'Sea The Stars is a premium stallion and she’s a beautiful filly' - relation to The Fugue tops Arqana at €730,000

The top lot on day two of the Arqana August Yearling Sale came around two hours into the post-racing session on Saturday when Solis/Litt Bloodstock struck an online bid of €730,000 for Haras de Castillon’s Sea The Stars filly out of La Vie. The filly was bred in partnership by Al Shaqab and Sunderland Holdings.

The youngster, the first foal out of a Shalaa half-sister to champion racemare The Fugue, was purchased on behalf of US-based owner LNJ Foxwoods, the banner under which Larry, Nanci and Jaime Roth race and breed. The filly was bred in partnership by Al Shaqab and Sunderland Holdings. 

“Sea The Stars is a premium stallion and she’s a beautiful filly,” said Jason Litt. “We’re very happy to have her and hopefully we get lucky. Nothing is decided at this stage [with regards training plans] but we’re just delighted to get her. They always have good horses here so we’re just fortunate to acquire her.” 

Tasleet relation heads to Saito

Hisaaki Saito continued his high-level investment in France with the purchase of Ecurie des Monceaux’s colt by New Bay out of a winning full-sister to Tasleet for €620,000.

The winning bid was struck by longtime adviser Sebastien Desmontils of Chevigny Global, who purchased Prix Jean Prat winner and Tally-Ho resident Good Guess as well as Group 3 winner Topgear for Saito. 

The colt was bred by China Horse Club out their Showcasing filly Lady Light, who was third in the Listed Bosra Sham Stakes on what turned out to be her second and final racecourse appearance.

“We saw the horse on the farm and we liked him,” said Desmontils. “He is by a very good sire. The dam was a good two-year-old winner and has black type as well. 

The New Bay colt out of Lady Light who made €620,000 in Deauville on SaturdayCredit: ZUZANNA LUPA

“She’s a sister to Tasleet from the family of Battaash and The Antarctic, who was a very good two-year-old for Coolmore.”

Desmontils added: “We liked him and he has the pedigree to be a stallion if he turns out to be very good, so that’s why he made the price. 

“He’ll go on holiday for a couple of weeks and then we’ll break him in and see where he goes.”

 At €620,000, the colt becomes New Bay’s third most expensive yearling to date.

Sumbe strike for Dark Angel filly

The combination of Monceaux and China Horse Club scored another notable success with the sale of Dark Angel filly out of a half-sister to Hong Kong champion Romantic Warrior. 

Bidding from outside the ring it was the Sumbe team which won out at €420,000, as Nurlan Bizakov seeks to continue a run of success with Yeomanstown Stud’s stalwart, most recently with the Queen Anne and Prix Jacques le Marois victories of Charyn.

“She is the only Dark Angel filly here and I loved her,” said Bizakov. “She is a strongly made filly and I would say a very good first foal. And Henri Bozo is a good breeder, as we know.”

The Dark Angel filly snapped up by Sumbe on SaturdayCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

Sumbe already stand Angel Bleu at their Monfort et Preaux stud in partnership with Marc Chan, while Sacred Angel was third in last season’s Cheveley Park. 

“Dark Angel has been a very lucky stallion for us so fingers crossed that she will be as good as some of my other Dark Angels,” said Bizakov. “She will hopefully be a good broodmare for me one day as well.”

The filly's Exceed And Excel dam, Melodic Charm, was a dual winner and just missed out on earning black type when finishing fourth in the Sirenia Stakes.

In addition to Romantic Warrior and Melodic Charm, second dam Folk Melody has produced End Of Romance, a son of Showcasing who won on his debut at Pontefract for Karl Burke earlier this month.

State of play

As was the case on day one, trade struggled to keep pace with the giddy highs registered at the record-breaking sale 12 months ago. Turnover on day two was €13,296,000, a 16 per cent year-on-year drop, while the average and median prices fell by 17 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. The former closed at €201,455 and the latter was €155,000. 

The clearance rate was 80 per cent as 66 lots sold from 82 offered.

The August Sale concludes on Sunday with another post-racing session set to begin at 5.30pm local time (4.30pm BST).

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