'Sheikh Joaan is very happy to get her' - Al Shaqab strike at €550,000 for St Mark's Basilica filly

The full range of Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani's racing and breeding interests were on show in Deauville on Saturday as Al Shaqab Racing enjoyed a day of big results on the track and in the sales ring.

On the racecourse Ollie Sangster saddled the owner’s Simmering to an impressive success in the Group 2 Prix du Calvados, while the string was added to at the Arqana August Sale a short while later when a half-sister to Feed The Flame and Sacred Life was secured for €550,000. 

Offered by Ecurie des Monceaux, the blue-blooded filly by St Mark’s Basilica is the eighth foal out of Knyazhna and was bred in partnership by the Normandy nursery, Lordship Stud and Clear Light SAS. 

The dam’s three black-type performers are Grand Prix de Paris scorer Feed The Flame, three-time Group/Grade 3 winner Sacred Life and the Group 2-placed Khagan. 

“She’s a lovely filly and Sheikh Joaan is very happy to get her, as are all the team here like Khalifa [Al Attiya, Al Shaqab general manager], Nicolas [de Watrigant, bloodstock agent] and Benoit [Jeffroy, stud manager],” said Mohamed Abdulrahman Al Mansour, Al Shaqab’s director of operations. 

“Everyone here has made a great effort to put together a shortlist for today and she was definitely one we liked a lot. 

“She comes from a great family that keeps improving - Feed The Flame, Sacred Life - it just keeps getting better. St Mark’s Basilica was an amazing racehorse. Obviously this is his first crop but we’re happy to support the stallion because his progeny look like good horses. Hopefully they will prove that on the track.” 

Mohamed Abdulrahman Al Mansour, Al Shaqab’s director of operations, with Monceaux's Henri Bozo (right)Credit: ZUZANNA LUPA

Al Mansour also reflected on the success of Simmering, who landed the Princess Margaret Stakes on her previous outing having also finished a fine second to Fairy Godmother in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot. 

“Horses like that always give you a bit of an extra boost when they do it on the track and she’s been lucky for us so far,” said Al Mansour. “We bought her after her run in the Albany Stakes and now she’s won a Group 3 and a Group 2, so it’s time to go for a Group 1 next hopefully.” 

By the close of trade on Saturday Al Shaqab had secured eight yearlings for an outlay of €2,615,000, a spend that saw the operation sit in the number one spot on the leading buyers' table. Second on that list of big spenders was John Stewart, who added to Friday's session-topping €1.4 million Wootton Bassett colt with the €550,000 acquisition of the Dubawi colt out of Mulan offered by Ecurie des Monceaux.

Stroud hot on Too Darn Hot colt

The first lot to break the half-a-million mark was the Too Darn Hot colt out of the Listed-winning and Group 1-placed Irish Rookie who was consigned by Andreas Putsch’s Haras de Saint Pair. 

The Too Darn Hot colt out of Irish Rookie sells at the Arqana August Yearling SaleCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

Bloodstock agents Amanda Skiffington and Michael Donohoe appeared to be taking a keen interest in proceedings, but ultimately it was Anthony Stroud who won out with a bid of €520,000. 

The colt is closely related to Irish Rookie’s first foal, Mithras, a son of Too Darn Hot’s sire Dubawi who won at Newcastle and Newbury for John and Thady Gosden before he transferred to Douglas Whyte in Hong Kong, where he ran second in the Group 3 Premier Plate under the name Turin Redsun. 

“Too Darn Hot is doing really well,” said Stroud. “He was a very good racehorse and had that nice winner today [Simmering], so he seems to be heading on a positive trajectory. I’m very encouraged by his start.

“This was a particularly nice horse that comes from an excellent farm. Last year Godolphin bought Aomori City, who won the Vintage Stakes, from Haras de Saint Pair, so I’m very happy to get this horse. He’s been bought for KHK Racing but no trainer has been decided yet.” 

Irish Rookie herself went through the ring on three occasions. She first fetched €16,000 from Ladyswood Stud and Dermot Farrington at the Goffs Orby Yearling Sale in 2013. The next time she appeared on the market was in 2016, by which time she had won the Listed Montrose Fillies' Stakes and finished second to Ervedya in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. 

She also filled third place behind Esoterique in the Sun Chariot Stakes, efforts that saw her valuation increase to 935,000gns when Crispin de Moubray signed on behalf of Haras de Saint Pair. 

Her most recent visit to the sales came at Arqana last December, when she was knocked down to BBA Ireland at €195,000 when offered in foal to Zarak. 

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