13 months ago at the ARQANA October Yearling Sale, Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock signed a €150,000 docket for a Redoute's Choice filly who became the first French purchase for Chinese owner Zhiqiang An, who races under the nom de course Golden East Horse. Sent to Francis Graffard and named Lilac Fairy, she went on to win the L. Prix des Sablonnets at two and has now earned in excess of €120,000.
Boosted by such a successful debut, Mr. An returned to the well and Boman went to €70,000 to secure a daughter of red-hot sire Dabirsim from the draft of Haras de Grandcamp. She is the first foal out of the winning Oliandra, a half-sister to the Gr.3 Prix Vanteaux victrix and Gr.1 Prix Saint-Alary 3rd OLORDA.
She will go to Francis Graffard, confirmed Boman. I am a big fan of the sire and have previously attempted to buy a yearling by him, and this is the first one I am laying my hands on. She looks pretty racy and was born in March. She really stood out today.
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Anthony Bromley and David Minton's Highflyer Bloodstock have bid frenetically throughout the day, signing for 20 yearlings so far, headed by a Great Pretender half-brother to SRELIGHONN for which they paid €120,000. The former was purchased by Francois Nicolle for €55,000 as a two-year-old store at the 2015 Summer Sale and took the Gr.1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure this season in the colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.
The steel grey was consigned by Domaine de l'Etang, a young operation started a couple of years ago by former yearling manager at Haras des Capucines, Elise Drouet.
He is for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede who were extremely keen to have him - I've waited all day for him! He is the only horse they bought today after being outbid on the top lot yesterday. He is a gorgeous horse, very athletic, by a stallion I liked and we've had success with the brother so there was really no reason for us to miss out on him.
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Leading trotting trainer Philippe Allaire has enjoyed a tremendous season in his other quality as an owner of jumpers with François Nicolle, notably enjoying a Listed victory at Auteuil courtesy of KING GOUBERT. His stable will gain further ammunition after he signed for three yearlings, who are all set to join Nicolle's increasingly powerful stable. Standing alongside agent Frédéric Sauque, Allaire notably offered €90,000 for a son of Martaline from the draft of Haras de Montaigu (lot 422) whom he will race in partnership with his daughter Elizabeth, currently based in Ireland with Joseph O'Brien.
Martaline offers solid guarantees and above all I liked the horse physically. I was on the phone to my daughter as he wanted to make sure I wasn't going home without him!
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In the early 2000s, Nick Williams was something of a pioneer in the art of sourcing untried French-breds for moderate amounts and turning them into Graded winners at home as well as in their home country, courtesy of multiple raids over French racecourses. LE ROCHER, a €26,000 purchase at the 2011 Autumn Sale, was a perfect example of the success of this policy, winning two races in France before graduating to Gr.1 glory in the Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle. Six years later, it took Williams a bid of €110,000 to secure his full brother, also offered by Haras du Meheran.
He is for the same owners as Le Rocher [John White & Anne Underhill] but it was the individual rather than just the pedigree that appealed to me, commented Williams. I liked everything about him - and it seems like I wasn't the only one! He will go to the UK and hopefully we will be able to run him in France as a three-year-old as we did with Le Rocher.
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A son of Martaline and the multiple Group-placed hurdler Baraka du Berlais commanded a final bid of €100,000 from trainer Guillaume Macaire. Offered by Jean-Pierre and Guillaume Garcon's Haras de l'Hotellerie, he hails from the successful family of Gr.1 Scilly Isles Novices' Chase Gitane du Berlais. Macaire indicated that the grey would ultimately carry the colours of John-Dawson Cotton. The pair will be hoping that this colt can follow in the hoofsteps of MAGIC SAINT, whom they bought for €90,000 at the same auction two years ago and has now won his last three starts at Auteuil. He was most impressive last Saturday when opening his account over fences by 8 lengths in front of hiw owner.
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MAGIC SAINT and John-Dawson Cotton last Saturday ©ScoopDyga
A son of dual purpose sire Samum who sold to Frédéric Sauque for €75,000 will achieve the feat of uniting three trainers acting under three different codes. Offered by Fairway Consignment, the loose walking chesnut will be trained by François Nicolle for his fellow counterparts Jean-Claude Rouget and Philippe Allaire, a leading trainer in harness racing. Rouget and Allaire left it to the toss of a coin to decide which horse would carry their respective colours between this colt and the aforementioned son of Saint des Saints and Allaire explained in a broad smile:
We try to find good horses, we race them among friends and it just brings us a lot of fun. This is what it is all about!
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Aside from his achievements in the training ranks on the flat, which saw him take Champion honors last season and win 12 Classic races in the space of eight years, Jean-Claude Rouget has also enjoyed remarkable success as an owner over jumps, in association with fellow trainer François Nicolle. Their pair notably won a Listed race over fences less than 3 weeks ago courtesy of A MI MANERA, a filly they bought at the 2015 Summer Sale as a two-year-old store and who was registering her 4th win from nine starts.
They will be hoping that LE PRE SAINT LOUIS (lot 314) follows the same path after signing at €90,000 for the son of Saint Des Saints from the draft of Domaine de l'Etang. The colt achieved a handsome pinhook for Pegasus Farms, which bought him for €44,000 as a foal at last year's Breeding Stock Sale.
He a gorgeous colt who really stood out, commented Nicolle. He really has the right conformation to jump.
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Richard Venn had to go to €150,000 to take home ENRICHISSANT (lot 269), a three-year-old gelding by the little know Speedmaster who boasted two places from three runs to date, all on the flat. The athletic AQPS is a half-brother to a pair of highly talented fillies who both won flat Group races restricted to this breed. Enrichissant himself is entered in the Prix de Vienne, which has been tagged as the "AQPS's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe" and is labelled as a Gr.1. Bred by François and Elizabeth Doumen's Haras d'Ecouves, the bay will now leave the yard of David Windrif in Maisons-Laffitte for Gloucestershire and the stable of David Bridgwater.
I went to see him in Maisons-Laffitte and really liked him, said Venn. He is a beautiful strong horse and hopefully will keep going in the right direction. He will race for Simon Hunt and Gary Lambton, the same connections as The Giant Bolster.
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Charlie Swann and Hubert Barbe ended their shopping spree with the purchase of the top class four-year-old hurdler DALILA DU SEUIL (lot 265) for €210,000. The filly was bred and campaigned by the Boudot family, including leading jockey Pierre-Charles who was on hand to see the grey go through the ring. She won a pair of Listed events over two miles at Auteuil and took a commandable 4th in the Gr.1 Prix Renaud du Vivier behind Francois Nicolle's champion DE BON COEUR after the catalogue was printed.
This was the maximum we could go, sighed Hubert Barbe. She is a very nice mare who has a lot of speed. She will now switch to fences and should make a lovely two-mile chaser for the future.
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Carlos and Yann Lerner's three-year-old filly ELIMAY stood out from the publication of the catalogue as one of the best performers over jumps, boasting a victory at Auteuil on her second start over hurdles, followed by a 3rd place in the Gr.3 Prix Sagan and a pair of seconds in Listed events, both at the hands of subsequent three-year-old Champion filly Whetstone. Her profile gained even further appeal after she ran a close 2nd in the Gr.3 Prix Bournosienne, yet again behind Whetstone. The beautiful grey quickly brought bidding past six figures and it was left for Hubert Barbe and Charlie Swann to do battle against Anthony Bromley, with both parties standing at opposite ends of the sales pavilion.
Hubert Barbe signed the docket at a session-toppig €310,000 and expressed relief to have secured the daughter of Montmartre.
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Three-year-old AQPS gelding EDEN FLIGHT turned many heads when making a winning debut in a provincial bumper last month, which caused the Patrice Quinton trainee to be added to the Autumn Sale as a Wild Card. The son of Great Pretender was notably coveted by Joffret Huet and Harold Kirk but it was the latter, bidding alongside Pierre Boulard, who ultimately signed the docket at €140,000.
We've been lucky with Great Pretender before, buying horses such as Great Field, commented Kirk. This one looks a proper horse who showed pace and stamina when winning his bumper very easily. Added Boulard: the vet was very happy with him as he is a horse with a very loose action. And we were pretty happy with the price!
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Australian-born Will Johnson, who joined De Burgh Equine in September following a long period as assistant trainer to Roger Varian, made his first significant purchase at Deauville when offering €160,000 to secure Wild Card entry OISTRAKH LE NOIR, a recent winner on only his second start over hurdles. The son of Kentucky Dynamite was offered by trainer Donatien Sourdeau de Beauregard.
He is for a long-standing American client and will go hurdling over there, said Johnson. He is an interesting type with a good move and I have had luck with a previous European imports over jumps in America so let's hope this one can follow suit.
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The winner of his last three starts including two after the catalogue came out, Wertheimer et Frère's ACROBATE was always going to attract a lot of interest and the glossy bay sparked a protracted bidding duel between Gérard Larrieu of Chantilly Bloodstock Agency and an undisclosed bidder acting over the phone to Freddy Powell. A son of Oasis Dream out of the Gr.2 winner Balladeuse, the gelding has done nothing but improve this year, stepping up from a mark of 87 last month to a whopping 95 on the back of his hat-trick.
Larrieu eventually scealed the deal with an unusual bid of €202,000 for the son of Oasis Dream and commented:
He is for Sheail Al Kuwari and will go to Qatar to be trained by Nassim Ghazali. We were supposed to pay €150,000 for him but you know how it happens at auction. There are not many like him in the catalogue and he is a very attractive horse.
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Wertheimer et Frère brought a quality draft of four homebreds to the ring and two of them sold for six figures, starting with the filly SANJITA (lot 202), a daughter of Zamindar out of the Stakes winner Barbayam, from the family of Sendawar. Campaigned in handicap company for most of the seaon, the three-year-old benefitted from a significant update when taking a close 4th in the L. Prix Cérès just four days prior to the sale, a performance that saw her rating rocket from 87 to 98. Badgers Bloodstock's Grant Pritchard-Gordon had the final word at €100,000 and explained:
She is a lovely filly from a family that has been mated very well and I loved her run in the Listed, she clearly looks like a filly who will continue to improve. She will stay in France and race on for international clients before being reoffered next year as a Stakes winner - at least this is the plan!
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A couple of hours after her year-younger half-sister FUTURA commanded €110,000, FREE (lot 189), also consigned by trainer Christiane Head-Maarek, went €15,000 better when selling for €125,000 to Hubert Barbe's Horse Racing Advisory. The daughter of Mr Sydney won at Chantilly over the classic trip this season and filled the runer-up spot on two occasions, from only five starts.
She looks a nice jumping prospect commented Charlie Swann after signing the docket. She has good size and form, my only question mark would be her sire. We haven't decided on a trainer yet.
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Offered by Chantilly-based Christiane Head-Maarek, FUTURA boasted the rare distinction of being a half-sister to two Group 1 winners, and she was the first to break the six-figure barrier after being knocked down to Mandore International for €110,000. The two-year-old daughter of Motivator made a very decent debut at Saint-Cloud after the catalogue was printed and counts Gr.1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud scorer FULL OF GOLD and dual Gr.1-winning miler FUISSE among her siblings. Their dam Funny Feerie, was a Listed winner over hurdles at Auteuil and the whole family has showed talent as well as versatility with classy hurdlers Spanish Wells and Funny King also on the page.
I have bought her for my family, commented Watrigant. She is a very special offering being a half-sister to two Group 1 winners and she could also have some ability of her own. She will go into training with my brother Damien and race on as a three-year-old before retiring to the paddock.
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