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DALIKA was bred in Germany by Gestut Ammerland, who sold her in the spring of her three-year-old career. The US result maintains the great day for Ammerland, who topped Day 1 of the Arqana August Sale with its Shamardal colt out of Lady Frankel, who sold for €1,600,000 (Lot 21). Her dam Drawn To Run [&hellip;]

Watch: Dalika win the Grade 1 Beverley D Stakes, great day for Gestut Ammerland continues - International Thoroughbred

Horse racing and Bloodstock magazine and live news

International Thoroughbred

Watch: Dalika win the Grade 1 Beverley D Stakes, great day for Gestut Ammerland continues

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European juvenile winners' round-up - International Thoroughbred

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European juvenile winners&#8217; round-up

Offered: 133 Sold: 112 % sold: 84.21 % Average price: €177,339 Median price: €120,000 Aggreate: €19,862,000 Top price: €1,600,000

Arqana August Day 1 statistics - International Thoroughbred

Arqana August Day 1 statistics

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Lot 133 Sea The Stars x Shamtee

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Haras Du Mont Dit Mont gets the result of the sale –  the farm sells its first foal out of the broodmare Shamtee (Shamardal) for €675,000 (Lot 133).

Sea The Stars first foal out of Shamtee makes €675,000, gives Mont dit Mont the result of Arqana August Day 1 - International Thoroughbred

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Sea The Stars first foal out of Shamtee makes €675,000, gives Mont dit Mont the result of Arqana August Day 1

ARQANA AUGUST THE full-sister to Rumi, a Galileo four-year-old of this year, a Group 2 winner in 2021 of the Prix de la Nonette, is set to join her sister under the Al Shira&#8217;aa Racing banner, bought by the farm for €570,000 (Lot 128). Kieran Lalor, general manager of Al Shira&#8217;aa Racing, said: &#8220;Rumi is running in [&hellip;]

Al Shira'aa Racing buys the Galileo full-sister to Rumi - International Thoroughbred

Al Shira&#8217;aa Racing buys the Galileo full-sister to Rumi

ARQANA AUGUST Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock bidding on behalf of MV Magnier and White Birch Farm spends €550,000 on Lot 122, the Siyouni colt out of Sapa Inca (Galileo), the full-sister to Johannes Vermeer, winner of the Criterium International (G1), and Elizabeth Browing, winner of the Group 2 Kilboy Estate Stakes (G2). &#8220;She has [&hellip;]

MV Magnier and White Birch Farm go to €580,000 for Monceaux's Siyouni colt - International Thoroughbred

MV Magnier and White Birch Farm go to €580,000 for Monceaux&#8217;s Siyouni colt

Jumby and William Buick win the Group 2 Hungerford Sta

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© Debbie Burt

THE Eve Johnson-Houghton-trained Jumby, a son of New Bay, collected his first Group race success when taking the Hungerford Stakes (G2)

Jumby wins his first Group 2, Prix de la Foret possible aim - International Thoroughbred

Jumby wins his first Group 2, Prix de la Foret possible aim

THE SIYOUNI half-sister to the Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Native Trail (Oasis Dream) is bought by Al Shira'aa Racing for €550,000.

Native Trail's close sister bought by Al Shira'aa Racing for €550,000 - International Thoroughbred

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Native Trail&#8217;s close sister bought by Al Shira&#8217;aa Racing for €550,000

Luxembourg back to winning ways... just! - International Thoroughbred

Luxembourg back to winning ways&#8230; just!

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Victory Dance ridden by William Buick after winning the Denford Stakes race during BetVictor Hungerford Day at Newbury Racecourse. Picture date: Saturday August 13, 2022.

THE juvenile Listed races in Britain and Ireland won by progeny of the Darley stallion father and son team of Dubawi and son Night Of Thunder

Father Dubawi and son Night Of Thunder sire Listed juvenile winners in Britain and Ireland - International Thoroughbred

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Father Dubawi and son Night Of Thunder sire Listed juvenile winners in Britain and Ireland

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<h3>[it-added-button="<a class="post_btn_class_normal txt-color" href="https://issuu.com/international_thoroughbred/docs/itb_august_2022/74" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read using the pdf</a>"]</h3>
<h3 class="ixu-heading StoryCard__StoryTitle-sc-1k5lvnq-2 ewROPo">THIS YEAR breeze-up consignors have enjoyed some fine returns with BBAG September-purchased yearlings. Martin Stevens talks to BBAG’s CEO Klaus Eulenberger</h3>
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For many years if you mentioned BBAG to members of the British and Irish bloodstock industry they’d immediately think of superior slowermaturing and stamina-packed yearlings by blue-chip sires such as Adlerflug and Soldier Hollow.
The Baden-Baden auction company is exceedingly proud of that, but its reputation has gained another dimension in recent years with many traders having found reasonably priced raw material for selling back home in Britain and Ireland.
This year’s round of breeze-ups proved to be a bonanza of BBAG bargains for vendors. At Arqana, Church Farm and Horse Park Stud sold a Cracksman filly out of a threeparts sister to the German Oaks winner Feodora for €420,000 and a well-bred Sea The Moon filly for €110,000, the pair having cost just €49,000 and €30,000.
Powerstown Stud sold a Sea The Moon brother to the Listed winner Enjoy The Moon at Arqana for €350,000 and a Soldier Hollow colt out of a half-sister to Deutsches Derby winner Lucky Speed at Tattersalls for 130,000gns, the pair having been sourced for €92,000 and €28,000.
<aside class="quotebox-without-image" style="background: #990000; color: #f5f3ed; float: left; margin: 0 12px 12px 0;">
<blockquote>"It’s a pinhookers' paradise! It started when Con Marnane started coming over to sell around 20 years ago, and then he came to the yearling sales and found some nice horses to pinhook"</blockquote>
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Another consignor in clover was Brown Island Stables, which bought an Oasis Dream colt closely related to Querari for €58,000 at BadenBaden and resold him at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale for 310,000gns.
Flat traders will no doubt be making a beeline for the yearling sales in Germany this year, then, but so too will the NH fraternity after Chris and Claire Bonner sold an Adlerflug three-yearold gelding to Henrietta Knight for £200,000 at the Goffs UK Spring Store Sale in May.
The longer-term project cost a mere €19,000 as a yearling at the BBAG October Yearling Sale in 2020.
“It’s a pinhookers' paradise!” exclaims the company’s director Klaus Eulenberger. “It started when Con Marnane started coming over to sell around 20 years ago, and then he came to the yearling sales and found some nice horses to pinhook. He struck lucky early with a yearling from one of the early crops of Montjeu, which was sold at the Craven Sale for good money and turned out to be a very classy horse.”
The horse in question was Noble Prince, a colt out of Gran Criterium (G1) winner Noble Pearl, who was bought from his breeder Gestüt Etzean for €90,000 at BBAG’s premier yearling sale of 2005. He was resold by Marnane’s Bansha House Stables for 230,000gns and entered training with André Fabre for Michael Tabor, for whom he won a Listed race and ran second in the Prix de Chaudenay.
Noble Prince found a new lease of life over jumps with Paul Nolan, winning ten races in that sphere including the Jewson Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. All in all, he was a fine advert for the soundness and versatility of German thoroughbreds.
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<blockquote>"We have many by the likes of Adlerflug, Areion and Soldier Hollow, and they suit sales like Tattersalls Guineas and Arqana, where the market is different now – they’re not just focused on speed"</blockquote>
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“He was so sound,” emphasises Marnane, recalling that early BBAG purchase. “He just kept going and going. He gave us a good start with our German yearlings. We wouldn’t buy many from there, only one or two a year, but we also had Elegant Supermodel who ran third in the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot. They’re cheap as well. She was a Lope De Vega and she only cost €13,000.
“We always do a bit of a tour around to buy horses. We bought Amadeus Wolf in Italy and First Selection in Spain. We’d go anywhere to see if we can buy a racehorse for a bit of value.”
THE EXAMPLE of Noble Prince encouraged more pinhookers to head to Baden-Baden in search of a steal, with some notable results along the way. One of the most memorable was the Exceed And Excel filly Likely, who was bought for €49,000 and resold by Grove Stud to David Redvers for £340,000 to top the Goffs UK Breeze-Up Sale of 2014. She slammed the useful Mattmu by 5l on her debut for David Barron.
“In the following years more and more buyers came over and realised there were lots of nice horses here,” says Eulenberger. “In the early days they concentrated on the faster horses, the typical breeze-up types, but we don’t really have that many of those, so they then started taking a closer look at the Solder Hollows, as they’re such nice sales horses. The focus came to be more on quality and value for money.”
Pinhookers’ newfound interest in somewhat more stoutly bred stock is also a function in the evolution of the breeze-up business, with more money being spent on potential Classic performers, at Tattersalls and Arqana fixtures in particular.
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[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="458"]<img class="Photo__Image-sc-114e5q3-1 iiBZZm" src="https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/220804090239-7770e75812f0e2a95caa157bafee0f6d/v1/2ae874b75466ed35881bbad65a3a4d5b.jpeg" alt="" width="458" height="369" /> Forever Rose (Cracksman-Forever Beauty) was bought at the BBAG September Sale by Church Farm and Horse Park Stud for €49,000 and was sold at the Arqana Breeze Up for €420,000[/caption]
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[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="441"]<img class="Photo__Image-sc-114e5q3-1 iiBZZm" src="https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/220804090239-7770e75812f0e2a95caa157bafee0f6d/v1/395e3839d816df0544b58330c9f73632.jpeg" alt="" width="441" height="370" /> The Oasis Dream ex Queimada colt was bought at the BBAG September Sale for €58,000 and was resold by Brown Island Stable at the Tattersalls Craven Breeze-Up Sale for 310,000gns[/caption]
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“German breeders breed for stamina, everyone knows that, so we don’t necessarily have the fancy Dark Angels and Kodiacs that vendors would want for Doncaster here,” says Eulenberger. “But we have many by the likes of Adlerflug, Areion and Soldier Hollow, and they suit sales like Tattersalls Guineas and Arqana, where the market is different now – they’re not just focused on speed.”
If you’re reading this and thinking of making an investment in a German pinhook, by all means start planning your trip to Baden Baden for this year’s yearling sale, which takes place on Friday, September 2.
The catalogue features 15 lots by Areion, 11 by Soldier Hollow, ten by Sea The Moon and four by Adlerflug, and others by top sires such as Dubawi, Frankel, Kingman, Lope De Vega, Night Of Thunder, Sea The Stars, Wootton Bassett and Zarak.
But if you really want to be ahead of the game, and unearth some true value for money, Eulenberger has a pro tip.
“The pinhooking results from the main yearling sale have been good for a while and were outstanding this year, but we hold a mixed sale in October to coincide with racing at Baden-Baden and I think it’s incredibly underrated,” he says.
“We’ve sold lots of very good horses out of the sale – not least the Arc winner Torquator Tasso – but there has been an especially high number of good pinhooks, too. It was here that the Bonners found their Adlerflug colt, and many other NH buyers such as Yorton Farm have been coming for some years.
“The only problem with BBAG October is that it usually clashes with Tattersalls October Book 3, so most of the international agents and pinhookers aren’t here, but we’re unable to change the date as we have the race meeting taking place at the same time. Our agent Richard Venn has been very helpful in assisting in facilitating pinhooks, though.”
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<blockquote>All the serious pinhookers started to make their way to the sales here because they could see there was value there, it’s as simple as that."</blockquote>
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FOR HIS PART, Venn thinks the increase in British and Irish traders shopping at BBAG is down to a lack of horses being bred closer to home to suit the growing breeze-up market for class horses who can be guaranteed to stay 1m2f and up.
“Every year there’s new people coming to Baden-Baden,” he says. “All the serious pinhookers started to make their way to the sales here because they could see there was value there, it’s as simple as that. The likes of Johnny Collins, Brendan Holland, Roger Marley, Tom Whitehead, Norman Williamson, every year they’re here and every year they get a result.
“I think it helps that the German industry has a certain niche in that it’s breeding stoutly bred horses, not just sprinters, and that’s what a section of the market wants.
“Look at Tom Whitehead’s results with his pinhooks through Powerstown Stud – he had great touches with a Sea The Moon and a Soldier Hollow. They certainly don’t fit into the traditional archetype of a breeze-up horse.
“I just feel in a way, rightly or wrongly, that they’re breeding fewer staying types in the UK and Ireland than used to be the case, and the German-breds at BBAG are filling that gap and so the vendors are getting all these good results from trading them.”
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<blockquote>"I can promise anyone they’ll have a good time, especially in September when there’s good racing; we have a big barbecue and there might even be a return of the German Elvis impersonator!"
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Agent Richard Venn</blockquote>
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Venn is just the right man to be representing BBAG on the global stage as he is a passionate defender of stamina breeding, which has sadly become a dirty word in some of the more commercial corners of the British and Irish bloodstock market.
He says: “We do need in our industry, for the sake of the racing programme and the health of the breed, a selection of sprinting, miling, middle-distance and staying horses, so we’ve got to continue breeding those that can stay.
“That’s where the Germans are. They’re breeding mostly staying types, with the ultimate aim of a mating being the production of a foal who could one day compete in the Deutsches Derby, their blue riband race. That’s why BBAG is so popular with jumps operations, and also Australians looking for horses for their cup races.”
If all that isn’t enough to convince pinhookers, or any connoisseurs of middledistance and staying horses, to head to Baden Baden this year, Venn surely clinches the deal by adding: “I can promise anyone they’ll have a good time, especially in September when there’s good racing; we have a big barbecue and there might even be a return of the German Elvis impersonator!

A pinhookers' paradise

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<h3>[it-added-button="<a class="post_btn_class_normal txt-color" href="https://issuu.com/international_thoroughbred/docs/itb_august_2022/44" target="" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read using the pdf</a>"]</h3>
<h3 class="NextStory__RelativeContainer-sc-1g3e28b-1 hfgfGq">ARQANA has changed its set-up for its August Sale, has created a new two-day September Sale, and has launched a new race series Executive director Freddy Powell explains the thinking and the initiatives</h3>
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OVER THE PAST TWO YEARS we have became accustomed to bloodstock sale dates and formats changing, it became part of bloodstock life as sales companies adjusted programmes in order to maintain trade during the two years of lockdown complications. Once again this year the Arqana yearling sales has a rather different format – a half day’s sale on the Saturday of the August Sale, no V2 version to conclude business and a two-day September Sale. However the altered format, for once, has nothing to do with pandemics, but rather French bank holidays.
“Monday, August 15 is a bank holiday in France and with traditionally good racing on that day, we could not sell on the Monday afternoon as usual,” explains Arqana’s executive director Freddy Powell.
When the realisation of this emerged the Arqana team considered a variety of differing options. Then when France Galop decided to race on the Tuesday, August 16, it forced a complete reconsideration.
As Powell outlines the changes are maybe part of a natural shift in the make up of the August Sale.
“The August Sale Part 1 and Part 2 started to be a little out of place as there were some really nice horses in Part 2 and by international sires, but a lot of people were not staying.
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<blockquote>“As all the horses have to be on site from the outset and we can’t use the racecourse stables, it means that are constrained by the number of boxes that we have."</blockquote>
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“So we were thinking anyway, let’s have only one part for August so all the horses will be seen by everyone.
“As all the horses have to be on site from the outset and we can’t use the racecourse stables, it means that are constrained by the number of boxes that we have.
“So the catalogue has had to be little smaller and we have taken out 40 or 50 horses who would usually be in the August Sale. As obviously we are trying to keep the best ones in August, it has made it look a really nice catalogue.”
With those horses out of the August Sale, V2 unable to take place, York races starting straight after the sale, the sale company hit upon staging a September Sale.
In reality it is not a ground-breaking solution – a September Sale was something that had to be enacted through 2020 when the whole of the August Sale had to shift back a month.
“It has advantages as it gives a few more weeks for the horses, and sometimes creating a new rendezvous can give a new buzz for the marketing. We will have the V2 horses, but more, V2 was about 150 horses.
“The V2 Sale was always for mature and forward horses with precocious pedigrees. September Sale is forward, mature horses but not necessarily precocious pedigrees as we don’t produce that many of those horses in France.”
Powell outlines the strategic mix for the three Arqana yearling sales this year.
“We will have August, which will be little like Saratoga, then September will be mix of Somerville and Doncaster, then October which is a real Book 2 and it will be graded – the first two days will be the most important for most international people.”
T
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<blockquote>"Deauville in August was one of those things that people missed and is one of the first things that people wanted to do again."</blockquote>
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he vibes are already looking good for the August Sale and, according to Powell, bloodstock and racing people from all around the world, who might not have been able to travel to Deauville for a couple of years, are getting their hotels booked.
“The August Sale is already attracting a lot of people, and reservations are already looking good,” he says. “It is the first year after two years of travel restrictions, lots of Australians, Japanese, Americans are planning to travel – Deauville in August was one of those things that people missed and is one of the first things that people wanted to do again.
“We will put everything in order so that we can welcome everyone and all can have a wonderful few days. We love to again be the place where people want to be.”
Arqana has made a lot of effort over the last decade to position itself as an international quality sale and a destination for international investors and breeders.
However, top quality stock needs to back up the marketing and Powell recognises the financial investments put in by the country’s breeders to achieve these goals.
He says: “The greatest work of all has been from the French breeders over the last few years. They have been buying fillies and mares all around the world and sending them to top stallions, it really means that I am not challenged by any catalogue in the world when I
<h3>Online sales</h3>
As with all global equine auction companies, COVID led Arqana to create dedicated online sales and, while that was something forced into existence out of necessity, they are here to stay.
Powell says: “A lot of people think they are cheaper and easier to run, they are not easy and it is expensive to run an online sale – you have to do the videos, the photos, it is quite a process. Some people love them, but you have to target the right clientele and have the right horses.
“We are planning a more established calendar for online sales, we have recruited Marine Moussa as bloodstock executive – she will have focus on recruitment and finding new opportunities online.
“In Australia the online sales work tremendously, but it is a big country and has just one set of rules and administration.
“Selling horses in France to French people is easy, selling horses in France to international people is easy, but once you start selling a horse based in England or Ireland there are different jurisdictions, logistics, VAT problems, legal issues.
“For instance, if a horses sells in Ireland, but the hammer falls in France and there is a dispute after the sale, which jurisdiction does it come under? We will go step by step.
“And the new online-only companies, don’t have a standard because they are new, they can do it their own way. But if Arqana or Goffs start selling online, people want the same standard, the same guarantees.”
Online sales of breeding rights
“In November we have our established sale of shares and breeding seasons.
“I think before it was an opaque sector and hidden market; stallion masters were just selling shares or breeding rights to people they knew or could be good for the career of the stallion.
“Now a lot of people have followed the market over the last few years, some people didn’t even know they could buy a share!
“Stallion masters love someone who will support a stallion in the third or fourth years, so it is not ideal if someone has rights but will not do that, but it will find its balance.” see our August catalogue.
“The capital they have invested in bloodstock over the last few years means we have first and second foals out of numerous Group winners and 17 siblings of Group 1 winners. Breeders have used international stallions; it is very exciting, very motivating, and has resulted in a great catalogue.
“We are proud of the August catalogue, it has been very well received. The catalogue might be a bit thinner, but when reading it page after page is good.”
Within our crowded international sales calendar, Powell admits it was difficult to find a slot for the September Sale.
“Yes, it was a struggle and we will do everything we can to help those who want to come from the Somerville Sale at Newmarket to get to Deauville as quickly and easily as possible.
“However, people have got used to being able to be active at the sales, without necessarily being there. Previously if you asked any agent or trainer regarding buying without seeing, they would be shocked, that mentality has changed a lot.”
The results of the inaugural September Sale will be monitored closely by the Arqana team, and its continuation into 2023 will depend on its performance in 2022.
Powell says: “If it works we will definitely keep it, but we are not going to be stubborn about it! We are not trying to fix things that are not broken. We are quite confident, the catalogue is good, we will do everything we can do attract people and the horses have been selected as individuals.”
<h3>New exciting race series</h3>
In July, Arqana announced sponsorship of a new race series for the sales company’s unraced graduates and that has several objectives both for Arqana and French racing in general.
“We believe that anything we invest into racing and sponsorship has two goals,” outlines Powell.
“The first is to reward those who are buying at Arqana and who trust the French system, the other objective is to attract new owners and work with France Galop. Like everywhere in the world France is losing owners and it is something we want to address.”
As with sales, Arqana has decided to position the unique benefits afforded to it by the Deauville and ParisLongchamp locations.
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<blockquote>“We have a lot of American owners who say that at the Saratoga and Del Mar meetings they are running horses in $100,000 maidens – so we thought why can’t we do the same here?”</blockquote>
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“Prize-money is a good thing, it is important, but experience is even more important,” he says. “By sponsoring in August around the weekend of the sales and on Arc weekend, we can offer our buyers an experience at those wonderful meetings.
“All those people who have a runner in the Criterium on Arc weekend the last few years, have said it has been quite special.
“We will be selling on Friday next year, and there will be a new evening race meeting the night before for these races. It will definitely create a dynamic and give a proper experience.”
It might seem a little strange to focus on untried horses, but there was a strategy around that thinking, too.
“We wanted to give as many people a chance to run on that day in August so we thought what is the biggest population of horses that we have in the middle of August and we realised that is the unraced horses. So we have two unraced maidens over the straight 7f at Deauville straight.
“We have a lot of American owners who say that at the Saratoga and Del Mar meetings they are running horses in $100,000 maidens – so we thought why can’t we do the same here?”

Changing formats

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<h3>[it-added-button="<a class="post_btn_class_normal txt-color" href="https://issuu.com/international_thoroughbred/docs/itb_august_2022/68" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read using the pdf</a>"]</h3>
<h3 class="NextStory__AbsoluteContainer-sc-1g3e28b-2 heLwGa">HUBERT GUY is based in Lexington and he chats to Jocelyn de Moubray about his recent high level of success and the international bloodstock markets of France and the US – Zellie and Onesto, two of the best French three-year-olds of this year, were both purchased by Guy.</h3>
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HUBERT GUY has had a long career in the bloodstock business.
He moved to California in the early 1980s for a few months’ work experience and stayed for 35 years.
He started working as a bloodstock agent when advised by a lawyer that doing some international business was a good way to get a valid visa while he was waiting for a green card. Over the years he worked with some of the leading California-based trainers and bought numerous Grade 1 winners from France to the US.
He is now based in Lexington, Kentucky but over the last few months has had an outstanding run in France having bought, and for a time part-owned, two of the best three-year-olds of their generation – the Group 1-winners Zellie and the Frankel colt Onesto, last month’s impressive winner of the Grand Prix de Paris.
“I had bought a horse for Elizabeth Fabre before which had worked out well,” Guy recalls when recounting the story of Zellie. “When I said I was looking to buy a foal by Wootton Bassett at the sales in 2019 she and her daughter Lavinia were keen to be partners.
“We bought Zellie for €140,000 from the Haras de Grandcamp in Deauville. She had the pedigree – her dam is a half-sister to the 1,000 Guineas winner Speciosa and her second dam a half-sister to the top racemare Pride. She was a little small, but what I loved was her walk and her way of moving.
“We took her back to the yearling sale in 2020, which was moved to September because of covid, and there was no interest in her at all, no vets, and when she went through the ring, no bids.
“She was still a little small, still walked beautifully so she went into training with André Fabre. When he first worked her Fabre said he was pleased.
“She made her debut at the end of May and won by a head at Saint-Cloud in the colours of Lavinia Fabre beating a well-regarded filly of Jean-Claude Rouget’s. She won her next start three weeks later after being blocked in the race and coming from an impossible position. It was then that I said to Lavinia that we had perhaps found a top filly. A month later she won a Listed in Deauville by 3l and we sold her after the race.
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<blockquote>"They are fabulous machines but fragile and once you go into the red, more often than not, you never get back to where you were before."</blockquote>
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“I knew Fabre was keen to take her to run in England, but in the end she went to ParisLongchamp for the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac on Arc weekend and won comfortably. We had sold her very well indeed, but still it was a thrill. It is incredibly difficult to win these championship races and we don’t always appreciate just how unlikely it is when you buy a horse that it ends up winning one of these top races.”
Guy is no longer involved with Zellie although he has, of course, followed her career carefully.
“She ran a great race to be fourth in the 1,000 Guineas and then ran flat in the Prix de Diane. I don’t know why, but I think these top racehorses are like the most finely tuned Formula 1 racing cars. They are fabulous machines but fragile and once you go into the red, more often than not, you never get back to where you were before.
One of the main constituents of Guy’s business today is buying yearlings in the US to sell at the Ocala two-year-old in training sales.
He was at the 2021 Ocala sale when he saw a colt by Frankel put up one of the best times of the 900 horses in the sale.
“I called Jean Etienne Dubois and told him I had seen a Frankel colt put up a sensational breeze despite the fact that he has the pedigree of a 1m4f horse,” he recalls. “Onesto is out of a Sea The Stars mare from the family of Dansili – his second dam is a full-sister to Hasili, the dam of Dansili and the Group 1 winners Champs Elysees, Cacique, Bank’s Hill and Intercontinental.
“I was not, of course, the only one who had noticed and we had to go to $535,000 to buy him and he went into training for a partnership with Fabrice Chappet.”
ONESTO WON ON HIS DEBUT at Chantilly last September looking like a future top horse. He disappointed on his seasonal reappearance, but then won the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe to set up a run in the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) in which he finished fifth, beaten only a length behind runner-up El Bodegon.
[caption id="attachment_11201" align="alignleft" width="739"]<img class="wp-image-11201 " src="https://cms.internationalthoroughbred.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/zellie-scaled-e1659610934202.jpeg" alt="" width="739" height="422" /> Guy bought the Prix Marcel Bousaac winner Zellie as a yearling with the Fabre family for €140,000 and sold her as a two-year-old “very well”[/caption]
“It was obviously disappointing to finish fifth when we were so close to being second!” says Guy. “I think he could have been ridden closer to the early pace, but then at the first draw we were thrilled to be in stall nine, and when it was redone we ended up drawn wide in 14!
Onesto proved that he had not shown his true form in the Jockey-Club with a decisive win some six weeks later in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris.
“It was a wonderful victory,” smiles Guy. “He won without being touched by the whip and is a very, very good horse. His trainer Fabrice Chappet has done a great job.
“I was not that surprised as we always thought he was a Group 1 horse, but between thinking that and achieving it is a difficult step to take and he has done it now.
“I was surprised by the second horse Simca Mille, who seems to improve 3l or 4l with every start and who pushed Onesto right to the line, while we easily beat the foreign-trained runners whom I had feared.
“Now he will run in either the Prix Niel or the Irish Champion and then on to the Arc. I am really proud, just once in a while I can find a really good one, the Group 1 horse that we are all looking for!”
Guy adds: “Onesto is probably the best horse I have ever bought, and he is the 28th Group or Grade 1 winner I have been involved with.
<blockquote class="Quote-sc-1am45o4-0 cGgFGI">“He has that turn of foot which I saw at Ocala, that day he went fast, and now he has learnt to relax and use his speed at the end of his races.</blockquote>
“His sire Frankel is also something exceptional and probably the best stallion in the world today. Onesto is his seventh Group 1-winning three-year-old and he gets 1m4f horses with that extra kick and natural speed.
“We shall find out how good Onesto is over the coming weeks and months, and the plan is, of course, to maximise his value as a stallion.”
Guy adds that he bought one two-year-old this year in Ocala to race in Europe.
“I bought a Medaglia D’Oro filly out of the top race mare Day At The Spa for $150,000, one bid over the reserve. She is currently in pre-training with Jean Pierre Dubois and for time being he is happy with her.”
<h3 class="SubHead-ik5mtv-0 fhWix">Early starts</h3>
GUY’S FAMILY had nothing whatsoever to do with horses or racing, but an early passion for riding and then racing led him to start riding out in Chantilly and then ride as an amateur jockey mainly in jump races.
“There was a time when I would get up at four in the morning and bicycle to the Gare du Nord to catch the train to Chantilly to ride out,” he remembers. “When you are young and passionate you are able to do things like that.”
Those he got to know at the time included Pascal Bary and Patrick Barbe and it was Barbe who got him a job with Charlie Whittingham in California.
“I left thinking I would stay for a few months but in the end I stayed and have never left the US,” he smiles. “I had thought I wanted to become a trainer, but started off looking for horses in France who could race on in California and that has never really stopped.”
He enjoyed a remarkable partnership with the Peruvian-born trainer Julio Canani, for whom he bought 15 Grade 1 winners, including Silic and Tuzla, first and second in the Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1999, and Val Royal, who won the same race in 2001 despite having missed almost a year with a tendon injury in 2000.
Californian racing is now no longer quite the same thing that it was 20 or 30 years ago.
“There was,” Guy says, “a whole generation of Californian owners who disappeared at around the turn of the century – John Mabee, Allen Paulson and many others – and we never succeeded in replacing them.
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<blockquote>Also my impression is that some of these Californian people who could get involved just don’t like losing – you don’t stay long in racing if you don’t learn how to lose.”</blockquote>
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“There was also a group of outstanding trainers in California, such as Bobby Frankel, Ron McAnally, Julio Canani, Charlie Whittingham, John Gosden, and there were never replaced either.
“These days social media is so important, and people don’t want be involved with something which can be seen in a negatively. Also my impression is that some of these Californian people who could get involved just don’t like losing – you don’t stay long in racing if you don’t learn how to lose.”
He still buys some horses in training to race in the US, but it has become a very strong market.
“At the end of the day there are not that many horses who fit the bill; few of these are on the market and those who are have become very expensive.
“When you see the prices fetched at auction recently by horses such as Speak Of The Devil, Rougir or Txope you can understand if people want to put their horses through a sales ring rather than doing private sales.”
He had always looked at yearlings, even if he didn’t buy many, but from 2005 onwards Guy starting looking seriously at the American sales, as well as those in France and sometimes in England and Ireland, with a view to pinhooking for the Ocala two-yearold sales.
He sees around 3,000 or so yearlings every year.
A breakthrough came in 2011 when he bought a First Samurai filly for $23,000 at Keeneland September.
“I had seen her at the farm, she was bred by Bill Betz who is one of the best in Kentucky, and always loved her, but her sire was not in fashion so I was able to get her for so little.
“She made $650,000 at Ocala, went to Bob Baffert, was named Executiveprivilege she won two Grade 1s and finished second to Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
“In today’s market she would have made double that, I had 15 vets and when she went round the walking ring outside she made all of the others look like low quality claimers.”
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<blockquote>“Ocala is a huge and open market. There is demand at every level and if you have the right horse you can make a lot of money.”</blockquote>
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THIS YEAR has been excellent for Guy – he and his partners bought 13 yearlings in 2021 and sold ten as two-year-olds for an excellent profit.
“Ocala is,” he says, “a huge and open market. There is demand at every level and if you have the right horse you can make a lot of money.”
At the same time Guy buys some yearlings in France to go into training.
"Over the years, I have bought some with Fabrice Chappet and we have been lucky together, and if he works with other people too, we still buy a few together.
“I have also bought some for Vivaldi, one of the most successful French partnerships, and they have horses with Rouget and Stefan Wattel in Deauville, and then thanks to Zellie I have also an involvement in some with Fabre as well.”
Guy moved to Lexington in 2015, mainly because he was fed up with taking the flight from Los Angeles to Paris ten times or more every year.
“It is,” he says, “easier from Lexington and then from here I can get to all of the major East Coast tracks in less than two hours in a plane.”
He spends around two to three months a year in France.
“You have to keep looking at the horses,” he says. “If you see them regularly but not every day you notice how they are changing.
“After 40 years I am still trying to make better choices, to apply what I have learnt over the years, and hoping to get lucky. If you want to have success you have to think outside of the box otherwise your chances will be even slimmer.”

Buying Group 1 winners

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<h3>[it-added-button="<a class="post_btn_class_normal txt-color" href="https://issuu.com/international_thoroughbred/docs/itb_august_2022/62" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Read using the pdf</a>"]</h3>
<h3 class="NextStory__AbsoluteContainer-sc-1g3e28b-2 heLwGa">YANN BARBEROT loves training in Deauville and the ex-jockey is having a fine time of things at present.</h3>
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He won the All-Weather Sprint Championship in April with Bouttemont, had runners in this year’s French Classics, and Sicilian Defense won a Listed race at the start of the Deauville summer season
YANN BARBEROT is a trainer whose time has come. Some 15 years after the ex-jockey launched his new career as a trainer in Deauville, the stable is clearly on the verge of joining the elite group of French-based trainers who compete regularly in the country’s best races.
In 2021, Barberot’s stable enjoyed its best season to date with 60 wins in France, and this year it succeeded in winning its first race in England when Bouttemont took the All Weather Sprint Championship at Newcastle in April. He has also been competing in the French fillies’ Classic races with Daisy Maisy and Sicilian Defense.
“My first plan was to go to Newcastle with a different horse,” says Barberot about his British All-Weather win, “but then when the time came I realised that Bouttemont was the horse at the peak of his form and ready to go. It was a great day, it is very difficult to win in Britain – now we have one winner we shall certainly be looking for more.”
Travelling is however never straight forward.
“My next runner in Britain was Toimy Son in the Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot,” he adds. “He travelled over from Deauville on a day when the temperature was in the 90s and when I saw him in the paddock before the race I knew he had no chance.
“The horse was just not there and the journey had taken too much out of him. He may not have been good enough to compete, but as it turned out we still don’t know as he didn’t run his race. I will keep trying.
“The prize-money in France is so good, particularly with the premiums for French-bred horses, that it is not always an obvious decision to pay for the transport to go and compete in England or even in Germany but I enjoy challenges and competition is our job.
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<blockquote>“I loved being a jockey and hadn’t really thought about what would come next, even in a little part of my brain!"</blockquote>
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"These days I train for some breeders, and for a breeder the equation is different than for those who are only interested in racing and prize-money.
Barberot was a jockey for nearly 20 years and rode more than 400 winners. He was based in the west of France and rode frequently for the Deauville-based trained Stefan Wattel.
“I loved being a jockey,” he remembers, “and hadn’t really thought about what would come next, even in a little part of my brain! I did have an idea that I might try to be a trainer. I used to go to Cagnes for the winter meeting for Stefan, and while he was away in Deauville I used to oversee the training of the horses who were based there and it was something I enjoyed a great deal.”
The future caught up with Barberot suddenly when his riding career was ended by a heart attack during a race at Craon in 2007.
“Let’s say that at the time I had trouble with my weight and my lifestyle was very far from a healthy one,” he explains.
For a year he stopped everything in order to recover and then had to face up to the future.
“I went to see Stefan and asked him if I could work as his assistant. He said of course I could, but that he thought it was a bad idea and that in his opinion I should set up on my own. In the end he was right.
“I worked as his assistant for about a month and then in 2008 I set out in Deauville as a trainer.”
The choice of Deauville was an easy one at the time and he is more convinced than ever that it is the ideal place to train racehorses.
“Deauville has,” he says, “the perfect climate for training thoroughbreds as it is never either too hot or too cold but a moderate temperature all the year round.
“All of the stud farms and breaking in and pre-training centres are close to Deauville, the summer meeting here is about the best quality racing in France of the year, and now we have a winter meeting on the All-Weather and under floodlights, too.
“Arqana is just across the road from the racecourse and we are only two hours by horsebox from the Paris racetracks. I don’t see where would be a better place to train from.”
<div class="Photo__ImageWrapper-sc-114e5q3-2 bCIISs">
[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="568"]<img class="Photo__Image-sc-114e5q3-1 iiCabd" src="https://assets.isu.pub/document-structure/220804090239-7770e75812f0e2a95caa157bafee0f6d/v1/d592367d4b9d16eea38349113ae67215.jpeg" alt="" width="568" height="429" /> Barberot believes Deauville is the perfect place to train racehorses[/caption]
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The training centre in Deauville is full these days and the successful trainers based there, Jean-Claude Rouget, Wattel and Barberot himself amongst others, have no problem filling the boxes they have available.
Since the arrival of Rouget, whose string is now split between Deauville and Pau, nobody doubts that it is possible to train the best horses and win the best races from Deauville.
“Jean-Claude has raised the profile of Deauville as a training centre,” says Barberot, “and we all have to aim higher if we wish to keep up. He used to keep horses here to prepare for big races before he had an official stable here and so he has appreciated Deauville as a training centre for years.”
Barberot adds: “Jean-Claude is amazing. Sometimes we don’t see him for a week or so and yet when he comes back he not only knows all of his horses by heart but he knows mine, too!
“It is almost irritating as I don’t know his in the same way as he knows mine!
“If it is has been difficult for new trainers to break through in France it is in part because the older generation included remarkable trainers such as André Fabre, Rouget and Alain de Royer-Dupre.”
IN RECENT YEARS Barberot has been able to buy better quality yearlings and the results have followed.
“It is,” he insists, “certainly a lot easier to buy well if you have some money to spend!”
Bouttemont was a €125,000 Deauville August yearling and Daisy Maisy was bought at the COVID-delayed September Sale in 2020 for €240,000.
Daisy Maisy was a close-up fifth in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches and then sixth in the Prix de Diane.
“She is,” he reasons, “a good filly but just a little below the best. I hope she will be able to win her Group race. I will bring her back in trip – in the Diane the others were just a little too good for her and the distance a little too far.”
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<blockquote>“Training high-class horses is like a drug, once you have had the experience you can only think about how to find new quality horses in order to have the same feeling again."</blockquote>
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These two both belong to Philippe Allaire and partners, a name very well known in the trotting world where the Allaire family has been prominent for many years – Philippe Allaire himself has owned and trained the winners of all of the top races.
“I have learnt a great deal from working with Philippe,” Barberot says. “He knows a great deal and at the same time we have fun and share the same ambition to compete in the best races.
“I know we need to keep winning handicaps and races to bring the money in, but I am always trying to raise the quality of horses we have and we are constantly making a selection of which ones to keep.”
Barberot bought his own stable in Deauville a few years ago and built a new one next door.
Today he has 70 to 75 horses in training all the year round with another 30 or so being either broken in or pre-trained at one of the many establishments in the Deauville area.
“I wasn’t trained to run a business!” he laughs. “Now I have some 20 to 25 employees and so there is a big responsibility and plenty of stress, but I enjoy running a team and trying to bring along young people.
“I have two young apprentice jockeys working for me who both won their first race this year, Dorian Provost and Louis Nomis, and that is something I enjoy doing.
“If I hadn’t been involved with horses perhaps I could have been a football trainer?”
Barberot is hopeful his owners will follow him again at the yearling sales but then as he points out racing is a competitive business.
“Every year we have to start again from scratch,” he says. “Last year we won 60 races but you never know for sure how the next year will turn out and whether the ones we bought are any good.
“In this business you can never be sure of anything and all we can do is to keep doing everything possible to win races.”
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First-season yearling sires 2022

July-August Yearling Sales edition