Donjah | Horse Racing Free Tips

Knockout Year For Teofilo

Though 2020 will go down as a dreadful year for many, it can be regarded as an annus mirablilis for Darley stallion Teofilo (Ire).

To an extent, every son of Galileo (Ire) at stud has to make do with seeking glimmers of light within the long shadow cast by the 12-time champion sire. Last year, Teofilo came closest of any stallion to Galileo's tally of Group 1 winners by being responsible for six of his own, in France, Germany, Australia and Hong Kong.

Now 17, Teofilo also played a lead role in establishing Galileo as a stallion on the up in the minds of the bloodstock cognoscenti. It didn't take long.

In 2006, several members of Galileo's first crop made Classic breakthroughs. Nightime (Ire), who would go on to arguably even greater things as the dam of Ghaiyyath (Ire), won the Irish 1000 Guineas under Pat Smullen, while Sixties Icon (GB) led home a 1-2-3 for Galileo in the St Leger when beating The Last Drop (Ire) and Red Rocks (Ire). The latter won the GI Breeders' Cup Turf on his next start.

Alongside all this, the juvenile Teofilo was proving to be the standout of his sire's second crop, cruising unbeaten through a succession of races which his trainer/breeder Jim Bolger would utilise with the same outstanding results the following year with another son of Galileo, New Approach (Ire). Alas, after winding up his 2-year-old season with victories in the G1 National S. and G1 Dewhurst S., Teofilo would never be seen on a racecourse again. Knee trouble in the spring of his 3-year-old year meant he would sit out his Classic season awaiting his place at Kildangan Stud.

It is probably fair to say that his own stud career has been something of a slow burn, but overall it is one which has generated some significant heat. His 12th crop of runners is currently being prepared to take to the track, among them being the juvenile half-sister to the champion 2-year-old Pinatubo (Ire) (Shamardal), who has been assigned to Charlie Appleby. The stand-out of his 2-year-olds last year was Gear Up (Ire), bred and sold by one master trainer, Jim Bolger, to another, Mark Johnston, who nurtured him to victories in the G3 Acomb S. and G1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud. Bolger's own Group 1-winning juvenile of 2020, the Vertem Fututity victor Mac Swiney (Ire) (New Approach {Ire}), has Teofilo as his broodmare sire, his dam Halla Na Saoire (Ire) being an unrated half-sister to Halla Siamsa (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}), the dam of Teofilo's Dewhurst S. winner Parish Hall (Ire).

Bolger's prints are all over recent generations of this family: the 3×3 inbreeding to Sadler's Wells of Parish Hall, the 2×3 inbreeding to Galileo in Mac Swiney. And, just as Bolger can be credited with having played a significant role in the early days of Galileo's stud career, so too has he been important for Teofilo. Another of the Group 1 winners of 2020 was the Bolger-bred Twilight Payment (Ire), his sire's second winner of the Melbourne Cup in three years.

This alone should reinforce his merit in the minds of Australian buyers when they come to Europe and encourage them to greet his stock with the same enthusiasm with which they do the offspring of Camelot (GB). Earlier in his stud career Teofilo spent five shuttle seasons in Australia which yielded the Group 1 winners Kermadec (NZ), Happy Clapper (Aus), Humidor (NZ), Sonntag (Aus) and Palentino (Aus). The classy miler Kermadec is now a Darley Australia stallion with the dual Group 1 winner Montefilia (Aus) among his first crop 3-year-olds.

The studs of Europe are not exactly awash with sons of Teofilo. Tweenhills Stud's Havana Gold (Ire), out of the crack sprinter Jessica's Dream (Ire) (Desert Style {Ire}), was himself a Group 1-winning miler and his best offspring is the G1 Flying Five winner Havana Grey (GB), who is now resident at Whitsbury Manor Stud. Elsewhere, Mickley Stud, where Havana Grey was born and raised, now stands the substantial Massaat (Ire), who was runner-up in the both the 2000 Guineas and the Dewhurst. Diplomat (Ger) is on the LM Stallions roster at Dorset's March Hare Stud and Jim Bolger stands Parish Hall at his own Redmondstown Stud.

Teofilo's list of Group 1 winners was boosted to 21 last season with the addition of Gear Up, Twilight Payment, Subjectivist and the fillies Donjah (Ger) and Tawkeel (GB). Furthermore, his highest earner, the Hong Kong-trained Exultant (Ire), won two Group 1 races in 2020 to take his tally to five top-level wins.

A runner to follow with interest in 2021, along with Pintaubo's half-sister, will be the Preis Von Europa-winning mare Donjah, who has left German champion trainer Henk Grewe to join Chad Brown's stable in the U.S. And while Gear Up holds entries for the Derby and Irish Derby, his juvenile brother is bound for overseas having set a new record for the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale when sold by Clare Manning's Boherguy Stud for £325,000 to the Hong Kong Jockey Club. His sterling price tag is owing to the fact that the sale had to be moved from Fairyhouse to Newmarket because of Covid restrictions.

As this elite snapshot shows, Teofilo's strength is perhaps that he cannot be pigeonholed. Certainly his offspring tend to be later-maturing middle-distance types, but he is clearly able to get classy runners across a range of distances—and durable ones at that—at a highly respectable rate of 10.4% black-type winners to runners.

Teofilo has had seven three-figure crops of foals since he retired to stud but Gear Up is a product of one of his smallest crops of 64. His 2021 book is restricted in number and, judging by his exploits last year, it seems safe to assume that demand will outstrip supply.

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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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“Something For Everyone” At Arqana

The breeding stock sales caravan rolls on to France this weekend for the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, and while the pandemic will inevitably lead to fewer making the pilgrimage to Deauville, a typically strong and diverse catalogue-buoyed by another good year on the world’s racecourses for the sale’s graduates-means that global enthusiasm is unlikely to be dampened at the four-day sale that runs Dec. 5 through 8.

“Given the circumstances it’s a relief to be able to organize the sale,” said Ludovic Cornuel, head of bloodstock at Arqana. “This has been a very challenging year for everyone in the industry.”

With France still ensconced in its second national lockdown due to COVID-19, Arqana was able to test its health protocols at its Autumn Sale last month.

“The sale a fortnight ago went well,” Cornuel said. “There were strict protocols enforced. Everyone wanting to attend the sale needs to register on the Arqana website to be allowed in. Masks need to be worn all the time on the sales premises, and there are no restaurants, unfortunately, but our caterers will provide takeaway lunch boxes and sandwiches.”

In a most unprecedented year, auctions around the world have borne out the fact that top of the market bloodstock is nearly recession-proof, and the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale has plenty to go around at that end. Simultaneously, those operating in the lower tiers of the market can be buoyed by the fact that this year’s G1 Fillies’ Mile winner and champion 2-year-old filly Pretty Gorgeous (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}) was bought for €55,000 as a foal at this sale in 2018, the same year that her dam, Lady Gorgeous (GB) (Compton Place {GB}) was sold for €40,000. Listed-winning 3-year-old and G1 St Leger second Berkshire Rocco (Fr) (Sir Percy {GB}) was a €35,000 Arqana December foal, and that pricetag will look even greater value should he continue his ascent as a top-class stayer. Directa (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}), the last out G3 Prix Fille de l’Air scorer who goes through the ring on Saturday as lot 170, cost just €4,000 at this sale in 2017.

It has been a particularly fruitful season for 2-year-olds who were sold at the December sale or whose dams were sourced there. G3 Prix des Reservoirs winner and G1 Prix Marcel Boussac third Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) was a €14,000 foal, while G3 Prix Eclipse and G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte winner Plainchant (Fr) (Gregorian {Ire}) was let out unsold at €3,000.

The dams of a trio of Group 1-winning juveniles in 2020 were bought at the Arqana December Sale. The dams of Lucky Vega (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Alcohol Free (Ire) (No Nay Never) cost €17,000 and €12,000, respectively. GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf winner Aunt Pearl (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire})’s dam Matauri Pearl (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}) sold for €400,000 here in 2015, the same year that G3 Prix du Bois scorer Livachope (Fr) (Goken {Fr})’s dam Laia Chope (Fr) (Soave {Ger}) cost Alain Chopard €6,000. Mishhar (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}), the dam of this year’s G2 Royal Lodge S. winner New Mandate (Ire) (New Bay {GB}), was twice available for purchase at Arqana, for €135,000 in 2016 and then for just €12,000 in 2019; New Mandate himself was a €45,000 RNA as a foal here.

Savvy shoppers, then, will be eagerly combing through the approximately 220 foals on offer. Who will unearth the next bargain Group 1 star remains to be seen.

“We have some of the best sires in Europe represented like Camelot, Frankel, Kodiac, Le Havre, Mehmas, Night Of Thunder, Sea The Stars, Showcasing, Siyouni and Wootton Bassett, and also some first-season sires that are quite popular and were very good racehorses, like Cloth of Stars, Cracksman, Expert Eye, Saxon Warrior and Roaring Lion,” Cornuel said.

The eye-catching foal pages in the catalogue include lot 11, a Kodiac (GB) filly whose third dam is the Arc and five-time Group 1 winner All Along; lot 15, a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly out of a half-sister to six-time Group 1 winner Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) from an excellent Juddmonte family; lot 23, a Frankel (GB) colt who is the first foal out of dual group winner Castellar (Fr) (American Post {GB}), a half-sister to dual Group 1 winner Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper); lot 53, a Wootton Bassett (GB) half-sister to listed winner and Group 3-placed Expressiy (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}); lot 87, a Showcasing (GB) colt out of the G2 Duchess of Cambridge S. second Magical Fire (Ire) (Dragon Pulse {Ire}), a half-sister to Group 2 winners Hawksmoor (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}) and Royal Dornoch (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}); lot 140, a Kingman (GB) colt out of G3 Prix de Flore winner Lil’Wing (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}); and lot 209, a Siyouni (Fr) colt out of the listed-placed Valasyra (Ire) (Sinndar {Ire}) and a half-brother to two listed-placed winners.

Cornuel admitted a blue chip selection of fillies in training has become “a trademark” of the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, and considering the success of Grade I-winning sale graduate A Raving Beauty (Ger) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) as well as fillies like Sistercharlie (Ire) (Myboycharlie {Ire}) and Uni (GB) (More Than Ready) sourced from France, it is plain to see why international buyers scrutinize the catalogue year after year.

Arqana offers the only Group 1-winning filly in training to be sold at a European breeding stock sale in 2020 in the form of G1 Preis von Europa winner Donjah (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}) (lot 102). The 4-year-old was also a Group 3 winner at two and a Group 2 winner at three for Darius Racing and trainer Henk Grewe. She is part of a typically powerful draft offered by Ecurie des Monceaux.

“Donjah could be one of the highlights,” Cornuel said. “She’s the only Group 1-winning filly in training to be sold in Europe this year, which is quite exciting. She is by Teofilo who is emerging as an important broodmare sire and she’s a very good-looking filly. She has all the options open for her; she can race on or be covered next year. She’s an exciting proposition.”

Donjah is part of a particularly strong cast of German-trained fillies making their way to Deauville, and that list also includes this year’s Group 3-winning sprinter K Club (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) (lot 122); dual Group 3-winning miler Axana (Ger) (Soldier Hollow {GB}) (lot 128); Group 3-winning miler No Limit Credit (Ger) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) (lot 192) and the multiple group winner Durance (Ger) (Champs Elysees {GB}) (lot 174) and G2 Grosser Hansa-Preis scorer Satomi (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}) (lot 197) from Ronald Rauscher.

Other fillies in training sure to catch the eye include this year’s G1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches third Mageva (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) (lot 93); Nicolas Clement’s last-out listed-winning 3-year-old Conte De Fee (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) (lot 109); dual Group 3-winning sprinter Spinning Memories (Ire) (Arcano {Ire}) (lot 134); and this year’s G2 Oaks d’Italia winner Auyantepui (GB) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) (lot 160).

Reflecting on the global appeal of French-trained fillies, Arqana’s Executive Director Freddy Powell said, “the French way of training is quite conservative and it helps horses age well. Some people say as well that the French tactics of going slow at the start and finishing fast helps develop their turn of foot and at the end of the day that’s what a lot of people are looking for, to race or for breeding purposes; a horse with a good turn of foot, and we have a lot of that in France. And French horses are very sound.”

The Arqana December Breeding Stock sale has drawn a diverse cast of in-foal mares, and among those is Melitot (Fr) (Elusive City) (lot 86), the dam of Mageva, in foal to Sioux Nation. Other exciting broodmares include dual stakes producer Cherriya (Fr) (Montjeu {Ire}) (lot 126) in foal to Siyouni; Ninfea (Ger) (Selkirk) (lot 146), a dual stakes producer and half-sister to four-time Group 1 winner Novellist (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) in foal to Nathaniel (Ire); Golden Lilas (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 152), an unraced full-sister to dual Classic winner Golden Lilac (Ire) in foal to Lope De Vega; Anabasis (Ger) (High Chaparral {Ire}) (lot 164), the dam of A Raving Beauty carrying a full sibling to that dual Grade I winner; and Truth (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 178), a full-sister to Group 1 winner Magic Wand (Ire) in foal to Siyouni.

“The sire power in France has improved a lot over the last five to 10 years and we’re lucky to now have mares in foal to those stallions that have really gained international recognition,” Cornuel said. “We have plenty of mares in foal to Siyouni and Wootton Bassett, and the good news as well is that there are some new stallions in France that are very promising and some new stallions coming to France next year with high profiles, so we hope it will carry on.”

Any rundown of an Arqana December sale is not complete without a look at the drafts from the leading owner-breeders like the Aga Khan, Wertheimer et Frere and Godolphin. These programs annually support the sale with quality drafts of fillies and mares from their elite families, and it is a common occurrence to see the progeny of these mares in winners circles in Europe and further afield for other connections.

Godolphin sold the dams of Lucky Vega and Alcohol Free at this sale, and its 10-horse draft includes Adept (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) (lot 133), a placed 3-year-old daughter of G1 Oaks winner Qualify (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Family Way (Uncle Mo) (lot 195), a winning 3-year-old filly from the immediate family of Caravaggio.

Wertheimer et Frere, which culls exclusively at this sale, brings a strong draft of 24 this year, including 3-year-old filly Euclidia (Fr) (Maxios {GB}) (lot 172), a listed-winning half-sister to stakes winners Soustraction (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Matematica (Ire) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}); Allucination (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (lot 176), a winning 3-year-old half-sister to Group 3 winners Saparella (GB) (Shamardal) and Kalahara (GB) (Frankel {GB}); Toddilea (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) (lot 186), a 3-year-old unraced daughter of Argentine Group 1 winner Safari Queen (Arg) (Lode) and a half-sister to G1 Prix Saint-Alary scorer Queen’s Jewel (GB) (Pivotal {GB}); and Light Dream (Fr) (Anodin {Ire}) (lot 154), a three-quarter-sister to Group 1 winner Plumania (Anabaa), with G1 Prix Vermeille winner Left Hand among the many other stakes winners appearing under the first dam. Evidence of what can be found in the eWertheimer et Frere draft is embodied by Happy Bean (Medaglia d’Oro). Sold for just €8,000 at this sale last year, she received a major update when her half-brother Happy Saver (Super Saver) won this year’s GI Jockey Club Gold Cup, and the great granddaughter of Weekend Surprise is offered again on Saturday by Haras de Lonray as lot 67 in foal to Chemical Charge.

The Aga Khan Studs has sold fillies and mares that subsequently went on to produce horses like Almanzor (Fr) and 2020 stakes winners Gold Trip (Fr) (Outstrip {GB}) and Darkness (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, and the latter appears in the pedigree of Kerka (Fr) (Dansili {GB}) (lot 78), one of 34 fillies and mares that the Aga Khan offers this time around. The winning 4-year-old daughter of the listed-winning Kerasona (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}) is offered in foal for the first time to Wootton Bassett. Zarza (Fr) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) (lot 156) is a half-sister to the Aga Khan’s legendary G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Zarkava (Fr) (Zamindar), while Dalmenya (Ire) (Authorized {Ire}) (lot 38) is a half-sister to G1 Prix de l’Opera scorer Dalkala (Fr) (Giant’s Causeway) in foal to Golden Horn (GB). Suraiya (Fr) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) (lot 185) is another that catches the eye, the winning 3-year-old filly being from the family of Siyouni, Siyouma (Fr) and Siyarafina (Fr).

“This sale has become more and more popular over the years, and I think the main reason for that is that it’s a very mixed bunch of horses,” said Powell. “There is something for everyone at every price. A lot of people come here not knowing what they’re looking for and they’ll always go home with something, from €10,000 to €200,000. There is really something for everyone and the more you get into the catalogue the more interesting it gets.”

“It’s a pretty easy catalogue to work on,” Powell added. “For the international clientele, the top offerings are mainly on the first day. It’s an easy catalogue to flip through for people who don’t know European racing. It’s a good exercise in getting familiar with French racing and pedigrees.”

For those unable to make their annual beloved trek to Deauville, Powell suggested they “sit down in their favourite chair, open their favourite wine, watch the sale and bid online. We will be welcoming their bids.”

Cornuel added, “Those interested can register and bid online. A lot of consignors have sent us footage of their horses and there will be video taken of every horse in the Saturday [session] that will be available online. That should help people to bid remotely and have plenty of information.”

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Donjah Skips Arc For Breeders’ Cup

The G1 Preis von Europa winner Donjah (Ger) (Teofilo {Ire}) will miss the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and will be aimed instead towards the Breeders’ Cup meeting at Keeneland.

The 4-year-old, who races for Dr Stefan Oschmann’s Darius Racing, made her most recent start in the G1 Grosser Preis von Baden, in which she was fourth, finishing less than two lengths behind the winner Barney Roy (Ire) (Excelebration {Ire}).

“We had a discussion today and Dr. Oschmann decided that Donjah shouldn’t run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Instead we are now planning for her to start in the Breeders’ Cup, either in the Filly & Mare Turf or the Turf,” said Darius Racing’s manager Holger Faust.

He added that a contingency plan based on potential COVID-19 travel restrictions could see Donjah remain at home in Germany to make her final start of the year in the Grosser Preis von Bayern in Munich on Nov. 8.

Should Donjah make the trip to America she will become the first Breeders’ Cup contender for 38-year-old Henk Grewe, the reigning champion trainer in Germany. Darius Racing was represented at last year’s meeting at Santa Anita by Alounak (Fr) (Camelot {GB}), who finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

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