Sailor Moon the star at €280,000 on final day of Summer Sale

The two-day Arqana Summer Sale concluded in Deauville on Thursday with a mixed day of trade that saw a host of significant buy backs leave a noticeable dent in the key market metrics.

The day-two aggregate took a year-on-year dip of nine per cent to €4,209,100, the average dropped by 24 per cent to €26,980 while the median dropped by €2,500 to €9,500. The clearance rate held up at a respectable 75 per cent, with 156 of the 209 offered lots changing hands.

The team from the boutique nursery Ecurie des Monceaux, perennially the leading vendor at the August Yearling Sale, were among the familiar faces at the Arqana sales ground, and the broodmare band at the picturesque Normandie farm received a noteworthy addition after Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International went to €280,000 for Sailor Moon.

"She's been bought for Ecurie des Monceaux and some of our clients" explained stud manager Henri Bozo. "I'm very fond of this beautiful, and very current, family developed by Haras de la Louviere."

Offered by Haras du Petit Tellier, the ten-year-old daughter of Tiger Hill has already produced two Listed winners, the three-year-old Siyouni colt Straight Right, who was last seen finishing seventh in the Commonwealth Cup, and Stone Roses, a daughter of Rip Van Winkle.

Sailor Moon is also a half-sister to the likes of Group 3 Prix de Psyche winner Serisia, who has gone on to produce dual Australian Group 1 winner Contributer since retiring to stud, and the Listed winner Mayyadah.

As if her pedigree was not upside enough, Sailor Moon was also offered in foal to Olympic Glory and with a Dabirsim yearling filly on the ground and a colt foal by the same sire.

"We normally try to buy slightly younger mares but she has a rare profile as a stakes producer with great upside," added Bozo. "Straight Right could win a Group race this year and the Dabirsims might be good as well. She will go back to Siyouni next year."

The next Mondialiste?

The pale grey Lord Glitters may have cut a ghostly figure in the ring, but there was no sign of buyers being scared off as the four-year-old son of Whipper went to Jason Kelly on behalf of Geoff Turnbull of Elwick Stud, with a bid of €270,000 enough to see off the likes of Nicolas de Watrigant and Willie Mullins' men Harold Kirk and Pierre Boulard.

Lord Glitters is now destined for the Yorkshire base of trainer David O'Meara, who has overseen the career of another of Turnbull's Arqana buys, the globe-trotting Mondialiste, whose image graced the cover of this year's Summer Sale catalogue.

"The owners have been lucky from this sale," noted O'Meara. "I really liked the horse and I liked his form, but we'll take him home and get to know him before deciding on any targets, though if all goes well could be aiming for an international campaign with him."

The colt has won four of his nine starts for trainer Christophe Lotoux, with his most recent outing resulting in a two-and-a-half length success, and is out of the Listed-placed Homme De Loi mare Lady Glitters, which makes him a half-brother to six winners in France.

When asked if he thought Lord Glitters could prove capable of one day filling the shoes of Mondialiste, Kelly said: "There's big shoes to fill there! Geoff has built a new stud and the plan is for Mondialiste to stand there after one or two more runs."

Soon after Kelly was back in action, going to €110,000 for Primero, a four-year-old son of Cape Cross offered by the Wertheimer brothers.

"He's been bought for Al Areen Racing," he said. "We've had a bit of success for them before with Salateen, who won in Dubai. Primero has been running well recently so he's fit and well but we'll get him home before making any plans. He's got high-class form, he was placed in a Listed race, so we'll be looking at high-end handicaps and stakes races with him."

Hobson's choice

Big prices continued to flow well into the evening, and as the sale approached its conclusion Margaret O'Toole parted with €230,000 for Dortmund Park.

O'Toole was unavailable for comment, but the delighted vendor Richard Hobson said: "He's a lovely horse - we're chuffed to bits with him. We bought him as a yearling and had him at our place for a couple of years before sending him to Fabrice Foucher. The horse has done the talking in his races and we're delighted with that price."

Since being bought by Hobson Dortmund Park has won both of his starts for Foucher, with his latest success coming in an AQPS Flat contest at Nantes last month. The four-year-old is a son of Great Pretender and from the family of Valyssa Monterg.

Barbe and Swan back in action

The duo of Hubert Barbe and Charlie Swan, fresh from snapping up the Sprinter Sacre brother who topped the opening session on Wednesday, were back in action during day two, going to €200,000 for Dieg Man, a four-year-old son of Kapgarde.

"He's a beautiful horse who has progressed with every race and looks like he still has some room for improvement," said Barbe, as Swan made a dash for the exit to catch his flight home. "He was conditioned by Yannick Fouin, who we have bought a number of top-class horses from, so we know we can trust him. He will make a nice chaser in the future."

Dieg Man made his sixth start a winning one with success in an Auteuil hurdle in mid-June.

Mullins takes home Defy De Mee

Mullins may have been outgunned for Lord Glitters, but the champion trainer made amends shortly after when securing Defy De Mee, a half-brother to the smart As De Mee, for €190,000.

"He's a fine, big horse who we'll probably start off in hurdles and hopefully he'll blossom into a nice chaser - although there'll be no rush with him," said Mullins. "I'm just very happy with his size and scope. His half-brother [As De Mee] gives you hope as well.

"I'm not sure which owner he'll go to yet. We'll take him home and see who comes knocking."

The four-year-old AQPS-bred son of Country Reel won the latest of his four starts for trainer Jerry Planque when winning the Prix Prosper Charles at Senonnes-Pouance.

Bold-bidding Boulard snaps up Frodon dam

It did not take long for the top price from Wednesday's session to be bettered, with Pierre Boulard, accompanied by Harold Kirk, going to €135,000 for Miss Country early in the session. The daughter of Country Reel, offered by Christelle Rebillon's Elevage de Guerre, already boasts an enviable broodmare CV as she is the dam of Paul Nicholls’ talented young chaser Frodon, and is a half-sister to the Grade 1-winning chaser Medermit.

"She's been bought for a British client who has several horses in training," said Boulard. "She's from a very current family with Frodon reaching his top level earlier this year and Saint Pistol also a Group winner at Auteuil this year. This appealed to us as mares like this are very hard to come by."

She was offered in foal to Kapgarde, who has garnered a strong reputation thanks to the exploits of the likes of Garde La Victoire, Milord Thomas, Edgardo Sol and Alisier D'Irlande.

Figures

The sale finished with turnover of €7,197,100 - a one point increase on 2016's figures, the average stood at €27,895 - an 11 per cent drop, and the median was up €3,000 to €16,000. A total of 258 lots changed hands for a clearance rate of 75 per cent, up from 72 per cent.