Lady O’Reilly Remembered as Arqana Returns to Action

DEAUVILLE, France–First went the Irish, then the French. For some, it was a woeful weekend in the sporting world outside horseracing as the Rugby World Cup quarter finals left only England standing among the European nations to go forward to the next round at the Stade de France. 

Plenty of sales folk huddled around the screen at Deauville racecourse on Sunday evening to see the home team's dreams shattered, but by Monday morning the focus was fully back on the horses and the next week of yearling action ahead. 

Before the rugby started, those present at Arqana had gathered in remembrance of Lady Chryss O'Reilly, who died only days after attending the August Sale. Frederique de Chambure, Henri Bozo, Marina Marinopoulos, Nicolas Clement and Aliette Forien all spoke movingly of their longstanding friendship with the owner-breeder and in the bright sunshine of Monday morning, it was hard not to feel that an extra shadow had been cast over Yard B on the sales grounds. The Haras de la Louviere yearlings were there as usual, in their traditional spot, but for the first time their breeder is not present. 

Orchestrating the viewings and juggling cards like the dab hand that he is, Mick O'Dwyer paused for a moment to reflect on his long association with Lady O'Reilly's draft.

“I've been doing this now for 17 years,” he said. “It's business as usual in a way, but she is very much missed. Everybody loved her.”

Sixteen yearlings are being presented by Haras de la Louviere this week, including a filly from the final crop of Le Havre (Ire) whose first three dams were all bred by Lady O'Reilly. As lot 473, she comes through later in the week, on Thursday, and is a daughter of Hailstorm (GB), a treble winner and herself a daughter of Verglas (Ire), winner of the G2 Coventry S. in the familiar black-and-white hoops.

With Ecurie des Monceaux, Lady O'Reilly's Skymarc Farm bred Vespertilio (Fr) (Nigh Of Thunder {Ire}), who won the G2 Debutante S. just a few days before her co-breeder's passing. That filly's half-brother by Camelot (GB) will be one of the earliest horses into the ring on Tuesday when presented by Monceaux as lot 14.

We also cannot mention the Monceaux draft without a reminder that lot 59 is a full-brother to Sottsass (Fr). He was bred by the farm from the celebrated mare Starlet's Sister (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and is offered alongside three yearlings in the draft from the first crop of his Arc-winning brother.

Arqana's October Sale usually plays second fiddle to its flashier August cousin but October is challenging for bragging rights this year as the sale from which Paddington (GB) (Siyouni {Fr}) graduated two years ago, also from Monceaux. August of course played its trump card a little later with Ace Impact (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}). Only on Sunday, Iresine (Fr) (Manduro {Ger}) gave another reminder of why it is worth seeing out the week and trying to unearth a bargain in the later parts of the sale. To his G1 Prix Ganay victory in the spring he added the G2 Prix du Conseil de Paris, and he is now taking aim at Equinox (Jpn) and Liberty Island (Jpn) in the Japan Cup. At his best yet at the age of six, Iresine was picked up as a yearling at the Arqana October Sale for €6,000 and his earnings, including those vital French owners' premiums, are now in excess of €1,000,000.

As the season rolls on, more and more new stallions are being announced for 2024. France in particular looks set to benefit from a bumper new crop. We already know that Ace Impact is off to Haras de Beaumont, which will doubtless be inundated with visitors once breeders descend on Deauville for the breeding stock sale in early December. Jean-Claude Rouget's top three-year-old of the previous season, the Prix du Jockey Club and Eclipse winner Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}), joins Siyouni (Fr) and Zarak (Fr) at the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval.

While doing the yearling rounds on Monday morning, Fabrice Chappet said that he was looking forward to one last outing with his stable star Onesto (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita before he takes up residence at Haras d'Etreham, while Lusail (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) has just been announced as the latest recruit to Al Shaqab's Haras de Bouquetot. In recent months, plenty have made reference to the need for France to plug the gaps left by the likes of Le Havre and Wootton Bassett (GB). In the case of the latter, the Prix de l'Abbaye winner Wooded (Ire) will be among an increasing number of a number of sons of Wootton Bassett attempting to follow in the footsteps of their illustrious father. He has his first runners next year, and 37 members of his first crop are up for grabs in Deauville this week.

Wooded, who is another Haras de Bouquetot stallion, was given an extra boost on the pedigree side this year courtesy of his brother Bucanero Fuerte (GB), winner of the G1 Phoenix S. and G2 Railway S. during a productive season. 

“That's what we are looking for now in France,” says Al Shaqab's Benoit Jeffroy. “Wootton Bassett is gone and Siyouni is getting to an age where he hasn't got another 10 years in front of him, so we are looking for the new boys.

“Wooded has a proper chance. He has some good-looking stock. They have the depth and they can move. He had the speed, so let's hope he can pass it on.”

At the same time as Wooded retired, Al Shaqab also took charge of a stallion prospect with a slightly different profile in Robert Ng's Romanised (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), who was a star for Ken Condon's stable over four seasons. His major wins included the Irish 2,000 Guineas, followed the next year by the G1 Prix Jaques Le Marois and G2 Minstrel S., and he returned to win the latter for a second time at five.

“We are very  happy to be able to stand a horse like Romanised,” said Jeffroy. “We can only thank Mr Ng and Rupert Pritchard-Gordon for entrusting him to us and to France. Actually his stock have sold really well, because he only stands for €7,000, so the return on investment has been good for the breeders so far. It's hard to find a Guineas winner and a Jacques Le Marois winner, and he has been very well received.

“We all know that we have to go through a number of stallions to find horses that will be the next good ones, the improvers, so we keep dreaming now.”

Romanised's sole August Sale yearling, a half-sister to the Group 2 winner Boscaccio (Fr), was paid rather a compliment when bought by Edouard de Rothschild's Haras de Meautry for €170,000, and he had another four sold through the V.2 Sale for €87,000, €65,000, €55,000 and €27,000. He looks a stallion to keep an eye on and has another 37 slated to sell this week.

Frankel (GB) was all the rage, as usual, during Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale, where one of his sons became the most expensive yearling sold in Europe this year. There is just one Frankel on offer this week in Deauville and unsurprisingly he is bred in the purple. Catalogued as lot 95 from La Motteraye Consignment, the colt is a half-brother to the dual Grade I winner A Raving Beauty (Ire) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}).

Another with the potential to star towards the end of Tuesday's session is lot 210, a filly from the first crop of Ghaiyyath (Ire) whose brother New Mandate (Ire), by another Dubawi-line stallion in New Bay (GB) is a group winner in England and Australia, while further generations of the family include dual French Classic victrix Avenir Certain (Fr) (Le Havre {Ire}) and successful young sire Mehmas (Ire).

Business gets underway at 11am on Tuesday, while the following three days all begin at 2pm before a final 11am session again on Saturday.

 

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Robson Aguiar Adds 88k Wooded Colt To Breeze-Up Team At Tattersalls Ireland

It has been a year to remember for Robson Aguiar, largely down to the exploits of Amo Racing's breakthrough Group 1 winner Bucanero Fuerte (GB) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), who he sourced for Kia Joorabchian's ownership vehicle. 

The ultra-shrewd Brazilian native snapped up a colt by Wooded (Ire), who is a brother to Amo's Phoenix S. hero, for €88,000 on day two of the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale and revealed afterwards that the plan was to go breezing for his new recruit. 

“I bought him for myself and he will breeze,” Aguiar said. “I saw a few by Wooded in France and I really liked them. Wooded is a full-brother to Bucanero Fuerte, who won our first Group 1, so it's nice to get one by him. He stood out in this sale. We are looking for quality and I think he is a nice horse.”

A brilliant winner of the Prix de l'Abbaye, Wooded stands at Haras de Bouquetot and his first yearlings have been well-received. Lot 347 was one of only two horses by the stallion in the sale and he represented a whopper of a pinhooking result for John Foley of Ballyvolane Stud who paid just €15,000 for the colt in February.

The Wooded colt who led the way at Tattersalls Ireland | Tattersalls

“Wooded was a Group 1-winning son of Wootton Bassett and I really wanted to buy one by the sire,” he explained. “He was a good-moving foal, a bit weak, and I thought there was a chance he might grow into a nice horse. He has thrived, really thickened out, and most people who saw him said that he was one of the better physicals here and that he stood out a little bit. He has been very popular.”

Foley added, “We always send five or six to sell at this sale and always try to send a couple of nice horses. There are a lot of British trainers here and the Tattersalls Ireland team does a great job getting people to the sale. It has been a lucky sale for us-we sold Sir Busker (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}) here.”

Poste Picks Up Another Speedy-Looking Colt To Go Breezing

Charlie Poste spoke to TDN Europe on Tuesday about his reasons for branching out into the breeze-up game and, alongside Blandford Bloodstock's Tom Biggs, he continued his recruitment drive on day two. 

Top of Poste's list was a Blue Point (Ire) colt (lot 366) from Oak Lodge and Springfield House Stud for €78,000, which brought his total haul to €169,000 for four yearlings all told.

The Blue Point colt represented a fantastic touch for Reddy Coffey, who purchased the dam Platinum Coast (Speightstown) for just 4,500gns in 2019. 

He said, “It is a great result. Blue Point looks like he is going to be a proper sire. We bought the mare for just 4,500gns. She is by Speightstown and we thought the stallion's physique would suit the mare and he was a very fast horse. Who doesn't like a fast horse!”

Grant's Wishes Come Through With Sioux Nation Colt

Mark Grant knows a thing or two about fast horses. The leading breeze-up handler is famed for producing dual Royal Ascot winner Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) and came away from Fairyhouse with four yearlings bought for the upcoming season. 

Grant, who is based in Britain, said that the conversion rate from Sterling to Euro was a sweetener in going to €80,000 for a belter of a Sioux Nation colt (lot 373) from Glidawn Stud.

He said, “I thought the Sioux Nation was the best horse in the sale and I knew I'd have to pull a bit out for him. I think all of the right people were on him. Hopefully he will turn out to be a Craven horse.”

Grant also came away from Fairyhouse with an Earthlight colt from Moanmore Stables for €60,000, a Saxon Warrior (Jpn) colt from Castletown Quarry Stud for €55,000 and an Acclamation (GB) colt for €45,000. 

He commented, “I have bought some nice horses here in the past and I like coming back here. Buying in Euros is a big help as well. When you look up at the bid board and eight grand was just sixty eight Sterling, so that's a big help.

“I have eleven bought now and I'll probably buy another three or four at the upcoming sales but the nice ones are hard to buy. It's been very hard to buy them this year. A lot of the breeze-up handlers haven't filled their orders yet so they will probably be driving on now.”

 

Solid Trade Posted On Day Two

There may not have been any six-figure lots on day two but the trade remained solid. The €12,522,000 aggregate was up marginally on the figures posted in 2022 while the average climbed 3% to €30,995. The median was also up 8% to €28,000 while the clearance rate was down 5% to 85%.

 

Buy(s) of the Day

John Murphy and his son George have a track record at sniffing out a bargain and time may prove that the father-and-son duo found another here on Wednesday in the shape of lot 322.

A Tamayuz (GB) colt consigned by Wardstown Stud attracted plenty of shrewd judges to the ring but it was Murphy who won out at €30,000.

Out of an Arcano (Ire) mare who has yet to produce a winner, the Tamayuz is a fine stamp of a colt and should make up into a nice two-year-old.

He is a three-parts brother to Blond Me (Ire) and the pedigree traces back to a strong Ballymacoll family.

Elsewhere, another Make Believe colt appeared to be well bought at this sale. It was in this section on Tuesday where Luke Lillingston's €70,000 purchase of a colt by the Ballylinch stallion was put forward as the buy of the day to go to Andrew Balding.

Well, Billy Jackson-Stops may well have found similar value in the Make Believe colt that he sourced for the trainer (lot 286) for just €40,000.

Consigned by Airlie Stud, the Make Believe colt is out of an unraced Galileo (Ire) mare, who has already produced the highly-rated Ralph Beckett-trained Quantum Impact (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}).

Finally, if it's early speed that you were looking for, Patrick Vaughan and Conor Hoban of Beechlea Bloodstock may have found it. They shelled out just €15,000 to secure a Kuroshio (Aus) colt (lot 261) from Baroda Stud early in the morning.

Kuroshio has already proved himself as a good source of speed, largely down to the exploits of trainer Michael O'Callaghan through Gozen (Ire) and Kairyu (Ire), with the latter on course for Group 1 targets.

This colt looks well capable of clocking a good time should his next connections go down that route and it wouldn't be a surprise to see them turn a profit in the spring whatever path they chart with the colt.

 

Strong Trade, As Curtain Falls On Part 1

Tattersalls Ireland, CEO Simon Kerins said, “Today completes two very successful days of trade at the September Yearling Sale, resulting in a turnover surpassing €12,522,000, the second highest ever recorded for this sale. It was immensely satisfying to see advancements in most key indicators with this year's catalogue producing a record median and the second highest average for the two days. There was also a record number of lots making over €40,000 a testament to the solid trade.

“Results do speak volumes and up to last weekend, the September Yearling Sale was Europe's leading sale for 2-year-winners, complemented by Dawn Charger and Tiger Belle's recent Group 3 success in France. It is these winners that have reinforced the confidence with new and existing buyers to come to Fairyhouse, with more buyers in attendance than ever before. Heartfelt appreciation must go to Charles O' Neill and his team at Irish Thoroughbred Marketing for their exceptional efforts that have contributed to a very successful week.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the vendors who supported us with a catalogue worthy of attracting so many visitors to the site. We wish all our purchasers continued success with their purchases as they go on to achieve great things on the racetrack.”

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From Earthlight to Wooded: 14 New Sires Represented at Arqana

DEAUVILLE, France–In a departure from the normal schedule, Arqana's August extravaganza kicks off a day early this year, on Friday. With a handful of shows having taken place on Tuesday, viewing began in earnest on Wednesday morning, with Joseph O'Brien first out of the blocks and on parade at the Haras des Capucines draft while most people were still having breakfast.

While many of the families of the horses catalogued will be familiar to potential purchasers, each new season brings with it a wave of new stallion names to grapple with, and there are 14 freshman sires with members of their first crop on offer in Deauville this week. Sottsass (Fr) is detailed in the accompanying feature, and on the same day that he recorded his most prestigious win in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, at the other end of the distance spectrum Wooded (Ire) was winning the Prix de l'Abbaye for Al Shaqab Racing. With his sire Wootton Bassett (GB) now having moved from France to Coolmore's Irish base, the sprinter was doubtless a welcome addition to Normandy's stallion ranks. Two of his yearlings are in the August catalogue and another nine feature in the V.2 sale next Tuesday, and Wooded was given an extra boost over the weekend when his full-brother Bucanero Fuerte (GB) won the G1 Keeneland Phoenix S.

The poster celebrating his latest major success after also winning the G2 Railway S. is already on display at the consignment of Haras d'Etreham, which sold Bucanero Fuerte last August for €165,000 and will offer his Dubawi (Ire) half-sister on Saturday as lot 214.

“We were so sure that he would win that we had it made in advance,” said Nicolas de Chambure with a smile, and he has plenty to be happy about at present.

In what may help other sons of Siyouni (Fr) coming through, Etreham's City Light (Fr) has made a decent start with his runners this season, with his eight runners to date representing a strike-rate of 40% to put him in front in the French first-season sires' table. Coming through hard on his heels are his fellow residents, Persian King (Ire) and Hello Youmzain (Fr), who have 19 and 21 first-crop yearlings respectively in the August catalogue. These include lot 50, Etreham's speedy-looking Hello Youmzain half-sister to the G3 Prix Djebel winner Fast Raaj (Fr) (Iffraaj {GB}).

Another Group 1-winning sprinter to have joined the French ranks at the same time is Sumbe's Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde (Ire), himself by the July Cup winner Lethal Force (Ire) and out of a mare by another top sprinter, Pivotal (GB).

Of two yearlings catalogued, Golden Horde has one remaining, lot 29, a colt from the family of Bloomsbury Stud's Queen Mary winner Pushy (GB).

Along with the aforementioned Wooded, another Haras de Bouquetot stallion with first yearlings is the Irish 2,000 Guineas and Prix Jacques Le Marois winner Romanised (Ire), whose sole offering in August (lot 158) is from the family of Treve (Fr) and is a half-sister to the German Group 2 winner Boscaccio (Ger) (Mount Nelson {GB}).

Ghaiyyath (Ire), Horse of the Year in 2020, heads a trio of Darley stallions in the freshman division, along with two Group 1-winning sons of Shamardal in Earthlight (Ire) and Pinatubo (Ire). Among Earthlight's three is the penultimate yearling in the ring, lot 313, a half-brother to the G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Intellogent (Fr) (Intello {Ger}), while La Motteraye offers a Ghaiyyath half-sister to G3 Prix La Force winner Chilean (GB) (Iffraaj {GB}) as lot 176.

Early in Sunday's session, Monceaux will offer one of a quartet of yearlings by the 2,000 Guineas winner Kameko in the sale. Lot 227 is out of a Galileo (Ire) half-sister to the GI Arkansas Derby winner Bodemeister. 

Among those with a single representative here in Deauville, but about whom we will doubtless be hearing plenty more as the season progresses, are Yeomanstown Stud's Shaman (Ire), Newsells Park Stud resident Without Parole (GB), Shadwell's Mohaather (GB), and Maximum Security, who is based at Coolmore's Ashford Stud in America. The latter's filly, in the Haras de l'Hotellerie draft as lot 246, was bred by Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals, whose Yeguada Cebturion operation is having a banner year as the breeders of Blue Rose Cen (Ire), Big Rock (Fr) and Ramatuelle, who runs in Sunday's G1 Sumbe Prix Morny.

The updates keep coming thick and fast for Arqana. On Wednesday at Salisbury, last year's August graduate Arabian Crown (Fr) (Dubawi {Ire}) won the Listed Stonehenge S., his second victory in three starts for Godolphin. Bought for €600,000, he was bred by Guy Heald from Dubai Rose (GB) (Dubai Destination), and his three-parts-brother by Night Of Thunder (Ire) features in the Monceaux draft as lot 196. Heald keeps mares at both Monceaux and La Motteraye and, through the latter, he is selling a colt from the same family who is a three-parts-brother to the Group 1 winner Sea La Rosa (Fr) and Group 2 winner Deauville Legend (Fr). That pair has Sea The Stars (Ire) as sire, and it is his son Sea The Moon (Ger) who is responsible for the yearling colt (lot 77) out of Soho Rose (GB) (Hernando {Fr}), a half-sister to Dubai Rose.

The Haras d'Etreham team wasn't the only one celebrating a Group 1 winner at the weekend. Haras de la Perelle's Simca Mille (Ire) (Tamayuz {GB}) took the Grosser Preis von Berlin on Sunday in the homeland of his owner/breeder Jurgen Winter. Perelle has topped the August Sale before, back in 2017 with a €1.55 million colt by Dubawi out of the G1 Falmouth S. winner Giofra (GB) (Dansili {GB}). The stud offers two members of that same family this week, including a Hello Youmzain half-brother to Giofra (lot 232), and is saving the Sea The Moon (Ger) half-brother to Simca Mille for the October Sale. 

As this year's star three-year-old Paddington (GB) has shown, there's certainly no harm in being a graduate of that later auction. For now, though, all eyes are on the August Sale, as Arqana is once again the bellwether for Europe's elite yearling sales.

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Arqana’s August Yearling Sale Catalogue Online

The catalogue has been released for Arqana's August Yearling Sale with 314 yearlings set to sell during the three-day sale, scheduled for Aug. 18-20. Beginning the day after the first running of the Arqana Series and during Deauville's La Touques August race meet, the sale includes 18 siblings to Group 1 winner, including Pearls Galore (lot 11, by Kinsman), Wooded (lot 214, by Dubawi) and Native Trail (lot 308, by Cracksman).

The three sessions are scheduled to take place:

  • Friday, Aug. 18 – 3pm – Lot 1 -134
  • Saturday, Aug. 19 – 5:30pm – Lot 135 – 224
  • Sunday, Aug. 20 – 5:30pm – Lot 225 – 314

Also included during this year's sale are Lot 91, the first foal by Frankel out of G1SW Timepiece; Lot 116, a daughter of Wootton Bassett out of G1SW Was; Lot 172, a colt by Kingman out of Classic winning Channel and Lot 300, a colt by Lope De Vega out of Group 2 winner and Group 1 placed Mission Impassible.

Graduates of the sale include Group 1 winners Ace Impact, Chez Pierre, Gold Trip, Meditate, Place Du Carrousel, Rougir, Sea La Rose and Sweet Lady.

A total of 40% of the yearlings on offer are out of black-type mares and about 1/3 of the catalogue are siblings to black-type winners.

Among the colts and fillies that will be included are lots by Camelot, Churchill, Cracksman, Dubawi, Frankel, Dark Angel, Galiway, Justify, Kingman, Lope De Vega, Mehmas, New Bay, Night Of Thunder, No Nay Never, Sea The Stars, Siyouni, Starspangledbanner, Wootton Bassett and Zarak, as well as the final crop of yearlings by the late Le Havre and yearlings by young sire Blue Point.

To view the complete catalogue, click here.

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