Carini to join O'Brien stable after setting new Arqana record

Written by Lydia Symonds

Cover image courtesy of Zuzanna Lupa

As is the case with plenty of the horses in training sales in the Northern Hemisphere this past decade, buyers from Australia made their presence felt at the Arqana Autumn Sale in Deauville on Monday with two of the most expensive lots sold to continue their careers Down Under.

The headline act on an afternoon of buoyant trade was three-time-winning and Listed-placed gelding Carini (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who was purchased by Nicolas Lefevre's Equos Racing and Astute Bloodstock's Louis Le Metayer for €600,000 (AU$922,400), a record for price for the sale.

Lefevre was doing the bidding while on the phone to his former boss, Le Metayer and the French native, who is now based in Sydney, told TDN AusNZ on Tuesday that he believed the son of Siyouni (Fr) had the right profile to make his mark in Australia.

“Siyouni is obviously a very good stallion and has done very well in Australia with limited numbers. We mostly bought the horse on his form and really liked the fact that he is by a good stallion out of a Group-winning mare with a good pedigree certainly helps,” said Le Metayer.

The gelding has raced six times in his career for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and the Aga Khan, the 3-year-old will now join the stable of Danny O’Brien having been bought on behalf of prominent-owner Brae Sokolski.

“He was unraced as a 2-year-old, he is sound and he is only just learning. We thought it was the right horse for Australia with his turn of foot,” continued Le Metayer.

“Our staying program means that horses start short and finish long, so you need a stayer that can run first-up over a mile and he has been competitive over a mile which makes him a good prospect for Australia and I think he will be well-suited to race here.”

Carini is out of the dual Group 2-winning mare Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and hails from the family of dual stakes-winning pair Canessar (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) and Canndera (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}).

Sokolski has had previous dealings with Carini’s previous trainer, Graffard, through the multiple Group 1-winning mare, Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}), who was moved to the French trainer's stable for her fruitless European campaign and he said the trainer contacted him when the gelding horse was entered as a wild card at the sale.

“Francis contacted me and was effusive in his praise for the horse, his ability, and held the belief he would measure up to some better races in Australia,” Sokolski told Racing.com.

“They (Aga Khan Studs) have a policy of selling geldings but Francis felt that he was a progressive stayer that would fit into the Australian system. Given that endorsement from Francis, I felt that he was one worth pursuing.

“Carini is going to arrive in Australia on a relatively low rating and we're in no hurry with him. We'll look to take him through his grades in the autumn but we're not rushing to set him for major races in 2023, it might be more about the year following.

“We think he'll get over a proper staying trip but we think he's sharp enough to be competitive over 2000 metres, which I think is important, I'm very reluctant to buy horses that are one-dimensional stayers for Australian racing because your options are just so limited.

“I think you need to be purchasing horses that have a turn of foot and be sharp enough to be competitive over middle distances as well. He fits that bill.”

Busuttin and Young strike for Shaiyhar

The third most expensive lot of the day, Shaiyhar (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), is also off to Australia after being purchased via the Arqana online platform by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young for €300,000 (AU$462,200).

Another Aga Khan offering from the Graffard stable, the gelding was a well-beaten fourth on his 3000-metre debut at Lion D'Angers in July, but improved for the experience to shed his maiden tag over 2800 metres at Longchamp on September 15. He made it two in a row over 2900 metres at Clairefontaine when last seen October 17.

Young told TDN AusNZ that they picked out the gelding after being impressed with his form and hoped he may develop into a G1 Melbourne Cup horse in time.

“He is very lightly raced, having only had three starts and he has won his last two starts over a little bit of a trip, so going forward we know he is going to stay and might even end up being a really nice Country Cup horse and may even be a Melbourne Cup horse in a few years' time,” said Young, speaking from New Zealand ahead of the Ready to Run Sale.

“What we like about these European horses is that you can see they can gallop and when they come to Australia you can see that they often find another leg. Just watching the replays of his races, I really liked the way he switched off and got into a really nice rhythm and had a lovely big action and showed a really good turn of foot to hit the line.

“On his last start, he went out to the outside track and came back in and covered extra ground and was still able to win. He seems to cover the ground and looks like she does it effortlessly.”

Last weekend the stable enjoyed a stakes success with a European import when Uncle Bryn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) landed the Listed Cranbourne Cup and Young said, given the success of European imports in those longer distance contests, tried horses sourced in Europe are popular among their clients.

“With the success of European imports, a lot of your clients know you can have a lot of success with them and they are willing to jump in straight away and take a leg, or a bit more. Hopefully, this might be the sort of horse that can get up to the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup grade,” she said.

Making a splash

Having made a splash at the recent Tattersalls Horses in Training Sale in Newmarket, Annabel Neasham and Blandford Bloodstock’s Stuart Boman were active once again on Monday, purchasing two lots - one with Ontrack Thoroughbreds - for an aggregate of €210,000 (AU$323,500).

The most expensive of the pair was one-time winner Aristonous (Fr) (Saonois {Fr}), who they paid Henri-François Devin €110,000 (AU$169,500) for, while they teamed up with Ontrack Thoroughbreds to purchase Listed-winning Declaration Of War (USA) gelding, Caprice Des Dieux (Fr) for €100,000 (AU$154,100).

Aristonous has raced six times on the flat and was also placed over hurdles and Boman told TDN AusNZ that all options were open for the 3-year-old.

“He is lightly raced,” explained Boman. “He is bred to be a National Hunt horse and has been placed over hurdles. His form on the flat is sound and good. He has always run against good horses, even in his first run he was fifth in a race won by Epic Poet, who is a stakes winner and the second-placed horse, L'Astronome, is a Group 1-placed horse.

“I felt that on the flat he could have been running over further than he was and he was performing well, but probably should have been running over a mile.

“This horse is more than good enough of winning on the flat in Australia to a Saturday level on what he has shown so far and obviously the jumps in Australia is only a small scene, but the races are worth a lot of money and are not the deepest in quality and a horse that has experience racing over jumps should stand him in good stead.”

Gallery: Annabel Neasham and Stuart Boman's Arqana purchases, images courtesy of Arqana

Boman said that the Listed winner Caprice Des Dieux immediately jumped out at him when he first glanced through the catalogue and so was delighted to be able to secure him.

“He was a high class 3-year-old, being a Listed winner and Group 2-placed. At one stage I thought he was a French Derby-type horse, but these horses sometimes find it hard, in France in particular, to find their way again into the handicap programme. This type of horse can often, on paper, look to have lost form, but his performances on ratings have been very consistent all year and he has run to a very high mark,” he said.

“He has run over 100 at least six times or seven times this year and he hasn’t really lost form but he hasn’t been winning, so I think people lose a bit of focus. For us it is the profile we look for and that has worked best for us in the past and this is the sort of horse that Annabel can really sweeten up.

“I was pretty excited to get him when the catalogue came out and he was the one I wanted to buy.”

The horse was purchased in conjunction with Grant Morgan of On Track Thoroughbreds, who Boman and Neasham have worked with successfully in the past.

“I purchased the horse for Grant Morgan of Ontrack Thoroughbreds, who is a good supporter,” he said. “We have been busy through the year privately and have bought two horses that have been successful, including Divine Magic and Bois D’Argent, who have both run good races for Marco Botti in Australia and have now transferred to Annabel. We also bought one at the Arqana Arc Sale, Bellaciaociao, so he has very much bought into our process and Annabel’s training programme.”

Boman also made his first purchase on Monday for trainer Charlotte Littlefield, securing three-time winner and Group 3-placed gelding, Martial Eagle (Ire) (Adlerflug {Ger}) for €95,000 (AU$146,400), who will now head into training at her base at Pakenham.

“Charlotte approached me two years ago wanting to buy a European horse and it has taken us a little while, but we actually bought one together yesterday (Monday),” he explained. “She has worked hard to put a group together for the horse and we were able to buy one after many sales and a lot of work.

“Martial Eagle is by Adlerflug out of a Monsun mare and he has proved himself to be a 100 and above rated horse. He has been lightly raced his year and vetted very cleanly and should go on and do well for her and her team in Australia.”

Meanwhile, Hubie de Burgh and Darby Racing purchased Highness (Fr), a one-time-winning gelding by Galileo (Ire), for €45,000 (AU$69,300).

A total of 162 horses were reported as sold for gross receipts of €6,421,000 (AU$9,892,200). The average of €39,636 (AU$61,100) improved by 7.67 per cent, while the median of €15,000 (AU$23,100) declined by 25 per cent.