FRIDAY’S early session of the Arqana Summer Sale saw a number of broodmares and fillies sold. The demand for some of the best Aga Khan families saw a pair of fillies from that great farm among the most prized offerings.

The sale was only minutes old when Michael Donohoe of BBA Ireland was back in the thick of the action for Yulong Investments, paying €150,000 for a two-year-old winning daughter of Exceed And Excel. Kesariya is one of three juvenile winners out of the listed-winning Oasis Dream mare Kersasona, and there is plenty of speed and precocity in this particular female line.

Later in the session the former Dermot Weld-trained, but unraced, Tashoura attracted a winning bid of €105,000 from Jason Kelly Bloodstock. She is a Fastnet Rock three-year-old half-sister to a pair of seven-furlong Group 3 winners, one of which, Tanaza, defeated Minding and Alice Springs during her racing career. Their dam Tanoura won the Listed Galtres Stakes and was group-placed.

Another early highlight was the sale of the Frankel four-year-old Lyra Star, a daughter of the group-placed Sea The Stars mare Light The Stars, and she is carrying her first foal by the classic winner Victor Ludorum. Marc-Antoine Berghgracht signed for her at €135,000.

  • A full report on the remainder of the sale will appear next Saturday