Sea The Stars filly leads the way at 730k at Arqana – but overall trade takes a dip

Cover image courtesy of Arqana

Just 24 hours after John Stewart's Resolute Racing lit up Arqana by snapping up a Wootton Bassett (GB) filly for €1.4 million (AU$2.31 million), another American-based buyer took top lot status at the August Yearling Sale. Bloodstock agents Alex Solis and Jason Litt secured the winning bid of €730,000 (AU$1.2 million) for Lot 187, a Sea The Stars (Ire) filly out of an unraced half-sister to the multiple Group 1 winner The Fugue (GB) (Dansili {GB}).

While Solis and Litt signed for five yearlings worth €1.25 million (AU$2.06 million) on behalf of leading American owner Mike Repole, the pair remained tight-lipped about the future plans for the Saturday top lot. “It's Sea The Stars, a big-name stallion, and she was a beautiful filly,” Litt commented on the purchase. “We're happy to have her and hopefully we can get lucky.” He added, “Nothing is decided at this point in terms of future plans. They always have good horses here, and we were just fortunate to acquire her.”

The filly was consigned by Haras de Castillon and is the first foal out of the Shalaa (Ire) mare La Vie (Fr). La Vie’s exceptional sibling, The Fugue, won four races at the top level for John Gosden and Lord Lloyd Webber, including the Irish Champion S. and the Prince Of Wales's S. against male rivals. The second dam is the G2 Ribblesdale S. runner-up Twyla Tharp (Ire) (Sadler's Wells), who is a half-sister to the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. winner Summoner (GB) (Inchinor {GB}) and the G1 Coral-Eclipse S. winner Compton Admiral (GB) (Suave Dancer).

Although no yearling reached the seven-figure mark on Saturday, the clearance rate improved to 82 per cent compared to Friday's 72 per cent. However, in comparison to this day last year, the average dropped by 18 per cent to €199,343 (AU$329,000), and the median fell from €185,000 last year to €150,000 (AU$248,000) on Saturday. Overall, the turnover of €13,356,000 (AU$22 million) was down 20 per cent compared to the equivalent day last year.

Second foal out of Tasleet sibling commands €620,000

Lady Light (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) may have had a brief racing career, spanning just two starts as a juvenile, but she made the most of it. After a successful debut at Yarmouth, she gained black type by finishing third in the Listed Bosra Sham S. at Newmarket.

The decision to retire her after that promising 2-year-old campaign was likely an easy one, especially given her impressive pedigree. Lady Light is not only a full sister to the G2 Duke Of York S. winner and sire Tasleet (GB), but her second dam is a half-sister to Anna Law (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}), best known for producing the outstanding sprinter Battaash (Ire) and the G1 Middle Park S. runner up The Antarctic (Ire), both by Dark Angel (Ire).

While her potential on the racecourse may have been unfulfilled, everything points to a bright future for the former Michael Bell trainee as a broodmare. This was especially evident in today's result, where her second foal, a New Bay (GB) colt consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux, was sold to Chauvigny Global Equine for €620,000 (AU$1.02 million).

Sébastien Desmontils, president of Chauvigny Global Equine, said of Lot 192, "We saw the horse on the first day of the sale and on the farm. We liked him, and he's by a very good sire. The dam was a good 2-year-old winner, and she has black type as well. She's a full sister to Tasleet from a very good family. You have Battaash and The Antarctic, a very good 2-year-old for Coolmore.

“We really liked him, and obviously, he could be a stallion if he proves very good, so that's why he made that price. He's probably going to spend two weeks on his holidays, and then we'll break him in before deciding where he goes.”

Stewart Resolute in his support of Arqana

John Stewart continued his strong presence at Arqana with another significant acquisition, securing Lot 233, a Dubawi (Ire) colt out of the winning Kingman (GB) mare Mulan (Ire). Bidding online on the advice of Irish bloodstock agent Gavin O'Connor, who has been representing the Resolute Racing team at the sale, Stewart won the colt with a bid of €550,000 (AU$911,000).

“We were really happy with the way it turned out,” Stewart said. “Gavin really liked him. He's on the ground, and we're trying to be very targeted right now. We have Keeneland, Fasig-Tipton, and several other yearling sales coming up, so we're just trying to keep the numbers manageable at this point. He’s a great addition to our selection of colts.”

He added, “For now, they’re all going to the UK to be broken, and then the plan is to bring them to the US. Everyone tells us it’s best to break them over in Europe and let them do their initial training there before bringing them to the US.

“It was an amazing family, and we thought the depth of the pedigree was impressive. We’re excited about integrating this mix of bloodlines into our current list of horses. The global diversity is the kind of game I'm trying to play.”

Solid Results for St Mark's Basilica

Coolmore Stud’s shuttle sire St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) enjoyed some impressive results, with Al Shaqab securing two fillies by the sire. The first, Lot 178, was knocked down for €550,000 (AU$929,000), while Lot 160 was purchased for €225,000 (AU$379,000).

St Mark’s Basilica had six of his first-crop yearlings sell for an average of €261,667 (AU$440,000).

Super Saturday for Too Darn Hot

Too Darn Hot (GB) made a strong impact with his first crop of runners in 2023, and today's events—both on the racetrack and in the sales ring—suggest a bright future ahead for the young Darley stallion.

The Wathnan Racing-owned Defence Minister (GB) kicked off the day with a winning debut at Newmarket, overcoming trouble to look potentially well above average. Meanwhile, Simmering (GB) confirmed herself as a leading performer among Too Darn Hot’s second crop by dominating the G2 Prix du Calvados at Deauville.

While these victories occurred within a span of about 15 minutes, it took around an hour for the action on the Arqana sales ground to truly heat up. The arrival of Lot 166, a colt by Too Darn Hot out of the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches runner-up Irish Rookie (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), marked the beginning of a significant moment. The Haras de Saint Pair-consigned colt was the first lot of the session to sell for more than €260,000 (AU$428,000), ultimately fetching €520,000 (AU$856,000) before being secured by Anthony Stroud for KHK Racing.

“Too Darn Hot is doing really well,” Stroud said. “He’s a son of Dubawi, a very good racehorse, and he seems to be on the right trajectory—he had that winner today (Simmering).”

“This was a particularly nice horse and comes from an excellent farm. Last year, Godolphin bought the horse who won the Vintage (Aomori City) from Saint Pair. I was very happy to get him, and he’s been bought for KHK Racing.”

Coulonces on High with Victor Ludorum colt

A remarkable August continued for the Coulonces team with the €420,000 (AU$702,000) sale of a homebred colt from the first crop of Darley shuttler Victor Ludorum (GB) to Oliver St Lawrence. Offered as Lot 196, the colt is the second foal of the Mastercraftsman (Ire) mare Lilienbloom (Ire).

Lilienbloom was in utero when her dam passed through the same ring in December 2022, where she was purchased for €12,000 (AU$20,000) by Anna and Moa Sundstrom with Moa's partner Conor Nolan. Lilienbloom's family has performed well for her breeder Guy Heald, with relations including recent Group winners Sea La Rosa (Ire), Deauville Legend (Ire), and Arabian Crown (Fr).

Moa Sundstrom, who led the colt through the ring, was emotional as she returned him to his stable following the sale.

“I’ve no idea what just happened,” she said. “We love Mastercraftsman and she was an outstanding mover of a mare, with lovely bone and width, but I didn’t think there would be €420,000 (AU$702,000) coming from her. But this colt is special. He was a lovely foal, a bit careful about everything, but then he turned one and my mum said, ‘He’s going to take over the world.’”

“Something we believe in strongly is that there’s no better team than family, and Conor is a big part of our family now. This is what we’re meant to do.”

Nolan added, “This is unbelievable. You don’t get these sorts of things coming around every day. We had a great pinhook yesterday—we pinhooked a Blue Point filly from €150,000 (AU$255,000) into €500,000 (AU$850,000) and we said, ‘That will never happen again,’ and now it’s happened again.”

“We’re very proud of the whole team at home who did such a good job with the prep. Let’s hope he goes on to do well now, that’s the main thing. The mare has a lovely Churchill colt on the ground, but she might be going back to Victor Ludorum.”

Victor Ludorum, winner of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains, began his stud career at Haras du Logis with a fee of €15,000 (AU$25,500). Over the past two days, he has had seven yearlings sold for an average of €152,143 (AU$258,000).

Gowans gets on the scoreboard

Continuing the American theme at Arqana, Gainesway’s Ben Gowans and Corbin Blumberg of Starlight Racing went to €310,000 (AU$527,000) to secure a Showcasing (GB) filly (Lot 164) to bring back home to trainer Mark Grier in the United States.

While Gowans has purchased horses at Arqana previously, this week marked the first time shopping in France for Blumberg. The pair were visibly delighted with their new acquisition.

Gowans said, “We bought her for Mark Grier, who is a client of mine, and Corbin works for Starlight Racing. She’ll come back home to America and is a lovely filly with great body. We loved her every time we saw her and were very happy to be able to bring her home.”

He added, “I bought a Churchill filly for Mark here last year. She’s in training now, and this is a trip I enjoy. It’s a sale that offers a bit more variety compared to any sale we have back home in America. There are a lot of different types and levels to play at, so there are many horses here that we like and they are pretty obvious.”