V for Victot: Sheikh's team have the last word on raft of well-bred fillies

If you have been looking to secure a yearling filly with an eyecatching page in Deauville this week then you have almost certainly crossed swords in the Arqana ring with the team from Haras de Victot.

And on several occasions you may have had to give best to Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalifa Al Thani and his right hand man, Alban de Mieulle.

Sheikh Abdulla's maroon and white colours were for many years more closely associated with success in the Purebred Arabian sphere, though he has enjoyed big-race success with future thoroughbred stallions Charm Spirit and French Fifteen.

Sheikh Abdulla Bin Khalifa Al Thani (second left) with Charm Spirit after winning the QEII Stakes at Ascot in 2014Credit: Mark Cranham

The sheikh paid €180,000 for a son of Invincible Spirit presented, like Charm Spirit, by Ecurie des Monceaux on Tuesday

But it has been noticeable that, among nine purchases across the first two days here, Victot have secured daughters of Territories, Siyouni and Zoffany, all at six-figure prices.

Three in-demand young sires but in each case, when asked for his impressions of the new purchase, de Mieulle plunged into the detail of the distaff family.

The message has been clear: Sheikh Abdulla loves to see his horses race but with Victot the project is a long term one.

"We're trying to build the breeding operation gradually and His Highness has been very reasonable with his purchases," said de Mieulle on Wednesday evening.

"We will be trying to buy one or two at each sale, concentrating on young horses with some pedigree that can contribute on the breeding side in the future. It's a case of step by step at the moment."

Three future pearls for Victot's broodmare band

Lot 158 Siyouni x Reprint (Nayef)
Descended from one of the Wertheimers' best families, that of Occupandiste and Intello

Haras de Victot aim to tap into the family of Pride, purchasing a daughter of her full-sister Dill My Heart by Zoffany at Deauville on WednesdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Lot 255 Zoffany x Fill My Heart (Peintre Celebre)
Out of a full-sister to Pride bred by Sven and Carina Hanson

Lot 277 Territories x Irish Song (Singspiel)
Her Mastercraftsman half-brother, Celtic Art, was second in the Listed Prix Isonomy across the road on Wednesday afternoon

Victot is the oldest thoroughbred stud in France and was for many years the Normandy base for Daniel Wildenstein's breeding empire.

More recently jumps stallions such as Nickname and Gemix have stood at the farm under the guidance of veteran Roland Monnier, who announced his retirement this year.

The picturesque Haras de Victot, France's oldest thoroughbred stud farm and the future home of Sheikh Abdullah Bin Khalifa Al Thani's growing broodmare bandCredit: Racing Post / Scott Burton

Sheikh Abdulla bought the 100 hectare property as far back as 2013 but his actions in the Deauville ring this week signal a gear change which he will hope will lead to future success on the track.

Frenchman De Mieulle has been associated with Sheikh Abdulla since under the banner of Umm Qarn Farm since first venturing to Qatar in the mid-1990s, becoming one of the country's most successful trainers.

"You must bear in mind for the last four or five years we haven't really bought anything, but His Highness has now taken over the Haras de Victot and so we're investing in the future," said de Mieulle.

"We have only around ten broodmares at the moment yet we have bred a Group 1 winner this year [French King] and have had 16 or 17 winners all up."

A filly yearling by Territories was sold by JK Thoroughbreds for €260,000 at Arqana on WednesdayCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

Of their most expensive acquisition of the week, the €260,000 Territories filly consigned by JK Thoroughbreds, de Mieulle said: "She is a real racehorse to look at and I think she is perhaps the best-looking among the horses we have bought. Obviously she has the pedigree to back it up when it comes to a future breeding career."

Another long term collaborator has been jockey Olivier Peslier, who has been a constant presence in the Sheikh Abdulla silks for more than a decade.

The foundations being laid at Haras de Victot will hopefully provide 46-year-old Peslier with plenty of incentive to carry on riding for years to come.

Arqana October Yearlings day 1 report

Arqana Ocyober Yearlings day 2 report