but sure we'll try to keep going for as long as we can. It's hard to stop.”

The post ‘The Dream Is Alive’ – Willie Browne on TDN Rising Star Sakheer appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

Source of original post

Verified by MonsterInsights