NOW a longstanding feature of the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend, Arqana’s Arc Sale took place after racing on Saturday, and for the second successive year it hit new heights.

With a bigger catalogue than last year, 42 lots went through ring during the evening, with 76% of them, 32 in all, changing hands for a record average price of €306,594 and a turnover of just shy of €10 million.

The highlight of the sale, and the anticipated top lot, was this season’s Group 1 Preis der Diana-German Oaks winner Muskoka. There were plenty of interested parties for the daughter of Sea The Moon, and eventually it was BBA Ireland’s Michael Donohoe who saw off all opposition, securing the three-year-old for €1.3 million on behalf of Yulong Investments.

A winner at two, Muskoka had progressed with every run, and prior to her classic success she won the Listed Henkel Stutenpreis and the Group 3 Brümmerhofer Stuten-Meile in the colours of Stall Golden Goal.

Consigned to the sale by OH Consignment, with a rating of 110, Muskoka is out of a half-sister to the dual classic winner Brametot, while her third dam bred the multiple Group 1 winner and influential sire Monsun.

The filly carried the Yulong colours in Sunday’s Prix de l’Opéra but was unplaced.

The other filly who traded on the night for a seven-figure sum was wild card entry Freville. She was unsold in the ring at a higher sum, but a private deal for €1 million saw her sell to Haras du Cadran.

Victorious in the Group 3 Prix d’Aumale on her fifth start, Freville ran unplaced in Sunday’s Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac-Criterium des Pouliches. The Christopher Head-trained two-year-old was bought in partnership with Écurie Melanie.

The daughter of Gleneagles went into the ring with a rating of 100, and she is the first foal of an unraced Le Havre daughter of the stakes winner Fresles. The third dam of Fresles bred the classic winner and leading sire Linamix, and the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Luna Wells.

Winner of the Group 3 Prix Six Perfections, and then placed second in the Group 2 Prix Eclipse after the catalogue was published, the Yann Barberot-trained juvenile Laulne sold to Nicolas de Watrigant (Mandore International Agency) for €750,000.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner is out of the blacktype-placed mare Lady Francesca, was sold with a rating of 104, and is a half-sister to Australian stakes winner Bartholomeu Dias.

Zarakem

A few lots earlier, bidding reached €500,000 in favour of Nicolas Bertran de Balanda (NBB Racing) for Zarakem. A winner of his five most recent starts, the Jerome Reynier-trained colt had added the Listed Coupe de Marseille to an earlier win I a listed race at Vichy.

The three-year-old son of Zarak possesses a rating of 104 and comes from a solid blacktype family that included group winners Little Treasure, More Chocolate, Keep Quiet and New York Girl.

Nicolas Clément with EDC Agency secured another excellent offering from OH Consignment, the Peter Schiergen-trained three-year-old colt, Winning Spirit. The son of Soldier Hollow is a listed winner at two and three in Italy, while his placed runs have seen him finish second in the Group 2 Derby Italiano, and fourth in the Group 1 Deutsches (German) Derby.

Heading to Australia after his purchase for €420,000 is the dual-winning Dubawi three-year-old colt Kovanof, a grandson of Goldikova. Wathnan Racing bought the three-year-old from the Wertheimer brothers and he was trained by Carlos Laffon-Parias.

There was an interesting National Hunt sale when Kiss Will, a three-year-old gelding who finished runner-up in a Fontainebleau bumper, was sold for €280,000 to bloodstock agent Pierre Boulard, who often acts on behalf of Irish clients.