Gestüt Fährhof's German Gems to be Offered at Arqana

Gestüt Fährhof is sending 19 mares to the Dec. 7-10 Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville as it cuts back its herd in an effort to recapture a golden era that produced superstars such as Acatenango, Lomitas, and Surumu.

The move also entails the stud shifting its focus away from standing stallions and pruning families that have multiplied to the point that they are disproportionately represented in the broodmare band.

"Fährhof was the prominent stallion station in Germany for the past 40 years," the stud's president, Andreas Jacobs, said. "But with the industry melting away here, we downsized our stallion station and subsequently are reducing and refocusing our broodmare band.

"In the 1980s, we were focused on our broodmares and on creating the best matings for our mares, and as owner/breeders, we ended up with great stallions like Surumu, Acatenango, and Lomitas. We decided it's time to get back to that recipe: fostering our quality mares rather than filling our stallions."

Among the mares Fährhof has deemed surplus to its own requirements but could very well become a vital cog in another breeder's broodmare band are two daughters of the stud's great flag-bearer Lomitas, whose stranger-than-fiction life—a ban from racing due to a violently expressed stall aversion, his salvation by horse whisperer Monty Roberts and subsequent three group 1 wins, and a blackmail plot that meant he had to be whisked out of Germany—is being made into a film.

Hasay (Lot 166), a 12-year-old who is out of a listed winner, is a listed winner herself and has produced group 3 scorer Hargeisa. Quilita (Lot 516) is a group 3-placed relation to Fährhof's multiple group 1 hero Quijano.

The 10-year-old is in foal to Charm Spirit and has a yearling colt by Kingman and a filly foal by Exceed And Excel to bat for her in the coming years.

Quilita is preceded in the ring by close relation Quiana (Lot 515), a winning 10-year-old half sister to Quijano who has produced three winners from as many runners and is in foal to Almanzor.

Another lot with close connections to celebrities who carried Fährhof's famous black and yellow silks is Solola (Lot 91), a 14-year-old Black Sam Bellamy half sister to Sabiango and Silvano who has produced the Worthingtons Whizz Kidz Horris Hill Stakes (G3) winner Smaih. She is offered in foal to Harry Angel.

Somantra (Lot 253), Solola's 3-year-old daughter by Oasis Dream in training with Peter Schiergen, is also available to purchase.

Meanwhile, the achievements of the dam and siblings of Palena (Lot 214), a 7-year-old daughter of Tiger Hill in foal to Belardo, take up all of the catalog page; they include the Criterium de Saint-Cloud (G1) victory by half sister Paita and a Premio Roma GBI Racing (G1) score for 'nephew' Potemkin.

The next lot in the ring, 3-year-old Australia-bred filly Panguna (Lot 215), is a closely related half sister to Potemkin offered out of training.

"We're offering mares and fillies from families which we have an abundance of, and there are several pearls among them," Jacobs said. "We're also offering a few commercial mares which we bought for our stallions."

The Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale takes place over four days beginning Saturday with sessions starting at 11 a.m. local time, except Sunday when it kicks off at 10 a.m.