Leo Powell reports from the four-day yearling sale at Deauville which concluded on Tuesday

Fillies stole the headlines at a highly satisfactory renewal of the Arqana August Yearling Sale in Deauville, the fairer sex being responsible for 14 of the top 20 lots. The three-day select catalogue sold from Saturday on and it was one of the earliest lots in the catalogue that ended up as the sale-topper.

Lot 11 was a daughter of Monsun and was offered by the leading consignor at the sale, Lucien Urano’s Ecurie des Monceaux. Already a half-sister to the Group 1 winner Seismos, the yearling’s half-brother added the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes to his list of victories some 90 minutes before the filly entered the ring.

Competition was fierce for the yearling who comes from one of the best families in the stud book and her dam Sasuela is a half-sister to the unraced Monsun mare Sanwa, dam of the current German sensation Sea The Moon. Tony Nerses outbid all the opposition to acquire the sale headliner for €1.2 million on behalf of the owners of Derby winner Authorized, Saleh Al Homaizi and Imad Al Sagar. The filly will likely be trained in Newmarket.

TREMENDOUS SALE

Ecurie des Monceaux enjoyed a tremendous sale and sold two of the three yearlings to make seven-figure sums. The other was an Invincible Spirit colt out of Prudenzia, a mare that has made plenty of headlines with her progeny. Her previous two yearlings, fillies by Galileo, sold for a million or more and this time her colt by the Irish National Stud’s flagship stallion realised €1.1 million to Mayfair Speculators, a group of South African owners that include Markus Jooste and Bernard Kantor. They were in the company of Peter and Ross Doyle. A half-brother to the Darley Irish Oaks winner Chicquita, this Invincible Spirit colt will be trained in France.

The third yearling to make seven figures was a daughter of perennial champion sire Galileo and the first foal of the group-placed Danehill Dancer mare Dance Secretary. Anthony Stroud gave a million for her and he was with Derek Brugman acting for Mayfair Speculators. This filly was part of a star-studded draft from Haras de la Reboursiere et de Montaigu. Dance Secretary is a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner Perfect Soul.

Earlier in the sale Mayfair Speculators, represented by Brugman but this time with Peter and Ross Doyle, purchased significant yearling fillies by Sea The Stars and Monsun. The former was consigned by Ecurie des Monceaux again and cost €700,000. She is a granddaughter of the Prix Saint-Alary winner Vadawina and from a hugely successful Aga Khan family. Mayfair’s other significant purchase was a daughter of Monsun for €650,000. She is out of a listed winner in Germany who also landed the Swiss Derby.

MAGNIER BUY

Invincible Spirit was responsible for two of the top four lots and M.V. Magnier acquired a half-sister to Group 1 winners Most Improved and Ectot for €850,000. Most Improved, a grandson of Invincible Spirit, has just completed his first season at Coolmore.

Dansili was another sire in demand and he had three offspring among the top 20 lots. Best of the trio was Haras du Mezeray’s colt out of the dual German stakes winner Mambo Light and he caught the eye of the Coolmore team who stand two sons of Dansili in Requinto and Zoffany. Peter and Ross Doyle paid €480,000 for a Dansili daughter of the stakes-winning Oasis Dream mare Thai Haku from Anne and Etienne Drion’s Coulances Consignment, while Juddmonte Farms acquired a half-brother to Group 2 winner Silver Pond for €350,000, Haras du Quesnay offered this son of Dansili.

A full-brother to French Navy, winner of the Group 3 Diomed Stakes, was the best priced yearling sold from Haras des Capucines. John Warren was forced to €720,000 to get this son of Shamardal on behalf of Al Shaqab Racing.

Daughters of Galileo with excellent pedigree are always in demand and Peter and Ross Doyle forked out €620,000 for a daughter of the Grade 2 Canadian racemare Naissance Royale from Ecurie des Monceaux, also for Al Shaqab. The same vendors parted with a half-sister to this year’s Prix Hocquart winner Free Port Lux for €560,000. The buyer Michael Wallace was acting for the China Horse Club and the new purchase will stay in France.

SEA THE STARS

Galileo’s half-brother Sea The Stars is another enjoying huge success on the racecourse and in the sale ring and his daughter of the classic-placed Ysoldina sold to Pascal Bary for €600,000 on behalf of the owner of Group 1 winner Spiritjim. She was another from the stellar draft of Gilles and Aliette Forien’s Haras de la Reboursiere et de Montaigu.

A colt by the brilliant son of Cape Cross was sold by Haras d’Etreham for €400,000 to Nicolas de Watrigant’s Mandore International and he is already a half-brother to five stakes winners. Mandore’s purchases also included an Exceed And Excel filly, the first foal of the multiple stakes-placed Bikini Babe, sold from Coulances Consignment at €360,000.

The Coulances Consignment included the only yearling in the sale by Dubawi and she sold for €500,000 to Patrick Barbe. The filly is a half-sister to the classic-placed Oh Goodness Me and will race in Japan. The same vendors matched that sale price for a Rock Of Gibraltar half-sister to Avenir Certain, winner of both the French Oaks and 1000 Guineas this year, and a leading contender for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Narvick International’s Emmanuel de Seroux signed the buyer’s docket and she too is heading to Japan.

M.V. Magnier’s buying spree included an Oasis Dream colt out of triple Group 3 winner Soneva from Haras de Grandchamp for €480,000. Connections will be hoping he proves to be as good as the same sire’s Power, now on the Coolmore roster.

SUPERB RESULTS

The three-day aggregate grew by 12%, the average by 10% and the median by almost 13%. The results pleased Arqana chairman Eric Hoyeau. “The superb results of the August sale prove that Deauville is more than ever a stronghold at the international level, attracting an audience as large as it is varied.

“This year the huge number of new faces and the depth of the client base in every price bracket were particularly remarkable and are a testament to the genuine strength of the market at Deauville. The quality of the horses on offer and the recurring success of graduates of the sale as well as the well-known attractions of Deauville create an unbeatable package for buyers hailing from all over the world.

“And of course, the excellence of the French racing system, of our infrastructures and of French industry professionals attracts an increasing number of foreign owners with the ambition of developing a high class racing operation.”