THE Arqana August Sale is always a much-anticipated affair as the who’s who of bloodstock descend upon Deauville for the first yearling sale of the European season.

Even those watching from afar always track results with keen interest, hoping to gain an insight into the health of the top of the market, and even more so this year - the sale’s 20th anniversary - with buyers’ plans even more difficult to predict as the world economy weathers the conflict in the Middle East.