Coolmore And Godolphin Hoover Up Wootton Bassett Yearlings At Arqana

The leading owners battled it out for the progeny of Wootton Bassett on a day when the Coolmore stallion was responsible for the €2.3 million top lot

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE — What more can you say that hasn't already been said about Wootton Bassett? If Aidan O'Brien was asked to sum up the stallion, you can be sure the words, different, special and unusual would be the first ones to be ticked off that bingo card. 

Even the most cynical of people will have to start agreeing with the master of Ballydoyle's appraisal of Coolmore's most expensive stallion standing in Europe following the exploits of Henri Matisse, Camille Pissarro and Whirl, who from the first crop of runners conceived since he moved to Ireland, have won Classics and Group 1 races this season. 

No surprise then that after day two of the Arqana August Yearling Sale, Wootton Bassett is the leading sire on every metric here in Deauville and, along with Coolmore going to €2.3 million to secure the most expensive horse to sell at the sale thus far, even Godolphin pushed the boat out to spend €1.3 million on a filly and a colt by the stallion on Sunday.

It was MV Magnier who secured the top lot, who was consigned  by Haras des Capucines on behalf of Jean-Philippe Dubois of Haras des Fresnaux, with Amo Racing, an online bidder and bloodstock agent Jason Kelly involved in the battle.

Magnier said, “He's a lovely horse and Wootton Bassett is doing very well. We had his brother in Ballydoyle and he was nearly a very good horse. All the guys really liked this fella and Wootton Bassett is flying at the moment. In fairness to Mr Dubois and everyone involved, they've always been a big supporter of ours and are very good breeders. Michel Zerolo was always praising this horse a lot so let's hope he's good.”

The Wootton Bassett colt is out of Invincible Spirit mare High Celebrity, who won a Group 3 herself before placing behind Tiggy Wiggy – later bought by Coolmore for 2.1 million gns – in the Cheveley Park Stakes in 2014 when trained by Andre Fabre. 

High Celebrity has already produced two Stakes horses, including Highbury, who O'Brien trained to finish second in last year's G2 Queen's Vase at Royal Ascot. 

Magnier added, “He's a very nice horse by Wootton Bassett bred by one of the best breeders in France. It's a lot of money, I appreciate that, but he's a good horse and Wootton Bassett is breaking all the rules at the moment. The boss man [John Magnier] is here and it was his call.”

Dubois has retained High Celebrity, according to Capucines boss Eric Puerari, who showered the top lot with praise. 

He said, “I'm very happy for the breeder, Jean-Philippe Dubois, who has a great operation, both Flat and trotting. He's a leader in his business, and he goes to the best stallions. He kept this very good racemare, the dam of that beautiful colt. The price was deserved, because the colt was exceptional all along. All the main players were on him and we knew it was going to go like this.”

Godolphin Doubles Up On Wootton Bassett

Coolmore has not been shy about supporting Godolphin stallions for nearly a decade now, notably in the case of Dubawi, and that love was reciprocated on Sunday when Anthony Stroud spent €1.3 million on two Wootton Bassett yearlings on behalf of Sheikh Mohammed's powerful operation.

The seven-figure spend on the progeny by the stallion was headed by lot 103, a €900,000 colt out of Hidden Breeze (Dark Angel), a sister to G1 Matron Stakes runner-up Lily's Angel from Haras d'Etreham. Godolphin also landed a Wootton Bassett filly out of Listed scorer Flighty Lady (Sir Percy) from Haras du Cadran for €400,000. 

Stroud commented, “The stallion speaks for himself – he's done so well. He is a top-class stallion and is very versatile.” 

For Haras d'Etreham, the sale at €900,000 of Hidden Breeze's colt marked a poignant record.

“It's our best result selling a yearling by Wootton Bassett,” said Nicolas de Chambure, the man chiefly responsible for getting the stallion's career off the ground when standing him at Etreham in his early years.

“We've been better at breeding good Wootton Bassetts than selling expensive ones. His dam is a young mare and it's great to be able to get a good result in the ring, but obviously we hope he is good on the track for Godolphin. It's great to have them here and supporting us like that so I hope he is very lucky for them.”

When it comes to breeding good colts by Wootton Bassett, Etreham was responsible for the first of them, the European champion three-year-old Almanzor. Though he is now a permanent resident at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, his parting gift to his breeders was this year's Prix de Diane winner Gezora, who was bought privately in training by Peter Brant of White Birch Farm.

“It's been a good season on the track and, as we advertised a little bit before the sale, we try to race a few who haven't made it to the sale and sell them later, so we are an open market at any time of their career,” de Chambure added. 

Tweenhills Reluctantly Parts With a Gem

Tweenhills Farm arrived in Deauville with its first draft of August yearlings and sold all three at an average of €566,667, including Lot 140, a colt by Siyouni out of one of Sheikh Fahad's earliest Group 1 winners, Lightening Pearl (Marju).

The final bid of €1.25 million was placed online with the buyer later being identified as the American Racing Corporation, an unfamiliar name in racing circles.

Speaking as he exited the ring, David Redvers of Tweenhills said, “I feel slightly sick. We've been a full-blown operation for a long time and we've never had a nicer colt than this with a stallion's pedigree. So obviously I am sick to see him go.”

He added, “When Sheikh Fahad saw him for the first time he said that he thought he was the best horse we've ever bred on the farm and I'll take that as a major compliment. We've underbid him here and now I have to go to find out who bought him.”

Talking Points 

• The general chat has been that the best is yet to come on Monday but already the figures are looking pretty healthy, highlighted by an 11% rise in the average. After some day one jitters, the figures took a big step forward on Sunday, with the average for day two alone up a massive 25% compared to this day last year. The Sunday session also posted a rise in the aggregate – up 12% to €15,035,000 – while the clearance rate was up 2% to 85%. The overall clearance rate for the sale stands at 78% – up 3% on last year. 
• For €500,000, you could buy yourself a gorgeous little chalet in Normandy. But for half a million quid, you can also get yourself a Frankel colt out of a Classic winner. Depends how you define value but, most people in attendance on Sunday might suggest that it was Japanese trainer Yoshito Yahagi who got the most bang for his buck. The colt in question, of course, is out of French 1,000 Guineas winner Mangoustine (Dark Angel) and was consigned by Monceaux. He will be joined by a Siyouni filly and colt on the plane back to Japan, taking his total spend at this sale to €1.42 million. Yahagi said, “It was a good price. Mozu Ascot (Frankel) won two Group 1 races and he [Frankel] is a very good stallion at the moment. I think this horse is a miler, so maybe the Prix Jacques le Marois! We bought two other Siyounis yesterday. We're done now.”

• The ever-entertaining American owner Mike Repole, whose colours are synonymous with brilliant horses like Uncle Mo, Stay Thirsty and more recently Fierceness, has big plans for his €300,000 Dubawi filly (lot 109) that was purchased from Baroda Stud. Rather than returning to the States, where the majority of Repole's string is trained, the idea is being floated for the filly to stay in Europe – with Italy being put forward as the most likely jurisdiction for her to be trained in. Asked where the horse was destined for shortly after the hammer had dropped, Repole replied via text message, “That's a great question. My team just asked me that and I don't know. There is a 15 per cent tariff and, while I haven't made any decision yet, I am leaning towards keeping her in Europe. Alex [Solis], Madison [Scott] and Ed [Rosen] are all working together. They present everything to me and we discuss it as a group. We then vet, come up with a price range and bid. We could leave this horse in France or even Italy – I plan on sending some horses to Endo Botti. I go there every year and I need a reason to go more.” It is understood that Repole has already sent three horses to be trained by Botti, one of the leading trainers in that country. Lot 109 is out of Galileo mare How, who is a daughter of multiple Group 1 winner Lillie Langtry (Danehill Dancer), and a sister to high-class mares Minding, Tuesday, Empress Josephine and Kissed By Angels.

• Popular owner-breeder Craig Bernick added a potential long-term prospect to his team in the shape of lot 102, a Monceaux-consigned Sea The Stars filly from the family of Emily Upjohn. Bernick has enjoyed huge success in Europe, notably with trainer Fozzy Stack in Ireland, but the Sea The Stars will be joining the stable of Francis Graffard, who sent out Audubon Park (Dubawi) to win a Listed contest on behalf of the American-based owner this year. Speaking about his new addition, Bernick said, “She's got a great outlook. A plain, bay filly with a great walk. We've only had one Sea The Stars at Glen Hill Farm and, long-term, he's probably going to be one of the best broodmare sires. It's just one of those families that, if you see a good individual, it's definitely one that's always on the radar. We're excited to have her and she will go to Francis Graffard.” Lot 102 was knocked down to bloodstock agent Hubie de Burgh, who showed his age when suggesting that Bernick might well be around longer to enjoy these top-notch families. De Burgh said, “Really what Craig is, is he's a collector of long-term breeding prospects. Fillies like Audubon Park will go back to the farm and she is a long-term breeding prospect so Craig is buying into the best families. Hopefully he'll be around in 50 years' time to enjoy them. I'll be in my wheelchair and he'll be pushing me around!”

Golden Touch

It's hard to remember a sale where Roderic Kavanagh didn't enjoy a major result and, not for the first time, the 'Golden Touch' accolades were rightly his after he turned 45,000gns into €220,000 within the space of eight months. Lot 114, a Showcasing filly that went the way of Kenny McPeek on Sunday, had been sourced at the December Foal Sale at Tattersalls. 

The yearling was pinhooked by Ronald Rauscher in partnership with Peter and Roderic Kavanagh and Cormac O'Flynn.

Roderic said, “We're very happy with that. She's a lovely filly and that was a great turnaround. I'd say it hasn't been easy on the whole here for pinhookers so we're delighted to come out very much on the right side of it.”

He added, “She's going to a great home as well: Kenny McPeek, what a cool guy. He described her as sexy and I thought that was a good way of describing her, she's a jet-black filly and a beauty.”