Auctav breaks new ground with in-person Rouges Terres sale

Young auction house Auctav marks a new stage in its evolution on Wednesday when it stages its first in-person National Hunt sale at Haras des Rouges Terres, the Normandy base of the company's president Louis Baudron.

With over 100 lots including wildcards catalogued, the sale focuses on young National Hunt stock, with a number of broodmares and the addition of a handful of exciting horses in training as wildcard entries.

For Jacob Pritchard Webb, the company's UK and Ireland representative, the inaugural live sale is one that he feels marks an important milestone for Auctav.

"It has been a progression really, the stud held its sixth trotting sale last week and the last two have been under the Auctav banner so it was a natural progression to roll into a live National Hunt sale," he said.

"They are getting lots of support from that sector of the industry and there was demand in France for a National Hunt sale where they could sell youngstock in the flesh. There is something for everyone there."

That trotting sale, which was held at Haras des Rouges Terres last Thursday, is a sign of how Auctav has grown as a company in little over a year, with the top lot of €460,000 setting a sale record and turnover reaching €3.3 million.

The National Hunt sale is the beneficiary of strong support from Baudron and his grandfather Jean-Pierre Dubois of Haras de la Beauvoisiniere, luminaries of the French National Hunt breeding scene, but other figures within the industry have been keen to back the new venture too.

Breeders including Ecurie la Frenee, Guy Cherel, Haras de Fresneaux and ML Bloodstock, along with trainers such as Ludovic Gadbin, all appear in the catalogue as vendors.

Beaumec De Houelle returns in triumph after his Auteuil Grade 1 victoryCredit: Racing Post/Scott Burton

The sire profile of the horses entered is a veritable who's who of French National Hunt breeding, with Doctor Dino, No Risk At All, Saint Des Saints and Kapgarde all represented. Equally, there is a strong contingent of younger sires, with the likes of Beaumec De Houelle, Masked Marvel, Moises Has and Nirvana Du Berlais all in the mix.

That is a major part of the sale's appeal for Pritchard Webb.

He said: "We have horses by the top four sires in France but one of the things I really like about this sale is there is a sire for everyone, from Golden Horn to Authorized, Masked Marvel, Camelot and Goliath Du Berlais. There is such a variety and that's exciting."

The opportunity to purchase youngsters from the first two crops of Beaumec De Houelle is one that Pritchard Webb is keen to promote. Successful in the Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres at Auteuil, the son of Martaline is a half-brother to the dam of last season's Deutsches Derby winner Sisfahan, and retired to Haras de Montaigu in 2019 after ill health ended his brilliant sire's stud career.

Pritchard Webb said: "I've seen the Haras des Rouge Terres consignment and lot 29 stood out to me, the Beaumec de Houelle filly. In fact all the Beaumec de Houelle stock I have seen have impressed me; he produces a really good model."

That filly is one of four yearlings and two-year-olds catalogued by Beaumec De Houelle and she is the second foal out of the Auteuil winner Ria Menina.

At the other end of the scale from the rising stars are the established elite of French sires and Pritchard Webb is relishing the prospect of selling a son of Kapgarde in particular.

View the full catalogue here

"Feu Sacre (73) is a full-brother to Grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil winner Feu Follet and to Fiere De Toi, who was Grade 1-placed in Italy," he said. "The mare has produced four winners so far and is a half-sister to Listed winner Fou Et Sage from the family of Far West."

From the wildcards section, he highlights the Great Pretender three-year-old gelding Jackpot De Choisel (83c). Offered by Haras de Fresneaux, he made a winning debut in a bumper at Royan and is out of a Sageburg full-sister to the Listed Prix Wild Risk winner Pierrot Bay.

Strong pedigrees feature right from the start of the catalogue, with the first yearling into the ring (1) a daughter of Masked Marvel and the Listed Prix Spumate winner and Grade 1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure third Kapkiline, by Kapgarde, offered by Haras de Clairefontaine

She is quickly followed into the ring by a Doctor Dino two-year-old gelding (3) from a different branch of that family. Haras des Rouges Terres offers the son of Kiraline, a Martaline half-sister to Grade 1 Prix Cambeceres winner Kotkita, the dam of Grade 1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure winner Kotkikova and Prix Wild Monarch winner Kotkidy.

"We are a new company so it's about building up our reputation," added Pritchard Webb. "Lots of people are keen to support us and have complimented us about the standard of the catalogue and the variety of stallions represented in the sale."

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