Redvers secures Sea The Stars colt for €400,000 in October yearling opener

Qatar Racing will have high hopes for a son of Sea The Stars who led the way after four hours of selling during Tuesday's opening session of the Arqana October Yearling sale, on a day when the sire’s produce were in great demand.

David Redvers fought off the persistent attempts of Oceanic Bloodstock's Michel Zerolo to land the colt at €400,000.

Arqana October Yearling Sale results and stats

Consigned by Arqana's gold standard vendors, Ecurie des Monceaux, he is from the immediate family of Arc and King George heroine Danedream, though it was an even closer relation in the promising Heart Reef that led Redvers and Sheikh Fahad to fight so hard.

"We bought the sister here last year and she won her maiden very nicely for Ralph Beckett," said Redvers. "She goes to the Listed Montrose Stakes at Newmarket in ten days' time and both the trainer and we rate her very highly.

Henri Bozo congratulates David Redvers after buying the top lot on day oneCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

"The sister is by Australia so we didn't necessarily expect her to run at two. This horse is not dissimilar in that he's not very big but is a beautiful mover with a great temperament and a lovely action.

"I wasn't going to be allowed to go home without him - Sheikh Fahad was pretty adamant about that - while as soon as I saw Michel was the other bidder, I knew it would be expensive.

"It's more than I expected to pay but there's no better farm in France than Monceaux, there's no better breeder than Henri [Bozo], while the stallion is doing great things. We consider the mare's first offspring definitely a stakes horse."

A second pricey lot for Sea The Stars came courtesy of a filly consigned by Haras d’Etreham that had originally been set for a sales date in Newmarket.

A regular combination on behalf of the stallion’s owner, the Tsui family, Nicolas de Watrigrant and Jean Lesbordes were the victorious team at €200,000.

Nicolas de Watrigant secured this daughter of Sea The StarsCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

A first yearling out of a Listed-winning daughter of Canford Cliffs, Aktoria, the filly continues a tried and tested system for her new owners in supporting the sire.

"As you know the Tsui family's policy is to look for the best products of Sea The Stars," said de Watrigant. "And it works, as you see from Sea Of Class. We are carrying on with this policy and she was the nicest filly here by Sea The Stars.

"She was supposed to go to Tattersalls Book 1 but she was withdrawn with a minor cough. We are lucky to buy her today and both Jean and I loved her. She is a filly with a lovely temperament who moves well. I hope she is a nice prospect."

Radcliffe in for Shalaa filly

Kerri Radcliffe was another to stay with a family she knows well when securing a daughter of Shalaa for €370,000.

"She's for the God Save America syndicate and she will probably go into training in France," said Radcliffe. "I bought the brother, Neverland Rock. I was in Saratoga when he was third in a Grade 3 on soft ground and where he should have won.

Haras de Castillon's daughter of Shalaa was the second top lotCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

"She's a queen of an individual, the best filly here and I always like to buy fillies."

Out of a Fastnet Rock half sister to Havana Gold, the filly produced a fine return for Haras de Castillon.

Coolmore purchase a hit for Haras d'Elbe

A son of No Nay Never set the early pace, with Aidan O'Brien the future trainer of the €300,000 colt.

Arthur Hoyeau signed on behalf of Coolmore, whose stallions feature at every stage of the female half of the pedigree.

Sold by Haras d'Elbe, he is out of the multiple-placed Duke Of Marmalade mare Chasing Ice, and boasts High Chaparral as his maternal grandsire.

Hoyeau said: "He's a horse with a lot of quality and by a stallion who really improves his stock. I bought him on behalf of MV Magnier and he will go to Aidan O’Brien."

Coolmore went to €300,000 for Haras d'Elbe's son of No Nay NeverCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

No Nay Never has made plenty of headlines in recent weeks, with Coolmore giving 900,000gns for a Croome House-consigned colt at Tattersalls Book 2 last week, and his sons Arizona and Wichita filling the places behind Pinatubo in the Dewhurst Stakes.

The small south-western Haras d'Elbe team of Julie and Jean-Philippe Lalanne, along with co-breeder Pascal Droz-Vincent, were spectacularly rewarded for supporting the sire during his third season at stud, when he stood for €17,500, less than a fifth of his 2019 fee.

Sottsass team go back to Siyouni

The Aga Khan Studs success was by no means limited to progeny of Sea The Stars, with French-based Siyouni responsible for two late strikes and three lots in the top ten overall.

The highest price given among the three was for a colt knocked down to Oceanic Bloodstock for €220,000.

Part of the La Motteraye Consignment draught, the colt is a three-parts brother to Volta, herself a brilliant winner of the 2016 Prix de Sandringham before finishing third in the Diane a fortnight later for trainer Francis Graffard.

But it is Sottsass who has led the way for Siyouni in 2019 and it will be for the same connections that this horse will race.

Michel Zerolo sat with trainer Jean-Claude Rouget in the restaurant and confirmed that it would be the Jockey Club hero's owner, Peter Brant, whose White Birch Farm silks would be carried by their new purchase.

Rouget said of the colt: "I like Siyouni first while the dam is doing well. Physically he's not too big, not too small, a good size with a nice expression. That's our feeling."

And hot on the heels of that sale came the €210,000 purchase of a filly by Siyouni by Alban de Mieulle for Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani.

Consigned by the Haras de Mezeray, she is the first product of Reprint, a half-sister to Prix Eclipse winner Sasparella and thus hailing from one of the best Wertheimer families, that of Occupandiste, Mondialiste and Intello.

"She is a filly with a great page when it comes to breeding in the future so there were really two reasons to buy, as she is also a beautiful filly to look at," said De Mieulle. "

"We are also surfing the wave with Siyouni but in any case it is her breeding potential that we really like and we are orienting more towards fillies at the moment."

The third Siyouni to grace the top echelons, a full-brother to the recently-retired City Light and bred by Alex Waugh's Jedburgh Stud, went the way of Anthony Stroud for €190,000 and is bound for Simon Crisford in Newmarket, so too a colt by No Nay Never from La Motteraye secured by Stroud for €190,000.

Japanese owners continue French foray

Japanese buyers were very active at the upper end of the market, with a son of Frankel catching the eye of one investor from that country who has been a new investor in both France and Britain this year.

Sebastien Desmontils won out at €210,000 for the colt, a half-brother to the high class pair The Juliet Rose and Pocketfullofdreams, who was consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux.

Products by Frankel have been a popular target in Japan ever since Soul Stirring became the stallion’s first Classic winner in the 2017 Yushun Himba.

Desmontils is well-known for his role at Al Shaqab’s Haras de Bouquetot but also has a thriving business in the shape of Chauvigny Global Equine.

Desmontils said: "He's a Frankel, has a lovely pedigree and is for a new Japanese client. He’s a horse that certainly has more physical progress to make. The owner has begun buying with me this year and bought a Siyouni here in August. He will stay in France and the owner already has a horse with Henri Devin, though the decision over this colt has yet to be made."

The Juliet Rose was trained by Nicolas Clement and it was the sibling to another of his recent stable stars that fell to a second unnamed Japanese owner looking to invest in France.

Agent Daniel Cole struck at €125,000 for the son of Sea The Stars, a half-brother to last year’s Criterium de Saint-Cloud heroine Wonderment and, like her, sold by Haras de l'Hotellerie.

Cole confirmed that the colt would be trained in Chantilly by Hiroo Shimizu, who will be leasing John Hammond's yard.

Strong start to four days

107 of the 146 lots to pass through the ring were sold for a total of a little over €8 million.

That puts the sale well on course to eclipse the €18m figure for the 2018 edition, although Arqana have re-configured the catalogue slightly this year, putting a greater emphasis on day one in terms of quality.

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