Aktem, France’s newest auction house, got off to a successful start on Friday night when high-class stayer Sevenna’s Knight topped its inaugural sale at €305,000. The Group 2 winner will now take up stud duties at Haras du Hoguenet.
At the close of trade, Aktem reported 20 lots had changed hands, five for €100,000 or more. The turnover finished at €1,381,000 and the average was €69,050, making it the the second-highest grossing operator for an online sale in France.
The top-seller, Sevenna’s Knight, will stand at Haras du Hoguenet as a jumps stallion and the operation’s Anthony Baudouin said he expected the stallion to receive a strong book of mares in his first season.
“As with all stayers retired to stud these days, he will be marketed as a jumps stallion, especially given the way the market is tightening at the moment,” he said. “He’s an absolutely magnificent horse to look at with a lot of size and scope. His pedigree speaks for itself, being by Camelot out of a Galileo mare, plus he has Darshaan and Mill Reef further back, which all speaks well for a career as a jumps sire.
“He was bought by several investors and the aim is to syndicate him to give him the best chance of covering a good book. He’ll have an attractive fee given the current climate and even though he’s arriving quite late in the day, we’ll be doing everything to make sure that he has a good launch and will receive a nice book of mares. The van is on its way to pick him up as we speak and he will be in Deauville on Wednesday [during day two of the Arqana February Sale] to be viewed by the breeders.
“We will be acting extremely rapidly to show him off to breeders and to give him good exposure, even if he has been acquired a little late. I think the Aktem project is an interesting one for the entire industry. I think it’s important that a new sales agency is on the scene to offer such a service and I think yesterday was very successful; they produced a good catalogue with plenty of attractive lots. We should all support the initiative, which I think is beneficial to the industry as a whole.”
Raced by OTI, Sevenna’s Knight struck in Group 2 company in the 2024 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier. Also a dual Group 3 scorer in the Prix de Barbeville and Prix Gladiateur, the six-year-old has placed in the last two runnings of the Prix Royal-Oak.
Bred by Gestut Ammerland, the son of Camelot is out of the Group 3-winning Galileo mare Sevenna, also the dam of fellow Pattern scorers Sevenna Star and Savanne. The page traces to German Oaks winner Slenderella.
The above is an excerpt from The Racing Post’s article, which can be found here.