It seems that Marinopoulos, whose stud farm is Haras de Lieu Marmion near Deauville, France, had similar thoughts, given that the mare was sold at Arqana in 2014, knocked down to agent Patrick Barbe for €320,000 and sent to join the Shadai broodmare band.
So far, including the unbeaten Sol Oriens and Vin De Garde, Skia has foaled seven offspring in Japan and all six that have raced have won at least two races each.
Skia is a half-sister to another French export to Asia, the Singapore Gold Cup winner Tropaios, being out of the Quest For Fame mare Light Quest, a US-bred but European-rooted half-sister to the British Group 2 winner Arabian Gleam. It is the family of the G1 2,000 Guineas and G1 Irish 2,000 Guineas winner Don’t Forget Me.
“I bought Light Quest at Newmarket for the Marinopoulos family,” Laffon-Parias said, recalling the 24,000 guineas Tattersalls yearling he secured in October 2001.
Like her foals Tropaios and Skia after her, and the likes of the high-class Presvis and Balius, Light Quest raced in the Marinopoulos silks of silver stars on dark blue, before retiring to the paddocks.
Skia had produced her first couple of foals for the Marinopouloses before being sold east: the maiden Nisea and the modest one-time winner Ifiandra, both trained by Laffon-Parias.
After delivering Albertine, a Leroidesanimaux filly, in Japan in the spring of 2015, Skia was then covered by the new sensation, Deep Impact, and the result was Vin De Garde. That was her only mating with the great stallion, but in 2020, with Vin De Garde then a four-time winner yet to make his mark in Pattern grade, Skia was among the second batch of mares sent to Kitasan Black, Deep Impact’s nephew.