Amid all the talk of sire power in the sales ring, there was more than a shade of ‘sister act’ about the battle which propelled late drama at the Nov. 18 single-session Arqana November Yearling Sale.
That is not to detract from what the dueling parties found so desirable in Almanzor as the sire of the penultimate lot of the day (lot 186), merely to highlight the renown of his distaff family, given his dam is a half-sister to none other than Zarkava .
In the end it was Nicolas de Watrigant who stood his ground at €85,000 (US$92,799, €1=US$1.09) by some margin the highest price paid in the four-year history of the sale. Bred by Jean-Louis Bouchard and consigned by Haras des Capucines, the already-named Override will remain in France.
“He was due to be presented in the October Sale but had a minor hold-up, and so ended up in the November catalog,” said the Mandore Agency principal. “Physically, he really stood out. He moves really well, as you would expect for a son of Almanzor.”
In all, 141 of 168 yearlings offered changed hands at a clearance rate of 83.93% while the average and median held firm at €6,823 and €5,000 respectively. With a catalog that had grown by more than 30 lots compared to 12 months ago, turnover was €965,000 (US$1,053,504).
