‘When I left home, I thought that she could top the day’ - Classic-winning handler moves for €305,000 Mehmas filly in Deauville

Classic-winning trainer Andreas Schutz struck the winning bid for the top lot on day two of the Arqana October Yearling Sale as a well-bred daughter of Mehmas realised €305,000 in Deauville on Wednesday. 

The filly was bred by Khalifa Al Attiya and offered through Haras de Castillon. She is a sibling to five winners, three of whom boast black type. 

These include German Listed scorer Wasmya whose first foal, Al Shaqab Racing homebred Sahlan, contributed a major update to the pedigree by defeating Rosallion in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin earlier this year. 

“She has a very good pedigree, a good bloodline, and we’ve liked her from day one,” said Schutz, who signed Rabbah Bloodstock’s name on the docket. “She’s a great mover and a very nice model. She’s been bought for Jaber Abdullah so she’ll head to Ireland now to be broken in and maybe do a little bit of prep there before we bring her back early next year. I’ve made a list for Jaber and he’s been looking through the pedigrees. He really liked hers and she was the pick for him.” 

Schutz trained Marhaba Ya Sanafi to land the Poule d'Essai des Poulains in 2023, and it was announced last week that the Group 1 winner will be taking up breeding duties at Castillon’s new stallion division. 

“I’m really looking forward to this,” said Schutz. “The horse actually left the stable this morning and I’m excited to see what he can do at stud. He was a very hardy, genuine horse throughout his career. He’s always been healthy, has never seen the vet and always been sound. I hope he’ll produce some nice progeny. We have mares ourselves to go to him so he’ll get our full support.” 

Reacting to the six-figure transaction, Castillon’s Benoit Jeffroy said: “We’re delighted with the filly and she’s been showing really well since she got here. She ticked all the boxes; she’s by the right sire and the pedigree had a great update with Sahlan. I’m also delighted because she was owned by Khalifa Al Attiya, who’s a very good friend of mine, so I’m very happy for him. 

“When I left home, I thought to myself that she could top the day. I wasn’t sure she’d make that much, but we’re very happy. The sale has been very selective and you have to have the right horse, everything has to be right, but so far it’s been great for us.” 

The session-topping trade capped a busy few days for the Castillon team, with the news that the Normandy farm will stand six stallions in 2026, with Marhaba Ya Sanafi joined by fellow newcomer Tribalist. The outfit will also be standing the slightly more established quartet of Magic Dream, Romanised, Texas and Thunder Moon.

“The reception has been great and we’ve had a lot of support,” said Jeffroy. “We’re syndicating Marhaba Ya Sanafi and we’ve already had a lot of people coming into him.” 

Jeffroy, who previously managed Haras de Bouquetot, added that the move is the culmination of two decades of steady but sustained growth within the industry. 

“We’ve been building towards this, first through my parents’ farm, my brother and I also have a farm together in Brittany, and now we have set up this farm in Normandy,” he said. “We’ve been building little by little for the last 20 years, so this feels like another natural progression. 

“There’s no stress at the moment; if you have the right horses and the right people with you, when everything is aligned, you can be confident it’s going to work out. The most important thing now is for the breeders to like our horses and to support us. 

“We’ll bring the two new horses [Marhaba Ya Sanafi and Tribalist] to Clairefontaine during the December Sales in Deauville and we’ll be taking part in the French stallion trail in January, and of course we’ll be open any time for people to come and visit. It’s an exciting time.” 

The shorter session of selling witnessed a notable upturn in trade, with the clearance rate closing at 83 per cent. A total of 109 yearlings came under the hammer and 90 sold, generating receipts worth €4,907,000. That figure represented a 13 per cent improvement compared to the corresponding session 12 months ago under the previous October Sale format. 

The refined selection process for day two duly saw the average price rise by 22 per cent to €54,520, while the median was up 11 per cent at €41,000. 

Online players make an impact

Arqana’s online bidding facility saw plenty of action throughout the day, with two of the three most expensive lots landed with virtual bids. First came the Havana Grey filly out of the Listed-winning Charm Appeal from the Fairway Consignment, who was knocked down to a buyer signing as Lady M Partners at €290,000. 

The youngster received an important update ahead of the sale as her two-year-old New Bay half-sister Lady Mara made a winning debut for trainer Jerome Reynier and owner Rebecca Hillen. Connections indicated the Framont-bred Havana Grey filly would likely represent a partnership involving the same owner as her sibling. 

Later in the session, BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe went to €170,000 for the Night Of Thunder colt out of the Listed-placed Teofilo’s Princess from Haras de l’Etre.

The Havana Grey filly out of the Listed-winning Charm Appeal fetched €290,000. Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

The agent was back on home soil in Ireland, but said via telephone: “I inspected him over the last couple of days but I got home last night so used the online bidding platform, which is very handy. 

“We like the cross, we like the fact he has Teofilo as damsire, the half-sister [Lupa] in Canada looks like she could be useful. Then obviously Night Of Thunder doesn’t need any introduction, they’ve been running and selling. He’s the sire of the moment and I actually bought a very nice Night Of Thunder for the same client here in August. 

“We’re delighted to get him and we thought he represented great value. He’ll be brought to Ireland to be broken in by Sonny Carey for a Middle Eastern client who races in France. He’ll go into training in France, where he has the premiums, early in the new year.” 

Hernon plays long game with six-figure Nathaniel filly

Chantilly based Gavin Hernon bagged the first six-figure signing of the day when going to €100,000 for the Nathaniel half-sister to the Listed-placed Kid Conte from Haras de Grandcamp. 

The filly is a sibling to three winners, while her dam is a winning Invincible Spirit sister to Zebedee

“She’s an extremely athletic individual and obviously Nathaniel is a very good sire of fillies,” said Hernon, who signed the ticket alongside Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International. “She’s a bit of a standout physical here today, she’s quite strong for a big Nathaniel filly, you can see a bit of Invincible Spirit coming through in her as well. 

“She has a strong hind leg, she’s a beautiful mover with a great constitution. We took her out of the box probably 20 times and every time she did it so effortlessly, she looked very willing. We’re delighted to get her for a couple of existing clients and hopefully she’ll bring us a bit of luck next year.” 

Haras de Grandcamp's Nathaniel filly sold to Gavin Hernon and Ghislain Bozo of Meridian InternationalCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

Asked about targeting later-maturing stock, Hernon said: “I feel like with the programme we have in France, it’s pointless trying to buy whizz bang two-year-olds. If they’re not good enough to go down the Prix de Cabourg, Prix Morny route but they’ve won their maiden, then you end up in claimers, so it’s hard to justify asking an owner to spend six figures on one. 

“That means we tend to look for those horses who are going to debut over seven furlongs or a mile at two and then progress at three. That’s where the programme is in this country, so that’s what we tend to look for.” 

The October Yearling Sale has proved a happy hunting ground for Hernon, who said he was hoping to add to his haul from the five-day sale. 

“We’ve done well here with the likes of Dare To Dream, we picked up Pyramide at this sale two years ago for 20 grand and she looks like she’ll get black type before the end of the year,” he said. “We also bought Agualeto here for just €5,000 and sold him well [to Narvick International for €320,000] at the Arc Sale last year. It’s where we like to do most of our shopping. We stocked up fairly well in August, we got six at that sale, but we’re not done here yet.” 

Menuisier making moves

David Menuisier was among the British-based trainers to walk away with a new recruit having gone to €97,000 for the Sioux Nation colt from Coulonces Consignment. The youngster, whose dam is a sibling to the dam of Coolmore’s Group 1-winning juveniles Little Big Bear and Whistlejacket, hails from a pedigree the trainer already knows plenty about. 

“I have a really good horse in training called Tribal Chief, who’s very closely related to this colt,” said Menuisier. “He’s by Sioux Nation and is out of Araca, a half-sister to Little Big Bear and Whistlejacket. He ran in the Cambridgeshire and ran a stormer last weekend in the Balmoral. I saw this colt on Sunday and kind of knew I had to buy him.

“I try to buy one from Coulonces every year because we’ve had an awful lot of success together, between Wonderful Tonight, Belloccio and others. It’s always a pleasure to deal with them. I thought this horse looked amazing so I’m delighted to get him.”

Asked if the near relations share any physical similarities, Menuisier said: “No!” 

The October Yearling Sale continues on Thursday, with day three starting at 2pm local time (1pm GMT). 

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