Storm Cat colt brings €900,000 at Deauville

Storm Cat colt brings €900,000

at Deauville

Arqana's August Yearling Sale kicked off in sensational style Friday when the

highlight of a strong opening trade

was the selling of a Storm Cat half-brother to Electrocutionist (Red Ransom) for

€900,000. At roughly halfway

through the session, the only offering by the giant of recent times stepped into

the ring, and immediately had the

attention of the majority of the visitors to the Normandy venue. Eventual

leading consignors Haras d'Etreham

presented the January-foaled chestnut as Hip No. 61, and it was inevitable that John

Ferguson would be at the forefront of

the bidding.

Electrocutionist, who was one of Godolphin's most successful

acquisitions of recent times, holds a special

place in the hearts of those engaged with the operation. Having battled to

success against the odds in the Dubai

World Cup (UAE-G1) three years ago, he met an untimely death from a heart attack after

second placings in the Prince of Wales's S. (Eng-G1) and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond S.

(Eng-G1).

"Of

course, we have been

successful with this family, and he was a very athletic individual," Ferguson

said of the colt, who was led out unsold

at $700,000 as a weanling at Keeneland last November. "We live in the last of the Storm Cat days

and we have followed this horse ever

since he was a baby. He has been progressing all the time, and Sheikh Mohammed

flew into Deauville this morning to

look at him and loved him."

Ferguson, at his selective best Friday, closed out the day as leading buyer

with five lots totaling €2.77 million.

Among that quintet was the top-priced filly of the session, Newsells Park Stud's

Hip 77, a daughter of Kingmambo.

Her listed-placed dam Helena Molony (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) is a sister to High

Chaparral (Ire) and Black Bear Island

(Ire). The latter, who took the Dante S. (Eng-G1) at York in May, was just beaten in

last Saturday's Secretariat S. (G1), and that

update helped her reach a bid of €600,000.

During the early exchanges, Ferguson

paid €500,000 for Hip 4, a son of

Smart Strike who is out of the listed-placed Rose Melody (Ire) (Galileo [Ire]).

From the draft of Ecurie des

Monceaux, the March-foaled bay is from the family of multiple Grade 2 victor Gold and Steel (Fr)

(Shining Steel [GB]).

Four lots later, he paid €570,000

for Haras de la Perelle's full brother to Gentlewave (Monsun), the 2006 Derby Italiano

(Ity-G1) winner and

Irish Derby (Ire-G1) runner-up .

"We love what we bought," Ferguson continued. "The Monsun

full brother to Gentlewave is a

very athletic horse by a proven international sire. We have two Monsun sires at

home in Shirocco (Ger) and Manduro, and

he could be of the same caliber. The Kingmambo filly could be anything.

Obviously, she has an outstanding pedigree,

and such opportunities to buy such a well-bred filly are rare. We might go for

some more, you never know."

Two lots before the Storm Cat, a son of Montjeu (Ire) with two high-class

siblings commanded  €750,000 from Demi

O'Byrne, who bought a total of five during the afternoon. Haras de la

Reboursiere's January-foaled colt, consigned as Hip 59, is a full brother to the 2006 Prix Ganay

(Fr-G1) winner, Corre Caminos,

and a half to the 2007 Prix du

Muguet (Fr-G2) scorer, Racinger (Spectrum).

Aliette Forien, who owns

Reboursiere et de Montaigu, said, "That is a

great sale. We had this yearling in a foal sharing with Coolmore and they loved

him, and so bought him. He had it all,

the pedigree and a look that matched, and he was an outstanding individual. You

can't ask for much more in a horse. I

am pleasantly surprised at the excellent atmosphere at the sale and the good

business. I have to say that I was quite

worried beforehand."

O'Byrne added, "He's a very good-looking colt and his dam

already has two good horses. He was

a good walker and we paid about as much as we had anticipated."

Earlier, another son of the former Arc hero had caused a stir with John Warren

prevailing on behalf of Sir Robert

Ogden for Haras du Mezaray's Hip 38. Out of a sister to the 2000 Prix Marcel Boussac

(Fr-G1) heroine, Amonita (GB)

(Anabaa), the February-foaled bay from the family of the 2005 One Thousand

Guineas third Vista Bella (Diktat)

cost the knighted Brit  €600,000. Two lots earlier, Warren had also paid 

€500,000

for Ogden to secure Hip 36, a son of

Giant's Causeway out of Amonita herself from the same draft.

"We are trying to

put together a nice band of racehorses

for Sir Robert to be trained by Jeremy Noseda," Warren said. "The sale is strong

and there were some very nice

individuals. Both colts I bought are from the same family and are by two proven

top sires. Their looks matched their

lovely pedigrees and, therefore, you have to pay some money."

Ogden added, "I am

better known for my jump horses,

but I used to work with Francois Mathet and now live in the South of France, so

it is easier for me to come here. I like

coming here, I like the atmosphere. I have bought jumpers, stores and foals and

some very good jumpers in France. It

is the first time I have bought flat yearlings, though, and I am trying to keep

some ammunition for the other sales, but

we might be tempted later in the afternoon."

Haras d'Etreham's day started on a down note, with their full-sister to

Schiaparelli, Samum and Salve

Regina, all by Monsun, failing to sell at €520,000, but things turned

around for the auction's perennial

leading light. They were responsible for the highest-priced yearling from a

first crop when a son of Coolmore's

Hurricane Run (Ire) sold for €520,000. Hip 63 is a half to

Group/Grade 1-placed

Sardaukar (GB) (Royal Academy) and

a trio of group-placed performers, including the smart Kindjhal (Ashkalani). He was sold to Prince Mitab

bin Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz's SKAS, which sprang to prominence here 12 months

ago.

Also buying at the high end

of the market, Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock went to

€500,000 to get Coulonces Consignment's Hip 100, a

Peintre Celebre half-sister to this year's Prix du Jockey-Club (Fr-G1) winner Le

Havre (Noverre). Now retired, the

Chantilly classic victor was trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, and that is where

this filly is destined, according to the

agent.

"I bought the filly for Martin Schwartz," Zerolo said. "He loved winning

the Prix de Diane (Fr-G1) this year with

Stacelita (Monsun), and we will try to repeat it in 2011 with this

one. She was a gorgeous filly and, for

me, was the best filly in the sale. She is a half-sister to a classic winner by

a top-class sire and we had to fight a bit to

get her. We now have to be hopeful."

Arqana's management was left reflecting on a tumultuous trade Friday evening,

which resulted in a set of

statistics that not even the greatest optimist could have predicted beforehand.

The gross of €19,870,000 eclipsed last

year's total by 12 percent, while the average of €241,709 and median of

€180,000

represented improvements of 11 percent and 6 percent, respectively, on 2008.

With 24 lots selling for €300,000

or more, against 19 the previous year,

and nine making or surpassing the €500,000 mark opposed to just six a year ago,

the company's President Eric Hoyeau

was in ebullient mood.

"Our aims were to keep upgrading the quality of the

catalog, as well as further broadening

our client base, and today's results are a major step in this direction," Hoyeau

said. "We are particularly pleased with

the diversity of buyers at €300,000 and above, which reflects a very solid

market."