Monceaux mare marvel Prudenzia steals the show at Arqana August once again

Once again it was Ecurie des Monceaux and its productive ‘P’ family that stole the show at the Arqana August Yearling Sale, with two closely related lots making seven-figure sums one after another late in Sunday’s second session.

Just edging out her maternal cousin was the stud’s Dubawi filly out of the Dansili mare Prudenzia, making her a half-sister to the high-class pair Chicquita and Magic Wand.

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After an excruciatingly long turn in the ring for the May-born filly, during which the auctioneer accepted bids in increments of €25,000 and €10,000 long after the million-euro marker had been breached, it was Anthony Stroud on behalf of Godolphin who won the day at €1.625 million.

"It was long but enjoyable,” Ecurie des Monceaux manager Henri Bozo quipped of the protracted bidding battle after the sale.

Stroud said after signing the docket: "She's a very nice filly with an amazing pedigree, she comes from a great stud farm and is by a wonderful stallion in Dubawi. Hopefully she'll be a good racehorse and in time she can be a very nice addition to Godolphin's broodmare band."

Reflecting on Sheikh Mohammed’s continued support of the yearling market, he added: "He's come over to France, which he hasn't done for a long time, and he's been a major participant at the sales. It's fantastic to see him here, he's been in this industry for a very long time and his enthusiasm remains high.

"What people might not realise is that he's an incredibly good judge of bloodstock. This isn't me buying these horses; I just listen to his instructions. He's the one who's key."

Anthony Stroud: 'What people might not realise is that Sheikh Mohammed's an incredibly good judge of bloodstock'Credit: Patrick McCann

One lot earlier, Japanese trainer Mitsu Nakauchida stretched to €1.5m to secure Monceaux’s Galileo colt who is the first foal out of Prudenzia’s winning sister Prudente.

"I'm very happy to secure this horse and I'm really blessed to bring him back to Japan,” Nakauchida said. “Obviously he comes from a very good family and he's very nice himself; very athletic.

"He's a first foal but is a good size and a great mover, I can say nothing bad about him.

"We lost Deep Impact and King Kamehameha recently. They were huge losses for Japan. Now we're all looking for up-and-coming stallions so hopefully he can become a stallion prospect in Japan."

Lot 147: the Galileo colt out of Prudente surveys the Arqana ring before selling to Mitsu Nakauchida for €1.5 millionCredit: Patrick McCann

Prudenzia and her dam Platonic, who became a foundation mare for Ecurie des Monceaux when bought for 100,000gns at the Tattersalls December Sale of 2004, have been nothing short of a phenomenon for the stud and co-owner Lady O’Reilly’s Skymarc Farm.

Prudenzia has now had eight yearlings sell in Deauville, including the ace fillies Chicquita and Magic Wand, for a total of €8.195m, and Platonic has earned €2.8m in yearling sale receipts at Arqana. Meanwhile, Pacifique, a Group 3-winning half-sister to Prudenzia, is the dam of the dearest lot ever sold at the Arqana August Yearling Sale in Parabellum, a son of Dubawi bought by Godolphin for €2.6m in 2015.

"This family is just amazing, as you can see with the colt who sold just before her,” Bozo said. “With the help of Lady O'Reilly we've managed to develop something very special. It's not a precocious family, none of them have been precocious, but they have so much class that both of these could turn into top-class horses.

"I'm very grateful for the trust of the clients coming back every year and Sheikh Mohammed and Anthony Stroud supporting the French industry.”

More big buys for Godolphin

Sheikh Mohammed had enjoyed a fine day at the racecourse opposite the Arqana grounds earlier on Sunday, with Earthlight hinting he might be a star with a determined victory in the Darley-sponsored Prix Morny, and the sale-topper was not the only big-priced lot bought by his team.

Stroud signed at €800,000 for a Dark Angel filly out of the well-bred Group 3 Prix Allez France winner Mayhem from Ballylinch Stud.

“We liked this filly very much,” said Stroud. “She comes from a very good farm and looks a really racy individual. We have the half-sister who we bought here last year. That was definitely our top price."

The Ballylinch Stud-consigned filly, bred by C Squared Investments, is the second foal out of Mayhem, a Group 3-winning Whipper half-sister to Prix Daniel Wildenstein winner Royal Bench and Irish Derby third Memphis Tennessee.

The dam’s first foal, a two-year-old filly by Invincible Spirit, was bought by Godolphin for €900,000 at last year’s Arqana August Sale. She has been named Donnybrook and awaits her first run for John Gosden.

There was no surprise about the identity of Godolphin’s earlier big purchase, as Anthony Stroud saw off a host of interested parties for a colt by Darley kingpin sire Dubawi out of Falmouth Stakes heroine Giofra with a bid of €600,000.

"Sheikh Mohammed really liked him when he came around and looked at him,” said Stroud. “This one is by Dubawi and he's very light on his feet; he's a very good mover. He's out of a very good racemare too, I really liked him."

Giofra carried the colours of owner-breeder Haras de la Perelle, founded near Deauville by Juergen Winter in 1995, to win the Falmouth Stakes and finish second in the Hong Kong Cup and Prix Ganay.

The daughter of Dansili and Prestige Stakes winner Gracefully has produced five foals to date. Her first offspring, the four-year-old Frankel filly Georgine, was retained but finished unplaced in four starts last year and visited Lawman for her first cover this year, while her second, the three-year-old Dubawi colt Al Battar, topped the 2017 Arqana August Sale when sold to Phoenix Thoroughbreds for €1.55 million and has run second in two starts for Ed Vaughan.

Giofra also has a two-year-old Galileo colt sold to Richard Knight Bloodstock for €320,000 at Deauville last year - he has been named Mr G and placed with William Haggas - and a Galileo filly foal. The mare featured among Roaring Lion’s debut book covered this season.

Another of Perelle’s great racemares, Cladocera, gave the stud a fine result in the opening session on Saturday when her Galileo colt sold to Godolphin for €750,000.

Camelot big in Japan

A Camelot colt out of High Fidelity, a winning Peintre Celebre half-sister to top-class middle-distance performer Hurricane Run consigned by Camas Park and Glenvale Studs, is also headed to Japan after selling to Nakauchida for €650,000.

"I've always liked the progeny of Camelot and he's very athletic-looking; he moves very well,” said Nakauchida. “I'm sure he'll do very well in Japan. I'll train him and I have an owner who I can't disclose lined up, so hopefully he does well.”

High Fidelity's third foal, High Strung, has been her best runner so far, with the daughter of Mastercraftsman gaining black type when third in a German Listed event.

Skiffington continues star search

Arqana has been a happy hunting ground for Amanda Skiffington down the years, having sourced Group 1 winners Intellogent and Toronado here, and she was back on Sunday to buy some of the most in demand lots for her regular client Fiona Carmichael.

At €850,000 Skiffington’s priciest purchase was a Kingman colt out of the winning Arch mare Miss Plimsoll, a sister to Lancashire Oaks winner Pomology, from the always popular Ecurie des Monceaux draft.

"I just thought he was a very athletic horse,” said the agent. “I very much go on how the horse moves and he was just such a lovely individual. This sale has always been very lucky for me.”

Skiffington’s haul included another son of Kingman in Haras de Colleville’s colt out of the Indian Rocket mare Gooseley Chope, making him a half-brother to dual Group 3 winner and King’s Stand Stakes third Goken. He had reportedly been kept extremely busy during inspections and there was a flurry of bids from around the ring for him, but ultimately it was Skiffington who had the final say at €675,000.

“We really like Kingman and we really liked this individual,” said Skiffington. “He’s qualified for French premiums so will likely be sent to France to race.”

Amanda Skiffington (pink shirt) and Fiona Carmichael await the docket for the €850,000 Kingman coltCredit: Patrick McCann

It has been a remarkable turnaround in fortune for Gooseley Chope, who is by a sire who stood at basement fees in France, and despite being out of a German Listed winner was sent over fences in the last assignments of her own racing career. Paired with Colleville’s rags to riches stallion Kendargent for her first mating, she produced the high-class Goken, who is owned by the stud but stood at Haras de la Huderie.

The third crop of yearlings by standout sophomore sire Kingman has unsurprisingly been in hot demand at the Arqana August Yearling Sale this weekend, with ten of his offspring sold for an average of €374,500.

Skiffington also struck at €500,000 for another colt with a connection to Colleville and Kendargent - a son of Frankel out of the stallion’s Listed-winning daughter Kenzadargent consigned by La Motteraye for breeder Andrew Black.

Kenzadargent is another whose profile improved for a Kendargent mating, as she was sold by Colleville as a yearling for just €8,000, before being resold to Martin Schwartz for €140,000 in the October of her juvenile season. Black bought the mare, who is out of a daughter of the esoteric sire Epistolaire, for 210,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

Skiffington reported that the Frankel colt would be sent to Britain before a decision was made on a future trainer.

Scandinavian sensation

The price of €650,000 was matched by Danish agent Morten Buskop for a Galileo half-sister to Scandinavian champion Our Last Summer and Anglesey Stakes winner Peace Envoy.

"This horse was bought by Lone Kaj Nielsen, the same lady who bought the Dubawi out of Cladocera here last year for €520,000,” said Buskop. “She's had a great year in Scandinavia; she won the Swedish Derby and a few other big races with a horse called Red Cactus.

"She loves to invest in good horses and she has a very good relationship with her trainer, Bent Olsen. They're a great team and I'm very happy to be a part of it.”

The Galileo filly has a particularly eye-catching pedigree as her dam, the winning Dansili mare Hoh My Darling, has produced Anglesey Stakes scorer and Prix Morny third Peace Envoy and the Scandinavian champion Our Last Summer to lower-profile stallions Power and Zamindar, and has now been granted a chance with the best sire in the world.

The filly, consigned by Haras des Capucines, was bred by a partnership of the stud’s Eric Puerari and Michel Zerolo with Ghislain Bozo’s Meridian International agency.

Statistics

There was strong trade throughout the first two days of the Arqana August Yearling Sale, with 113 of the 143 horses presented changing hands for a healthy clearance rate of 79 per cent.

Turnover for the two sessions stood at €32,825,000, up 20 per cent on last year while the average price was €290,487, an increase of 24 per cent.

The median, often the most reliable indicator of a sale's health, grew by €50,000 to €220,000.

Read the full report from Saturday's action