Scat Daddy saves the best until last as Coolmore land €825,000 colt

Scarcity has clearly focussed the bloodstock world’s collective mind when it comes to the progeny of the late Coolmore sire Scat Daddy, and several of his two-year-olds had clearly caught buyer's imaginations during a buoyant renewal of the Arqana Breeze-Up Sale in Deauville on Saturday.

Six of the stallion’s sons or daughters were catalogued, of which four appeared in the top ten sales.

For the second year running top honours at the sale went to a colt prepared by Willie Browne’s Mocklershill, but while last year's record-breaking top lot had been pinhooked for just $15,000, this horse was highly-enough regarded by his owners to be led out of the Keeneland ring unsold last September when bidding ceased at $370,000.

After a lengthy duel over the racy colt the hammer finally came down at €825,000 in favour of agent Jamie McCalmont, who was standing next to Coolmore’s French representative Mathieu Legars.

It soon emerged that Coolmore will be the new owners of the colt, whose dam Missamerica Bertie has already produced a Grade 2 winning juvenile in the shape of the Henny Hughes colt Carried Interest.

"It’s one of the last opportunities you’re ever going to get to buy a horse by this most amazing stallion," said McCalmont. "No Nay Never [a son of Scat Daddy] had another winner today at the Curragh and so it was hard to leave a horse like this behind. It’s very sad there are no more of them.

"He didn’t look like he had gone as fast as he did, which was one of the things we really liked about his breeze. He looked like he had done an OK time and then when you looked at the times from the machines he had done a very good time. That was very important.

"The stallion is incredible and just gets better and better with time."

Jamie McCalmont after signing the docket at €825,000 for the sale-topping Scat Daddy coltCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

Scat Daddy all the rage

Phoenix Thoroughbreds secured two more of the Scat Daddys to break into the top rank of the sale, with agent Dermot Farrington doing the bidding. A colt out of a half-sister to Kalanisi consigned by perennial breeze-up favourites Grove Stud went the way of Farrington for €700,000.

"He’s a nice horse that did a nice breeze and is from a nice family," said Farrington of the colt that had been led out unsold at $195,000 at last year's Fasig-Tipton Saratoga August Yearling Sale. "Scat Daddy is the one everybody wants and it’s the last chance to get one by him."

Lot 140: the Scat Daddy colt bought by Phoenix Thoroughbreds for €700,000Credit: Zuzanna Lupa

Earlier in the session the agent also signed at €320,000 for a colt out of the Listed winning Mr Greeley mare Parisian Affair offered by Gaybrook Lodge Stud. MC Bloodstock pinhooked the colt from Keeneland for $160,000.

Godolphin’s ground-breaking pursuit of Scat Daddy’s progeny at Keeneland last September was one of the major headlines of the year and Anthony Stroud struck at Arqana at €360,000 for a filly by the sire consigned by Yeomanstown Stud.

Scarcity of supply was also a motivating factor according to Stroud, who said: "We’ve bought horses before from the vendor and they’ve done well. There are no more Scat Daddys left and he was the most wonderful stallion. He’ll go back and the boss will decided where he goes.”

The filly, out of the Listed-placed Ishiguru mare Sure Route, was pinhooked by Yeomanstown Stud for $125,000 from last year's Fasig-Tipton October Yearling Sale.

Godolphin were also the purchasers of a colt by their own recently-departed stallion, Poet’s Voice, as Stroud went to €380,000 to secure the Mocklershill-consigned lot, who is out of a Clodovil half-sister to the Hungarian sensation Overdose.

The colt had been pinhooked by Jamie B Bloodstock for just 42,000gns from Book 3 of last year's Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Sole Frankel offered makes his mark at €700,000

New to the breeze-up market this year, Ecurie la Frenee broke the stranglehold of Irish and British consignors with a colt by Frankel out of Kiss A Miss, whose offspring include Grade 1 winner Backseat Rhythm.

Mark McStay, who signed the name Avenue Bloodstock on the docket, struck the winning blow at €700,000 for a new client, and said: "I’m delighted to get him as he's a Frankel brother to a Grade 1 winner.

"He had a very decent preparation for the sale. He has been bought for a new client who wanted a special horse and I couldn’t fault him.

"He didn’t necessarily do the fastest time but I think he is one we’ll be hearing a lot of next year."

More Than Ready for Hong Kong and a close relation to Pakistan Star

A little earlier in the session a Gove Stud-prepared son of More Than Ready was knocked down to Matt Coleman for €525,000.

The colt, out of the Listed winning Unbridled's Song mare Generosity and a half-brother to two stakes performers, will be heading to Hong Kong in due course after a spell in Britain.

"For us he was the pick of the sale," said Coleman. "He breezed very well and did a good time. More Than Ready has had a lot of success in Hong Kong so he makes sense for over there. He looks a very straightforward and sound, fast horse. It’s been a lucky sale for us."

The More Than Ready colt bought by Matt Coleman looks out into the Arqana auditoriumCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

Two early lots also made a big impact, with a Sea The Stars filly from Grove Stud, just the fourth lot through the ring, making €400,000 to the bid of McCalmont, who was acting on behalf of owner Andrew Rosen on this occasion.

The filly is out of a half-sister to the Hong Kong-based cult hero Pakistan Star, who recently snared his first Group 1 at Sha Tin in the QEII Cup.

McCalmont said: “She will be trained by Roger Charlton and we had a similar filly called September Stars who began for the owner in Europe and who was unbeaten in three starts in the States last year.

"She’s not going to be running any time in the next couple of months I wouldn’t have thought. She is a very pretty filly with a great pedigree. She is inbred to Urban Sea, which my client likes with dams, while she did one of the top 20 times in the breeze, which is pretty good for a filly who isn’t bred to be a sprinting two-year-old."

The Sea The Stars filly was pinhooked by Grove Stud for €100,000 from last year's Goffs Orby Sale.

Radcliffe returns

Kerri Radcliffe signed for the top lot, the €1.4 million unbeaten Street Sense colt Walk In The Sun, last year when working with Phoenix Thoroughbred and was among the top end of the market again 12 months on when going to €400,000 for an Exchange Rate filly consigned by the same vendor as 2017's sale-topper, Mocklershill.

"She's very fast and hopefully she’ll be going to Royal Ascot for George Bolton and he’ll have another Lady Aurelia," said Radcliffe. "We’ll sit down and talk about a trainer later but she is going to stay in Europe. Her breeze was fast and she had a Grade 1 stride and the way she did it was fantastic."

The filly was a $235,000 pinhook by Jamie B Bloodstock at Keeneland last September.

Arqana bucks the European trend as figures hold up

The sale matched the 75 per cent clearance rate of last year, in contrast to some of the recent breeze-ups across Britain in Ireland.

This was especially commedable given the expanded catalogue, with 26 more lots offered than 12 months ago.

Arqana director of communication Alix Chopin said: "We can’t be anything other than happy with the results and we knew that, given the state of the market elsewhere, we had to be reasonable in our expectations. That the figures have held up from last year’s record-breaking sale is an achievement we are extremely happy with.

"We have to thank the vendors, who take all the risks. Many of these horses have been bought for considerable sums of money and someone has to take those risks in order that the breeze-ups continue to improve in terms of the quality of horse offered."

The sale generated turnover of €14.766m - up 14 per cent on 2017's figure, an average of €130,675 - down five per cent, and a median of €80,000 - down from €82,500 12 months ago.

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