Saint-Arnoult dispersal paints a poignant picture at Osarus

The first sale of the year for Osarus was a poignant one as it featured a dispersal of the stock once owned by Larissa Kneip, who died last May aged just 51.

A beautifully-bred Dutch Art mare from Kneip's Haras de Saint-Arnoult topped the sale when making €140,000 to BLM Bloodstock. Paint, an eight-year-old offered in foal to Oasis Dream, hails from an outstanding fillies' pedigree.

Successful at two, she is a half-sister to the Prix de Diane winner Channel and out of the Dansili mare Love Magic who is a half-sister to the Listed Weribee Cup winner Tall Ship. Their dam is the Cheveley Park Stakes winner Magical Romance, a Barathea sister to the triple Group 1 winner Alexandrova, by Barathea's sire Sadler's Wells.

Alexandrova is the dam of Group 2 winners Somehow and Alex My Boy and the second dam of Group 1 Preis von Europa winner Aspetar.

Third dam Shouk is a half-sister to Sitara, dam of Melbourne Cup hero Rekindling, and it is also the same female line as Magic Wand and Chicquita.

Paint has a two-year-old colt named Dschingis Art by Dschingis Secret, who began his stallion career at Haras de Saint Arnoult, and her yearling colt is by Elarqam who also stood at the Normandy farm prior to Kneip's untimely passing.

MAB Agency went to €21,000 for the six-year-old Soldier Hollow mare Demeter, who was offered in foal to Elarqam.

A winner at Deauville, she is a half-sister to Drummer who was placed in Group 2 and Group 3 contests and to the Listed-placed pair of Dalila and Dolomit.

Her dam Douala is a daughter of Dubawi and was Listed-placed in Germany and Italy. Demeter's first foal is a yearling filly by another of Kneip's sires, Sommerabend.

Group 3 Prix de Psyche winner Dalarua was bought for €15,000 by Guy Petit. The 15-year-old daughter of King's Best has a perfect record at stud with four winners from as many runners and her three-year-old Kodiac colt Bronco is in training in France.

The dispersal generated €326,000 in revenue with 46 of the 50 lots on offer sold. That equated to a clearance rate of 92 per cent with an average price of €7,841 and a median figure of €3,000.

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