'She has a great pedigree and physique, while I loved her breeze' - €210,000 Too Darn Hot filly stands out at Arqana

Among the two-year-olds to have breezed on Monday across the road at Deauville racecourse, one stood head and shoulders above her contemporaries on day one of the Arqana Summer Sale.

A filly by Too Darn Hot from Chasemore Farm’s hugely successful Ceiling Kitty family (lot 47) quickly raced through the six-figure barrier and was finally knocked down for €210,000 to Arthur Hoyeau on behalf of the microshare syndicator Myracehorse.

Grove Stud gave 80,000gns for the filly at Tattersalls Book 1 last October, but she was forced to skip her intended sale date in the spring.

Dam Formidable Kitt narrowly missed out on joining her siblings Eartha Kitt and Arthur Kitt in earning black type when fourth in the Dragon Stakes, but has already made her mark as a broodmare thanks to her daughter by Camelot, Kitteridge, who was third in this season’s Listed Pretty Polly Stakes at Newmarket. 

Explaining his determination to secure the filly, Hoyeau said: “She's been bought for Myracehorse and will go to America, where I think she could fit in well. She’ll be syndicated in the weeks to come. 

“There’s been a good word for the way she's been working in the weeks leading up to the sale and I think she was the filly with the best profile for the US at a mile and maybe further.

“She was due to go to an earlier sale but had a small setback. But she has a great pedigree and physique, while I loved her breeze.”

Arthur Hoyeau purchased lot 47 at Arqana on behalf of microshare syndicator MyracehorseCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

Hoyeau added: “Too Darn Hot had a nice winner in the US last weekend. I’ve never bought a horse from Grove Stud before, but their reputation speaks for itself.” 

While the dogs may have been barking about the Too Darn Hot filly’s work all the way from County Cork, there were other less-heralded lots which nonetheless caught the eye of buyers.

Mocklershill’s Kodiac colt out of the smart Galileo mare Ma Cherie (lot 86) missed his original date at the Goffs UK Breeze-Up in April but will now be heading a few hundred metres down the road from the Arqana sales complex to the yard of Yann Barberot.

The trainer is no stranger to buying on spec and was happy to make what he described as a “fun gamble” on the colt, whose half-sister Mysterious Love has already reached a rating of 99 for David Menuisier.

Having bid himself from a vantage point at eye level with the rostrum, Barberot said: “I liked the way he moved during his breeze yesterday. He looks a little bit like a two-year-old, being by Kodiac, and his dam has already produced a good horse. 

“It’s a fun gamble to take. I haven’t bought him with a particular client in mind, I’ll give it some thought.”

Ninety-three horses passed through the ring and plenty of vendors failed to have their expectations met, with 46 being sold for €892,500 at a clearance rate of 49 per cent, compared to last year's 83.1 per cent from 71 lots catalogued. 

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