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Written by Lydia Symonds, TDN Australia NZ
As is the case with plenty of the horses in training sales in the Northern Hemisphere this past decade, buyers from Australia made their presence felt at the Arqana Autumn Sale in Deauville on Monday with two of the most expensive lots sold to continue their careers Down Under.
The headline act on an afternoon of buoyant trade was three-time-winning and Listed-placed gelding Carini (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}), who was purchased by Nicolas Lefevre's Equos Racing and Astute Bloodstock's Louis Le Metayer for €600,000 (AU$922,400), a record for price for the sale.
Lefevre was doing the bidding while on the phone to his former boss, Le Metayer and the French native, who is now based in Sydney, told TDN AusNZ on Tuesday that he believed the son of Siyouni (Fr) had the right profile to make his mark in Australia.
“Siyouni is obviously a very good stallion and has done very well in Australia with limited numbers. We mostly bought the horse on his form and really liked the fact that he is by a good stallion out of a Group-winning mare with a good pedigree certainly helps,” said Le Metayer.
The gelding has raced six times in his career for trainer Francis-Henri Graffard and the Aga Khan, the 3-year-old will now join the stable of Danny O’Brien having been bought on behalf of prominent-owner Brae Sokolski.
“He was unraced as a 2-year-old, he is sound and he is only just learning. We thought it was the right horse for Australia with his turn of foot,” continued Le Metayer.
“Our staying program means that horses start short and finish long, so you need a stayer that can run first-up over a mile and he has been competitive over a mile which makes him a good prospect for Australia and I think he will be well-suited to race here.”
Carini is out of the dual Group 2-winning mare Candarliya (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}) and hails from the family of dual stakes-winning pair Canessar (Fr) (Kendargent {Fr}) and Canndera (Fr) (Dalakhani {Ire}).
Sokolski has had previous dealings with Carini’s previous trainer, Graffard, through the multiple Group 1-winning mare, Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}), who was moved to the French trainer's stable for her fruitless European campaign and he said the trainer contacted him when the gelding horse was entered as a wild card at the sale.
“Francis contacted me and was effusive in his praise for the horse, his ability, and held the belief he would measure up to some better races in Australia,” Sokolski told Racing.com.
Francis-Henri Graffard | Image courtesy of Scoop Dyga
“They (Aga Khan Studs) have a policy of selling geldings but Francis felt that he was a progressive stayer that would fit into the Australian system. Given that endorsement from Francis, I felt that he was one worth pursuing.
“Carini is going to arrive in Australia on a relatively low rating and we're in no hurry with him. We'll look to take him through his grades in the autumn but we're not rushing to set him for major races in 2023, it might be more about the year following.
“We think he'll get over a proper staying trip but we think he's sharp enough to be competitive over 2000 metres, which I think is important, I'm very reluctant to buy horses that are one-dimensional stayers for Australian racing because your options are just so limited.
“I think you need to be purchasing horses that have a turn of foot and be sharp enough to be competitive over middle distances as well. He fits that bill.”
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