A Dubawi colt out of Italian Listed winner Samya (Invincible Spirit) topped Day 3 at Arquana on Sunday with a final bid of €240,000.   Despite not being eligible for the French premiums, he was purchased by Sylvain Vidal, acting on behalf of Gerard Augustin-Normand.

Dubawi colt Makfi boosted his prospects earlier in the day when he defeated champion mare Goldikova in the G1 Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville.

Freshman sire Dutch Art was next best with a colt that sold for €180,000 to Sir Robert Ogden.  He is the first foal out of Zut Alors (Pivotal), who was third in the 2006 G3 Prix Miesque.

A Dubawi filly out of stakes winner Lucky Lune (Priolo) was purchased for €140,000 by South-West based trainer Francois Rohaut.

Average price on the third day of trade fell 7.6% to €72,758.  The clearance rate was down 5 points to 68%.

“We are satisfied about Sunday’s average, however, the market was very selective as reflected in the lower clearance rate,” Arqana President Eric Hoyeau said.  “Overall, we seem to be returning to the sort of figures that we saw in 2007, which is not so bad.”

The low activity level of the Maktoum family in Deauville appeared to make little negative impact, as a number of French trainers took the opportunity to replenish their strings.  Purchases made by Carlos Lerner, Robert Collet, Francois Rohaut, Pascal Bary and Jean-Claude Rouget provided further evidence of the lure of French premiums and resulting stability of the domestic market – seven of the nine lots bought by that quartet of trainers on Sunday were eligible.

€1.00 = AUD 1.42