Craig Bernick enjoys a strong start to the weekend in Deauville, in the ring and on the track

Americans have been enjoying the sea air in Deauville since 1924, when Ralph Strassburger bought the magnificent neo-Norman villa that looks down over both the racecourse and what is now the Arqana sales complex. 

Craig Bernick is hardly a neophyte when it comes to European bloodstock and the yearling sales that underpin the industry. Yet he can rarely have felt quite so much satisfaction on his trips to France as the twin strike of acquiring Ecurie des Monceaux's closely-matched relation of Prix Vermeille heroine Left Hand on Friday evening, followed up with victory in the Group 2 Prix du Calvados on Saturday afternoon for Les Pavots, a No Nay Never half-sister to Sir Dragonet.

Bernick and Haras d'Etreham each have a 50 per cent share in Les Pavots, with the partnership brokered by Hubie de Burgh.

"We're thrilled obviously," said Bernick. "Hubie put it together and did all the legwork and we were able to make a deal. Nicolas de Chambure [of Etreham] is a wonderful partner and we're excited."

The philosophy which led to Bernick and De Burgh scouring Europe for three fillies last year - Les Pavots is the first to run - was exactly the same one which underpinned their purchase of the Dubawi daughter of the Lope De Vega mare Right Hand, which De Burgh signed for at €390,000 during the first session. 

"If you’d bred her and she’d come out like that, you’d be thrilled to have her," Bernick had said on Friday night. "Not every foal is good-looking. We basically paid what her production cost is, not much more. 

"You always value a horse more than anyone else on the sales ground when you buy them but at the same time, we’re thrilled to get her."

Bernick added: "We’re trying to buy more quality than quantity so time will tell. We’ve still got a few left on our list here so if we’re able to find horses that we love, and that fall into our price range, we’ll buy them. And if not, we’ll go shopping at Goffs and Tattersalls. There’s some really nice horses here."

Outlining their aims, De Burgh said: "She is by Dubawi, one of the great stallions of the modern era, and has a lovely pedigree. What Craig is looking for is fillies to race and afterwards to breed from. It’s no good to him buying something for racing that is very good-looking but has got no pedigree. 

"We’re trying to find something to keep for the long term so Craig can breed from her later on."

De Burgh added: "I’m not surprised but there are a lot of nice horses and, whether the French are investing more, they’ve got such good stallions here. Go back 15 or 20 years and Elusive City was the top-price stallion here, and that was it. Now we’ve got all these great stallions and they’re getting better mares and competing on the global stage. 

"It’s exciting and while it might cost us more money but, at the end of the day, Craig will be selling horses out of these mares to an international market."

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