'It’s great when all the main players turn up' - Sheikh Mohammed present as Godolphin land €1.25 million Dubawi colt

Talk ahead of the Arqana August Sale revolved around the presence of the principals from racing’s rival superpowers, with both John Magnier and Sheikh Mohammed sighted on the ground in Deauville. 

In the event it was the sheikh who had the most significant impact on proceedings as the Godolphin team secured a well-related son of Dubawi at €1,250,000. 

The yearling in Godolphin’s crosshairs was the colt out of Pretty Spirit offered by leading consignor Ecurie des Monceaux. The dam is a winning three-parts sister to three-time Group 1 scorer and first-crop yearling sire Persian King. 

Shortly after the hammer fell the sheikh appeared at the door of his ringside office and promptly exited the packed auditorium with the rest of his entourage. 

“All of us were keen to get him,” said Anthony Stroud, a key cog in the buying team. “He’s a very good representation of his sire, who’s done unbelievably well. He was very well presented and Monceaux is a brilliant nursery producing very good horses. It’s a lovely back pedigree. We’re very happy to buy him.” 

France Galop lists the colt as being bred in partnership between Monceaux, Langlais Bloodstock, who signed for Pretty Spirit at €150,000 at the 2018 Arqana Breeding Stock Sale, Beauregard Bloodstock and David Redvers. 

The colt is a sibling to one winner as the dam’s first foal, So Spirit, claimed a minor race at Craon. Her second foal, the Too Darn Hot colt Geolocation, sold to Oceanic Bloodstock for €90,000 at last year’s August Sale but was subsequently withdrawn from the Ocala breeze-up sale in April. The page features Wildenstein-bred Group 1 winners Planteur and Peintre Celebre.

Just a few lots earlier Godolphin signed for the Dubawi colt out of Pollara at €550,000, after which Stroud reflected on Sheikh Mohammed’s presence, saying: “He’s here and I always think it’s great when he appears. 

“He’s an extremely busy man, he’s got a lot going on, so for him to appear, as well as John Magnier and other principals, it’s only a good thing for the whole horse world. It’s great when all the main players turn up.” 

The seven-figure transaction capped a typically fruitful sale for Monceaux, whose director Henri Bozo said: “I’m delighted and I’m very grateful to the Godolphin team for the support they’ve given us since we started here. 

“This gives us a lot of pleasure and a lot of hope because the colt will go to a good home, so I wish them the best of luck. He’s a very good mover from an active family, it’s a stallion’s pedigree. Pretty Spirit is a mare with a lot of quality and I like the idea of Dubawi with Invincible Spirit.” 

When asked about Sheikh Mohammed’s presence in Deauville, Bozo said: “It gives a great buzz to all the vendors at the sale. It’s amazing the support Sheikh Mohammed has shown to the whole industry, France, Britain, everywhere in the world. We must all thank him a lot for that.” 

Stroud also expanded on what appealed about the colt out of Pollara, saying: “He’s a really nice horse by a stallion who stands at Dalham Hall Stud and really speaks for himself as a champion sire. He’s had a lot of success. We’re very pleased to be able to acquire him from Monceaux, who have had countless Group 1 winners.” 

The colt is the second foal out of Pollara, winner of the Group 3 Prix de Royaumont before her transfer to the United States. Upon her retirement from racing the daughter of Camelot was covered by War Front and began making her way back to France when she was signed for by Arthur Hoyeau at $975,000 at the Keeneland November Sale in 2020. 

Ecurie des Monceaux's Dubawi colt out of Pollara is knocked down to Godolphin for €550,000Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

The result of that initial mating was Palazzo, who was sent into training with Christopher Head after bringing the hammer down at €240,000 at last year’s August Sale. The two-year-old colt opened his account at the second time of asking at Chantilly. 

Pollara is a sibling to the stakes-winning Stormina, who in turn bred the Wertheimers’ Prix Marcel Boussac and Prix Saint-Alary winner Silasol. Dubawi has already worked with this family before as Silasol’s offspring include the Group 3 Prix du Lys runner-up Silawi, a son of Darley’s champion sire. 

Further back it is the family of Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Solemia. Pollara produced a filly by Siyouni earlier this year.

The Dubawi over Camelot nick has yielded two winners from as many runners, most notably Never Ending Story, who struck in the Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes and the ‘Priory Belle’ 1,000 Guineas Trial Stakes, as well as finishing second to Blue Rose Cen in the Prix de Diane. 

Godolphin’s five-strong haul, which also included a €580,000 son of Lope De Vega from Baroda Stud, totalled €2,960,000, a sum that made the operation comfortably the leading buyer at the session.

Brown wins €950,000 battle

The second-top lot came much later in the session when Richard Brown clashed with Charlie Fellowes and Will Douglass over Haras de Saint Pair’s Frankel colt. 

The rival camps were positioned down the passage to the left of the florally decorated rostrum but in the end Brown consigned Fellowes and Douglass to the role of frustrated underbidder at €950,000. 

The colt is out of Via Pisa, winner of the Listed Prix Coronation and third to Odeliz in the Group 1 Premio Lydia Tesio. That makes the colt a brother to the Listed-placed Green Fly, who sold to Jean-Louis Bouchard for €280,000 in 2020. 

Brown had been spotted combing the sales grounds with a representative of Wathnan Racing but was unable to reveal the identity of this colt’s new owner. 

The Frankel colt out of Via Pisa who made €950,000Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

He said: “He’s out of a Pivotal mare and she’s already done it with the stallion. Frankel is obviously a world-class sire, as he was as a racehorse. That was a real stretch, we were absolutely lights out, but we’re delighted to get him. There was a lot of competition and a long battle in the end, but we were in fresh air and had no more left. 

“Nothing will be decided yet but he’ll go back to Britain, be turned out for a couple of months and then we’ll start the breaking process in October. No trainer has been decided yet though. He’s for an existing client who wishes to remain anonymous.” 

The dam is a half-sister to Admire Mars, who won three Grade 1s in Japan before taking up a berth at the Shadai Stallion Station. 

Magnier on the mark for Wootton Bassett colt

Godolphin may have landed the session’s headline lot but Magnier’s men made their presence felt when a bid of €720,000 was struck for the Wootton Bassett colt out of White Satin Dancer from the Monceaux draft. 

The colt, the second foal out of the half-sister to Park Hill Stakes scorer Wild Coco, hails from Wootton Bassett’s first crop since he switched from Haras d’Etreham to Coolmore. 

“He’s a very nice Wootton Bassett and everybody knows Monceaux do a great job raising horses,” said MV Magnier, who was flanked by his father and other key figures in the Irish operation. “He’s a very nice horse and Wootton Bassett is absolutely flying.” 

Expanding on the decision to bring Wootton Bassett to Coolmore, Magnier said: “It was [a big commitment] and it’s one of those things that you need luck on your side. Thankfully it looks like it’s worked out and he seems to keep improving his stock every year. 

The Wootton Bassett colt out of White Satin DancerCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

“We've got some very good two-year-olds by him and hopefully the future is very bright for him. We’ve sent a lot of our Galileo mares to him over the last couple of years too, so there’s exciting times ahead.” 

Wootton Bassett has enjoyed a banner year on the track, particularly with his juveniles as he currently leads the European two-year-old sire standings by prize-money earnings.

Bucanero Fuerte became his sire’s seventh Group 1 winner when landing the Phoenix Stakes, while King Of Steel won the King Edward VII Stakes and was runner-up to Auguste Rodin in the Derby. 

Wootton Bassett also sired this year’s Coventry Stakes winner in River Tiber. The Aidan O’Brien-trained colt had been expected to contest Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Morny at Deauville, though Magnier sounded a note of caution over the Royal Ascot winner’s participation, saying: “Hopefully Aidan will run River Tiber. 

“He’s going to canter him tomorrow and if he’s happy enough then we’ll go, but he did miss a week of work two weeks ago so he’s a bit worried about his fitness. He was just a little bit sore, it was nothing serious.”

The second time in the session that the €550,000 mark was hit came when agent Mike Akers secured the Wootton Bassett half-sister to Lancaster House on behalf of the US-based Bregman Family Racing. 

The Wootton Bassett half-sister to Lancaster House on her way to making €550,000Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

The operation was represented on this side of the Atlantic when No Nay Mets contested the Norfolk Stakes at Royal Ascot, but Akers explained the new acquisition was part of a longer-term strategy the owners are taking.

“She’s very well bred from a great breeder who has produced a lot of top-class horses,” said Akers. “She’s for Bregman Family Racing, a racing agency who are investing in nice fillies to race on and who could be potential broodmares.”

The filly was bred by Barronstown Stud and offered through Haras d’Etreham. Horseracing is not the only sport the Bregman family is involved in, as Alex Bregman is a dual World Series champion with baseball team the Houston Astros. 

Al Shaqab takes aim

Another operation whose principal was in town was Al Shaqab Racing, and Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani’s buying team added to the ranks with the purchase of a €500,000 son of Siyouni. 

The colt, another from the Monceaux draft, was bred by the China Horse Club from the Acclamation mare Soteria, whose first foal is the winning and Listed-placed Imperial Yellow. 

“We liked the horse, everyone in the team liked him, and he’s by the right sire and comes from the right place,” said Benoit Jeffory, director of Al Shaqab’s Haras de Bouquetot. “The aim is to buy nice types by good sires, so let’s hope he’s going to show it on the track now.” 

Soteria is out of Fulke Johnson Houghton’s Roo, meaning Group 1 winners Mohaather and Accidental Agent appear beneath this colt’s second dam. 

The Arqana August Sale continues on Saturday with a session starting at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm BST). 

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