Antipodean influx drives strong Breeding Stock Sale trade

Among a deeply international buying bench at the Arqana Breeding Stock Sale on Saturday was a notably strong Australasian representation, including those who were in Deauville on the hunt for outcross pedigrees.

Heading up the mares bound for the southern hemisphere was Tiberias, a winning daughter of Galileo who was knocked down to Dean Hawthorne for €450,000 when offered by owner-breeders the Wertheimer brothers.

"We've come here looking for Galileo blood that doesn't have any Danehill in it to take back to Australia," explained Hawthorne. "He's going really well down there as a broodmare sire and is working with a variety of stallions.

"We don't have much Galileo blood down there as he didn't spend a lot of time there himself, so we have to come up here to get it. When we find mares by him we invariably find that Danehill is in the pedigree somewhere as it's a magic cross."

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Tiberias is a three-year-old half-sister to Prix Marcel Boussac and Prix Saint-Alary heroine Silasol, whose dam, Stormina, is out of a half-sister to Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Solemia. Further back this is the same family as Poule d'Essai des Poulains and Sussex Stakes victor The Gurkha.

"Badger [Grant Pritchard-Gordon] has been doing a lot of pedigree research for us and we know there's a lot going on in the family, it's a family that can only get deeper," noted Hawthorne, who also signed for Embroidered Silk, a daughter of Galileo in foal to Caravaggio, at €110,000 earlier in the session.

"We've got two mares so far so we're very happy. Tiberias will probably go to Fastnet Rock in her first year in Australia. He's getting on but it's a wonderful cross - Unforgotten is bred on that cross and she won the Australian Oaks this year.

"She'll need a big physical for her first foal as she's still got a lot of maturing to do. We'll give her a year down there in the sunshine and she should be on her way."

Hawthorne had also been in action at Tattersalls earlier in the week, where he spent 380,000gns on Puppetshow, another mare by Galileo in foal to Caravaggio, and 130,000gns on the Lope De Vega filly Wonderland, in foal to Kodiac. He was also underbidder on the sale-topper, the 2,400,000gns Pearling, a daughter of Storm Cat carrying a Galileo sister to Decorated Knight.

Also bound for Australia is the Listed-placed Invincible Spirit mare Clearly, who was knocked down to Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock for €310,000.

Consigned by Stall Salzburg having previously been trained by John Gosden, the four-year-old boasts a pedigree that should look right at home in Australia, as she is a half-sister to the Sydney Cup winner Polarisation.

"She's a lovely filly and I loved her physically," said Boman, who signed on behalf of Larry Young's Speriamo Bloodstock. "She'll be retired and covered next breeding season. She's a good commercial prospect and her progeny should get into any sale in Australia.

"She's a half-sister to a Sydney Cup winner in Polarisation, he was a tough horse and won at two as well so he wasn't just a two-miler. It's an exceptional family and hopefully she'll be a nice foundation mare for my client. The beauty of her pedigree for Australia is that she's free of Danehill."

Also making an impact on behalf of Antipodean interests was John Foote, who gave €220,000 for Sawakiyna, an unraced Sea The Stars three-year-old offered by the Aga Khan Studs.

"I'd have liked to have bought her for less, of course" quipped Foote after he had signed the ticket. "She's going to New Zealand to Cambridge Stud."

The resurgent Cambridge Stud's 2018 roster included Tavistock, Burgundy, Highly Recommended and European champion Almanzor, and Foote said he expected Sawakiyna would be bred to one of those stallions.

"She has a nice pedigree and the looks to match it - she looked exactly as she should being by Sea The Stars," he added. "She didn't race but she's well-bred and we need those good bloodlines, we just have to pay for them."

Sawakiyna is out of the Group 1-winning Shamardal mare Sagawara, who hails from the same family as Group 1 winners Sagamix, Sagacity and Secret Gesture.

Foote also struck for the €60,000 Briseida, a daughter of So You Think, and the €55,000 Bubble Rani, by Dalakhani.

Foote's previous global buying expeditions have yielded some famous results, having sourced Tugela - better known as the dam of three-time Melbourne Cup heroine Makybe Diva - from Tattersalls in 1998.

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