Immediately after the announcement by the British government that any person entering the United Kingdom from France would be subject to 14 days of self-isolation, ARQANA undertook extensive consultation of vendors represented in the Select Sale catalogue as well as buyers potentially affected by the new constraint. The schedule of premium yearling sales is exceptionnally dense this year as a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, and the initial date of 24-26 September would not have allowed buyers to take part in all three major European sales while abiding by the quarantine rule.
A consensus was quickly reached to bring the sale forward in order to save buyers from arbitrating between the three key events and facilitate the trip to Deauville for British residents, who contribute a significant share of the sale’s turnover every year. Therefore the Select Sale will now take place from Tuesday 8 September to Thursday 10 September inclusive, in Deauville.
The new slot enables participants to follow with the Goffs Orby sale and on to Newmarket in full respect of travelling and sanitary regulations.
ARQANA CEO Eric Hoyeau and Executive Director Freddy Powell commented: “The catalogue for the Select Sale is of outstanding quality and we are committed to providing these exceptional young horses with the best possible marketplace. This requires holding the sale at a time that maximises the chances for French and international buyers to be on attendance in Deauville. We wish to pay tribute to the reactivity and adaptability of all our vendors, who have immediately thrown their support behind this unusual change. ARQANA will charter private flights from several locations in order to make the trip to Deauville as quick and secure as possible. We are also working day in day out to make remote participation easy. Online bidding will be available via Arqanaonline.com, while all yearlings are currently being filmed on the farms. Videos will be visible on our website, allowing buyers wherever they are to get a foretaste of the extraordinary collection of colts and fillies on offer.”
Arqana Release
