Sacre bleu! Sprinter sibling tops first day of Summer Sale

Cheltenham in mid-March is a far cry from a sunbaked Deauville in early July, but it was the enduring image of one of Prestbury Park's most recognisable champions that helped fuel the bidding during day one of Arqana's Summer Sale that kicked off on Wednesday.

The day's top lot came when Flinteur Sacre, a brother to Nicky Henderson's dual Champion Chase winner Sprinter Sacre, fetched a bid of €125,000 from Hubert Barbe and Charlie Swan on behalf of JP McManus.

"He's a nice horse and a very active type," Swan said of the two-year-old, who was offered by Beatrice Nicco. "Hopefully he'll win races - we saw him a couple of times before the sale so it was nice to be able to buy him.

"We'll give him a bit of time before putting him into training as a three-year-old but his immediate future is at Martinstown [McManus's stud]. It's hard to know what they're worth in the long run but I'd say he's well entitled to have cost that sort of money. If he's only half as good as his brother we'll be okay!"

Earlier in the session another relation to Sprinter Sacre, Emir Sacree, came under the hammer, but having been knocked down to a bid of €150,000 it emerged that he had been retained by his vendor.

The three-year-old son of Network offered by David Lumet is out of Altesse Sacree, a daughter of Daramsar and Sprinter Sacre's dam Fatima III.

The Coastal path for Malone

The achievements of Willie Mullins' dual Grade 1-winning novice hurdler Bacardys have kept his sire Coastal Path in the headlines, and his on course exploits have been reflected by the popularity of his sire's progeny in the ring during this year's store sales.

Tom Malone is one of those who has clearly been impressed by Coastal Path's stock, as the agent went to €115,000 for an AQPS-bred three-year-old from the family of the Deloitte Novice Hurdle and Tattersalls Ireland Champion Novice Hurdle winner Bacardys offered by his breeders Haras de Saint Voir.

"He's a lovely store and has been bought to go to Paul Nicholls," said Malone. "I've seen plenty by the sire - he's had his share of runners in Ireland, particularly in the point-to-point field.

"This horse is probably not the sort to suit the French system as he's so big and rangy - he looks like an Irish-bred. He's got a beautiful pedigree, which is what I like to see when I'm buying three-year-olds."

The gelding is out of the winning Video Rock mare Maitresse De Maison, which makes the gelding a half-brother to the Grade 2 winner Tir Au But.

Saint Des Saint for Chaille-Chaille

Late in the session agent Bertrand Le Metayer went to €100,000 to acquire a son of Saint Des Saints from Haras du Saubouas.

"He's been bought for James-Douglas Gordon to race in France," said Le Metayer. "He will be trained by Arnaud Chaille-Chaille, who we had Bonito Du Berlais with.

"He's a lovely, big-striding horse, he could be anything with that physicality. Saint Des Saints can sometimes be a bit compact but this horse has loads of scope."

The two-year-old is out of the winning Bonbon Rose mare Grasica, whose further family includes the likes of Welsh National winner Le Beau Bai and the talented Roi Des Francs.

Network opportunity for Cottin

The nascent training career of former French champion jump jockey David Cottin received a significant boost on Wednesday with a striking son of Network secured for €100,000 destined for his Chantilly yard. The gelding will also carry the colours of Gordon.

"He will be going to a promising young trainer," remarked Le Metayer as he signed the docket for the two-year-old named Flashkille. "I've bought him for Mr Gordon, for whom David rode for many times, including the Grade 1 filly Liberte D'Aimer.

"This is a family we know well as Janville, who appears under the third dam, was Mr Gordon's first horse and gave us a lot of fun, including when going down by just a nose in a Grade 3."

The two-year-old, who was offered by Jacques Cypres, is out of Nashkille, a winning Roi De Rome half-sister to the high-class Vaniteux.

Lord Bromley

There was just a single lot catalogued by the Linamix stallion Lord Du Sud, and having gone to €90,000 it was Highflyer Bloodstock's Anthony Bromley who secured the athletic grey on behalf of owners Dai Walters and James and Jean Potter.

"He's going to be coming back to Wales with me, so I hope he understands Welsh," quipped Walters. "We won't do anything with him until he's a four-year-old so there's a lot of water to go under the bridge before we decide who he'll go into training with."

The colt is out of Change Partner, a Listed-winning hurdler and chaser by Turtle Island who has already produced Karalee, a daughter of Martaline who finished third behind Apple's Jade in a Punchestown Grade 1 hurdle, and Jamal Malik, a dual Listed-winning hurdler by Lavirco who was trained with Jean-Paul Gallorini.

"He's a very athletic horse," added Bromley. "He's out of a very good racemare who's gone on to be a good producer. Lord Du Sud hasn't had many chances, he's not a well-known sire and hasn't had many foals, but he's getting a few opportunities now and I think he'll turn out okay."

Despite Lord Du Sud being a relatively unfamiliar name among the stallion ranks Bromley is no stranger to the sire's merits, having been responsible for sourcing his highest-rated performer Activial.

Kapgarde contingency

Fresh from supplying the top lot at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, Haras de la Hetraie resident Kapgarde enjoyed another productive sale, with his most eye-catching lot going the way of French agent Guy Petit for €70,000.

"He's been bought for an English owner who wants to run his horses in France so the horse will stay here to go into training, although we don't know who with yet," revealed Petit. "The owner already has horses in England as well as in France, but he's looking to invest over here a little more.

"On looks this horse was the pick of the sale for me," he added ."He was well prepared and obviously Kapgarde is a top sire."

The two-year-old is out of the placed April Night mare Rapsodie Sea.

Breeze-ups bow out

Despite a significant number of withdrawals the current buoyancy of the breeze-up market was again in evidence during the opening salvos of the session, with 75 per cent of the 28 juveniles offered changing hands at an average price of €20,570 - a 38 per cent year-on-year gain.

The most expensive offering from the breeze-up section of the catalogue went the way of Chantilly-based trainer Alessandro Botti, who parted with €74,000 for Grove Stud's Holy Roman Emperor colt out of the winning Authorized mare Melina's Dream.

Figures

By the close of trade 103 of the 133 offered lots had changed hands for a clearance rate of 78 per cent. The aggregate stood at €3,026,000 - a 22 per cent increase on the figure recorded at the same stage of the 2016 renewal. The median was up by €6,000 to €22,000, and the average was up 14 per cent to €29,380.

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