Sale The August

Summer Yearlings Arqana

Ace Impact

3yo b c Cracksman - Absolutly Me (Anabaa Blue)

The outstanding son of Cracksman is one of the flagbearers for Arqana’s August Sale this year, having made what now looks the absolute bargain sum of €75,000 when selling to Jean-Claude Rouget from Etang in 2021.

From the first crop of Darley’s European and world champion, Ace Impact was unraced at two but has proved well worth waiting for, with five wins from as many starts in 2023.

His first black-type success came in the Listed Prix de Suresnes, a race Rouget has targeted with subsequent top performers such as Arc and Prix du Jockey Club hero Sottsass.

The Waltraut Spanner-bred Ace Impact took the step up to Classic level in his stride when showing a potent turn of foot in the Prix du Jockey Club to beat Big Rock, with Poule d’Essai des Poulains winner Marhaba Ya Sanafi six lengths back in third and subsequent Grand Prix de Paris winner Feed The Flame in fourth. He followed up in Tuesday’s Prix Guillaume d’Ornano.

Ace Impact, one of five black-type winners from his sire’s debut crop, is the fifth foal out of the Anabaa Blue mare Absolutly Me, a debut winner at two and German Listed-placed at three and four.

The 14-year-old has produced three other winners, including the stakes-placed pair Alessandro (by Australia) and Apollo Flight (Rock Of Gibraltar).

Bucanero Fuerte

2yo b c Wootton Bassett - Frida La Blonde (Elusive City)

Frida La Blonde has been a wonderful producer for connections and her affinity with Wootton Bassett has yielded two Group 1 winners and a Group-placed performer.

Her first son by Coolmore’s brilliant sire was Beat La Bon, a four-time winner for Richard Hannon and second in the Sovereign Stakes.

Frida La Blonde’s next foal was Wooded, the winner of the Group 1 Prix de l’Abbaye for Al Shaqab Racing and Henri Graffard. Also a winner of the Group 3 Prix Texanita, Wooded has a big period ahead of him with his debut yearlings selling from his first book at Haras de Bouquetot.

The pair’s younger brother Bucanero Fuerto looks perhaps even more exciting, winning the Group 2 Railway Stakes on his third start after a maiden score at the Curragh in March and a second to another Wootton Bassett colt, River Tiber, in the Coventry at Royal Ascot.

Last weekend he struck at the top level in the Phoenix Stakes, pushing his family’s reputation to the forefront of everyone’s mind in Deauville – good news for Etreham, which consigns his Dubawi half-sister (lot 214) to the Arqana sale on Saturday.

Feed The Flame

3yo b c Kingman - Knyazhna

(Montjeu)

Feed The Flame joins Ace Impact in leading the French troops towards a tilt at Arc glory in October, and the Kingman colt showcased his credentials with an impressive triumph in the Prix du Jockey Club.

The colt, bred in partnership by Ecurie des Monceaux, Lordship Stud and Clear Light, cost €270,000 from Arqana’s flagship sale in 2021, when hammered down to Gerard Larrieu.

There is no knowing what his limits are over a mile and a half, and trainer Pascal Bary is adamant the trip and potential terrain of the Arc will suit him well.

An eighth individual Group 1 winner for his Banstead Manor Stud-based sire, Feed The Flame more than likely gets his stamina from his distaff side.

Dam Knyazhna is a Montjeu half-sister to Prix du Conseil de Paris second and Prix Niel third Migwar (by Sea The Stars) and out of an unraced Kingmambo sister to St Leger and Great Voltigeur Stakes winner Rule Of Law.

Ramatuelle

2yo ch f Justify - Raven’s Lady (Raven’s Pass) Justify’s ascent towards the sire summit has been helped in no small part by two of Europe’s leading juveniles in scintillating Superlative winner City Of Troy and this filly, who looks another outstanding performer for Christopher Head.

The two-year-old was a four-and-a-half-length winner on her debut at Chantilly in April and went down by only a head at Saint-Cloud next time.

She has proven faultless in two starts since, blowing away subsequent stakes winner Zorken in the Group 3 Prix du Bois, before a four-length romp in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin, a contest won last year by subsequent Prix Morny and Middle Park winner Blackbeard. French champion juvenile Unfortunately also won the Papin en route to victory in the Morny at Deauville.

The Prix Morny this Sunday is where Ramatuelle is heading, and it will take a real good one to beat her.

Bred by the increasingly well-known Yeguada Centurion out of the Groupwinning Raven’s Pass mare Raven’s Lady, Ramatuelle sold to Arthur Hoyeau for €100,000 last summer.

Sauterne

3yo b f Kingman - Salicorne (Aragorn)

A tough daughter of Kingman who has not been far away from adding a Group 1 to her name after a Listed success at Longchamp in April, Sauterne did not sell at the August Sale, failing to meet her reserve at €130,000 when offered by Haras de Montaigu.

Besides her obvious talent, the Jean-Pierre-Joseph Dubois-bred three-year-old hails from a family that has flourished in recent years.

She is out of the unraced Salicorne, a daughter of Aragorn and the stakeswinning Dashing Blade mare Soignee. That makes Salicorne a half-sister to the top-class Stacelita, whose CV featured wins in the Prix de Diane, Prix Vermeille and Prix Saint-Alary.

The Monsun-sired Stacelita is also, notably, the dam of Frankel’s first Group 1 and Classic winner, Japanese Oaks