‘I wanted to stamp my authority!’ - bold-bidding owner stares down Swan and Mullins as heavyweights outgunned at €340,000

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When JP McManus’s French talent scout Charlie Swan lined up beside Willie Mullins to have a crack at securing the Grade 3-winning Miss Wood, it seemed as though there would only be one winner. Ebullient owner Edward James had other ideas. 

The opposing camps employed notably contrasting bidding tactics. Swan, stationed on the top tier of the auditorium, debated each of his latter moves with the Mullins huddle. James stood front and centre by the ring, appearing to stare down his opponents after each raise as if to dare them to come back for more.  

This bold approach was not merely bravado, however, as James ultimately strong-armed his rivals into submission at €340,000. Erwan de Chambord’s EDC Agency signed the ticket on James’s behalf. This year’s Arqana Summer Sale top lot was offered by Katie Rudd’s Busherstown operation, which also sold the stallion King Edward for €195,000 on day one. 

Miss Wood won three races for Donatien Sourdeau de Beauregard, most notably the Grade 3 Prix Christian de Tredern. She also finished third, albeit at a respectable distance behind It's Win O'Clock, in the Grade 1 Prix Renaud du Vivier. Not only does she have the race record to recommend her, but the five-year-old daughter of Choeur Du Nord is also a sister to Henry de Bromhead’s Ryanair Chase hero Heart Wood. 

James said he plans to add to her race record before sending Miss Wood to his Grade 2 Finale Juvenile Hurdle scorer Nietzsche Has, who has just completed his second season on stallion duty at Haras de Montaigu. 

Edward James (right) secured classy Miss Wood for €340,000

“There’s not actually a plan because I didn’t know if I was going to be able to buy her,” James said. “Number one was to buy the mare. Now I’ve got the mare, the plan is to go to Britain. She’s carried penalties here in France and I believe she can do much better in Britain. I took a Grade 2 winner, Nietzsche Has, over there and showed the Grade 2 horses what a Grade 2 horse really looks like! 

“Now I’m going to show you what this girl’s all about. Hopefully she can go one further without all the penalties. She has a future on the track and in the breeding shed. I think Nietzsche Has is possibly one of the best National Hunt sires in Europe. He’s from the same line as Zarkava, and she’s the best Flat racer of all time. It’s not all about the stallion though, 75 per cent of it comes from the mare. That’s why I was looking for a good mare, and I think I found her!” 

Expanding on his punchy approach to bidding, which included taking the occasional swig from a wine glass between increases, James said: “I meant business. She was destined to come home with me. It is what it is. When I bought Nietzsche Has, the second bid went to €150,000, and that was to frighten people off. 

“My tactic today was to go to €200,000, because I wanted to stamp my authority here as I’ve done before. To say to people, ‘I want this mare, leave me alone!’ We had some resistance and they kept coming back, but I think they knew in the end that I was here to get the job done. The rest is history.” 

James added that he was yet to decide on a trainer for Miss Wood, but said he was open to taking offers. 

“I never count my chickens before they hatch,” he said. “The first thing was to buy the mare. If I don’t own her, what's the point in speaking to a trainer? That would be putting the cart before the horse. So now we’re going to put the horse before the trainer, and see who’s going to offer me the best deal, because she’s a fantastic mare. She’s Miss Wood right now, but I want to make her Miss England! She deserves the title.” 

Mullins lands son of Latrobe

The Mullins camp enjoyed better fortune when coming up against Ryan Mahon, chief talent scout to British champion trainer Dan Skelton, a little earlier in the evening. With Harold Kirk taking his cue from Mullins, who was in turn taking instructions over the phone, the Irish team secured the promising Noble Sea at €250,000. 

The youngster first stepped out onto the track in a bumper at Moulins in the middle of last month, and advertised his talents with a two-and-a-half-length success. He was trained and consigned by Gabriel Leenders. 

“He’s a good-looking horse and won his bumper first time out in good style,” said Mullins’ French agent Pierre Boulard, who signed the ticket alongside Kirk. “We like Latrobe and we like that the dam is by Great Pretender; he’s ready to go over the jumps. There’s a lot of things in his favour. 

“He has the profile to be a good jumps horse. Physically he’s very good. He’s 16.1 [hands high], very correct and is a good walker; Willie likes horses who walk well. We’ll just hope for the best. He’s ready to go though. 

“If he was not sold he’d have run at Auteuil in September in the AQPS race called the Prix Isopani. We thought we’d have to put a bit of money up because there’s not a lot of horses here. There’s more money than horses!” 

Noble Sea, a son of Latrobe, will join the Closutton fold following his €250,000 Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

The three-year-old is from the second crop of Latrobe, winner of the 2018 Irish Derby. The son of Camelot retired to Haras de la Tuilerie for the 2021 covering season. His debut crop is headed by Olga De Kiev, who landed Grade 3 prizes in the Prix Sagan and Prix Magne. 

“The stallion had a very good filly with Mickael Seror [Olga De Kiev] last year, and there’s no reason why Latrobe isn’t going to make it,” added Boulard. “He might be a new name to Ireland but he’s a nice horse for the future.” 

Recent winner heads to Gavin Cromwell

Another Irish trainer to pick up a notable new recruit during a frenetic end to proceedings was Gavin Cromwell. Agent Valentin Adam, who operates under the Adam Bloodstock banner, landed Joel Boisnard’s dual winner Le Citadin at €230,000. 

The three-year-old son of City Light won his most recent outings on the Flat at Angers and Nantes. He was unsold at just €15,000 when offered as a yearling back in October 2024. 

Dual winner Le Citadin brought €230,000 from agent Valentin AdamCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

“He was bought for a partnership with Gavin Cromwell,” said Adam. “He came highly recommended by his trainer and his team, who I know well because I worked with them when I was younger. I hope Gavin has plenty of luck with him, and I’m grateful for his trust. 

“He’s a fine-looking horse with some promising Flat form, has already been schooled over obstacles, and should be capable of doing well in Ireland. Joel thought this horse could win today’s Derby de l’Ouest [at Nantes]. This isn’t the first time I’ve bought horses with Gavin Cromwell; we’ve done private deals before, and on Tuesday we also bought some stores together.” 

McCain makes his mark

Donald McCain marked his first visit to Deauville by securing the well-credentialed Avide at €220,000. David Pipe filled the role of frustrated underbidder. 

The Wertheimer brothers’ homebred four-year-old won one of his seven starts for Andre Fabre, striking at Chantilly on his debut. He has compiled some smart form in defeat, however, and has twice run to a Racing Post Rating of 100. 

Moreover, the son of Dubawi is out of the Group 1 Grand Prix De Saint-Cloud heroine Plumania, making him a sibling to six winners and four black-type performers, including his Group 2-winning brother Plumatic. 

McCain, whose purchase was made in conjunction with agents Jerry McGrath and Toby Jones, said his new recruit had been purchased on behalf of owner Derek Passant. 

Donald McCain (second right): 'I fell in love with this horse as soon as I saw him' Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

“He’s a beautifully bred horse with a big rating,” said the trainer. “We have an owner who wanted a horse to do both jobs as he’s mainly a Flat man, but he’s got a jumper with me now and he wants to go again. He mainly has Flat horses at Manor House and with Tom Dascombe but we bought Alsakib last year, who’s done well over hurdles. 

“We enjoy those dual-purpose campaigns and we’ve had a good go at it down the years. It’s not all about Chester, but we’re fortunate to have that just 15 minutes down the road because there’s some great racing there. Derek very much wanted the back up of, if the jumping job doesn’t work then we can go back to the Flat.” 

McCain added: “I fell in love with this horse as soon as I saw him, although I was hoping I wouldn’t have to pay as much! All the right people were after him though, so it is what it is. He makes an awful lot of sense when you see what point-to-pointers are making.” 

O’Neill Racing scoop promising Masked Marvel filly

Matt Coleman and the O’Neill Racing team got among the buyers when going to €155,000 for Nelouba. The three-year-old daughter of Masked Marvel was bred and owned by Come and Floriane de Maupeou D'Ableiges. Trainer Xavier Blanchet sent the youngster to Lion d'Angers for her debut, where she duly scored by three-quarters of a length against six rivals. 

“AJ O’Neill and I saw her this morning and just thought she was a wonderful model,” said Coleman. “Beautiful mover, very athletic walk and trot and had a very good attitude. Obviously she’s just won one race but she did it in very good style and with a very good action that suggested she’ll make a jumper in the future. She’s only a three-year-old so she’s got the world ahead of her. 

Nelouba will head to Jackdaws after making €155,000 at ArqanaCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

“The plan is to bring her to Jackdaws Castle and then we’ll probably run her in bumpers this coming season. A possible target might be the junior bumper at Cheltenham on New Year’s day, but we’ll try and get her some black type before going novice hurdling in autumn next year. The sire is doing very well, and with her performance on debut there should be lots to come and so we’re looking forward to seeing her on the racetrack.”

Jamie Snowden and Tom Malone also went to €155,000 when landing Mathieu Pitart’s Clairefontaine scorer Mix Match. The Haras du Hoguenet homebred is by Magic Dream and from the famed ‘W’ family responsible for Waldgeist, Waldpark and Masked Marvel, among others. 

With a much smaller offering than 12 months ago, turnover across the two sessions was always liable to lag behind the previous year’s tally. 

Aggregate sales duly wound up at €10,909,000, a 13 per cent year-on-year dip. However, the average and median prices went in the opposite direction, with the former up three per cent at €41,480 and the latter metric up 18 points to €26,000. 

There were 339 lots offered this time around, 44 (11 per cent) less than last year. The clearance rate closed at 78 per cent, down from 82 per cent, as 263 of those found a new home. 

More for Arqana Summer Sale:

‘He’ll suit the racing over there’ - Group 1-winning sire set for Indonesian stallion role after €50,000 Arqana transfer 

‘His profile and stats are very good’ - up-and-coming jumps sire King Edward on the move to Ireland after €195,000 signing 

‘We had to push the budget a bit!’ - Yorkshire-based owner bags sales-topping son of Doctor Dino at €240,000