Arqana August Sale Launches European Yearling Season

The Arqana August Sale, which begins Aug. 14 at 4:30 p.m. BST, brings the curtain up on the 2021 European yearling auction circuit. Racing Post Bloodstock's sales correspondent James Thomas runs the rule over the catalog and picks out the key talking points.

Galileo Demand to Hit New Heights

With the 12-time champion sire having passed away back in July, opportunities to secure his offspring will become increasingly rare over the coming years.

The scarcity factor seems likely to have a bearing on the kind of sums buyers are prepared to spend to get their hands on a son or daughter of Galileo , and will we see if that is borne out at Arqana when four of his yearlings come under the hammer.

This quartet should appeal plenty to those with one eye on a breeding career as it comprises three regally bred fillies and one well-credentialed colt.

First up comes the filly out of Militante (Lot 56) from Ecurie des Monceaux. The elegant chestnut is a sibling to two winners, namely the group 3-winning and group 1-placed Wind Chimes and the listed-placed Golden Fastnet. This filly's three-parts sister, a daughter of Frankel  named Endless Chain, fetched €630,000 at last year's Select Sale.

Haras de Montaigu offers arguably the best-bred filly in the catalog in the shape of the Galileo half sister to Investec Derby (G1) hero Wings of Eagles (120). M.V. Magnier paid €220,000 (US$244,398) for Wings of Eagles at Arqana in 2015, but his Epsom exploits, not to mention the three other black-type performers among his siblings, means his striking grey half sister can expect to command a more punchy figure.

The final Galileo filly to be offered at this year's August Sale is the daughter of Dixieland Kiss presented by Coulonces Sales, whose siblings include Pinsent Masons Lowther Stakes (G2) scorer Besharah (166).

The sole son of Galileo on offer was bred by Coolmore out of the aforementioned Wind Chimes (114), a daughter of Mastercraftsman  who won the Prix de Lieurey (G3) and was beaten just a head by Recoletos in the Prix du Moulin de Longchamp (G1).

The most expensive Galileo yearling sold at Arqana changed hands during last year's Select Sale, when Magnier gave €2 million ($2,360,793) for the brother to Magic Wand, a figure that helped the sire generate an average of €658,000.

More Monceaux Magic

Blue-chip nursery Ecurie des Monceaux has become synonymous with August Sale success, having claimed the leading consignor title for the last nine years consecutively.

Year in, year out the operation has brought sizeable drafts of significant quality, as evidenced by the fact Monceaux has sold no less than nine group 1 winners at Arqana since 2010. This roll of honor includes the likes of Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) hero Sottsass and his champion half sister Sistercharlie, Darley Irish Oaks (G1) winner Chicquita, and the three-time group 1 scorer Charm Spirit.

The farm has also consigned three of the five most expensive yearlings ever sold in the Arqana ring, including the record-setting Parabellum at €2.6 million ($2,888,340) in 2015 and last year's Select Sale topper, the Dubawi  half sister to Sottsass, who fetched €2.5 million ($2,950,992) from Oliver St. Lawrence and Fawzi Nass.

Although there is no sibling to last year's top lot in the 2021 August Sale catalog, the pedigrees behind the 39 lots Monceaux has cataloged this year suggest it won't be giving up its leading consignor crown lightly.

The draft includes two lots by Dubawi, a pair of Frankels, a filly by Galileo, four by Kingman , the same by Lope de Vega , eight by Siyouni , and the first Justify   yearling to be offered in Europe.

Among the eye-catching lots are the Dubawi colt out of group 3 winner Golden Valentine (17), the Siyouni half sister to National Defense (133), and the Kingman half brother to group 1 winners Jakkalberry, Crackerjack King, and Awelmarduk (156).

First-Crop Sires in the Spotlight

With the Arqana August Sale raising the curtain on the European yearling auction circuit the market will get its first look at the progeny of a promising class of first-crop sires.

When this cohort's first foals visited the sales last year, it was Coolmore's Saxon Warrior  who produced the highest average, with 15 lots sold for an average of £85,805 from a fee of €30,000.

The QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1)-winning son of the late Deep Impact has seven lots entered in the August Sale, including the half brother to listed scorer Famous Wolf offered by Haras des Capucines (60).

Saxon Warrior's old adversary Roaring Lion  will be represented by eight members of his solitary crop, including a colt out of Falmouth Stakes heroine Giofra consigned by Haras de la Perelle (13) and a filly out of the classy Avenue Gabriel (137) from Haras du Cadran.

The son of Kitten's Joy  , who won four group 1s, including a three and a quarter length victory in the Juddmonte International (G1), spent a sole season at Tweenhills Farm before he succumbed to colic while on shuttle duty to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand. His first foals averaged £62,990 from a fee of £40,000.

Roaring Lion stood alongside exciting reverse shuttler Zoustar while at Tweenhills, and the Australian champion has five representatives from his debut Northern Hemisphere crop in the August Sale, including a half sister to the smart juvenile Guildsman from Haras de Saint Pair (162).

Other stallions whose first yearlings are heading to auction include Cloth of Stars  (seven lots), the champion Cracksman  (10), Harry Angel  (six), US Navy Flag (four), while Justify, Mendelssohn  , Recoletos (FR), Seahenge , and Sioux Nation  all have one yearling entered each.

Punchy Updates Aplenty

The August Sale catalog was already laden with quality when the entries were released, but thanks to some punchy updates a handful of pedigrees have helped further enhance the 355-lot offering.

Haras d'Haspel are set to offer a Kingman filly out of Needleleaf (62) whose credentials have been boosted by her half brother Native Trail maintaining his unbeaten record in the Bet365 Superlative Stakes (G2), having been bought by Godolphin for 210,000 guineas ($303,063) at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale.

Breeders Haras Voltaire have entrusted Haras D'Etreham with the Dubawi filly out of Typique (108) who hails from the high-class Niarchos pedigree of Machiavellian, Bago, and Maxios.

Not only is the filly bred on the Dubawi—Galileo cross and out of a daughter of group 1 heroine Denebola, but her half sister Babylone added further black type to the page when winning the Prix de Malleret (G2) on her most recent outing.

And the Ecurie des Monceaux draft received additional gloss when Angel Bleu, a half brother to the farm's Siyouni colt (152), was last seen winning the Unibet Vintage Stakes (G2) at Glorious Goodwood.