Lots to note as Arqana's two-day February Mixed Sale kicks off

Arqana's two-day February Sale begins on Tuesday, an auction that will see horses-in-training both on the Flat and over jumps, broodmares, stores, two-year-olds and recently turned yearlings go under the hammer. 

The most high-profile recent graduate is the multiple Graded winner and Grade 1-placed My Sister Nat, a half-sister to Sottsass who sold to Paul Nataf from Monceaux for €20,000 in 2016, while trade last year saw 299 lots (from 375) sold for turnover of €4,029,000, an average of €13,475 and median of €6,000. The top price of €200,000 went to Haras de Bouquetot's Danehill Dancer mare Osaila, who went the way of Arthur Hoyeau.

The event starts at 11am local time both days and we pick out some lots to note as the sale gets underway. 

Lot 66
2020 b f Dabirsim - Danseuse Corse (Danehill Dancer)
Haras du Chene

This full-sister to Different League is currently in pre-training, ordered for sale by the courts, and looks a very interesting proposition for someone as a racehorse and then, later down the line, for breeding purposes. 

Her talented older sibling won the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot - beating a certain Alpha Centauri into second - as well as placing at the highest level in the Prix Morny and Cheveley Park Stakes later that season. Different League's Galileo colt Subzero was promising on his sole start last term for Aidan O'Brien, Peter Brant and the Coolmore partners and looks set for a good year in 2023. 

The Haras du Chene-consigned filly is out of a winning Danehill Dancer mare and hails from the family of Gimcrack Stakes winner and Middle Park Stakes second Carrowkeel. 

Different League: top-class juvenile performerCredit: Caroline Norris

Lot 78
2020 b f Cracksman - Gyrella (Oasis Dream)
Haras du Chene

A notably well-bred daughter of European and world champion Cracksman, as a half-sister to Group 2 winner Baby Rider, this three-year-old filly looks a valuable proposition in terms of her racing and breeding careers. 

Consigned by Haras du Chene, she is out of the winning and stakes-placed Oasis Dream mare Gyrella, a half-sister to Derby hero Wings Of Eagles. It is a family steeped in black type as under the third dam Rotina is Prix Saint-Alary winner Belle Et Celebre as well as Premio Lydia Tesio and Prix Jean Romanet heroine Whortleberry. 

The filly's sire has made a fine start to his career at Dalham Hall, with 22 individual winners spearheaded by Group 2 victress Aloa, Listed scorer Dance In The Grass and the Listed-placed Crackovia. 

Group 2 winner Baby Rider's Cracksman sister sells at ArqanaCredit: OTI Racing

Lot 136
2022 b c Ten Sovereigns - Mambo Paradise (Makfi)
Haras de Saint Isidro

July Cup and Middle Park Stakes winner Ten Sovereigns has his first two-year-olds this year and much is expected of Coolmore's top-class son of No Nay Never. 

This colt hails from the second crop of the champion sprinter and has an intriguing pedigree as his great grandam was a sister of the great Divine Proportions, a Niarchos homebred whose phenomenal career included successes in the Prix de Diane, Prix Marcel Boussac, Prix Morny and the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. 

Also under the fourth dam is another top-class six-furlong to a mile performer in Prix Jacques Le Marois, Prix Morny and Prix Maurice de Gheest hero Whipper, the sire of Group 1 winners Recoletos and Lord Glitters.

Ten Sovereigns has an interesting weanling son up for offer in DeauvilleCredit: Edward Whitaker

Lot 159
Nuit De Surprises
2019 b f Saint Des Saints - Natt Musik (Kendor)
Haras de la Haie Neuve

Saint Des Saints' prowess as a broodmare sire needs no introduction - his daughters have produced the likes of Douvan, Envoi Allen, Jonbon, El Fabiolo and Appreciate It - and this four-year-old could well add to that record as a well-related individual herself. 

The four-year-old Nuit De Surprises ran three times for Gabriel Leenders but could well make a greater impact in her second career. She is out of the Kendor mare Natt Musik, therefore making her a half-sister to top-class chaser Fox Norton. The son of Lando's victories for Colin Tizzard included the Melling Chase and Champion Chase at Punchestown, where he defeated fellow crack two-miler Un De Sceaux in an exciting finish. 

Fox Norton: top-class chaser in his prime for Colin TizzardCredit: Alan Crowhurst

Lot 249
Zerziyna
2019 b f Fastnet Rock - Zerkaza (Dalakhani)
Aga Khan Studs

An Aga Khan Studs draft is always highly anticipated and this unraced, but extremely well-bred, daughter of Fastnet Rock has to rate a valuable addition to anyone's broodmare band. 

The four-year-old is out of the unraced Dalakhani mare Zerkaza, making her a half-brother to Australian Listed winner Zeyrek, by Sea The Stars. Zerkaza is in turn out of the brilliant and unbeaten Arc winner Zarkava, making her a half-sister to Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner and exciting Haras de Bonneval sire Zarak as well as Listed winner and Prix Vermeille third Zarkamiya, by Frankel, and stakes scorer  Zaykava, by the Aga Khan's Siyouni.

With such a blue-blooded distaff line, it would be a surprise if she was not one of the star lots of the auction. 

Zerziyna is out of a Dalakhani daughter of the great Zarkava (pictured)Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

Lot 252
Pearl Chavez
2020 b f Postponed - Abhisheka (Sadler's Wells)
Haras des Capucines

Haras des Capucines' daughter of Postponed looks a fine breeding prospect as a half-sister to Prix Jean Prat winner Aesop's Fables and from a family filled with high-class performers. 

The three-year-old is sold as unraced and out of training. Her Sadler's Wells dam Abhisheka was Listed-placed and has also foaled a stakes-producing daughter in Sense Of Fun, the dam of Sceptre Fillies' Stakes third Romantic Rival. 

Abhisheka's siblings include the brilliant Lammtarra, with both being out of Snow Bride, who was awarded the 1989 Oaks after disqualification. It is the immediate family of Powder Snow, the dam of last season's exciting Zetland Stakes scorer Flying Honours, by Sea The Stars, so it is a pedigree that could continue to update as the months progress in 2023.

Flying Honours could keep Pearl Chavez's family in the spotlight this yearCredit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

Lot 283
Maysora
2020 b f Dark Angel - Bea Remembered (Doyen)
Haras de Bouquetot

Another filly who looks to have plenty of credentials as a broodmare prospect, the daughter of Dark Angel is consigned by Haras de Bouquetot and is out of the Group-placed Doyen mare Bea Remembered. 

That makes her a half-sister to the multiple Group-winning and Group 1-placed globetrotter Stormy Antarctic as well as Queen Mary Stakes second Al Johrah, by Bated Breath. The three-year-old is part of an eye-catching draft from Bouquetot and could grab the attention of those looking for options ahead of the upcoming covering season.

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