Monceaux makes history again as Coolmore fires Arqana to €4.6 million record

Cover image courtesy of Arqana

€4.6 million Wootton Bassett colt smashes Arqana records

The portents had been obvious: sales-ground talk of the increased quality of stock and an assembled cast of some of the bloodstock world's biggest buyers gathered for the start of the European yearling season on the back of a staggering sale across the water in Saratoga.

But perhaps not even the team at Arqana had dared to dream of what was to come at their flagship sale. The record price for a yearling in France didn't just tumble, it was smashed aside, as a €4.6 million (AU$7.5 million) colt by the late Wootton Bassett (lot 306) reasserted the supremacy of leading breeder and vendor Ecurie des Monceaux when surpassing last year's record – from the same consignor – of a €3 million (AU$4.89 million) Night Of Thunder filly.

“Once you buy him, nobody else can have him,” auctioneer Bernard Condren cautioned Anthony Stroud as he once again went up against Coolmore's MV Magnier, before adding with a wry grin, “Anyone else want to join in?”

Answer came there none, aside from the renewed effort between the two superpowers to secure the first foal of Scandinavia's sister Deadly Nightshade (Justify).

Stroud had already won several bouts of this long-running battle but it was Magnier, bidding from outside the ring, who refused to yield this time. After all, he knows perhaps better than anyone what was lost when Wootton Bassett died last year in his prime and, when finally seeing the buyer's docket come his way, he admitted to some regret in having sold the colt in utero when his dam was bought by Monceaux for 900,000gns (AU$1.8 million) less than two years ago.

“We're the clowns who sold the mare,” he exclaimed. “But, here, it's important that we sell good mares and we are going to be doing it again this year. All we want people to do is support us and Monceaux has. Well done to Monceaux and everybody there – it's fantastic for them and they are great supporters of ours with the stallions and everything. Well done to them.

"He's a lovely horse, to be fair. He has everything – he has the pedigree, is by the right stallion and he ticked the boxes. Honestly, I'm delighted for Monceaux because they bought the mare off us and they are good supporters.”

When Deadly Nightshade was sold at Tattersalls, she was already a half-sister to the G1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Above The Curve (American Pharoah) but her page has been significantly boosted in the interim by her full-brother Scandinavia, the winner of last year's St Leger who is well on his way to being champion stayer this season following wins in the G1 Gold Cup and G1 Goodwood Cup.

Asked if this horse had been in the back of their mind when filling the runner-up spot to Stroud on various occasions on Saturday and Sunday, Magnier chuckled and said, “I wouldn't say that. You have to value horses (individually). It's great to see Sheikh Mohammed being so supportive – let's hope they get a couple of good horses out of the sale. As I said before, we were the clowns who sold the mare so let's hope we're not clowns again!”

Bred in one of Monceaux's noted partnerships with Ecurie Loick Fouchet, the colt now has a brother on the ground from the final crop of Wootton Bassett.

“I'm very proud of the team,” said Monceaux's Henri Bozo. “Very grateful for both Godolphin and Coolmore who are usual supporters of our farm. It's a great honour and a great responsibility because now the horse has to deliver, but I'm especially thankful for our team.

“I knew we were bringing an exceptional horse. He's always been very special, very powerful, very good-minded. Great walk, very easy to handle. Magnificent power and conformation. He's a very, very nice horse.”

For the 15th consecutive year, Ecurie des Monceaux was the leading vendor at the August Sale, with its 35 yearlings sold yielding a return of €19,970,000 (AU$32,542,713) – which amounted to 30% of the sale's turnover.

Ten millionaires over three days

Well before lunchtime on the final day the number of seven-figure lots had already passed last year's tally of eight, and by the fall of the final hammer there had been 10 yearlings sold for a million euros or more across the three days.

Of course, this rarefied tier is restricted to a handful of participants and is but one of a number of markers of a sale's strength. The median price of €160,000 (AU$261,000) was down fractionally from the €165,000 (AU$269,000) set in 2025, while the average was up by 4% to €277,682 (AU$452,505). The clearance rate of 80% for 236 yearlings sold from 295 offered was up slightly from 79% last year.

At the top end, those familiar names who have supported global bloodstock markets for the last half-century showed no signs of slowing down. Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin operation accounted for 20% of the sale's aggregate of €66,423,000 (AU$108,241,592), which was itself up by 10.4%. The nine yearlings signed for by Anthony Stroud on Godolphin's behalf amounted to an outlay of €13.3 million (AU$21.67 million).

The spending of Coolmore had been more measured up until the top lot appeared late in the sale, but the presence of John and Sue Magnier and many members of the next two generations of their family was no less significant than Sheikh Mohammed's spending. MV Magnier was underbidder on at least three of the millionaire lots, and Coolmore's close ally Peter Brant of White Birch Farm also played his part.

Avowed Arqana fan Yoshito Yahagi returned to Deauville to buy the son of Siyouni and Prudenzia for €1 million (AU$1.63 million), while Bond Thoroughbreds, Norway-based Stall Perlen, America's Mike Repole, and leading jumps trainer Willie Mullins were among the many individual buyers who brought diversity to a strong buying bench.

But an oft-heard refrain from consignors and breeders who had been involved in one of the blockbuster transactions across the three days was of their gratitude to Sheikh Mohammed and Coolmore. It takes at least two potential buyers locking horns to boost prices to the levels witnessed here, and the return to those bidding battles first seen back in the early 1980s was understandably welcomed by those with a smart yearling to sell.

Daly's double delight

Breeder Eugene Daly was responsible for one of the leading lights of Sunday's session in the Frankel colt (lot 149) bought for €2.3 million (AU$3.75 million) by Godolphin, and his Longview Stud featured near the head of Monday's trade when a colt by Night Of Thunder out of the Group 3-placed Havana Grey mare Tagline was sold for €2 million (AU$3.26 million).

Having outbid MV Magnier, Anthony Stroud was again the buyer on Godolphin's behalf of the chestnut colt consigned by La Motteraye as lot 194.

“We all – Charlie (Appleby), David (Loder) and I – really liked him,” Stroud said. “Again, he is a very, very nice representative of Night Of Thunder and out of a fast Havana Grey mare. He has a very good profile and, needless to say, was very active. We've had some very good Night Of Thunders and he looks the part.”

The appearance of one of those very good Night Of Thunders is hotly anticipated at York on Wednesday as Ombudsman bids for back-to-back wins in the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes. The four-time Group 1 winner was a 340,000gns (AU$680,500) purchase by Stroud at Tattersalls October Book 2.

Gwen Monneraie and Lucie Lamotte of La Motteraye Consignment were naturally delighted to have topped trade on the closing day with the first foal of Tagline, whose granddam Cut Short (Diesis) was a full sister to Daggers Drawn.

Lamotte said, “He was bred by Eugene Daly, a very good breeder who has been a big supporter of us. He deserves all the rewards – he's done a very good job with him and the horse has done everything right since day one.”

Monneraie added, “It is very hard to get close to Night Of Thunder now. He's an incredible stallion. The top of the market is just unbelievable. I'm so grateful to Sheikh Mohammed and to Coolmore. It's a big boost for the industry.”

Coolmore and White Birch double up on Sparkling family

A Kingman brother to a Classic winner from a family stacked with bold black type was always going to be of appeal in a select market, and breeder Jean-Pierre Dubois's sibling to both Prix de Diane victrix Sparkling Plenty and G3 Jersey Stakes winner Noble Truth duly joined the seven-figure brigade on Monday morning.

Coolmore's MV Magnier placed the final bid of €1.4 million (AU$2.28 million) and secured the Coulonces-consigned colt (lot 187) for a partnership which includes Peter Brant's White Birch Farm.

“We bought Sparkling Plenty here a couple of years ago and she's in foal to Justify now,” Magnier said. “She was a very good filly and Kingman has really worked with the mare before. Aidan (O'Brien), Peter Brant and all the guys really liked him when they saw him over the last few days. The Dubois family are very good breeders and this looks like a really nice horse. He'll go to Ballydoyle. We've had a few by Kingman, not a lot, but let's hope this fella works out.”

He added, “In fairness to Arqana they've done a very good job of getting all the right people here. There's some lovely horses too and we've been outbid a good bit over the last two days, so I'd say the top of the market is very good. I suppose it's tricky in some spots but overall Arqana have done a very good job, as they always do.”

Magnier had also been involved in Fasig-Tipton's showstopper of a yearling sale in Saratoga last week and said, “I haven't seen anything like it before. I'd say the tax depreciation Donald Trump brought in with the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was a big factor. We need to get something like that here!”

It has been a successful few days for consignor Anna Sundstrom of Coulonces, who sold 14 horses for €3,895,000 (AU$6,347,214). She said, “To have horses like this, with these pedigrees – Mr Dubois, the breeder, is absolutely amazing, he's a legend, a genius. For us, as a family, with Moa, Lillie, and everybody, to be able to just be a part of it, is absolutely incredible.”

The colt's dam Speralita (Frankel) was unraced but she is a half-sister to the six-time Group/Grade 1 winner Stacelita (Monsun) who herself produced Frankel's first ever top-flight winner in Soul Stirring. Stacelita is also the granddam of the G1 Yushun Himba and G1 Oka Sho winner Stars On Earth (Duramente). Under the colt's second dam Soignee (Night Shift) is another Group 1 winner by Kingman – the G1 Prix du Moulin heroine Sauterne.

Sundstrom added, “I'm not talking about the price, the price is unbelievable, but it's also being able to get to know these kinds of people, and to listen to them. I'm forever thankful for this, it's amazing. The colt is going to such wonderful owners, Coolmore. Dreams come true, don't they?”

She added, “The sale is very strong. Arqana has done an absolutely fantastic job, with all the effort they have put in, all the new representatives, such as Richard Gibson, who has done an awful lot.”

He's not happy with you!': Joorabchian fights off Repole on Frankel filly

Abandoning his often flamboyant approach to bidding, Amo Racing boss Kia Joorabchian went to €615,000 (AU$1 million) to secure a sister (lot 271) to the operation's Pikachu (Frankel), who the owner promises is a “Group horse” in the making. For that reason, Joorabchian seemed intent on landing the filly from a family he knows so well, and came out best of a long and protracted bidding duel from his usual position directly in front of the rostrum at Arqana.

“We own the brother and he is a very good horse,” Joorabchian said shortly after checking which media outlet each journalist in the scrum worked for. “We love the brother so we can't leave the sister behind. She's not quite as athletic as the brother and we think she is going to take a little bit of time.

"We like to keep families now – we are trying to build families long-term. She is one of those who fits perfectly into the long-term family project. For our stallions, we need good broodmares, we need good pedigrees and we know how good her brother is – 100%, we know he is a Group horse.”

It was Mike Repole who filled the underbidder spot. He was bidding through American agent Alex Solis, who handed his phone to Joorabchian shortly after the hammer dropped, before simply saying, 'He's not happy with you!' Repole was on the other end of the line.

Sheikh Fahad swoops for sister to Constitution River

Billed as one of the star attractions of the entire sale, the Kodiac half-sister to dual Group 1 winner and leading Juddmonte International contender Constitution River (Wootton Bassett) is off to Ireland after David Redvers paid €430,000 (AU$701,000) for Haras du Cadran's charge on behalf of Sheikh Fahad Al Thani.

Redvers commented, “Sheikh Fahad bought her. He called me this morning and told me he wanted to get into the family. She will be broken and assessed in Ireland with a view towards being trained in Ireland. She's (born on) May 25 and she looked backward and babyish. She needs to grow and develop but she will get some nice grass in the south of Ireland now.”

Aga Khan support their own as Erevann is well received

One takeout of the sale, certainly from a first-season sire perspective, was how well the market reacted to the Erevann yearlings. Notably, the Aga Khan Studs – which rarely features as a name on buyer lists – paid €200,000 (AU$326,000) for a filly (lot 202) by their own stallion. That represented another good pinhook from the Coulonces team, who sourced the filly as a foal at Arqana last December for €50,000 (AU$81,480).

Pierre Gasnier, manager of the French studs for the Aga Khan's family, commented, “We have been very taken by the Erevanns and the Vadenis. Obviously we looked at the progeny of both and the Erevann filly made the cut. Princess Zahra and everyone in the team really liked the filly and she was sold by Coulonces, who are very good consignors.”

Erevann also recorded sales of €215,000 (AU$350,000) and €110,000 (AU$179,250) which helped secure a €148,750 (AU$242,400) average for four sold. A very good performance for a stallion who stands for just €8000 (AU$13,000).

It should also be noted that Chaldean and Little Big Bear captured the imagination over the past few days. As well as being responsible for the €650,000 (AU$1.06 million) Haras de Saint Pair filly that sold to Amanda Skiffington on Sunday, the G1 2,000 Guineas hero Chaldean ended the sale with a €202,000 (AU$329,000) average for five sold. Meanwhile, Little Big Bear posted a €191,250 (AU$311,657) average for four yearlings sold.