Gordon-Watson: €2.4M 'Best Dubawi Filly I've Ever Seen'

A Dubawi  filly from an outstanding Niarchos family and consigned by Haras d'Etreham blew the lid off the second day of the Arqana August Yearling Sale Aug. 15 when selling to Charlie Gordon-Watson for €2.4 million ($2,831,061).

The attractive February-born filly (Lot 108) is the third foal out of the Galileo mare Typique , a daughter of 2003 Prix Marcel Boussac Criterium des Pouliches Royal Barriere Deauville (G1) heroine Denebola and a half sister to Beta Leo, the dam of Prix de Diane Longines (G1) winner Senga, and Mohini, who produced last year's Bet365 Park Hill Stakes (G2) winner and Qatar Prix de Royallieu (G1) runner-up Pista . 

Gordon-Watson said: "She's from the best Niarchos family, it has group 1 2-year-old winners, and she's by Dubawi. Her dam's first two foals were very good and Andre Fabre loved her. She's beautiful, she's the best Dubawi filly I've ever seen."

Possessing a typically in-depth Niarchos pedigree, the filly also hails from the family of Prix Morny Agence Francaise (G1) winner Coup de Genie, a full sister to Machiavellian and herself the dam of two further stakes winners in Loving Kindness and Glia.

Her page had received significant recent updates, with her Invincible Spirit  half sister Babylone  striking in the Prix de Malleret (G2) last month, while Babylone's full sister Assyrian Queen was a fine second on her debut for Andre Fabre at Deauville this month. 

The sale was a notable success for young breeding outfit Haras Voltaire, which races both Babylone and Assyrian Queen, and whose founder Thierry Gillier is also behind clothing label Zadig & Voltaire. 

Typique was purchased at Goffs in November 2016 for €450,000 ($478,215) by agent Laurent Benoit.

"I'm very happy for the Haras, who are only in their early years, and I have to thank them for placing their trust in us," said Benoit. "It's an example which shows you can make serious investments here in France, and I hope there will be others and that the industry can continue with such dynamism."

Sensational Siyouni to the Fore

The hugely potent Siyouni —Galileo cross and a massive page update were at the forefront of buyers' imaginations as the Ecurie des Monceaux-consigned Siyouni colt realized €1.5 million ($1,769,413) to Oliver St Lawrence.

Just weeks after his Dark Angel  sibling Angel Bleu  landed the Unibet Vintage Stakes (G2) at Glorious Goodwood, this colt (Lot 152) provided another excellent result for the sadly deceased Cercle De La Vie, a full sister to the globetrotting Highland Reel , Australian top-level victor Cape Of Good Hope , and the multiple group-winning Idaho . 

"He's a lovely horse, a standout," said St Lawrence, who was with regular ally Fawzi Nass. "It was great to get that update because the 2-year-old looks a proper horse, and if we can be as good as that, we've done our job correctly. I suspect he'll go to England to be trained."

St Lawrence also was swift in securing Baroda Stud's Sea The Stars half sister to Prix la Force (G3) winner Chilean  when signing the docket at €575,000 ($678,275). She is the fifth foal out of the listed-winning Duke Of Marmalade mare Childa and from the family of Rahaam, dam of blue-chip producer Cassandra Go. 

Juddmonte Gets in on the Action

Dubawi's popularity came to the fore again when Juddmonte's Simon Mockridge signed for a Dubawi half sister to Criterium de Saint-Cloud winner Wonderment  at €900,000 ($1,061,648).

The Banstead Manor Stud director proved that persistence pays off when he saw off a flurry of bids for the athletic filly consigned by Haras de l'Hotellerie, who will hold plenty of residual value after her racing career has concluded. 

Out of dual winner Wiwilia , a daughter of Konigstiger who was picked up by Andi Wyss for €20,000 ($23,580) at the BBAG Spring HIT Sale, the filly's third dam is none other than Wurfbahn, granddam of Waldmark, matriarch of the wonderful 'W' family that includes Waldlerche, dam of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) hero Waldgeist and the talented Waldkonig.

Aside from her obvious racing credentials, the daughter of the Darley super sire consigned as Lot 117 will likely prove an asset for Juddmonte's broodmare band in the future. 

"She's a beautiful filly with a very easy action and has group 1 winners under the first three dams, which is important," said Mockridge. "She's an outcross pedigree for us in the future and we're very pleased.

"In terms of where she goes, it will be discussed with the family and then we'll make a decision."

Kingman With Another Big Hitter

Anthony Stroud sprung into action when going to €850,000 ($1,002,668) for Haras de Saint Pair's Kingman  colt out of the listed-winning, group 1-placed Via Pisa , an athletic individual who can count Japanese grade 1 victor Admire Mars on his page. 

The third foal out of the Pivotal mare, a listed winner and third in the Premio Longines Lydia Tesio (G1) for Freddy Head and Haras de Saint Pair, the Kingman colt (Lot 113) comes from a family that could provide further updates with his Frankel  half brother Green Fly winning on his second start for Jean-Claude Rouget this summer. 

Palace Pier had again advertised his sire's potency earlier in the day with a second straight victory in the Prix Jacques le Marois (G1) across the road, and Stroud said: "He comes from a very good farm and (in terms of Kingman) we've had Palace Pier and we've got a very good 2-year-old by the sire who I bought here last year, as well as Persian King. And he's a very athletic horse." 

Stroud was also not to be denied when landing Ecurie des Monceaux's daughter of Dubawi and the winning Galileo mare Davantage  for Godolphin at €650,000 ($766,746). The chestnut is a half sister to Prix Miesque (G3) winner Devant , herself a half sister to two stakes winners. 

Magnier in Love With Siyouni

M.V. Magnier has every reason to be impressed with Siyouni progeny after St Mark's Basilica 's dazzling displays in France and Britain this term, and the Coolmore magnate won the battle to secure Ecurie des Monceaux's Siyouni filly (Lot 160) at €650,000 ($766,746). 

She is the first foal out of the winning Shamardal mare Correze, a daughter of Shadwell Stud Nell Gwyn Stakes (G3) winner Cloud Castle  and a half sister to Queen's Best, a group 3 winner and dam of Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1T) scorer Queen's Trust , plus Urban Castle, dam of multiple American grade 1 victor Domestic Spending . 

The hammer comes down at €650,000 for lot 1⃣6⃣0⃣ as @coolmorestud buys the filly by #Siyouni (@AgaKhanStuds) out of a half-sister to QUEEN'S BEST offered by @EcurieMonceaux at the August Yearling Sale. pic.twitter.com/rTE1V92Ley

— ARQANA (@InfoArqana) August 15, 2021

Magnier said: "Sottsass was a fantastic horse and hopefully St Mark's Basilica could be something very special so Siyouni is doing very well. Monceaux do an incredible job and she was a very nice filly, a lot of people liked her. In fairness to Henri Bozo the whole team there does a fantastic job and let's hope she's lucky for everyone." 

'We Loved Her as an Individual'

Frankel's blistering form with his progeny on the track this year transferred to the Arqana sales ring when Ecurie des Monceaux's half sister to two stakes winners from the family of Sole Power  made €525,000 ($619,295) to Gordon-Watson. 

Out of Sotka, a winning and stakes-placed Dutch Art half sister to Sole Power, the European champion sprinter, winner of the King's Stand (G1), two editions of the Coolmore Nunthorpe (G1), and the Al Quoz Sprint Empowered By IPIC (G1), the daughter of Banstead Manor Stud's red-hot sire came in for emphatic praise from the leading agent. 

Gordon-Watson, who revealed the filly (Lot 99) would go to either Andre Fabre or John Gosden, said: "We like Frankel with a speed family and Dutch Art's a good broodmare sire for speed. The dam has bred two nice horses already."

The 12-year-old in question, Sotka, has produced two group winners in Prix Sigy (G3) victress Fas  and Prix Bertrand de Tarragon (G3) winner Silva , and Gordon-Watson expects her April-born filly to thrive with age. 

He added: "We loved her as an individual, she was a late foal so she's only going to improve. We love to buy from Monceaux, they're the best, and we love Frankel."

Magnier Strikes for Wings of Eagles Half

As a half sister to 2017 Investec Derby (G1) winner Wings of Eagles , Haras de Montaigu's Galileo filly looked one of the standout lots of the sale, both physically and because of her family credentials. 

Bidding for the daughter of Coolmore's late, great Galileo reached €500,000 ($589,805), with Magnier outgunning his rivals to secure the good-looking gray (Lot 120). 

Out of the multiple group-placed Kendor mare Ysoldina , a half sister to Prix Saint-Alary winner Belle Et Celebre  and the high-class Scandinavian performer Appel Au Maitre , the filly's page received yet another boost with Baby Rider , a son of Ysoldina's stakes-placed Oasis Dream  daughter Gyrella, winning this year's Prix Greffulhe (G2). 

"She's a lovely filly and in fairness to Sybille (Gibson) and the team at Montaigu, they're great breeders with great history behind them," said Magnier. "She's a lovely filly and Wings Of Eagles was a very good horse, so let's be hopeful. She looks like a nice filly and we look forward to her."

Skiffington on Form

Wootton Bassett  continues to produce strong results across the sales rings and his Coulonces-consigned son of the listed-placed Bhageerathi caught the imagination of many when heading the way of Amanda Skiffington for €500,000 ($589,805). 

"He's just a lovely, lovely horse by a horse who I think is a very good stallion," said Skiffington. "That's whereabouts we expected to have to go for him. He's a very nice horse and you don't buy a very nice horse by a good stallion cheaply."

"He's for Fiona Carmichael and we're going to buy a few horses and see what we get before we decide where they go. All of them will go to Malcolm Bastard and then we'll see."

While Wootton Bassett has moved to Coolmore, Etreham has high hopes for his son Almanzor , and Skiffington produced another winning bid at €450,000 for Haras des Capucines' filly, who was the subject of a welcome and extremely recent boost when her Siyouni half sister Who Knows  took the opening Circus Maximus Prix Francois Boutin (G3) at Deauville earlier in the day. 

Already a half sister to German Two Thousand Guineas (G1) winner Poetic Dream , the March-born filly (Lot 121) is the sixth foal out of the listed-winning Poliglote mare Zain Al Boldan. Further back in the page is the Abu Dhabi Prix de Malleret (G2) winner Never Forget, a half sister to the hugely popular and much missed grade 1-winning chaser Top Notch. 

"She's beautiful and I thought she was the best-looking filly here," said Skiffington. "And the sister winning today didn't hurt."

Day Two Numbers

The second evening of the August Yearling Sale, which was held in alphabetical order and featured the second half of Part 1 of the catalog, recorded a total of 78% of the yearlings presented sold for an average price of €307,787 ($363,068), generating a turnover of €18,775,000 ($22,147,147). Bringing together 157 lots in total, Part 1 of the catalog returned to levels close to those of 2018, just behind the very good results of 2019.

A total of 75% of the yearlings offered changed hands (118 sold). The average price reached €257,136 ($303,068), a decline of 11%, and the turnover amounted to €30,462,000 ($35,790,397), a 9% fall. 

The sale continues at noon local time Aug. 16, when among the highlights are La Motteraye's Lope De Vega filly out of Lingfield Oaks Trial winner Honor Bound, an Authorized half sister to Irish Derby (G1) hero Treasure Beach (Lot 196); the Arcadia Elevage-consigned Havana Gold colt out of a full sister to Al Kazeem (Lot 206); and Haras de Montaigu's Almanzor filly from the family of Diamond Jubilee Stakes (G1) and Darley Sprint Cup (G1) winner Hello Youmzain (Lot 326).