'We knew she was special' - St Mark's Basilica filly tops Arqana as Coolmore strike winning bid at €1.7 million

What a difference a day makes. Trade on day two had been rather more subdued than is often anticipated at the Arqana August Sale, but it took just 90 minutes for three seven-figure lots to pass through the Deauville ring on Sunday evening.  

Comfortably the most expensive of the trio was the St Mark’s Basilica half-sister to Group 1 winners Chicquita and Magic Wand from Ecurie des Monceaux. Coolmore’s MV Magnier signed the ticket at €1,700,000. 

The filly is out of Monceaux’s blue hen Prudenzia and was bred in partnership with the late Lady O’Reilly. The same partnership - and foundation family - was also responsible for another of the session’s millionaires as the Night Of Thunder filly out of Paix was signed for by Al’Shira’aa Farms at €1,000,000. 

“Obviously it’s a very emotional sale because of Lady O’Reilly,” said Monceaux’s director Henri Bozo. “We sold the filly out of Paix, who is a very powerful filly, and to me the Prudenzia yearling is a queen. 

“These results reflect a long relationship between Lady O’Reilly, Patricia Boutin and Monceaux. This is a special day and I’m very grateful to two very big customers in Al Shira’aa, who have bought many yearlings from us over the years, and to Coolmore, who have been great supporters.” 

Bozo explained the mating between St Mark’s Basilica and Prudenzia had been planned after discussions between himself, Boutin and Lady O’Reilly. 

He said: “Galileo has done well with the family and we wanted to add a bit of speed, so we were very keen on St Mark’s Basilica, who was a very good two-year-old and a champion three-year-old. He’s a beautiful horse and we’ve been well rewarded. We knew she was a special filly. It’s hard to predict exactly but we were expecting a big price.” 

The St Mark’s Basilica filly is the tenth foal out of Prudenzia and the seventh to fetch a seven-figure sum at the August Sale. This remarkable run began back in 2012, when Sinnamary sold to Agence Fips for €1.1 million. She was followed 12 months later by Truth, who Magnier signed for at €1m, while Craven's Legend went the way of Mayfair Speculators and Peter and Ross Doyle at €1.1m the year after. 

The sale-topping filly is subject to close attention in the Deauville ringCredit: ZUZANNA LUPA

The latter buyers signed alongside Magnier to acquire Magic Wand for €1.4m in 2016, before Godolphin went to €1.625m for Philomene three years after. Prudenzia’s most expensive yearling is the Galileo colt Gulliver's Travels, a €2m acquisition by Coolmore in 2020.

In total, Prudenzia’s offspring have generated €11.895m in Arqana yearling sale receipts, while her first foal, Irish Oaks heroine Chicquita, set an Irish public auction record when bought by Coolmore through the Doyles at €6m in 20213. 

Chicquita has rewarded Coolmore’s investment by breeding three stakes horses, namely Curragh Cup winner Emily Dickinson, Irish Oaks third Nicest and Silver Flash Stakes third Secret Thoughts.

Speaking after signing for the first-crop daughter of St Mark’s Basilica, Magnier said: “In fairness to everybody in Monceaux they took a big risk sending a mare of that calibre to a first-season sire like St Mark’s Basilica, so I’m very happy for them because they deserve this result. Lady O’Reilly was a superb breeder and is much missed.”

Magnier added: “We have a lot of the family coming through and St Mark’s Basilica was an incredible racehorse. He was very tough. He’s had an incredible sale over the last two days and a horse that’s as tough as him and a champion two-year-old and champion three-year-old, you just have to get behind him. 

“I want to thank Henri and everyone at Monceaux for getting behind the horse too and breeding this lovely filly.”

St Mark’s Basilica’s 131-strong debut crop was bred at a fee of €65,000. The eight lots that sold at Arqana averaged €446,250 and included the half-sister to Feed The Flame bought by Al Shaqab Racing for €550,000 on Saturday.

Al Shira’aa return to a source of success

Paix, dam of the €1m Night Of Thunder filly, is a daughter of Prudenzia’s Group 3-winning sibling Pacifique, meaning the likes of Chicquita and Magic Wand appear beneath the third generation of the pedigree, as does Vespertilio, who carried the Al Shira’aa colours to victory in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes. 

Al Shira’aa’s Kieran Lalor explained that a likeness to Vespertilio inspired Sheikha Fatima bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s operation to bid so strongly for the Night Of Thunder filly.

The Night Of Thunder filly out of Paix sells for €1 million at ArqanaCredit: Zuzanna LUPA

“Obviously we bought Vespertilio from Henri and this filly has a very similar profile physically, but with a bit more substance,” said Lalor. “It’s a beautiful family and we loved seeing our filly down at the bottom of the page. Hopefully this one works out the same. 

“Henri’s farm is one of the best breeders and raisers of racehorses, so when we come here we always hope to come out of the sale with some of Monceaux’s stock. The boss loved her and she was very brave to go to a million. She’s a fabulous filly and hopefully she can go one level up from Group 2.” 

St Lawrence strikes early

In a sign of things to come, it took just four lots for the seven-figure mark to be reached for the first time on Sunday. Ballylinch Stud’s Lope De Vega filly out of the Group 3 Park Express Stakes scorer Normandel had been the subject of plenty of pre-sale whispers and duly lived up to the hype when knocked down to Oliver St Lawrence at €1m. 

She is set to head to an operation that has already enjoyed success with the progeny of Lope De Vega sourced in the Arqana ring, with the filly bound for the stable of Carlos and Yann Lerner, who have also overseen the career of the unbeaten Prix du Jockey Club hero Look De Vega.

“She wasn’t an easy one to get,” said St Lawrence. “Carlos and Yann Lerner will get her to train, and they obviously know all about Lope De Vegas. Yann really wanted her, 

“I couldn’t get hold of Shaikh Nasser but I’m hoping we’re all okay. Fawzi Nass and I had discussed these sorts of figures, although this was definitely at the top end of our valuation. She’s a lovely filly though with a gorgeous walk. Hopefully she’ll be running in something like the Prix de Diane one day.” 

The Lope De Vega filly out of Normandel sells for €1 million at Arqana on SundayCredit: ZUZANNA LUPA

The Lerners have already delivered Group 1 success for Shaikh Nasser’s Victorious Racing, having saddled Calif to victory in this year’s running of the Group 1 Bayerisches Zuchtrennen. 

“We bought a couple of yearlings last year that Shaikh Nasser part-owns who are with Carlos and Yann, and he has Calif, who was bought at the Arc Sale, and he went to Bahrain before winning a German Group 1 the other day,” said St Lawrence. 

On the subject of the filly’s seven-figure price tag, the agent added: “I think the nice ones are still very hard to buy. I really was hoping not to have to give a million for her, I was slightly reluctant to, but Yann was besides me digging me in the ribs! He loved her, and she is lovely and comes from such a good nursery.” 

There is plenty going on in the filly’s pedigree as her dam is a half-sister to Mont Ormel, the winner of the Grand Prix de Paris who later raced with distinction in Hong Kong under the name Helene Charisma. 

Normandel is also a sibling to the dam of dual Group 1 winner Pyledriver, while another half-sister has bred four stakes horses, most notably Magnanimous, Seisai and Thornbrook. 

Ballylinch Stud’s managing director John O’Connor highlighted the filly’s temperament as playing a significant part in her sales success – and potentially her racing career too. 

“For me, she’s a star,” said O’Connor. “She was the most consistent horse you can have in a sale. Every time she was out she gave this big and easy walk. 

“She has such a good mind, such a good mentality. She never got tired and she has been showing since Tuesday. In that respect, I really believe she's going to make a class racehorse.” 

Stats a wrap

After a spectacular renewal 12 months ago, trade returned to more like the levels witnessed in 2022. Turnover reached €49,055,000, which was down 11 per cent year-on-year but less than one per cent behind 2022’s aggregate figure. 

The average price was €217,060, which was seven per cent down against last year but was up three per cent compared to 2022. The median dropped 18 points year-on-year from €170,000 to €140,000. The latter figure was identical to 2022. 

The clearance rate had been in the low 80s for the last two years but was 77 per cent this time around as 226 lots sold from 292 yearlings offered.

Al Shaqab Racing was the sale’s leading buyer by aggregate spend with ten yearlings secured for an outlay of €3,135,000 and an average spend of €313,500. 

Ecurie des Monceaux claimed the leading consignor title for the 13th consecutive year with 31 lots sold for €12,880,000 (26 per cent of turnover from 14 per cent of sold lots) and an average of €415,485.

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