Stakes Horses Highlight Arqana Arc Sale

Arqana's Arc Sale takes place on the eve of Europe's autumn showpiece Oct. 4 and the lineup for this year's boutique event includes some smart performers with entries on the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) undercard. The sale reached great heights last year when four individuals made seven figures. They were headed by Ramadan (FR), who made €1.5 million only hours after winning the Prix Daniel Wildenstein (G2) and was transferred to the colors of Zhang Yuesheng. Meanwhile, Palladium (GER), winner of the Deutsches Derby (German Derby, G1), was bought by Lady Bamford for €1.4 million and has continued as a dual-purpose horse. The Aga Khan Studs offers a trio of black type winners, headed by Zabiari (GB) (Lot 43). The son of Wootton Bassett landed the 2023 Prix des Chenes at Longchamp 2 for Jean-Claude Rouget and was a neck victor of the Prix Bertrand du Breuil (G3) at Chantilly in June for Francis-Henri Graffard. He runs in the Oct. 4 Wildenstein along with another member of the ownership's draft in Churchill (IRE) colt Ridari (FR) (56). He was a winner of the Prix de Fontainebleau (G3) at Longchamp in the spring when defeating subsequent Prix du Moulin (G1) hero Sahlan (IRE) and was not disgraced when a close fifth and sixth in the Poule d'Essai des Poulains (G1) and Prix du Jockey Club (G1), respectively. The last of the Aga Khan trio is Surabad (36), a stakes-winning and group-placed Bated Breath (GB) colt who is to run in the Prix Chaudenay (G2). Wertheimer homebred Uther (GB) (34) could receive a significant pedigree update Oct. 5 if his Sea The Stars (IRE) half brother Sosie (IRE) goes three places better than last year's Arc effort. The Camelot (GB) colt, while not a triple group 1 winner like Sosie, is still very talented in his own right. He struck in the Prix Noailles (G3) in April and was also fourth to Leffard (FR) in the Grand Prix de Paris (G1). A lightly raced type with Christophe Ferland's stable, he looks a potentially useful stayer in the making likely to hold international appeal. Others to note include last year's Premio Gran Criterium winner and German Derby third Lazio (18), recent Prix des Chenes scorer Oceans Four (19), group scorer and German Derby runner-up Mr Hollywood (23), listed winner and Prix de Malleret third Rabbit's Foot (51)—who goes in the Prix de Royallieu (G1)—plus the group-placed stayer Coetzee (14), a supplementary entry for the Prix du Cadran (G1). Juvenile Zelzal (FR) filly Bandiagara (24), listed-placed at Deauville last time, is among the entries for Sunday's Prix Marcel Boussac (G1), while the year-older Zakharova (32), also by Zelzal, added further luster to her CV with a stakes score at Longchamp last month for Francois Belmont. Megarry (IRE) (11) is a likely outsider in Sunday's Prix de l'Abbaye (G1) and Campacite (FR) (41), a Zarak (FR) colt who came away with a listed event at Deauville for Jean-Claude Rouget, will put his credentials to the test in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere (G1). The sale takes place at 6:30 pm local time at Saint-Cloud racecourse and the catalog can be found here.