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Adlerflug Flies High At Arqana

DEAUVILLE, France—France is one of the few countries in Europe where it is still relatively easy for people to go racing, so a short stroll down the road to Hippodrome La Touques from the Arqana sales complex was a perfect pre-sales outing, with the day’s two black-type races well timed to be observed before action got underway in the ring.

The winner of the G3 Prix des Reservoirs, Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}), not only provided her first-season sire Territories (Ire) with his first group winner but also gave a boost to last year’s Arqana August Sale, where she was bought from Haras de l’Hotellerie for €55,000. She had also been the first winner for Territories on June 10 at Chantilly, when she posted her first of three victories, as well as running third in the G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc weekend.

Back at Arqana, the trade dropped a notch during the second sessionn of the October Sale, where the day’s takings for 115 horses sold came to €3,046,000. The average was €26,487 and the median was €20,000, both of which are tricky to assess in comparison to last year’s markedly different sales format. A promising marker, which has been a factor at most of the 2020 yearling sales across Europe, was the clearance rate of 82%. Horses are still being traded, albeit at a reduced level in a challenging year.

The market leader for much of the day was Haras de Bourgeauville’s colt by Adlerflug (Ger), the sole offering by the leading German stallion in the catalogue. The Francis Graffard-trained In Swoop (Ger), who became the first French-based winner of the G1 Deutsches Derby and then gave Sottsass (Fr) (SIyouni {Fr}) a run for his money when second in the Arc, showed just what the under-used stallion is capable of, and the session-topping colt was one of nine purchases by Federico Barberini so far at this sale. Offered as lot 248, the half-brother to the Listed Brown Panther S. winner Alveena (GB) (Medicean {GB}) will be trained in England after being bought for €85,000 for an undisclosed client of the Italian agent.

The colt’s dam Aliyfa (Ire) (Spinning World), a half-sister to the G1 Irish St Leger and G1 Prix du Cadran winner Alandi (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), was bought by Bourgeauville from the Aga Khan Studs at the 2017 Goffs November Sale for €125,000 when carrying to Siyouni (Fr). The stud sold the resultant filly for €120,000 at the August Sale last year.

Two fillies shared the second spot on the leader board at €75,000, the first to reach that mark being a Wildenstein-bred daughter of Authorized (Ire) (lot 287) out of the lightly-raced Peintre Celebre mare Blue Picture (Ire). The filly’s grandam is the G1 Prix de Diane and G1 Prix de l’Opera winner Bright Sky (Ire) (Wolfhound), and she was bought by Mags O’Toole from the La Motteraye Consignment.

Al Shaqab Racing has been active throughout the October Sale at Arqana and bought the top lot on day one, the €525,000 colt by Siyouni (Fr), as well as signing for one of the more prominent yearlings of Tuesday’s session, with 16 horses bought across the two days.

Lot 333, picked up for €75,000, had extra commercial appeal as a daughter of the record-breaking first-season sire Mehmas (Ire), and she is out of the four-time winner Epatha (Ire) (Highest Honor {Fr}), who was bred by and raced for the late Marquesa de Moratalla and has thus far produced four winners. The filly was bought as a foal last December by Tina Rau for €20,000.

Part 2 of the October Yearling Sale continues in Deauville on Wednesday from 2 p.m.

The post Adlerflug Flies High At Arqana appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Leading New York Freshman Sire Laoban Relocating To WinStar Farm

Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes winner Laoban, a son of champion and perennial leading sire Uncle Mo, is relocating from Sequel Stallions in New York to WinStar Farm in Versailles, Ky.

A limited number of seasons will be offered at $25,000 S&N until the Breeders' Cup. The fee is subject to change pending results as Laoban has contenders in the $2-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies, the $2-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and the $1-million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

The leading New York freshman sire with debut winners sprinting and routing on dirt and turf, Laoban is represented by the undefeated Simply Ravishing, a dominating 6 1/4-length winner of the G1 Alcibiades Stakes at Keeneland where she ran an 89 Beyer, the fastest 2-year-old Beyer of Keeneland's fall meet. Prior to that eye-catching score, she strolled home a 6 1/2-length winner of the P.G. Johnson Stakes at seven furlongs on the dirt at Saratoga, which followed a maiden-breaking win at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Saratoga in her career debut for trainer Ken McPeek.

Additional top performers include graded stakes-placed runners Keepmeinmind, second in Keeneland's G1 Breeders' Futurity and Ava's Grace, third in the G2 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga.

“My phone lit up before the filly crossed the wire at Keeneland,” said Becky Thomas of Sequel Stallions. “In the following days, we were overwhelmed with calls from all of the very top stallion farms in Kentucky.

“Laoban is stamping his foals and proving to be a cookie-cutter of the Uncle Mo style of stretch and athleticism,” Thomas continued. “Since receiving the foals from New York, they certainly looked the part, but once we started training them at Winding Oaks, I knew that he was going to be something special. Talking with other horsemen in Ocala who were training his first crop of 2-year-olds and seeing them perform consistently, he was the buzz horse all season. Then, for him to become the first New York stallion to sire a Grade 1 winner in his first crop is absolutely incredible. It is truly a humbling experience to be a part of what is becoming such an important young stallion. WinStar is a great fit for him and he is sure to get a wide variety of nice mares coming from all their partnerships and support. We couldn't be more excited about his future.”

In winning the 2016 Jim Dandy in wire-to-wire fashion over a top-class field, Laoban defeated Belmont Stakes and G1 Arkansas Derby winner Creator and multiple graded stakes winners Mohyamen and Destin. The handsome dark bay did not need to take his track with him, making nine starts at eight different tracks in 10 months, banking $526,250. In addition to his impressive Jim Dandy victory, Laoban was runner-up in the G3 Gotham Stakes and placed in the G3 Sham Stakes.

A complete outcross in his first four generations, Laoban, a $260,000 Keeneland September sale yearling bred in Kentucky by Respite Farm, is produced from Chattertown, a stakes-placed daughter of leading sire Speightstown and a three-quarter sister to multiple Grade 1 winner and multi-millionaire I'm a Chatterbox.

“I have tremendous respect for Becky and her Sequel operation,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar's president, CEO, and racing manager. “We are excited to partner with her and the original shareholders and we are appreciative of the efforts of Siena, Taylor Made, and Breeze Easy in bringing Laoban to Kentucky. Laoban is a beautiful son of Uncle Mo who might have three horses in the Breeders' Cup and we believe Uncle Mo is an important sire line for the next generation. Having Laoban join third-leading freshman sire Outwork on our roster gives us two of his exciting three sons with 2-year-olds this year.”

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Revisiting the 1 ¼-Mile ‘Classic’ Distance Before the 2020 Breeders’ Cup

Before the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve, we took a look at the “classic” distance of 1 ¼ miles, the challenge it poses specifically to 3-year-olds, and why the ability to excel when stretching out to this distance often separates the great from the good.

Laoban Relocating to WinStar

Laoban (Uncle Mo–Chattertown, by Speightstown), a son of champion and perennial leading sire Uncle Mo and one of the leaders of his freshman class, is relocating from Sequel Stallions in New York to WinStar Farm for 2021. A limited number of seasons will be offered at $25,000 S&N until the Breeders’ Cup. That fee is subject to change pending results in the Breeders’ Cup, as Laoban has contenders in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

The leading New York freshman sire with debut winners sprinting and routing on dirt and turf, Laoban is represented by the undefeated Simply Ravishing, a dominant 6 1/4-length winner of the GI Darley Alcibiades S. at Keeneland for which she earned an 89 Beyer Speed Figure, the fastest 2-year-old Beyer of Keeneland’s fall meet thus far. Prior to that eye-catching score, she strolled home a 6 1/2-length winner of the P.G. Johnson S. at seven furlongs on the dirt at Saratoga which followed a maiden-breaking win at 1 1/16 miles on the turf at Saratoga in her career debut for trainer Ken McPeek. Additional top performers by Laoban include graded stakes-placed runners Keepmeinmind, second in GI Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and Ava’s Grace, third in the GII Adirondack S. at Saratoga.

“My phone lit up before [Simply Ravishing] crossed the wire at Keeneland,” said Becky Thomas of Sequel Stallions. “In the following days, we were overwhelmed with calls from all of the very top stallion farms in Kentucky.

“Laoban is stamping his foals and proving to be a cookie-cutter of the Uncle Mo style of stretch and athleticism. Since receiving the foals from New York, they certainly looked the part, but once we started training them at Winding Oaks, I knew that he was going to be something special. Talking with other horsemen in Ocala who were training his first crop of 2-year-olds and seeing them perform consistently, he was the buzz horse all season. Then, for him to become the first New York stallion to sire a Grade I winner in his first crop is absolutely incredible. It is truly a humbling experience to be a part of what is becoming such an important young stallion. WinStar is a great fit for him and he is sure to get a wide variety of nice mares coming from all their partnerships and support. We couldn’t be more excited about his future.”

A wire-to-wire winner of the 2016 GII Jim Dandy S. for Southern Equine Stables and Eric Guillot, the dark bay banked $526,250 in his career with additional graded placings in the GIII Gotham S. and GIII Sham S.

An outcross in his first four generations, Laoban, a $260,000 Keeneland September sale yearling bred in Kentucky by Respite Farm, is out of a stakes-placed three-quarter sister to MGISW and multi-millionaire I’m a Chatterbox (Munnings).

“I have tremendous respect for Becky and her Sequel operation,” said Elliott Walden, WinStar’s president, CEO, and racing manager. “We are excited to partner with her and the original shareholders and we are appreciative of the efforts of Siena, Taylor Made, and Breeze Easy in bringing Laoban to Kentucky. Laoban is a beautiful son of Uncle Mo who might have three horses in the Breeders’ Cup and we believe Uncle Mo is an important sire line for the next generation. Having Laoban join third-leading freshman sire Outwork on our roster gives us two of his exciting three sons with 2-year-olds this year.”

For more information on Laoban, contact Liam O’Rourke, Chris Knehr, or Olivia Desch at (859) 873-1717, or visit WinStarFarm.com.

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