‘You don’t have time for emotion’ - bloodstock industry holds its breath as sales season begins at Arqana

In the 2010 climbing documentary Alone On The Wall, renowned free soloist Alex Honnold is captured roughly nine-tenths of the way up the 2,000-foot Half Dome in Yosemite. 

Standing with his back against the wall on the ironically named ‘Thank God Ledge’, the climber, who has no rope, harness or helmet, turns to the cameraman and with a distinct hint of panic in his voice says: “Just a second, I’m freaking out actually.”

Whether there will be any freak-outs during the European sales season, which begins at Arqana on Friday, remains to be seen. But that same feeling of exposure is one that plenty of buyers and sellers will surely recognise at this stage in the bloodstock calendar. 

Once he continued climbing, Honnold faced a simple set of binary outcomes: reach the safety of the summit or plummet to a grizzly end. Fortunately he lived to tell the tale. 

Hopefully there’ll be no grizzly ends at the yearling sales, and admittedly there are more shades of grey than Honnold faced, but those involved in the sales are still reckoning with triumph or disaster. There may not be a 2,000-foot drop, but there is still the potential for life-changing consequences. Good or bad. 

Honnold later spoke about the crucial factor in managing his fear: preparation. 

The same is true for breeders, as the process to bring these yearlings to market began at the back end of 2020. Mating plans were devised, mares covered, foals born and youngstock raised, all with the aim of reaching the sales before graduating to the racecourse. 

One operation that knows all about the blood, sweat and tears involved in the process is Ecurie des Monceaux, whose groundwork has been advertised to stunning effect this year by four-time Group 1 hero Paddington and Grand Prix de Paris winner Feed The Flame. 

“You don’t have too much time for emotion at the moment because it’s so busy,” said Monceaux’s director Henri Bozo. “It’s a relief when all the horses arrive safe and sound on the sales ground, though. The last days before shipping are always a bit stressful because of the little bothers that horses can provide.

“The hard work is done during the winter, and it’s not in lovely conditions like these. That’s why I have a lot of gratitude for the staff. It’s important to gather a good team for the whole process. Not just at the sales but the whole year, although it’s a nice end to the process to be here with them.” 

Of course, the million-dollar question is whether another Paddington or Feed The Flame is among this year’s Monceaux draft. 

Henri Bozo: Ecurie des Monceaux sold Paddington and Feed The Flame at this sale in 2021Credit: Patrick McCann

“I’m sure we have, there must be one!” said Bozo. Given the consignment contains, among others, five lots by Dubawi, three by Frankel, seven by Siyouni and eight by Wootton Bassett, there is every chance he is right. 

Another consignor whose preparations look set to pay dividends is Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d’Etreham, whose draft received the kind of update that even the best-laid plans can’t account for when Bucanero Fuerte landed the Phoenix Stakes. 

Etreham offers his half-sister, by no less a sire than Dubawi, as lot 214 during the closing stages of Saturday’s session. The youngster is now a sibling to two Group 1 winners, with Prix de l'Abbaye victor Wooded already on the page. 

“Obviously it’s a huge boost for the filly,” said De Chambure. “She was already a nice daughter of Dubawi who’s a half-sister to one Group 1 winner, so she’s always been a good filly to have in our consignment. A recent two-year-old Group 1 winner makes the pedigree even better though. 

“The mare, Frida La Blonde, is now into an elite group having bred two Group 1 winners. We’re proud of the colt and hopefully this filly will go to a good home. I’d say she’s going to be bought by somebody who’s going to take a long-term view.” 

That punchy update was not the only source of optimism for De Chambure, who noted the good vibes that permeated the sales ground. 

“There are a lot of people, a few new faces, and there’s a good energy about the whole place and people seem keen to buy,” he said. “I think people can see that French breeders raise a proper horse, so they feel they have to do their shopping here. 

"This sale always attracts plenty of international money, and we need that because we can’t just rely on the French market. They all seem to be here.”

There is no doubt that some of these yearlings will realise incredible sums when they come under the hammer, while others will raise quite the opposite. That means some breeders will receive vast profits and others will get what is colloquially referred to as a haircut. 

It is, however, food for thought that by and large it takes an equal amount of graft to get each and every yearling to the sales, and that is an effort that should not be underestimated.

Nicolas de Chambure: Etreham's Dubawi filly had a timely Group 1 updateCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

Without the requisite hard labour, or even the labour of love in some cases, not only would these horses not reach the market but there would be no sport to speak of. Each and every breeder who invests the time, energy and capital into producing the next generation of racehorses deserves to be rewarded, although history tells us that it won’t happen for everybody, at least not all at once. 

The past also reveals that a more modest valuation need not be a barrier to racing success. Whether there will be many horses who fall into that price bracket at this year’s August Sale remains to be seen, as heavyweight buyers were busy working the sales grounds during inspections on Thursday. 

The usual representatives of domestic superpowers Coolmore, Godolphin, Juddmonte and Shadwell were in town, while Blandford Bloodstock’s Richard Brown was joined by a team member from the emerging force of Wathnan Racing.  

A strong international cast of buyers was also present, including Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi, who bought last year’s top lot, the €2,100,000 brother to Sottsass, and leading US handler Wesley Ward. When asked what brought him to Deauville, Ward simply replied: “Fast horses!” 

The trainer has been here on four previous occasions, most notably coinciding with his winning raids on the Prix Morny with No Nay Never in 2013, Lady Aurelia in 2016 and Campanelle four years later. However, with no runner in Sunday’s Sumbe-sponsored Group 1, Ward said his focus this time was solely on the sale. He has been assisted in his buying mission by young French agent Louis Dubois. 

“I’ve come to buy,” he said. “I’m a little uncertain as to how much they’re going to go for, so that’s a bit of an unknown. Louis has been very helpful though. He’s just starting his bloodstock career, he’s a great friend of my oldest son, so hopefully we can get him going.”

Yearling sales season has already got off on a record-breaking footing in the US, and Ward predicted the market would be similarly buoyant on the other side of the Atlantic. 

“I know there’s a lot going on in the world and economies are down but, for whatever reason, the sales in the States have been soaring, so I’d only imagine that would spill over into Arqana,” he said.

Ward said the standard of horse on offer was certainly conducive to a strong market. 

“A lot of the physicals I’ve seen look like they’re going to be milers, but they’re beautiful horses and I’m sure there’ll be some outstanding runners coming out of the sale,” he said. “The European horses have a different look to them, but I’ve found some very high-quality yearlings here.” 

Last year’s European yearling sales saw roughly 5,200 horses change hands for close to  £373.5 million. It remains to be seen whether trade reaches such giddy heights this year, but, on the evidence on offer at Arqana, buyers are about to take a deep breath and do their best Alex Honnold impression as they push for the summit. 

Arqana August Sale factfile

Where Arqana sales complex, Deauville

When Three-day sale begins on Friday at 3pm local time (2pm BST), with Saturday and Sunday sessions starting at 5.30pm

Last year’s stats From 285 offered, 235 sold (82 per cent) for turnover of €49,343,500 (up 24 per cent year on year), an average of €209,970 (up 28 per cent) and a median of €140,000 (up 40 per cent)

Notable graduates Ace Impact (sold by Domaine de l’Etang, bought by Jean-Claude Rouget for €75,000); Bucanero Fuerte (sold by Haras d’Etreham, bought by Robson Aguiar for €165,000); Feed The Flame (sold by Ecurie des Monceaux, bought by Gerard Larrieu for €270,000); Ramatuelle (sold by Haras de l’Hotellerie, bought by Arthur Hoyeau, agent, for €100,000) 

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