'An absolute rarity at public auction' - Prix de Diane winner Sparkling Plenty to be sold at Arqana

This year's Prix de Diane winner Sparkling Plenty is the latest big name to be offered at Arqana's Vente d’Elevage next month. 

The daughter of Kingman will be offered by Haras de Bouquetot on Saturday, December 7 as lot 200. The filly was unbeaten in two starts at two, including the Listed Prix Delahante, she then was highly tried before landing a second black-type success in the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham. 

Her next start saw her take in Classic success when winning the Prix de Diane by a head from Survie, with subsequent Sun Chariot Stakes winner Tamfana and Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and Vermeille second Aventure back in third and fourth. Sparkling Plenty was also third in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood this summer and filled the same spot in the Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp last month. 

The three-year-old had been hammered down for £8,100,000 at the Goffs London Sale in June, only for her to have been bought back by ownerJean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois. However, after a lengthy period of deliberation, a deal had been struck which saw Al Shaqab Racing take a 50 per cent stake in the filly at £5m. 

Bred by Dubois out of the unraced Frankel mare Speralita, she is a sister to Group 3 Jersey Stakes winner Noble Truth, also runner-up in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere for Godolphin. Speralita is in turn out of Dashing Blade mare Soignee, making her a half-sister to multiple top-flight scorer Stacelita, the dam of Japanese champion Soul Stirring and second dam of another Japanese Classic heroine in Stars On Earth. 

Sparkling Plenty (right): a rare prospect to be soldCredit: Edward Whitaker

Another half-sibling, the Aragorn mare Salicorne, is the dam of last year's Prix du Moulin scorer Sauterne, also by Kingman.

"We are delighted to present a Prix de Diane winner at the upcoming Arqana Vente d'Elevage," said Haras de Bouquetot’s director Benoit Jeffroy. "A Classic winner with such a pedigree represents a rare opportunity and an exceptional racing and breeding potential.’’ 

Arqana president Olivier Delloye added: "It’s an exceptional opportunity to be able to offer a Classic winner at the end of her three-year-old season. Sparkling Plenty has demonstrated her class since her debut and has fantastic opportunities on the racecourse at four, being just as brilliant over a mile as she is over 2,100 metres. 

"Sparkling Plenty also comes from one of the finest European families that includes Stacelita, Sauterne and Soul Stirring, that have shone at the highest level both in Europe and Japan. She is an absolute rarity at public auction and we are honoured to be able to offer her in the Arqana ring on December 7."

Arqana's Vente d’Elevage takes place from December 7-10 and the catalogue can be viewed here. 

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