Brilliantly bred Galileo colts top the bill in Arqana August opener

Buyers were fast out of the blocks during the Arqana August Sale in Deauville on Saturday evening, as a pair of colts by Galileo topped a solid session that brought the curtain up on the Europe yearling auction circuit.

The most in demand offering was the Galileo colt out of Steip Amach offered by Haras d'Etreham, as Phoenix Thoroughbreds' Tom Ludt and Dermot Farrington delivered a winning bid of €800,000 from the back of the packed gangway.

Despite being the front runner in a marketplace in which six-figure bids came thick and fast, Ludt said he felt the colt was a steal at that price.

"Well, he's a Galileo so, to be honest - and I know people won't want to hear this - but we're quite proud to get him at €800,000," said Ludt when asked about landing the pricey lot. "To be honest we thought he'd cost more so we're very excited."

Tom Ludt: 'To be honest we thought he'd cost more'Credit: Patrick McCann

Steip Amach was bred by Jim Bolger from his own stallion Vocalised and was originally trained by the master of Coolcullen for wife Jackie. The mare won the Killavullan Stakes at two and the Amethyst Stakes at four before being sold to Haras d'Etreham and Riviera Equine and being transferred to David Smaga, for whom she ran third in the Prix Rothschild and Prix Jean Romanet.

Phoenix Thoroughbreds has been a notable presence at recent editions of the August Sale, including when landing the top lot, the €1.55 million Dubawi colt Al Battar, in 2017. That purchase was sent into training with Ed Vaughan, but Ludt said no decision had been made regarding the future of the operation's latest acquisition.

"When we buy yearlings here in Europe we tend to send them all to England, but have a lot of different trainers, so to make a decision on that now would be a bit premature" he said.

The Galileo colt was the subject of a significant last-minute pedigree update as Steip Amach's half-sister Ceisteach is the dam of the two-year-old Oasis Dream colt Arranmore, who broke his maiden at Cork earlier in the day for Bolger.

Godolphin strike at €750,000

Galileo also supplied the second-top lot, with the colt out of dual Group 2 winner Cladocera, consigned by Haras de la Perelle, going the way of Godolphin's buying team for €750,000.

Anthony Stroud, seated next to Charlie Appleby and David Loder opposite the rostrum, delivered the winning bid with a subtle, low-level wave of his catalogue.

"He's a very nice yearling, very athletic, by the wonderful stallion Galileo and out of a mare who was a Group winner," said Stroud. "He's got the right ingredients and we liked him as an individual so we wanted to press the go button."

View sale results and statistics

A German-bred daughter of Oasis Dream, Cladocera carried the Perelle silks to success in the 2015 runnings of the Cape Verdi and the Balanchine at Meydan. In turn she is out of the Listed-winning Caesarine, who descends from multiple Grade 1 scorer Annoconnor.

The colt is the second foal out of Cladocera, who also has a two-year-old filly by Dubawi and delivered a colt by Dark Angel in February.

Since the end of the self-imposed embargo on stock by Coolmore sires, Godolphin's pursuit of yearlings by Galileo has yielded some notable results, none more so than Line Of Duty, who provided Sheikh Mohammed's operation with success in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

The three-year-old was last seen finishing a fast-closing third behind Romanised in the Prix du Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard Jacques le Marois.

Redvers bags Sottsass sibling

Two lots before Phoenix Thoroughbreds landed the €800,000 Galileo colt, David Redvers struck the winning bid of €700,000 to land the Fastnet Rock colt out of the Galileo mare Starlet's Sister. The imposing individual is a half-brother to three stakes winners, namely Sottsass, Sistercharlie and My Sister Nat.

"He's out of probably the most exciting young mare and is bred on one of the most exciting crosses," Redvers said of the Ecurie des Monceaux-bred youngster. "He's the most gorgeous horse and he walked around the ring like he'd long ago decided he owned the place. We're very excited to have him."

Redvers played the winning hand while on the phone in the restaurant, and revealed his purchase would sport the familiar maroon and gold silks of Qatar Racing next season.

"That was Sheikh Fahad on the phone from California, he was watching proceedings and was very excited to get a horse like this," said Redvers. "This is the kind of horse he's now looking for, we're breeding a lot of our own but we want to fill in the gaps and he's a world-class horse."

Starlet’s Sister has developed into an outstanding producer for Ecurie des Monceaux. The first three foals out of the Galileo mare, still only ten, are Prix de Diane runner-up and six-time US Grade 1 heroine Sistercharlie, Group 3 scorer My Sister Nat and this season’s impressive Prix du Jockey Club winner Sottsass.

Redvers said no decision had been made over which trainer the horse would be sent to to commence his racing career.

"I haven't had the chance to discuss that with Sheikh Fahad yet, he's only just woken up so we weren't going to go into too many details!" said Redvers. "But he's very happy to have the horse; whether he stays in France or comes to the UK I couldn't tell you at the moment, but one thing is for certain and that's that he'll go to a trainer who deserves him."

Starlet’s Sister, a sister to Prix Cleopatre winner Leo’s Starlet, was a relatively inexpensive private purchase by Monceaux and Sistercharlie, My Sister Nat and Sottsass - by Myboycharlie, Acclamation and Siyouni - were conceived at fees of €6,500, €35,000 and €20,000. The dam has more recently been mated with far more expensive stallions, and has a Dubawi filly foal at foot and is back in foal to Darley’s kingpin sire.

Dugan's Frankel fancy

Shawn Dugan's strong bidding from the stairs to the left of Pierrick Moreau's rostrum ensured the session got off to a fast start, as the agent went to €700,000 to secure just the third lot into the ring, a Frankel half-sister to Group 3-placed Normandy Eagle consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux.

"She's absolutely stunning, obviously," said Dugan after she had signed the docket. "We went a lot higher than we wanted to but she's just gorgeous. There's nothing wrong with her; the stallion is on fire, the family is live, I'm very happy."

Saturday's statistics

Offered 71

Sold 51 (72 per cent)

Aggregate €14,430,000 (up eight per cent)

Average €282,940 (up 23 per cent)

Median €230,000 (up 35 per cent)

The filly is the fourth foal out of Secrete, a once-raced daughter of Cape Cross whose siblings include the Group 1-winning Plumania and Balladeuse, dam of Prix Vermeille scorer Left Hand.

Dugan said she could not reveal the identity of her client but indicated her purchase would be remaining in France.

"It's somebody I'm working for, you'll see, hopefully," she said. "She'll stay here in France, she's French-bred so why would we take her anywhere else? She's a stunner, an absolute stunner."

The apple of Jason Litt's eye

Charles Briere of Fairway Consignment - who pinhooked this year's Coventry Stakes scorer Arizona - landed another nice touch when selling a Siyouni filly out of the Smart Strike mare Apple Charlotte to Solis Litt Bloodstock for €650,000.

The strong US influences in the filly's pedigree had caught the attention of Jason Litt, who was acting on behalf of the Roth family's LNJ Foxwoods.

The filly is out of a mare who landed a Listed race in the US, and whose brood includes the Grade 2 runner-up Lottie. The dam is also a half-sister to Grade 3-winning Mythical Gem and the dam of Grade 1 winner Marley's Freedom.

"She's a beautiful filly and showed great every time," said Litt. "A lot of other people liked her as well so we're delighted to have her. We just need to figure out what the game-plan is now. We don't like to plan too much before we buy, if you do that then you never get them! It's great being back at this sale, now it's just unlimited eclairs from Arqana!"

King Power's Kingman coup

Alastair Donald struck twice in quick succession for colts by sophomore sensation Kingman on behalf of King Power Racing, who campaign the sire’s Listed winner Fox Chairman and useful performer Rux Power.

Donald arrived late to the bidding for the half-brother to Group 3-winning sprinter Fas and UAE 1,000 Guineas scorer Silva from Ecurie des Monceaux, securing the colt with one bid of €400,000.

Just three lots later he employed similar tactics to purchase a son of the Group 3-placed Galileo mare Spin from La Motteraye Consignment for €600,000. The colt’s three-year-old full-sister Bowled Over is unbeaten in two starts for Francis-Henri Graffard and her breeder Al Shaqab Racing.

“I’m very pleased to have bought the pair,” said Donald. “Kingman is setting the world alight and has become the new go-to stallion; they were the only two horses on my list, and I was hoping to get one but I’ve managed to get both.”

Alastair Donald: 'just loved' the Kingman brother to Bowled OverCredit: Patrick McCann

The more expensive Kingman colt, whose dam is a full or half-sister to five stakes winners as well as 1,000 Guineas third Moth, was Donald’s “pick of the sale”.

“He’s very similar in appearance to Fox Chairman, who is also out of a Galileo mare, and the full-sister [Bowled Over] is a very good horse,” he said. “I just loved him.”

Regarding the half-brother to Fas, who is out of Sotka, a Listed-placed Dutch Art half-sister to Sole Power, he said: “He’s very well balanced and nicely developed, especially for a late foal, and the dam has done very well by producing two stakes winners.”

Both colts will be sent to Britain before being allocated to trainers.

“It’s a good statement for King Power Racing going forward,” Donald added of the purchases.

A top purchase for Peter Brant

Peter Brant’s White Birch Farm, whose two-tone green silks are carried by the top flight-winning siblings Sistercharlie and Sottsass, will campaign a Le Havre filly out of the dual Group 3-winning Linamix mare Top Toss.

The dam has produced three winners including Poule d’Essai des Poulains runner-up Dastarhon and Prix Marcel Boussac and Coronation Stakes second Lesstalk In Paris.

Both Le Havre and Lesstalk In Paris were trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, and he will also take delivery of the filly knocked down to Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock for €500,000.

“She was bought for White Birch Farm and will go into training with Jean-Claude Rouget, as he knows the family well!” said Zerolo. “She’s a lovely filly, although we didn’t think that we would have to pay so much for her.”

The transaction paid handsome tribute to Lady Chryss O’Reilly, whose Ecurie Skymarc Farm/Haras de la Louviere operations bred the filly, and whose colours were carried by both Top Toss and her Listed-winning dam Tossup.

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