Deauville September sale | Horse Racing Free Tips

Observations on the European Racing Scene turns the spotlight on the best European races of the day, highlighting well-pedigreed horses early in their careers, horses of note returning to action and young runners that achieved notable results in the sales ring. Friday's Insights features half-sister to top-shelf performers Sottsass (Fr) and Sistercharlie (Ire) at Newmarket Friday.

3.20 Doncaster, Novice, £7,300, 3yo/up, f/m, 10f 43yT
ROYAL SCANDAL (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) looks to underline the striking impression she made on debut at Newcastle last month under a seven-pound penalty facing a trio of rivals. Racing in the Vestey silks carried to G1 QIPCO British Champions Fillies & Mares S. glory by her dam Seal of Approval (GB) (Authorized {Ire}), the February-foaled chestnut is therefore a full-sister to the dual group-placed Promissory (Ire) from the family of Hurricane Lane (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) who enjoyed one of his biggest days here in September.

3.25 Saint-Cloud, Debutantes, €27,000, 3yo, 10fT
SAFARIA (Dubawi {Ire}) stands out in this intriguing affair as a daughter of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf heroine Flotilla (Fr) (Mizzen Mast) who represents her owner-breeder Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani. Francis-Henri Graffard introduces the February-foaled bay, whose peers include another relative of a Classic heroine in the Niarchos Family's Feel (Into Mischief), a Pascal Bary-trained half-sister to the G1 Prix de Diane winner Senga (Blame).

5.0 Curragh, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, 6fT
ST KITTS (IRE) (No Nay Never) may not be the pick of Ryan Moore of the Ballydoyle pair, but the newcomer has much to commend him as a son of the G1 Irish Oaks heroine Bracelet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) by the sire who is off to a flyer this term. The April-foaled chestnut is back-up to the stable's Roscommon fourth Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), a son of the dual group 3-winning sprinter Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}), while among the other newcomers is the Niarchos's Yosemite Valley (GB) (Shamardal), a Donnacha O'Brien-trained half-brother to the stable's G3 Ballysax S. winner Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) who was withdrawn from his intended debut at Naas last month.

5.35 Curragh, Mdn, €18,000, 2yo, f, 7fT
DOWER HOUSE (IRE) (Galileo {Ire}) is another Ballydoyle debutante without the services of Ryan Moore, but as a full-sister to Churchill (Ire) and Clemmie (Ire) she is more of a next-time project given that both her illustrious siblings were only placed on their racecourse bows. Aidan O'Brien's first string is very much the six-furlong course maiden third Never Ending Story (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the first foal out of the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational winner Athena (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) from the family of the opening maiden's protagonist St Kitts and Sea the Stars (Ire) and Galileo (Ire). Jessie Harrington, who took this last year with the future G1 Moyglare Stud S. winner Discoveries (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) as she inched out Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), saddles Yuesheng Zhang's newcomer Danvers Gold (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of the G3 Cornwallis S. scorer Mrs Danvers (GB) (Hellvelyn {GB}) who cost 320,000gns at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale Book 2.

6.25 Newmarket, Novice, £10,000, 3yo/up, f/m, 8fT
PURE DIGNITY (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is yet another by the supersire to catch the eye on Friday, being the €2.5million Arqana Deauville September Yearling Sale topper. Shaikh Nasser Al Khalifa and KHK Racing's half-sister to Sottsass (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and the similarly high-class Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) finally gets out for Roger Varian and faces four on her debut.

The post Observations: Arqana September Topper Debuts At Newmarket appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Careful readers of the Arqana website–or those caught booking a house too early in Deauville for the summer sales–will have noticed some significant changes in the French sales calendar this year. For the past several years, the two-day select, or Part I, yearlings in the August sale sold in the evening, then were followed by an all-day open session, and then the V2, a sale targeted to more regional buyers. In all, three different classes of yearlings were sold over four days.

For 2022, the Arqana team has taken the select yearlings and has broken them up into three days: Saturday, Aug. 13 (160 yearlings starting at 2 p.m.), Sunday, Aug. 14 (80 yearlings starting at 5:30 p.m.) and Monday, Aug. 15 (80 yearlings starting at 5:30 p.m.)

Some of the former Part II yearlings will be combined with those who would have previously sold in the V2, and will be offered in a new September Yearling sale scheduled for Sept. 8-9. The traditional October yearling sale takes place from the 17^th to the 21^st.

While the sales company made the announcement in a press release in February, it was overlooked by some vendors and buyers. As the Arqana team conducts yearling inspections, Freddy Powell, the Executive Director of Arqana, took a moment to explain the motives behind the changes and what attendees could expect.

Powell said he expects the sales makeup to be a mix of precocious international and top French yearlings in August, and domestic yearlings aimed at domestic buyers in September.

Part of the impetus for the change starts with the French calendar; Assumption Day, a major public holiday in France, is Monday, Aug. 15, with most stores and businesses closed.

“It's a tradition in France to have very good racing on this bank holiday,” said Powell, reached in Ireland on a yearling inspection tour, “and therefore, we could not spend all afternoon selling our Part II yearlings.”

Another issue was stabling, which is limited to around 320 stalls on the sales grounds. “We are limited to the number of horses we can have on site,” said Powell. “In the end, it wasn't very fair to vendors selling on Monday to ship in on Sunday. We had lovely horses on Monday that buyers couldn't properly see. If we can't expose them properly, we are not doing our job.”

Horses on the beach at Deauville | Patty Wolfe photo

Adding additional stalls is not an option, he said, due to their limited space. “The great upside to being in town is that people can walk in and out. They can be on the beach at 3, and at the sale at 3:15. But at the same time, it limits the space we have.” For the December sale, horses can stable across the street at the racetrack, which is not an option when racing is being conducted in the summer.

Last year, 355 yearlings were catalogued for the main sale, and another 150 in the V2.

This year, the August sale will be limited to 320-330, and another 250-280 will sell in September. Around 50-60 of those traditional August horses will divert to September or October.

“These (yearlings moving to September) were mature, precocious types, which typically sold in August, and so we decided to create a sale in September for these 200 yearlings,” said Powell. “We will probably be able to add another 50-80 to make it a two-day sale. The profile we are looking for in September are mature yearlings who do not have to wait for the October sale. They don't necessary need a precocious pedigree; it will be a mix of V2, August Part 2 and October yearlings who have the maturity to sell five to six weeks before the October sale.”

The August sale will occur, says Powell, “in the middle of a great weekend racing with the Prix Jacques Le Marois on the Sunday and many stakes races on both days.”

A customer-service oriented company, Arqana will help to facilitate travel arrangements for international buyers. Interested parties should contact Amy Lanigan at alanigan@arqana.com.

But change is sometimes hard for people to accept, and Powell was asked if he felt people would be open to the new format.

“It's a new thing, so there's always an unknown, but the numbers are growing every year in entries in the sales, and we wanted to try this. I think the buyers and the vendors understand it, but the unknown is always a concern. They understand why we're doing it, mostly for logistical reasons. But in tidying up the number for August, we just have to target the numbers per sale rightly, so every horse has his place.”

The leading consignor at the sale for the past several years with his Ecurie des Monceaux consignment has been Henri Bozo, who gave the new idea his stamp of approval.

“I think it's good that Arqana has got its two main yearling sales quite far from each other in terms of time,” said Bozo. “I like the fact that there is an August sale in the middle of the fantastic race meeting. I know it's early, but it has been a successful sale in producing top-class horses. I think it's going to be nice to have three days of yearlings at the same level, and maybe open up the selection a bit more, because in the past there were times where there wasn't a lot of difference between some of the Part II horses and the Part I horses. It's the summer, you have a sale with more precocious types, and it has gone from strength to strength in the last two years.”

The post Powell Discusses Changes to Arqana Yearling Sales Calendar appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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