Mullins, Elliott and Williams among Irish and British raiders for Arqana jewels

Day one of the Arqana Autumn sale was dominated by British and Irish buyers of either proven or potential jumping stock, with both Willie Mullins and Christian Williams set to take delivery of some high-priced lots from the horses-in-training section of the session.

Some of them may end up crossing swords with the day-one leader at some stage in their career, as the three-year-old hurdler Foxfire Glow [lot 419D] is understood to be heading out of France, having set the pace at €315,000 for an unnamed telephone bidder.

The son of Vadamos went down by a head to fellow Francois Nicolle-trained Kyrov at Compiegne last month, a performance that could hardly have been better advertised than when the latter ran clear of his rivals in the Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres at Auteuil eight days ago.

Foxfire Glow's Intense Focus brother Invocation had already racked up a sequence of placed efforts in juvenile hurdles for Alan King before being exported to the US, where he has earned in excess of $200,000 in win and place prize-money.

Malone and Williams combine for sons of Gemix and Coastal Path

Christian Williams' operation goes from strength to strength and agent Tom Malone signed for two exciting prospects that will be heading for Ogmore Farm in the Vale of Glamorgan.

Malone struck at €155,000 for Si Elegant [lot 405], a three-year-old son of Gemix who was beaten a length and a quarter at Auteuil on his sole start for trainer Yannick Fouin.

Tom Malone: 'He's going to Christian Williams for Gwent Holdings and he's a beautiful animal'Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

A dual winner of the Grande Course de Haies, Gemix has made a promising start to his stallion career thanks to the exploits of Le Berry but he has yet to have a runner in Britain or Ireland.

Malone said: "He's going to Christian Williams for Gwent Holdings and he's a beautiful animal. He's what I would normally like to buy an Irish or English client, he's a big, scopey chasing type.

"He's already shown high-class form and so to me he ticked all the boxes."

Less than half an hour later Malone struck again for the same owner/trainer combination, going to €210,000 to secure the Coastal Path three-year-old Ironica De Thaix [419B].

"He came very highly recommended by Guy Cherel, who had the brother [Dica De Thaix] who was a champion," said Malone. "He said this horse was very green and it was a building process, so the fact that he won first time out is a big plus for the future."

Ironica De Thaix sells to Tom Malone at €210,000Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

While Ironica De Thaix is trained by Daniela Mele, Cherel remains a key part of the set-up and had left Malone in no doubt as to his opinion of the gelding, whose brother Dica De Thaix won a Grade 1 bumper and who hails from a deep AQPS family curated over generations by breeder Michel Bourgneuf.

"He's schooled him well and I like buying from Guy, he's been good to me in the past," said the agent. "He told me what he wanted for him and I had to go and bid hard for him."

Mullins tandem of Kirk and Boulard in triple strike

Harold Kirk and Pierre Boulard began their buying by beating off several potential rivals who would have had ambition to keep the classy Alastor [lot 369] on the Flat, signing at €150,000.

Third in the Derby Italiano and then runner-up in the Listed Prix Pelleas over a mile and a quarter at Compiegne for Gianluca Bietolini, the son of Helmet's talent on the Flat will likely be exploited by Willie Mullins at some stage.

"We've had success at this sale before with horses like Gaillard Du Mesnil," said Kirk. "He'll go over hurdles first and then he'll run on the Flat. That's what we're after, horses that can do both."

Alastor is out of the winning Iffraaj mare Frasque, while second dam Khassah enjoyed a career highlight on the track when chasing home Reams Of Verse in the Fillies' Mile, and whose sons include the black-type winners Makaan and Almail.

Kirk added: "He's by Helmet but if you look at the last two Grade 1 winners at Auteuil, they were by Dark Angel and Sidestep."

Richard Hobson looks on after Harold Kirk (left) and Pierre Boulard buy his Houlanbatordechais at Arqana on MondayCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

More traditional jumps breeding lay at the heart of the other two main purchases for Mullins, with the dual winning hurdler Houlanbatordechais [lot 395] a notable success for owner Richard Hobson and trainer Alain Couetil when selling for €150,000.

Boulard said of the four-year-old son of Great Pretender: "He's a very good looking horse, big and scopey. He's run twice and won twice and is by a great sire who we've had some luck with thanks to Benie Des Dieux.

"Alain Couetil recommended the horse and said he's schooled very, very well and so is ready to go over the jumps. Hopefully Willie will work the magic."

And the best was saved until last for Kirk and Boulard, who gave €180,000 for Quais De Paris [lot 417], a three-year-old son of Masked Marvel out of the Muhtathir mare Liberalis and placed on his only start at Compiegne for Fouin.

Quais De Paris will be trained by Willie Mullins after making €180,000 at Arqana on MondayCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

"He really looks like an Irish point-to-point horse, a gorgeous big horse," said Boulard. "We loved him and we're thinking later on about chasing. He's just a really good-looking horse, very correct. We like Masked Marvel and we were expecting to pay a bit more than that, so we’re happy."

Another Couetil inmate is on his way to Britain after Nicolas Bertran de Balanda went to €140,000 to source Aristocrate [lot377], a four-year-old son of Elusive City from the family of star stayers Molly Malone and Morgan Le Faye.

Aristocrate has twice been Listed-placed over extended trips at Saint-Cloud this autumn and will head to Richard Newland.

Doctor Dino half brother to Delta Work a store star

Doctor Dino remains the highest-priced National Hunt stallion in France and a pair of his youngstock dominated the two-year-old stores section of Monday's trade, with both secured by Joey Logan for Andrew and Gemma Brown, whose horses are concentrated with Gordon Elliott.

Leading the way at €130,000 was Jamestown, a half-brother to Elliott's Grade 1 winning chaser Delta Work brought to market by Haras de Cercy and a notable success for the Magnien family.

"He's a very nice horse and we know all about the half-brother," said Logan. "From the same vendor we bought Fil D'Or, and he looks to be a horse with a big future after winning on debut."

Jamestown will be heading to join his half brother Delta Work with Gordon Elliott after making €130,000 at Arqana on MondayCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

The Browns' appetite for Doctor Dino didn't end there as Logan gave €100,000 for Vanguard [lot 464], a half-brother to Supreme Novices' Hurdle winner Labaik.

Bred by Haras de Mesnil, who stand the son of Muhtathir, Vanguard's second dam, the Hector Protector mare Anthurium, is a half-sister to a pair of crack performers in Germany, Arcadio and Assiun.

First-day trade sharply up on 2020

Helped undoubtedly by the return of foreign-based agents, the horses in training section vaulted from €3.1 million in 2020 to nearly €4.8m in turnover for a near identical number of lots, with the clearance rate rising from 77 to 83 per cent and the average price jumping from €24,516 to €37,171.

A much smaller selection of two-year-old stores was offered compared to 12 months ago, with 69 per cent finding new owners at a healthy median of €23,000, compared to €16,000 in 2020.

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