'We offer a trusted option' - Auctav looking ahead with first on-site Flat sale on Saturday

The late summer and autumn yearling sales calendar may appear to have barely a chink of light between the end of one auction house's offering and the start of another. 

But the bloodstock industry never sleeps on a new entry into the marketplace and on Saturday Auctav – or Auction Avantage to give the two-year-old agency its full name – will stage their first on-site sale of Flat stock at the historic Haras du Bois Roussel.

"We always planned to introduce physical sales and the idea was to start off with a strong online offer which was capable of handling large volumes of sales," said Auctav chief executive Arnaud Angeliaume.

"That was also a way of creating an identity for Auctav when we came into the market, while also developing an existing physical sale during the summer at Rouges Terres, which has been going for seven or eight years now."

This year that private sale of Auctav president Louis Baudron's young jumping stock moved for the first time to the agency's new Normandy base at Bois Roussel, whose storied past includes breeders such as the Volterra family and later the Comtesse Margit Batthyany, whose San San completed the Prix Vermeille-Arc double in 1972. 

"The development of the agency required us to look for our own premises and we found the right place sooner than we probably anticipated," said Angeliaume. 

"Having a home has allowed us to develop new products and the first new sale was of trotting yearlings on August 24, which was a major success and where we sold a record top-price at €580,000.

"That was followed by the Rouges Terres private sale, a jumps-bred sale in September and now this new Flat-bred sale."

Arnaud Angeliaume, chief executive of Auctav

The addition of physical sales alongside the agency's regular and flash offerings may seem a logical step, but the decision to launch Auctav into the hyper-competitive yearling market shows the team have ambition to match what they have already demonstrated is considerable know-how. 

"We're not expecting to sell 500 yearlings next year, absolutely not," said Angeliaume, who is well aware of the dynamics of the French market away from the country's leading vendor, Arqana, having spent five years with Osarus. 

"But I do feel there's demand for another dynamic sale among French consignors, who are well used to utilising a variety of different sectors of sale to sell their horses; some sell at Baden-Baden, some in Deauville, even a few sell at Tattersalls. 

"The experience of staging the first jumps sale at Bois Roussel taught us that, among those who attended – both jumps and Flat consignors who just came to have a look – there is a lot of interest in the idea of a second sales option in the north of France, and they felt that always having to go to the same market in the same place is problematic."

Saturday's catalogue features 90 lots, with 51 yearlings and a strict selection policy which emphasises black type within the last two generations, with lots by stallions including Siyouni, Zarak, Earthlight and Almanzor.  

Angeliaume said: "There's always that problem if you have a yearling who really is worthy of what you might term ‘Book 1’ status, but which is a tiny bit light on pedigree. We offer a trusted option and people haven’t been slow to send us their stock."

Auctav are seeking to become a major force in physical sales as well as onlineCredit: Auctav

And given Auctav's online roots, Angeliaume believes the ease of navigating the catalogue – and indeed doing business – is one of Auctav's advantages against what he perceives as other sales houses playing technological catch-up. 

"Once you have that infrastructure for the online sales, pivoting to a physical sale means that, just by zapping the QR code on the paper catalogue, you go straight to that horse’s online file, with all the updates," he said. 

"The whole business is geared around the digital age. As an example, we can stage a flash sale in the space of a week from the first contact with the vendor, including all the vetting, the pedigree details, photos and videos."

Selling begins at 12.30pm local time (11.30am BST).

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