After the histrionics of Saturday night, trade returned to a more routine level during a solid second session at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale Dec. 10. The market was led by the Zarak foal bought by Morten Buskop for €190,000 (US$204,364, €1=US$1.0756).
Consigned by Haras de Montaigu, the colt is out of the Sea The Stars mare Brodie, a half sister to the group 3-winning Bauer. The page goes back to the likes of Capri and Commissioning. The colt is from the fifth crop of Haras de Bonneval's Zarak, meaning he was bred at a fee of €25,000. The son of Dubawi and Zarkava will stand 2024 at €60,000.
After a protracted bidding duel, Buskop said: "My client is a very stubborn man when he decides he wants a horse! We like the Zaraks and we thought there was a lot of Dubawi about this horse. The page is nice and the Zarak—Sea The Stars cross should do the job, and we liked that there's some Linamix further back in the pedigree too.
"No plans have been decided yet, but for now, he will go to Haras de Bourgeauville to grow and get stronger."
Only one runner bred on the Zarak—Sea The Stars cross appears on the Racing Post database, but it is a significant one as the 2-year-old Zaphod made an impressive winning debut at Tipperary for John O'Donoghue before finishing third to Grosvenor Square in the Eyrefield Stakes (G3).
"He's been bought for a long-lasting client who likes to buy foals then make his mind up later whether he will race or resell as a yearling," continued Buskop.
"We thought he would be expensive because he vetted really well. We had two vets look at him, one from Scandinavia who assessed the x-rays and the scope, and another who was on the ground. He's a good individual and bred on a good cross so we knew we'd have to pay a bit."
Barely a sale goes by without a big result for the progeny of Havana Grey and that trend continued in Deauville when Endo Botti's Royal Grey was knocked down to Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International at €135,000 ($145,206).
The 2-year-old won three races in Italy, most notably the listed Premio Eupili at San Siro in Oct.
"She's going to be trained by Nicolas Clement," said Bozo. "She's a very nice filly with good form. The stallion needs no introduction and this filly has a solid page. She has a lot going for her.
"We'll give her a break for a month then she will go back into training and hopefully take in a listed win in France. She's for a partnership between a client of Nicolas Clement's and Ballylinch Stud."
Royal Grey's pedigree has improved in tandem with her race record as she is out of the Lowther Stakes (G2) scorer Infamous Angel, dam of Alpine Dream, who in turn bred British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes (G1) winner Poptronic.
The Arqana Breeding Stock Sale continues Dec. 11 at 11 a.m. local time.
