A PACKED auditorium anticipated something special when the stakes-winning Frankel four-year-old Frankel Light entered the ring at Arqana during the first session of the four-day Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville and they were not disappointed. The mare, carrying her first foal by Yeomanstown Stud’s Dark Angel, was eventually knocked down for €1.3 million.

Offered by Haras du Mezeray, the two-time winner is a half-sister to this season’s Australian Group 3 winner Le Juge and comes from the Niarchos family of Group 1 scorers Aviance, Chimes Of Freedom, War Of Will and Pathfork. Charlie Gordon-Watson had the final say and he was joined by Watership Down Stud’s manager Simon Marsh. The latter revealed plans for the new purchase when he said: “We’ve bought her for Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Watership Down Stud and she’ll go to Too Darn Hot next year. We’re delighted to have got her as she’s from a great family”.