Belmont Bloodstock’s Damon Gabbedy, acting on behalf of trainers Tony and Calvin McEvoy, made his presence felt during the first session of the Arqana August Sale in Deauville on Friday as he parted with €120,000 (approx. AU$204,900) to secure a filly by Lanwades Stud resident Sea The Moon (Sea The Stars).
The filly was purchased for a client of the McEvoys who had dipped their toe into the Arqana pool at the October Yearling Sale in 2021, when they bought two fillies, one by Camelot (Montjeu) and another by Le Havre (Noverre) for €185,000 and €105,000 respectively. The daughter of Le Havre, now named Cherlinde, made a winning debut for the McEvoys at Ballarat on July 24 and after that success they decided to go on search for more staying fillies in France.
Gabbedy also acts as the Australian and New Zealand representative for the French auction house and he told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday that the filly was exactly the type they were looking for.
“The McEvoys have a client who did an experiment a couple of years ago and bought two fillies out of the Arqana October Sale in 2021. One of them was a Le Havre filly called Cherlinde and she won first time out at Ballarat and looks promising,” Gabbedy told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“He is interested in middle distance, staying type of fillies and was keen to have a go again. He gave me an open brief to find a nice filly, so I found this one by Sea The Moon.
“She is the third foal of a mare who was very lightly raced, winning first time out and had a lot of ability. She then had a paddock accident and they told me she had black-type ability. “The filly is just a sweetie, with a beautiful temperament and walk. Every time she came out of the box she had her head down, rolling away and doing her job nicely. I loved her, so we decided to have a go at her. That was the last bid, that was our limit.”
Sea The Moon is the sire of 31 stakes winners, including last season’s Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Durston. He has been in red-hot form in Germany recently, with his talents advertised by Fantastic Moon, who won the German Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) last month, while his daughter Muskova took out the German Oaks (Gr 1, 2200m) in August, leading home a trifecta for the stallion in the Group 1.
On Friday at Cork, the stallion was handed another new stakes winner when his daughter, Term Of Endearment landed the Give Thanks Stakes (Gr 3, 1m 4f). Gabbedy has been impressed with the stallion’s results, describing him as ‘underrated’.
“I think Sea The Moon is a very underrated stallion, because he is doing an amazing job,” the agent said.
Catalogued as Lot 74 and offered as part of the The Channel Consignment, the filly is out of winning Rock Of Gibraltar (Danehill) mare Skyron, who has already produced one winner. Skyron is out of Listed winner Epatha (Highest Honor), a half-sister to Group 3 scorer Skins Game (Diktat).
Article thanks to ANZ Bloodstock News
