FRENCH auction house Auctav’s new address is a special place in the history of racing, Haras de Bois Roussel.

Its lands and stables have been home to many champions and classic winners, including the Prix de Jockey Club-French Derby, the Derby at Epsom and Prix de ‘Arc de Triomphe victors. The stud was founded in 1859, and since its creation by the Roederer family, the Normandy fields have seen generations of great horses pass through, from Boïard to Almeira.

The Haras de Bois Roussel is equipped with 120 boxes, a walker, a round pen and sand paddocks. Ideally located in the Normandy region, near the main roads leading to Deauville and Paris, the farm offers an ideal configuration and infrastructure for the development of Auctav. This will enable the organization of the Rouges Terres Sale, Auctav’s new selected trotting yearling sale, and the September 14th National Hunt sale, to be carried out more easily. Private sales will also be made more practical with the venue.

National Hunt

Auctav’s first National Hunt sale lived up to its billing, with a top price of €200,000 for Jackpot De Choisel sold to CAVA Associates. The gelding won by 32 lengths for trainer John McConnell and his new owner, Derek Kierans.

The 2022 edition featured the sale of the yearlings Olympic Story (Masked Marvel) for €95,000, Doctor Sea (Doctor Dino) for €68,000, Blackbird (Masked Marvel) for €65,000, and the two-year-old Salvatore Mundi (No Risk At All) for €70,000. Some 40 different buyers signed for lots.

On August 24th this year, a new date will be added to the yearling sale calendar with a catalogue of selected lots the day before the Rouges Terres Sale. This new event was created following a growing number of requests from breeders. The date is just before a now firmly-established sale in the calendar. Entries are being invited now.

Auctav has also decided to make a radical change by lowering the commission to intermediaries by half. The commission will be reduced from 10% including VAT, to 5% excluding VAT. This will boost the sellers’ profit share.

Showcase

The Rouges Terres Sale keeps its name after its move to Haras de Bois Roussel. The setting will be perfect for the event, which will celebrate its seventh edition on August 25th, allowing it to flourish even more in an area dedicated to the marketing of horses. The Rouges Terres Sale has set records in the last two years, thanks to the improved quality of the horses presented. The selection of lots from the Baudron and Dubois families’ breeding farms remains key to the sale’s attraction.

Celebrating

Arnaud Angéliaume, Auctav’s general director, said: “Auctav is celebrating its second anniversary. We created this agency thanks to a convergence of talents and opportunities, built solid foundations, and found great partners to achieve what we wanted, offering new opportunities and a new experience for sales.

“We are very proud to be the second sales agency in France to have its own infrastructure for organizing sales. This will also be at the disposal of those who wish to organize private sales with Auctav. I would like to thank Haras des Rouges Terres for welcoming us and for being our first home.

“Haras de Bois Roussel will be the setting for a new phase of growth. We have many ideas and this place is an ideal and indispensable tool to realize them”.

Fowlston to head up Dullingham Park

SENIOR Tattersalls auctioneer Ollie Fowlston is to leave his role after 25 years at the Newmarket-based firm to become managing director at Dullingham Park, part of owner Steve Parkin’s expanding Clipper Group.

Fowlston, who will take up his new position in June after the completion of Tattersalls’ yearling inspections, is widely-regarded as one of the best auctioneers in the business.

He has sold horses in Britain, Ireland, Australia, Jamaica and Dubai, with the undoubted highlight coming last autumn when he brought down the hammer after Alcohol Free made an incredible 5,400,000gns at Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

Parkin’s former company Clipper Logistics is recognised as world leader, and the Yorkshireman has become a highly significant player in European bloodstock over the last 20 years, with his racing and breeding interests managed by Joe Foley. Parkin’s very first racehorse was Group 2 winner Captain Rio (Pivotal), who later spent a decade at Ballyhane Stud, shuttled to New Zealand, and was sold to the Jockey Club of Turkey, where he stood until his death last year at the age of 23.

Parkin’s other stars include last year’s Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes winner and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint runner-up Dramatised (Showcasing), trained by Karl Burke, Soldier’s Call (Showcasing) who is now standing at Ballyhane and has his first runners this year, and Rosdhu Queen (Invincible Spirit), a Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes heroine for William Haggas.

Victory

Space Traveller (Bated Breath), successful in the Group 2 Clipper Logistics Boomerang Stakes at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend, is another who carried Parkin’s silks to victory, and he has embarked on his new career as a stallion this year at Ballyhane Stud.

“We are delighted that Ollie is coming to join the team,” said Parkin this week. “He brings a wealth of knowledge and integrity from his time working at such a reputable company as Tattersalls. We have big plans for the future at Dullingham Park and, with Ollie at the helm, we have the right man to take things forward.”

Fowlston commented: “Dullingham Park is a very exciting venture within the Clipper Group and I can’t wait to get started in my new role working for Steve Parkin and Joe Foley. As a group, I’m sure we will be doing plenty of business with Tattersalls, so it’s a case of ‘au revoir’ and not ‘goodbye’. Park Paddocks is a truly remarkable arena and I will leave Tattersalls with nothing but very fond memories. I cannot thank Edmond Mahony and my colleagues at Tattersalls enough for my amazing 25 years with the company.”

Absolute pleasure

Tattersalls chairman Edmond Mahony added: “It has been an absolute pleasure working with and selling horses alongside Ollie for the best part of 25 years; we will all be very sad to see him go. But this represents a wonderful opportunity for Ollie. So I and everyone at Tattersalls wish him all the very best in the future and look forward to seeing plenty more of him at Park Paddocks in the coming years.”

Dullingham Park Stud, previously owned by Mark Tompkins, is situated on some 90 acres just outside Newmarket. Parking also owns Branston Park Stud in Yorkshire. The world-renowned Banstead Manor Stud is also based in Dullingham.