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Breeding Rights in Equiano Available

Equiano (Fr) (Acclamation {GB}), who is new to the Irish National Stud, will have breeding right options available for breeders, the County Kildare stud announced on Monday. Already the sire of Group 1 winners Equilateral (GB) and Belvoir Bay (GB), the 15-year-old is the sire of 29 stakes horses and will stand for €3,000 in 2021.

“Proven horses at this kind of fee are rare,” said Irish National Stud Director of Sales Gary Swift. “We have also put an “Equiano Breeding Right” option together for breeders which further underlines his extraordinary value, please get in touch with us for the details.”

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Elarqam, Yafta Retired to Haras de Saint Arnoult

MGSW Elarqam (GB) (Frankel {GB}-Attraction {GB}, by Efisio {GB}), who ran third in the G1 Juddmonte International in 2019 for Sheikh Hamdan’s Shadwell, has been retired and will stand at Haras de Saint Arnoult in partnership with Shadwell next year. The three-time group winner will command €6,000. The partnership to stand the dark bay son of Classic heroine Attraction was brokered by Richard Venn.

“We are extremely excited to be standing Elarqam in France from next season, in partnership with Haras de Saint Arnoult,” said Shadwell Stud Director Richard Lancaster. “He was a prolific racehorse having won or placed in group races at two, three, four, and five years old. In an industry that is centred around genetics, the quality of his pedigree speaks for itself.”

Bred by Floors Farming, the colt was snapped up by Shadwell for 1.6 million gns out of Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale and sent to the yard of Mark Johnston. A winner of his debut at York, he captured the G3 Somerville S. next out. At three, he added a group placing in the G2 York S., and went two better at four, taking the York S. outright, one start prior to his Group 1 placing in the Juddmonte International, as well as two listed stakes wins. Kept in training this term, from four starts he added the G3 Legacy Cup at Newbury in September and was a nose second in the G3 Brigadier Gerard S. earlier in the season. Rated at 120, he retires with a mark of 17-6-1-3 and $462,032 in earnings.

“We are absolutely delighted to be able to get such an exciting stallion,” added Haras de Saint Arnoult’s Larissa Kneip. “He’s got the looks, the pedigree, and he’s proven on the racetrack that he’s not just a “specialist” in a particular restricted field, but a proper racehorse, able to adapt to any distance, any tactics, at any age, and deliver top-class performances with great regularity.”

Elarqam’s dam struck four times at the highest level, including the G1 1000 Guineas and Irish equivalent, and has already thrown the MGSP Cushion (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) and G3 Sapphire S. hero Fountain of Youth (Ire) (Oasis Dream {GB}).

Elarqam will be joined at stud by GSW and fellow newcomer Yafta (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}-Swiss Dream {GB}, by Oasis Dream {GB}) at €2,500. The former Shadwell runner was purchased from Shadwell through Richard Venn, with breeding rights available.

“Yafta has been bought from Shadwell through agent Richard Venn by an owner of mine who has been wanting to invest in a speed sire for a while now, but it was hard to find the right profile,” said Kneip. “It’s the type of stallion that was missing from our roster here at Haras de Saint Arnoult, and the type of sire that we are in desperate need of here in France.”

A £280,000 yearling from the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Sale, the Lordship Stud-bred won the G3 Hackwood S. as a sophomore and was also placed another three times a group level for Richard Hannon and Shadwell. The 5-year-old’s record stands at $181,511 with four wins and eight placings from 18 starts. Yafta is out of three-time listed winner Swiss Dream, herself a half-sister to French MGSW Swiss Diva (GB) (Pivotal {GB}), Group 3 winner and sire Swiss Spirit (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the MGSP Swiss Franc (GB) (Mr. Greeley). The quartet were produced by MSW and G2 Flying Childers S. runner-up Swiss Lake (Indian Ridge {Ire}).

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Fourth Group 1 Laurel for Lucky Lilac

Japanese Champion Juvenile Filly Lucky Lilac (Orfevre {Jpn}) became just the fourth filly or mare to win consecutive G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cups with a neck victory at Hanshin on Sunday.

Favoured at 2-1, the 5-year-old was a tad sweated up over her withers before loading in the 18 post, but was able to secure a good position tucked back in 12th in the two path into the first turn. The grey Normcore (Jpn) (Harbinger {GB}), second choice in the wagering at 5-2, led the charge through splits of :23.70 for the first quarter and :47.20 for the opening half-mile, with six panels registered in 1:11.30. The field began to bunch inside the final 800 metres, but Lucky Lilac was already making steady progress up the outside at the 600-metre mark. She collared Normcore 300 metres out-as the solid fractions took their toll– and grimly held off all comers to register another success at the highest level by a neck. Salacia (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) rallied from even farther back to take second, a neck to the good of the similarly rallying 2020 G1 Japanese Oaks heroine Loves Only You (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}).

“The outermost draw was a concern but we were able to race smoothly and advance our position from the third corner,” said hoop Christophe Lemaire, who was winning his 33rd Japanese Group 1 contest. “She was very composed and gave her usual turn of speed. We took the front early in the stretch but she held on well until the end. She’s a strong horse. She has been racing at the top level since her 2-year-old season and I had confidence in her.”

Named the 2017 Japanese Champion Juvenile Filly after a three-for-three campaign culminating in the G1 Hanshin Juvenile Fillies, Lucky Lilac quickly added the G2 Tulip Sho in her 3-year-old bow. Runner-up to subsequent Horse of the Year Almond Eye (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) in the G1 Japanese 1000 Guineas and third to the same foe in the G1 Japanese Oaks, the chestnut was unplaced in the G1 Japanese Fillies St Leger to that same rival in the fall of 2018. She made six starts as a 4-year-old, among them a win in the last term’s G1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, and signed off with a good second in the G1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin in December. This year, she resumed on Mar. 1 with a runner-up performance in the G2 Nakayama Kinen before adding the G1 Osaka Hai on Apr. 5. Unplaced in the G1 Takarazuka Kinen, Lucky Lilac rounded back into form with a third in the 2000-metre G2 Sapporo Kinen last out on Aug. 23.

Pedigree Notes

A winner of the 2011 GI Ashland S., Lilacs and Lace is credited with eight foals, six of racing age and three winners. Since foaling Lucky Lilac, her third foal, Lilacs and Lace has thrown the winning 4-year-old colt Lahire (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), 3-year-old filly Lelievre (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}), the juvenile colt Grand Meteore (Jpn) (Daiwa Major {Jpn}) and full-siblings to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup victress, a filly in 2019 and a colt of this year.

Part of an outstanding extended family, Lucky Lilac’s third dam was four-time Grade I winner Stella Madrid (Alydar), herself a daughter of Eclipse Champion Sprinter My Juliet (Gallant Romeo). Stella Madrid, besides being a full-sister to GI Shuvee H. heroine Tis Juliet (Alydar), produced Japanese Champion Older Mare Diamond Biko (Jpn) (Sunday Silence), as well as G1SP Isle de France (Nureyev), ancestress of Japanese Champion Sprinter/Miler Mikki Isle (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and G1 NHK Mile Cup heroine Aerolithe (Jpn) (Kurofune).

Sunday, Hanshin, Japan
QUEEN ELIZABETH II CUP-G1, ¥204,960,000 (US$1,958,500/£1,484,804/€1,654,751), Hanshin, 11-15, 3yo/up f/m, 2200mT, 2:10.30, fm.
1–LUCKY LILAC (JPN), 123, m, 5, Orfevre (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Lilacs and Lace (GISW, $350,300),
                                by Flower Alley
                2nd Dam: Refinement, by Seattle Slew
                3rd Dam: Stella Madrid, by Alydar
O-Sunday Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); T-Mikio Matsunaga;
J-Christophe Lemaire. ¥108,822,000. Lifetime Record: Ch. 2yo
Filly-Jpn, G1SP-HK, 18-7-4-3. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple
   Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Salacia (Jpn), 123, m, 5, Deep Impact (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Salomina (Ger), by Lomitas (GB)
                2nd Dam: Saldentigerin (Ger), by Tiger Hill (Ire)
                3rd Dam: Salde (Ger), by Alkalde (Ger)
O-Silk Racing; B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥43,092,000.
3–Loves Only You (Jpn), 123, f, 4, Deep Impact (Jpn)
                1st Dam: Loves Only Me, by Storm Cat
                2nd Dam: Monevassia, by Mr. Prospector
                3rd Dam; Miesque, by Nureyev
(¥160,000,000 Ylg ’17 JRHAJUL). O-DMM Dream Club;
B-Northern Farm (Jpn); ¥26,546,000.
Margins: NK, NK, 1 3/4. Odds: 2.30, 11.30, 4.50.
Also Ran: Win Marilyn (Jpn), Centelleo (Jpn), Soft Fruit (Jpn), Ria Amelia (Jpn), Shadow Diva (Jpn), Something Just (Jpn), Miss New York (Jpn), Satono Garnet (Jpn), Lune Rouge (Jpn), Uranus Charm (Jpn), Win Mighty (Jpn), Rosa Glauca (Jpn), Normcore (Jpn), Espoir (Jpn), Caro Bambina (Jpn).
Click for the JRA chart & video or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.

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Al Wukair Filly Tops Arqana Yearlings

The first of four sessions of the Arqana Autumn Yearling Sale took place on Saturday with a day dedicated to flat-bred yearlings. After scratches, 214 youngsters went under the hammer, with 156 finding new homes for a clearance rate of 72.9%. A total of €1,092,000 was accrued, at an average price of €7,000 and a median of €5,000. Last year’s yearling session, which took place at the end of the sale, saw 147 yearlings sold (83.5%) for an average of €8,044 and a median of €6,500.

Sebastian Desmontils’s Chauvigny Global Equine signed for three of the top five lots on Saturday on behalf of various trainers. Leading the way was Quesnay’s Al Wukair (Ire) half-sister to the listed-placed Tres Forte (Fr) (Whipper) (lot 233), who fetched €57,000 with Desmontils acting on behalf of trainer George Baker. This is the first crop of yearlings for Al Wukair.

Desmontils was working on behalf of trainer Henri Devin when he went to €26,000 for lot 175, a filly by Doctor Dino (Fr), and for Mathieu Brasme when he signed for lot 9, a colt by Pedro The Great, for €21,000.

The top-priced colt of the session was Haras des Pierres Follets’s Pedro The Great colt from the family of American champion mare Questing (lot 240), who was bought by Joel Boisnard for €22,000.

After a break in the action on Sunday, the Arqana Autumn Sale continues on Monday and runs through Wednesday. It is followed by the Arqana National Hunt Breeding Stock Sale on Thursday.

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