Arqana sees declines in average, median

A filly by Elusive City topped the fourth and final day of selling at the

Arqana August Yearling Sale in Deauville. Sir Robert Ogden secured the

French-bred full-sister to the stakes-placed sophomore Mister Hughie for

€190,000. Haras de Grandcamp consigned the

filly, produced by the stakes-placed Bonne Nere (Fr) (Stepneyev), as Lot No.

339.

The top price for a colt Monday was the €100,000

Valerie Dissaux paid for Lot 473, a son of the red-hot Dubawi. Unsold in the

ring but acquired by Dissaux privately soon after, the colt was offered by Haras

du Petit Tellier (Patrick Chedeville). He was produced by the 15-year-old Summer

Dance (Machiavellian), who has also produced the stakes-placed Summer Princesse

(Desert Prince [Ire]).

The sale closed with a substantial drop in average, due mostly to reduced

demand at the top of the market. A total of 280 lots sold for an average of

€94,145, a 17.2 percent decline from a year

ago. Cumulative median maintained well, however, with the figure of

€70,000 down just 2.8 percent.

"The top tier of the market has suffered the most, through the combined

effects of a drop in the amounts that buyers are willing to spend on top-class

yearlings, and reduced competition at the highest level resulting from the

absence of several leading players," Arqana President Eric Hoyeau commented.

"However, the core market has remained very solid, with genuine depth up to

€400,000, as we saw on the second day of the

sale. The lower end of the market did okay, but proved very selective, with

buyers preferring to go home empty handed rather than purchase a horse that

didn't tick all the boxes"

For complete results, visit arqana.com.