13 minute read
All systems GO!
Ahead of this year’s Arqana August Sale, James Thomas catches up with consignors William Rimaud of Haras de la Perelle, Jennifer Sassier of Haras du Mont dit Mont and Philippe Brosset of Applewood Stud.
FRIDAY AUGUST 16th will be the first of three monumental days for the French bloodstock industry. Over the course of three sessions, France’s biggest and best commercial breeders will offer close to 300 of the country’s finest yearlings at the prestigious Arqana August Sale.
Last year’s renewal of the blue-chip Deauville auction witnessed unprecedented trade as turnover reached €55,099,000.
That was a 12 per cent increase on the previous record set 12 months earlier.
Average and median prices also scaled new heights, with the former up 12 per cent to €233,470, while the latter figure made a 21 per cent gain, up to €170,000.
From 283 yearlings offered, 236 sold, meaning a clearance rate of 83 per cent, which was also a best-ever for the August Sale.
For buyers there is the opportunity to unearth the next star graduate who will join the likes of Ace Impact, Ancient Wisdom, Bucanero Fuerte, Little Big Bear and Look De Vega on the sale’s Group 1-winning roll of honour. For sellers, this is the culmination of years of planning, months of hard work and considerable capital investment. Suffice to say, the stakes are high.
“This sale is the biggest yearling sale in France,” says William Rimaud, stud manager of Jürgen Winter’s Haras de la Perelle. “We’re exclusive to Arqana and we usually sell half of our yearlings through the August Sale.
“The strategy of La Perelle is to sell all our colts and to select as many fillies as we can to keep in training. There’s economics to consider as well, so we always sell a few fillies when we have too many members of one family. The sale has a big part to play in the business model of the farm.”
Haras de la Perelle is an established source of talented runners, having produced Group 1 winners such as Gentlewave, Giofra, High Jinx, Mille Et Mille and Simca Mille. Other studs bringing horses to market in Deauville are still building their reputation.
“For us, the main goal is not to just produce yearlings for the sales but to produce racehorses,” says Jennifer Sassier, breeding manager at Haras du Mont dit Mont, the breeding arm of Prime Equestrian. “Selling them and trying to make money for the farm is just one step in the process.
“At the end of the day, selling yearlings who don’t race makes no sense because the mares and the pedigrees won’t be valuable enough to continue to make money.
“We’re very mindful of that, so the stallions we use have to be commercial but at the same time they have to produce racehorses. I started with the farm three years ago, but before that we were selling through another consignor, so the challenge now is to make a name for the farm.
“We know that breeding is a long process and people need to build their trust in us, and the only way that will happen is when they see that we breed racehorses, and not just yearlings for the sales. In the last two years people who bought from Mont dit Mont in the first year came back the second year, which hopefully proves that we’re doing the job right.”
An even newer name on the consignors’ index is Applewood Stud, albeit the man at the helm, Philippe Brosset, possesses a wealth of experience.
Brosset spent 20 years as the manager of Haras du Mezeray before establishing Applewood Stud with his wife Ciara O’Connor in 2022. Applewood presented its first Arqana August yearling in 2023, and returns this time around with a three-strong draft.
“I’ve worked the sales in Keeneland when I was in America and when I was at Mezeray we used to take horses to Tattersalls as well as Arqana,” says Brosset. “So I’m used to the pressure, but when it’s your own place there’s more of that pressure, for sure.
“Especially for us as it’s a young, family-run operation. The farm is quite small, we’re not even 60 acres, and we’re producing less than ten yearlings each season, so to have three going to the August Sale is great. It’s very rewarding for us.”
Haras de la Perelle presents four yearlings at this year’s August Sale. Rimaud says the draft is a case of quality over quantity after the farm ended up with a smaller than usual yearling crop.
“This year we aren’t selling as many,” he says. “We’ve only got 18 yearlings on the farm and only three of those are colts, which is pretty uncommon.
It’s a small draft overall but a nice draft, and of all the yearlings we’ve got this year, pedigree-wise, this is the best.
“We have some good-looking fillies on the farm who we believe will be good racehorses, but their pedigrees aren’t particularly commercial and the boss has no interest in selling low value yearlings.”
FIRST UP is the Zarak colt out of the Listed-winning Bilissie (Lot 74). The youngster is a half-brother to two winners, most notably Prix du Jockey Club runner-up First Look.
This deep Wertheimer pedigree has undergone other updates this season as Bilissie is a half-sister to Prix Vermeille heroine Left Hand and to Aventure, winner of this year’s Group 3 Prix de Royaumont and a close fourth in the Prix de Diane. There could be further updates in store as First Look is due to contest the Prix Jacques Le Marois five days before the sale.
“First Look has done incredibly well and hopefully there’s better to come this year,” says Rimaud. “That pedigree has improved so much already this year. The colt is a typical Zarak. He’s not over tall but has that nice Zarak head and a very nice physical. The sire needs no introduction and this colt is really very nice. He’s really shaping up into a beautiful yearling.”
Next is a Mehmas filly out of Cladocera (Lot 97), who carried the Perelle silks to victory in two Group 2s at Meydan, as well as finishing second to Legatissimo in the Group 1 Matron Stakes. The daughter of Oasis Dream has bred three winners, including the highly rated Centrical.
“The dam was an incredible racehorse,” says Rimaud. “This filly is an amazing walker and a very good physical, too.
“She’s very racy, not too big but has everything. She always has her head down and is really athletic. Mehmas is flying at the moment as well and, when Arqana visited, the company really liked her. There’s something in this family that’s working, so hopefully she’ll be another good one.”
The draft is completed by two lots by Siyouni. Rimaud speaks with particular affection about Lot 124, the filly out of the Group 3-placed Endless Joy.
“The filly is beautiful,” he says. “She’s very racy. If she doesn’t bring what she needs to bring in terms of her value then we’ll race her without any problem.”
Lastly there is the Siyouni colt out of Grace Spirit (Lot 148), a Listed-placed daughter of Perelle’s superb producer Gracefully. The dam is a sibling to four black-type performers, most notably Falmouth Stakes (G1) heroine Giofra.
“It’s a great family that has produced so many high-class winners,” says Rimaud. “The grand dam, Gracefully, has had an amazing black-type-producing career. The colt is your typical Siyouni; walks well, has scope, isn’t that tall but has everything you need in a runner. I’m sure if the mare had produced a filly then we’d have kept her.”
Haras du Mont dit Mont also presents a four-strong offering. Sassier says the closeknit nature of the team – equine and human – makes for a seamless period of sales prep.
“The boss doesn’t put pressure on us but we still have to try and make money, so that means sending the horses to the sales looking the best as possible,” she says. “As a team we enjoy all facets of the breeding season and because these horses are raised on the farm, it’s a smooth process to get them ready for the sales.
"We all know the horses and the staff are very connected to them. We have 17 yearlings this year and the staff all have their favourites, and that really helps during the prep.”
Mont dit Mont’s first lot is the New Bay filly who is the first foal out of Auriga (Lot 60). There is plenty of speed and precocity in this family as the dam is an unraced daughter of Temple Stakes scorer Look Busy, and therefore a sibling to Listed-winning Keep Busy, who also finished second in the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes. The New Bay filly is closely related to Keep Busy, with both being by sons of Dubawi.
“All that family are precocious, racy types,” says Sassier. “The filly has a very good attitude and walks well, she’s got a good shoulder too, so we’re hoping buyers will be pleased with her. There’s been some good updates in the family recently and, hopefully, Auriga is going to be a good broodmare as there’s plenty to come.”
Mont dit Mont offers two lots by Mehmas, namely a filly out of Front Contender (Lot 137) and a colt out of Lady Galore (Lot 191). The filly is the third foal out of her dam, a Teofilo sister to the Group 3 winners Royal Empire and Scottish. Other siblings include the German Group 2 scorer Combat Zone, Zut Alors, dam of Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Precieuse and the granddam of Meydan Group 1 winner Hypothetical, as well as Bikini Babe, who bred Group 3 Somerville Stakes victory La Barrosa.
“She walks well and is a little trooper. Hopefully being by Mehmas means she’ll be popular,” says Sassier, who adds of the colt out of the Listed-winning Lady Galore: “He was born in January and is a very nice, strong type.
“Mehmas can throw them on the neater side but that’s not him, he’s a powerful colt and walks well, too. He’s very laid back and whatever you want him to do, he does it.”
The quartet is completed by an Acclamation filly, who is the first foal out of the winning and Group 3-placed Starspangledbanner mare Stardevote (Lot 317).
“The mare is by Starspangledbanner so we were going for speed on speed and trying to produce something that can go early,” says Sassier. “She really looks like an Acclamation so hopefully the people who know about the stallion will like her.”
Applewood Stud sends three fillies to Deauville, all of whom have plenty to recommend them on pedigree.
The first of the trio is the Space Blues filly out of Woodland Scene (Lot 34). Not only is the youngster a sibling to the Group 3 Firth of Clyde Stakes scorer Nazanin, but her dam is a daughter of Car Colston Hall Stud’s foundation mare Wiener Wald. The famed producer is the ancestress of five top-flight winners in Beauty Eternal, Brando, Crowded House, Reckless Abandon and Ticker Tape.
“We have three fillies from nice, active families so we’re very happy to be bringing them to Deauville,” says Brosset. “They’re all straightforward, correct individuals. The Space Blues is a nice filly and is typical of what people say about the progeny of this family. It’s a lovely pedigree that’s always getting lots of updates.”
Another pedigree that received a recent enhancement is that of the Hello Youmzain filly out of Rose Et Or (Lot 288). The dam is a sibling to six winners, including the Prix Saint-Alary winner Coquerelle, the Group 3 scorer Spring Master and Winning Sequence, whose granddaughter Fair Angellica landed this year’s Listed Prix Amandine by clear water.
“The Hello Youmzain looks very sharp and is a lovely filly,” says Brosset. “We had a lovely update at Deauville recently when Fair Angellica won a Listed race for Richard Hughes. It’s an old Mezeray family but year in, year out, it’s always coming up with nice horses.”
KINGMAN HAS enjoyed a sensational 2024 season, with his daughters Elmalka winning the 1,000 Guineas (G1) and Sparkling Plenty landing the Prix de Diane (G1). Applewood may well have saved the best for last when it offers a well-bred Kingman filly on behalf of Gestüt Wittekindshof (301).
The filly is the second foal out of Serienheilige, a half-sister to German Oaks winner Serienholde. The youngster’s deep German pedigree has also been enhanced by events on the other side of the world as Serienholde is now among the broodmare band at Japanese powerhouse Northern Farm, from where she bred Grade 1 NHK Mile Cup winner Schnell Meister.
The Shadai Stallion Station resident is closely related to the Applewood-consigned filly as both are by Kingman. There could be further updates in the offing, too, as Serienholde’s latest foal, a colt by Kitasan Black, topped this year’s Japan Racing Horse Association Select Sale at ¥410,000,000, which equates to just over $2.5 million.
“She’s a really lovely filly,” Brosset says in hushed tones. “There’s always an update in these sorts of families and Kingman is on fire.”
Although last year’s August Sale reached giddy new heights, trade was not quite so buoyant elsewhere. This year’s August Sale comes at a time when bloodstock markets around the world have experienced their share of turbulence, with a range of external factors contributing to the instability. Nonetheless, consignors are confident that
Arqana will ensure a global buying bench returns to Deauville.
“Hopefully we’ll get all the usual people who come from different parts of the world,” says Rimaud. “Of course, the political and economic climate at the moment is not necessarily the best, but Arqana is always working super hard to offer the best horses to the best buyers, so hopefully people will keep on playing the game. All we can do is do our best with our horses and then hope that the best buyers are around.”
There may be no doubts about Arqana bringing buyers to the sale, but the consignors noted that clients have become increasingly selective in recent years, particularly around veterinary issues such as respiratory scopes and x-rays.
“The right people will be there, there’s no question about that, but it’s getting tougher,” says Brosset. “If you have the right horse with the pedigree and the x-rays and scope, then you should be okay. But everything needs to be right, and that’s becoming more and more of the case. I’m happy with the three we have, though, especially given the lively families that have given us a few nice updates.”
Sassier echoes the sentiments shared by Brosset, saying: “If you tick all the boxes then you’ll sell well, but if you don’t you’ll be in a grey area, so vendors will perhaps have to consider lowering their reserves.
“Everybody wants the same thing; a two-year-old, something commercial, something that’s got a good scope and good x-rays. If you don’t have that then you’re basically stuck. We have all our yearlings assessed in February. We know that if they’re not perfect then there is no point taking them to August because you won’t sell them.”
Whatever happens in Deauville, one thing is for certain: you won’t want to miss it.
