The weekend past in Deauville, France saw the French buying season heat up, with the holding of the annual Arqana Breeze Up sale. OTI was in the thick of the action, acquiring in partnership four two-year-olds that we hope to hear a great deal more about in Australia in the future, whether short-term or long.
We were on the board early when securing Lot 6 (with Annabel Neasham), a filly named Pepples. She is a daughter of Cracksman (by Frankel) out of the Group 3 placed mare Peace of Paris. Cracksman has quite the spruik on him, having produced the Group 2 winner Aloa from his first crop, with this filly part of his second. Cracksman himself, as a son of Frankel, was an outstanding racehorse as a 4-time Group 1 winner. Pepples will immediately move to Australia and into the care of Neasham, who was delighted to attain her.
We buttered up soon after to secure Lot 25 (with Michael Bell), a colt by Lope de Vega out of the three-time winner, Regalline. Michael Bell is of course the trainer of OTI’s recent winner Banderas, another most promising son of Lope de Vega. We were very keen to try to replicate that partnership with a colt bred on similar lines. The unnamed youngster will make Newmarket his home for the immediate future, with a move to Australia a possibility down the track.
Later in the sale, we were thrilled to join with Ciaron Maher Racing to secure Lot 173, the first foal of Miss Alpha by Almanzor. As the sire of the 2022 VRC Derby winner Manzoice, Almanzor has made quite the impact on Australian racing and we hope this colt can continue his progression. Like Pepples, this colt will head to Australia on the first available flight and be prepared by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace for future racing.
Not yet finished, we then joined one of France’s biggest owners, Gerard Augustin-Normand, to acquire Lot 179, another colt by Almanzor. Already named More Dream, he is out of the More Than Ready mare More Than Famous. More Dream already has a Listed-placed sibling in Famous Wolf and will indeed carry the dreams of many in his future racing career.
Augustin-Normand and OTI have already tasted success in partnership with Tigrais for Christopher Head, who will now train More Dream from his Chantilly base. Head is a young trainer on the rise in France, taking out the G1 French 1000 Guineas on Sunday.
An exciting batch of new acquisitions from Arqana and we look forward to watching their development. Should you wish to learn more about the future plans of any of the above northern hemisphere two-year-olds, please don’t hesitate to make contact at oti@oti.com.au.