A Dubawi filly from one of the Niarchos family’s most successful lines struck a welcome high note during a robust second session of the Arqana August Sale in Deauville on Sunday when selling for €2.4 million.

In a transaction that towered over the evening’s trade, it was agent Charlie Gordon-Watson, bidding on behalf of an undisclosed client, who came out on top.

While the filly represents the essence of Niarchos breeding as a descendant of their blue hen Coup De Folie, her sale actually provided a landmark moment for fledgling operation Haras Voltaire, the nom-de-plume of fashion magnate Thierry Gillier who bred the youngster out of Typique and offered her through Haras d’Etreham. 

Gillier, who made his name as the creator of fashion label Zadig & Voltaire, has steadily established a presence within the French breeding scene from his base at Saint Etienne la Thillaye near Deauville. One of his first purchases was Typique, a Galileo daughter of Group 1-winning two-year-old Denebola for whom he paid €450,000 through Broadhurst Agency at the 2016 Arqana December Sale. The mare has repaid that investment many times over since then, primarily as the dam of Babylone, winner of the Group 2 Prix de Malleret since the publication of the catalogue. Her second foal, Assyrian Queen, also looked promising when second on debut for Andre Fabre at Deauville earlier this month.

“Typique is the first mare we purchased for breeding,” said stud advisor Laurent Benoit of the Broadhurst Agency. “She comes from a magnificent Niarchos family, that of Coup De Génie, Coup De Folie and Natalma, the dam of Northern Dancer, who revolutionised thoroughbred breeding.

“The first two fillies were kept to race and are at André Fabre’s. We started to sell some yearlings last year with the help of Arqana and we would like to thank Haras d’Etreham who have done a great job. We are delighted.”

Plans call for her younger half-sister to join Fabre.

Charlie Gordon-Watson paid €2.4 million for this Dubawi filly. Photo – Haras d’Etreham

“She is beautiful,” said Gordon-Watson. “I think she is the most beautiful Dubawi filly I have ever seen. It’s the best Niarchos family and the dam has already produced two good horses, including Babylone who is now a Group winner. She will join André Fabre, who loved her.”

Gordon-Watson also went to €525,000 for a Frankel relation to Sole Power to bring his expenditure to €2.925 million.

Bred by Zalim Bifov and part of a highly successful draft from Ecurie des Monceaux, the filly hails from a fast family as a half-sister to the Group 3-winning sprinter Fas and daughter of Sotka, a Listed-placed Dutch Art half-sister to champion sprinter Sole Power.

“The filly comes from a family that we love very much,” said Gordon-Watson. “The dam has already produced two very good horses and we love Frankel.”

Sunday’s session featured a trade of greater depth than the opening evening that was borne out in the sale of 59 yearlings for a total of €18.555 million and average of €314,492, up 6% from the corresponding day in 2019 (the last occasion that this sale was staged in its traditional mid-August slot). The median was €220,000.

With one more session to go, the overall average is running at €259,672.

Monceaux on top

On what was an outstanding evening for the sale’s leading vendor Ecurie des Monceaux, a Siyouni colt from its draft became the second yearling to break the million euro barrier when selling to Oliver St Lawrence for €1.5 million on behalf of Fawzi Nass.

The most expensive colt of the sale to change hands, the Pan Sutong-bred possesses a very live update as a half-brother to Angel Bleu, the recent winner of the Group 2 Vintage Stakes at Goodwood. Angel Bleu is only the first foal out of his dam Cercle De La Vie, a regally-related Galileo sister to Highland Reel, Idaho, Cape Of Good Hope and Nobel Prize and relation to brilliant Australian galloper Elvstroem.

“He is a beautiful colt who has a very nice update after his brother’s victory,” said St Lawrence, currently the sale’s leading buyer thanks to €3.35 million spent on five yearlings. “If he’s as good as him, we will have made the right choice! 

“He will head to England first and then we’ll decide who he goes into training with.”

This Siyouni half-brother to Angel Bleu made €1.5 million. Photo – Ecurie Des Monceaux/Zuzanna Lupa

The combination of Monceaux and Siyouni was also behind another popular youngster in a filly who was knocked down to MV Magnier for €650,000. Not only does she share his sire with Ballydoyle star St Mark’s Basilica but she is also a granddaughter of the Nell Gwyn Stakes winner Cloud Castle, in the news herself recently as the granddam of current top-flight performers Domestic Spending and Thundering Nights.

Magnier also paid €500,000 for the Galileo half-sister to Derby hero Wings Of Eagles from Haras de Montaigu to bring his overall expenditure to €1.37 million for three bought.

Another Kingman for Godolphin

Fresh from paying a session-topping €950,000 for a Kingman half-sister to Native Trail on Saturday, Godolphin struck again for another by the sire, with Anthony Stroud going to €850,000 for a homebred colt from Haras de Saint Pair.

From a noted Saint Pair family, he is a half-brother to promising two-year-old Green Fly and out of the Listed winner Via Pisa, a Pivotal half-sister to top Japanese miler Admire Mars.

“He comes from a very good farm, a very organic farm,” said Stroud. “Kingman is obviously a very good stallion. We have Palace Pier and then we have a very good two-year-old by Kingman who we bought here last year. And we were also involved in Persian King. 

“This is a very athletic horse.”

Godolphin also later paid €650,000 for a Dubawi half-brother to Group 3-winning two-year-old Devant. Yet another high-flying member of the Monceaux draft, the colt is bred on the popular Dubawi – Galileo cross, being out of the dual-winning Davantage.

Juddmonte strike

Juddmonte Farms, meanwhile, made a welcome foray into the market with the purchase of a Dubawi filly for €900,000.

Bred by Manfred Wurtenberger and Reinhard Stockli and the high point of a sizeable draft belonging to Haras de l’Hotellerie, the filly possesses Group 1 connections as a half-sister to Group 1-winning two-year-old Wonderment. They are out of Wiwilia, a winning Konigstiger half-sister to American Grade 1 winner Wake Forest from the famous Wurfbahn family of Waldgeist and Masked Marvel.

“She is a very beautiful filly, who moves very well,” said Juddmonte’s UK general manager Simon Mockridge. “She comes from a family with many Group 1 winners, which adds real value to her pedigree. It’s an outcross pedigree for us in the future. 

“Her future as to where she will be trained will be discussed with the family and they will make the decision.”

Following the second day of the sale, Arqana President Eric Hoyeau and Executive Director Freddy Powell commented: “Following a year when the format was changed in 2020, the first part of the August Sale is back to levels close to those we experienced before Covid. Yesterday’s start was tentative, but today’s results were solid. The sale was conducted in a professional environment and we can already thank all the players in the sector who joined together with us to move in the same direction. Our vendors did a very good job. The buyers trusted us and were there, despite the travel constraints that remain for some of them. We now look forward to the second part of the sale and then v.2 on Tuesday.”

The sale continues on Monday.

Juddmonte will race this Dubawi filly. Photo – Arqana