'The team put their own money in and called their families and friends'

Arqana's August Sale might not ordinarily be the place to search for affairs of the heart or David getting one back against Goliath.

Nor does a purchase price of €280,000 as a foal really qualify Domaine de l'Etang's Kingman colt as a bargain buy, for all that his sale to Japanese Maestro Yoshito Yahagi for a cool €560,000 was one of the pinhooking success stories of the week in Deauville.

But Etang only consigned two yearlings at the sale, while the story might never have come to such a glorious conclusion had Elise Drouet and her team not shown such belief in the colt, allied to a determination not to let him slip from their grasp when circumstances dictated he go to market last autumn.

Drouet admits that the enormity of it all has not really sunk in.

"It's the result of a lot of work, of family working together, of teamwork and the support of people that trust in us," she said.

Yoshito Yahagi (right) will train the Kingman colt sold for €560,000 by Domaine de l'EtangCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

From the family of Waldgeist, the Kingman colt is a half-brother to a pair of black type winners in Waldbiene and Urwald.

Drouet said: "He was born on the farm and the moment he fell onto the straw, I just loved him.

"He had to go to be sold to dissolve a partnership and I was determined to buy him. So we found a new associate, then a second and a third and little by little we got to the point where we could bid for him. The people who work for us all put into the horse.

"We relied on a lot of people who trusted us and one new investor who was buying into his very first thoroughbred."

While €280,000 was more than Drouet expected to pay to ensure the foal would turn to a yearling on their land, she had exhausted every avenue in putting together the new partnership that now all share in the success of his sale to race in Japan.

"The team put their own money in and called their family and friends," said Drouet. "Everyone took a little share.

"He was more expensive than I expected but that’s the sales for you. It was a lot but we had really raised this horse. We bought the mare carrying him and there was real history behind this horse.

"And for everyone who took a piece it has been interesting to see him develop from that foal into the yearling that sold so well."

Lot 183, a Kingman son of Waldjagd, proved to be a hugely significant success for Domaine de l'EtangCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

Drouet spent 20 years with Haras des Capucines before striking out on her own and the Etang operation is one which thrives on family and friends, with her husband and daughter both closely involved.

Even Clement Simonel, the stud groom who led the team's two yearlings into the heat and dust of the Arqana ring had taken a 2.5 per cent share to help keep this particular dream alive.

Admitting that pinhooking was a real passion for her, Drouet says: "With this colt the pressure has been building for a long time before he got to the ring, for several months in fact.

"But we knew we had a good-looking horse with a great physique, plus he had perfect x-rays and scopes. He ticked a fair few boxes and on top of that he has a pretty exceptional pedigree, albeit the competition is strong. He deserved to make that."

Etang's second "coup de coeur" in the catalogue - a Ten Sovereigns filly out of a full sister to Kool Kompany - a €30,000 purchase at Goffs for "the cheeky look in her eye and her walk," and will be staying with the Etang team for a while yet after being bought back for €20,000.

Not that the excitement of Sunday and Monday are anything other than the beginning of a hectic sales season.

Drouet says: "We have two yearlings going to the September Sale, another eight in October and 15 jumps-bred horses as well.

"It’s only the start of the selling year and for the most part they are either Flat-bred pinhooks or else our homebred jumping stock."

If the story of Sunday's lot 183 is anything to go by, there will be plenty more to hear from Domaine de l'Etang as they continue to compete with the giants of the Normandy breeding business.

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