All eyes were on Oliver St Lawrence as the hammer fell Aug. 19 on the most highly anticipated lot at this year’s Arqana August Sale. Haras d’Etreham presented the Dubawi half-sister to Wooded and recent Phoenix Stakes scorer Bucanero Fuerte , and a bid of €2,400,000 (US$2,613,960, €1=US$1.09) was required to turn away a whole host of interested parties, among which were the Godolphin buying team.
The transaction represented a marked change of sales ring fortunes for the progeny of blue hen mare Frida La Blonde, as her most recent group 1-winning offspring flew under the radar when bought by Robson Aguiar for just €165,000 in Deauville 12 months ago.
Although the prices the siblings fetched may be night and day, St Lawrence said the pair had plenty of similarities.
“She’s a nice filly,” said the agent. “She has a few little [conformational] faults to her, but so did her half-brother last year, who sold cheaply as it turns out. She isn’t perfect, but she’s a great mover. Looking back on my notes from last year I could see a lot of similarities.
“Hopefully he can go on and win a few more group 1s as he won very easily the other day. She’s a foundation mare. Hopefully.”
Plans remain fluid for the seven-figure youngster, who was bred by Gestut Zur Kuste, with St Lawrence adding: “She will come back to Britain but I don’t know which trainer will get her. Hopefully she can win some big races. The mare has already produced two group 1 winners, hopefully she can be another before becoming a nice broodmare. She’s for Fawzi Nass’s Bahraini interests.”
Although the final bid was enough to see the filly become the joint-third highest priced yearling in August Sale history, she was not St Lawrence’s first Arqana top lot with the agent having secured the €2.5 million Pure Dignity, who remains in training with Roger Varian, back in 2019.
Brown Back in Action
Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown got the better of Yoshito Yahaghi when going to €660,000 for a Night Of Thunder colt out of Dubai Rose from Ecurie des Monceaux.
Lot 196 the Night of Thunder colt
The colt’s page detailed that his siblings include dual group 2 Prix Royallieu winner The Juliet Rose, the Listed-winning Everest Rose, and the Listed-placed Pocketfullofdreams , and his three-parts 2-year-old brother Arabian Crown added more black type to the pedigree by winning the Stonehenge Stakes on Wednesday.
“He was the colt for me tonight, I thought he was an absolute smasher,” said Brown. “For me, Night Of Thunder is a stallion that’s going to explode in the next couple of years. The mare has done it all and she had an impressive 2-year-old winner by Dubawi just the other day.
“He’s come from an exceptional farm; I haven’t bought many horses from Henri over the years because I haven’t been able to, but the record of that place speaks for itself. This colt will come back to Britain and we’ll turn him out for a few weeks and make plans. No trainer will be decided until then though.”
Brown had been spotted inspecting yearlings with members of the Wathnan Racing team but remained tight-lipped over the identity of the Night Of Thunder colt’s new owner.
When he was quizzed about the brief set by his undisclosed client, who also secured a €950,000 Frankel filly on day one, Brown said: “The brief from the client was just to come and buy some nice yearlings.”
The Monceaux draft also yielded the €650,000 Siyouni half-sister to unbeaten recent Listed winner Beauvatier, with Meridian International’s Ghislain Bozo signing the ticket on behalf of an undisclosed client.
Godolphin Score Ghaiyyath Hat Trick
Three lots by Darley’s first-crop sire Ghaiyyath were presented over the first two days of trade and all three were knocked down to Godolphin. The priciest of the trio was the colt out of a sister to Lockwood from Haras des Capucines at €600,000, making the youngster the most expensive first-crop offering to change hands.
“He’s a well balanced horse by Ghaiyyath , who was a very good horse for Charlie Appleby running under the colors of Godolphin,” said Stroud. “He was a wonderful racehorse. This horse was one of our favorites in the sale.”
Stroud also signed for the Ghaiyyath half-sister to Chilean sold by La Motteraye Consignment for €425,000, as well as the €340,000 filly out of Italian group 3 winner Binti Al Nar from Haras de Beauvoir. Of Ghiayyath’s youngstock, Stroud said: “The ones I’ve seen, not only here but the homebreds, are really pleasing. They look really good. He’s a lovely, quality horse and he’s transferring it to his stock.”
The leading buyer also reflected on the state of trade in Deauville, saying: “I think it’s a very good market. It’s a beautiful setting to sell horses and you’ve got all the main protagonists here, and I think that’s the key, getting the principals to these sales. I couldn’t think of a better place to sell horses than Arqana.”
Strong Foundations for Sottsass
Another first-crop sire with some impressive results on the night was Coolmore’s Sottsass, whose August Sale representatives yielded half a dozen six-figure lots. These included a colt from La Motteraye Consignment who was signed for by Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock at €380,000.
The colt hails from the same family as In Clover’s group 1-winning clan in Call The Wind, With You, and We Are. Zerolo was joined by his client and Sottsass’s owner Peter Brant, who has stood foursquare behind his charge since he retired to stud in 2021.
Asked for his impression of Sottsass’s stock, Brant said: “The ones I have are very nice. I have some in Ireland and some in France and I’m very, very pleased with them. We bred some very good mares to him and I’m looking forward to racing them. I’m also looking forward to maybe picking a few up here. I believe in the horse, obviously.”
Expanding on the faith he has placed in Sottsass, Brant continued: “I think he has a very strong female line and that’s very important in a stallion. He has one of the strongest with Sistercharlie and My Sister Nat. That’s a great foundation and he seems to be getting good-looking horses so all we can do now is pray!
“I had some people from America who were interested [in standing Sottsass] but I think it would be much harder work for them. Because he won the Arc, the French Derby, I wanted to start him in Europe and had the opportunity with Coolmore, who also liked him very much. You have to stand a horse with somebody who believes in your horse too.”
Sottsass’s stallion career is not the only thing Brant has to look forward to as he is also a part-owner of the increasingly popular Paddington .
Juddmonte on the Classic Quest
Juddmonte Farms had one eye on the 2025 Derby after securing a striking son of Camelot during the opening stages of day two. Bred and offered by Philip Lybeck’s Haras de Bourgeauville, the colt emerged an early market frontrunner after bringing €520,000.
“He’s an incredibly good-looking horse and he’s very strong for a Camelot, which we liked,” said Juddmonte’s general manager Simon Mockridge. “He had great balance to him and he comes from a great Strawbridge family, and a family we very much admire with plenty of group 1 winners on the page.
“He looks like the kind of horse you could look at as a nice 3-year-old and go to the Derby with maybe. Hopefully. There’s a long way between here and there, but that’s the kind of horse we’re looking for.”
The colt is the second foal out of Bella Bolide, a winning Rock Of Gibraltar half-sister to Es Que, dam of Hong Kong group 1 winner Dominant, the group 2-winning pair Es Que Love and Listen In and the Listed scorer Zhui Feng.
There is plenty going on in the family as another of Bella Bolide’s siblings, Aloisi, is the dam of last year’s Prix Jean Romanet heroine Aristia , while further back are those George Strawbridge group 1-winning siblings Call The Wind, With You, and We Are.
Juddmonte have already enjoyed a fruitful association with another of Camelot’s offspring as their homebred Bluestocking was last seen finishing a close second to Savethelastdance in the Irish Oaks.
“We were a little undone in the Irish Oaks with Bluestocking but she ran a great race,” said Mockridge. “Ryan Moore gave the winner a great ride and got up on the line. We were a little disappointed to get beaten but she ran fantastically well. Camelot is a good stallion who does well and is a very good-looking horse. We’re delighted to have bought this fellow.”
Redvers Takes Long-Term View
Another buyer with Classic aspirations was David Redvers, who went to €410,000 for just the second lot into the ring—the Sea The Stars filly out of Anaita offered by Ecurie des Monceaux.
“She’s by one of the most exciting stallions in the world with a beautiful pedigree,” said Redvers. “She’s been bought by Sheikh Fahad who took a real shine to her and she’s exactly what he’s trying to get his hands on—long-term prospects who could be potential Classic horses and eventually end up in the broodmare band. She’s just one of those lovely fillies who is rare to come by.
“She’ll come back to us to be broken in and given plenty of time and then we’ll have a big meeting around November time about where she’ll go. Possibly she’ll come back to France, possibly she’ll be trained in Britain.”
Anaita was bred and raced by Gestut Ittlingen and the Sea The Stars filly was bred in partnership between the Ostermann family’s operation and the Tsuis’ Sunderland Holdings.
The Arqana August Sale concludes Sunday.
