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Five mares sell for seven figures with records set
A total of five mares sold for €1,000,000 or more during the opening session of the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale in Deauville on Saturday with new sale records set. Of the 211 lots that went through the ring, 73% were sold for a record average price of €209,201, generating an historic turnover of €32,217,000.
Three-year-old Group One winning felly Rougir (Territories) went through the sales ring in Deauville for the third time on Saturday and the hammer came down at €3,000,000 in favour fo Michel Zerolo of Oceanic Bloodstock who had seen of the challenges of Nicolas Bertran de Balanda (NBB Racing) and David Redvers. The filly has won four times with her career best coming in the Prix de l'Opera (Gr 1, 2000m) at Longhcamp on October 3.
"I've bought her for a partnership between White Birch Farm and Coolmore," said Zerolo. "She's an exceptional filly."
Following the sale, Pauline Chehboub of Haras de la Gousserie, who raced the filly, commented, "She's a filly that has given us so much, and while it's the end of a chapter for us, it continues elsewhere. We bought her as a yearling and she's given us so much pleasure. She's the best filly that we've ever had. She is just exceptional, and we saw that again this evening."
Grand Glory makes €2.5million
Fellow Group One winner Grand Glory (Olympic Glory) made €2.5 million when bought by Anne-Sophie Yoh on behalf of an undisclosed client. The four-year-old mare won the Prix Georges Romanet (Gr 1, 2000m) at Deauville in August before running second behind Rougir in the Prix de l'Opera and was last seen finishing fifth in the Japan Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).
"She's an incredible mare. I've bought her for one of my clients who has started to invest in racehorses," said Yoh. "We haven't decided on her next steps as yet, but we're delighted!"
The three other lots to sell for seven figures were Wildfeder (Galileo) who was bought by Crispin de Moubray for €2.050 million, Purplepay (Zarak) who made €2 million when bought by NBB Racing and Speak Of The Devil, a four-year-old daughter of Coolmore Australia shuttler Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj) who was bought by Oceanic Bloodstock on behalf of White Birch Farm for €1.95 million.
