A host of major players spent the afternoon of May 9 plotting their next move ahead of the May 10 Arqana Breeze Up Sale.
Godolphin's buying team were out in force, with Anthony Stroud and David Loder joined by Charlie Appleby, while a sizeable delegation from Coolmore included M.V. Magnier and Paul Shanahan.
Amo Racing principal Kia Joorabchian made his way around the sun-baked Deauville sales grounds with agent Alex Elliott. And, at the same time, Blandford Bloodstock's Richard Brown, chief talent spotter for Wathnan Racing, was busy conducting his own due diligence.
These aren't the sort of buyers that turn up just to enjoy the weather, however. This has been borne out already this breeze-up season, most notably when trade reached unprecedented levels at the Tattersalls Craven Sale and the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale.
The Newmarket event saw two seven-figure lots, with Amo Racing bidding 1.75 million guineas for the Havana Grey colt who led the market. Subsequently named Celestial King, he is due to debut at Ascot Saturday.
Godolphin snapped up the other millionaire offering, giving 1.4 million guineas for the Acclamation colt now named Silent Applause. Sheikh Mohammed's operation also signed for the £1 million Mehmas colt who capped a historic sale at Goffs, when Brown and Elliott filled the roles of underbidder.
Before a bid had been struck in anger during this year's breeze-up season, most industry participants would have expected Arqana to prove the headline event. While the bar has been set high elsewhere, that may well still prove to be the case.
The consensus among those on the ground was that vendors have brought a high-caliber group of horses to Deauville, with the cream of the crop virtually as good as you would find at any sale.
It is no surprise to see the likes of Amo, Godolphin, and Wathnan among the prospective purchasers here, as they have already struck gold at this sale before.
There is no better, or more recent, example of this than recent Two Thousand Guineas (G1) hero Ruling Court. Almost 12 months ago to the day, the son of Justify set a new European breeze-up record when knocked down to Godolphin at €2.3 million.
Wathnan Racing enjoyed a sensational four-timer at Royal Ascot last year, and the outfit's Norfolk Stakes (G2) winner Shareholder was bought for €460,000 at this sale.
Among the blue-chip pedigrees in this year's catalog are the Dubawi colt out of 2014 Queen Mary Stakes (G2) scorer Anthem Alexander (Lot 8); the Siyouni half brother to group 1 winner Aspetar (19); the Kingman half brother to group 3 winner and 2022 Breeders' Cup Turf (G1) runner-up Stone Age (21); and the half sister to 2023 Norfolk winner Valiant Force by Mitole (185).
Of course, these sales are as much about performance as they are pedigree. The juvenile who clocked the fastest splits, according to times seen by the Racing Post, was Lot 51, a daughter of New Bay from the family of Ervedya and Erevann being offered by Johnny Collins' Brown Island Stables.
Reflecting on the New Bay filly's breeze during the May 8 workout, Collins said: "The filly couldn't have performed any better. She was the fastest in the breeze, which takes a bit of doing, especially for a filly. She pulled out of it well, she's good and sound this morning and she has plenty of action. I just hope she makes the cut when we go into the ring.
"The filly obviously has a massive engine. She's taking on horses in the breeze that are bred to be at their best over five furlongs, while she's bred to be a filly for seven furlongs or a mile, and that's probably what she's going to be. She has so much natural ability that's how she could do her job so well."
Collins said pinhooking the filly has already been tinged with poignancy, as she was picked up from the Hillwood Stud draft at £50,000 during last year's Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale. Hillwood's Tracy Vigors passed away later that week.
The Brown Island Stables man also shared his reading of the vibes from the Deauville sales ground.
"It seems busy enough, but it's probably going to be a bit of a top-heavy market, I'd imagine," he said. "Hopefully it'll be a bit better than that, but it looks like they're all honing in on the better, faster breezers. I'd say that's where the money will be. If you can hit that you'll be in good shape, but it's not always easy to do."
Vendors' nerves over the depth to the middle market were, at least in part, allayed by Arqana making their usual effort to entice potential purchasers to the sale, including flying a plane load of Newmarket trainers in Friday afternoon.
Chief executive Freddy Powell pointed to Shes Perfect, a €50,000 acquisition last year, who is now a single-figure price for the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (French One Thousand Guineas, G1) May 11, as an example of the value to be found, should buyers know where to look.
"It's about getting as many people as we can here and making sure people understand that you can find horses at every level," said Powell. "The top three prices don't make the sale.
"People have to remember that Shes Perfect is running in the French Guineas on Sunday. She didn't cost six figures; a lot of people could have afforded her, and her connections are living a great story with her now. Horses at this sale are available to more people than some think."
With a high-end catalog assembled and a cross-section of major buyers in town, Powell said it appeared the pieces were falling into place for a productive sale.
"We knew during inspections that we had some really nice horses and vendors that were very confident in the quality they were bringing to Deauville," he said. "The breeze went very well: conditions were good and the turnout of clients was good.
"It's difficult to say exactly what is going to happen, but we are seeing all the right signs. In the past, when expectations get a little too high, you can be disappointed, so we're going into the sale quietly hopeful. At this stage, people seem to like the horses, and that's the main thing."
