ITB_August2021

AUGUST 2021

£4.95 • ISSUE 105

GALILEO

1998-2021

> Jocelyn de Moubray chats with Julie Mestrallet, breeder of the Pouliches winner Coeursamba > Martin Stevens meets some bright young sparks in France > It has been some year for jockey Ioritz Mendizabal > Haie Neuve is looking forward to Seahenge’s yearlings > Gestut Römerhof: reaping rewards of pedigree loyalty

EURO 2021 French and German bloodstock focus

A RICH HISTORY OF

SUCCESS GR.1 WINNERS

BRED OR CONSIGNED

Aunt Pearl

Red Rocks

Eva’s Request

Belardo

River Keen

Astaire

Chriselliam

Al Wukair

Sudirman

Forever Together

Together Forever

Priory Belle

Wizz Kid

Opinion

BELARDO

BALLYLINCH STUD

Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland

CURRENT CROP OF 3YO SALES GRADUATES INCLUDE: AUNT PEARL · 1st Breeders’ Cup JFT Gr.1 · 1st Jessamine Stakes Gr.2

BURGARITA · 1st Prix de la Seine L · 3rd Prix de Diane Gr.1

SAFFRON BEACH · 1st Oh So Sharp Stakes Gr.3 · 2nd 1,000 Guineas Gr.1

EL DRAMA · 1st Dee Stakes L

ISABELLA GILES · 1st Rockfel Stakes Gr.2 · 1st Prestige Stakes Gr.2 SEE THE ROSE · 1st Prix Six Perfections Gr.3 · 3rd Prix de Sandringham Gr.2 LONE EAGLE · 1st Cocked Hat Stakes L · 2nd Irish Derby Gr.1

SKY ANGEL · 2nd German 1,000 Guineas Gr.2 STATEMENT · 2nd Fred Darling Stakes Gr.3 · 3rd Princess Elizabeth Stakes Gr.3 SOLDIER RISING · 2nd Prix d’Avre L JUBILATION · 2nd Prix de Cabourg Gr.3

DON’T MISS

our consignments at Arqana, Goffs & Tattersalls

AUNT PEARL

Te l : + 3 5 3 ( 0 ) 5 6 7 7 2 4 2 1 7 • i n f o @ b a l l y l i n c h s t u d . i e • w w w. b a l l y l i n c h s t u d . c o m

contents august

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First Word

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News

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Galileo RIP - farewell to the greatest sire in the history of the thoroughbred Ted Voute sees that value can be had at the yearling sales, remembers the late Galileo and is looking forward to rewilding his stud farm, meanwhile Cathy Grassick is not happy

Juvenile behaviour

The July meeting is always a time when the two-year-olds come of age.

Aisling Crowe reviews the pedigrees and performances and also spots some interesting maiden winners in Britain and Ireland

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Stallion statistics

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Who do you think you are?

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Sale plans

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Reynier: a man making the most

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Frankel is currently heading Weatherbys’ table of leading European sires New genetic research questions the accepted pedigree records for stallions Bend Or and St. Simon, writes Alan Porter

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French trainer Jerome Reynier joined the Group 1 winners club in May with Skalleti’s Prix d’Ispahan success

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New openings for British trainers

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An equestrian blueprint

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Photo of the month

It’s not all down to luck

Classic-winning breeder Julie Mestrallet has made the most of the opportunities that have come her way

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Bright young sparks

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Resurgent success

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Joining the market place

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Family fortunes

An overview of current travel plans for the early-season European sales

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Trainers in Britain can now train Arabian horses alongside their thoroughbred strings, writes Debbie Burt. With good prize-money on offer and opportunities on some of the biggest international race days, it is a bit of a no-brainer Pierce Dargan takes a look at the unique Swedish equestrian centre at Strömsholm, which stages the country’s Grand National and where racehorses are trained alongside sports horses The in-form Evans team at Tattersalls

Martin Stevens meets some of the young up-and-coming names in the French bloodstock industry Jockey Ioritz Mendizabal has been enjoying a brilliant season in 2021 and freely admits that he has benefitted from the pandemic Haras de la Haie Neuve is looking forward to Seahenge’s first yearlings coming on to the market Michael Andree’s Gestüt Römerhof is reaping the rewards of long term loyalty to a pedigree

Photo courtesy of Coolmore

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72 This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in whole or part without permission of the publisher. The views expressed in International Thoroughbred are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. While every care is taken in the preparation of this magazine, the publishers cannot be held responsible for the accuracy of the content herein, or any consequences arising from them.

the team

the photographers

editor sally duckett publisher declan rickatson photography trevor jones design thoroughbred publishing

thoroughbred photography equine creative media courtesy of stud farms tattersalls laura green arqana goffs and goffs uk

advertising declan rickatson 00 44 (0)7767 310381 declan.rickatson@btinternet.com subscriptions tracey glaysher itsubs@btinternet.com

the writers

jocelyn de moubray aisling crowe martin stevens cathy grassick ted voute pierce daragan liz price debbie burt

the stats weatherbys

the printers micropress press

accounts annie jones itaccounts@btinternet.com

plestor house, farnham road, liss, hampshire, gu33 6jq tel: 00 44 (0) 1428 724063 info@internationalthoroughbred.net www.internationalthoroughbred.net subscriptions: email or call as on the left, or log on to www.facebook.com/internationalthoroughbred

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RIP galileo Right: Galileo with stallion man Noel Stapleton

Photo courtesy of Coolmore

We’ve never seen the likes of him before... what has he left us?

G

ALILEO DI VINCENZO BONAIUTI DE’ GALILEI was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer.

He has been called the “father of observational astronomy”, the “father of modern physics” and the “father of modern science”.

Never has a horse more than lived up to his human namesake than the phenomenon that has been the equine Galileo.

He is unquestionably the father of this generation of racehorses, factually the sire of 92 (and counting) Group and Grade 1 winners, 338 stakes winners and 20 Group and Grade 1-producing sires.

According to physicist and author Stephen Hawking, Galileo the man was responsible for the birth of modern science; 370 years later Galileo the sire has repeated the feat in equine form and taken racing and breeding to new levels.

It is worth recounting his racing career, and reprinting some of the sentences that were used at the time to describe his own racing performances – we have become so accustomed to hearing about the feats of his progeny, it is easy to forget just how good a racehorse he was himself.

Sent off the evens favourite for his debut on October 28, 2000, he converted that support to victory with a 14l success, a performance that led trainer Aidan

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“He has the speed of a sprinter and the strength of a miler, and this is something I have never seen before in a horse capable of winning a Classic, over a mile and a half. He is very explosive and very special”

O’Brien to be quoted in the Racing Post saying: “He’s definitely top class and is an exciting prospect.”

Galileo’s three-year-old debut in the Listed Ballysax Stakes produced another easy victory, an effort that left Milan trailing in his wake, and the same result was produced in the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial (G3), the son of Sadler’s Wells stretching out and showing off his action on his first encounter with good ground.

The Racing Post then hailed Galileo’s subsequent easy Epsom Derby victory as a “magnificent performance” – he came home by the widest-winning margin since 1993 with the 2,000 Guineas winner Golan following him some 3l adrift.

“This is a serious horse, who is capable of producing the unbelievable,” declared O’Brien. “He has the speed of a sprinter and the strength of a miler, and this is something I have never seen before in a horse capable of winning a Classic, over a mile and a half. He is very explosive and very special.”

The colt’s subsequent Irish Derby win led the Post to exclaim that Galileo was “a superbly athletic performer, he has nothing left to prove at 1m4f, and deserves to go down as one of the finest horses to have completed the Derby double.”

He was described in The Independent as being “one of the most impeccably bred horses in training” Over the years, O’Brien has regularly enthused as to Galileo’s progeny’s willingness to race and win,

RIP galileo

their toughness in a battle. Those thoughts perhaps began life after the Coolmore-owned three-year-old colt met the Godolphin-owned five-year-old Fantastic Light in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, the first of two matches between the pair which resulted in one race win apiece, with the younger horse winning the first encounter The Post wrote: “We already knew he had natural brilliance, and the way he put his head down to see off the potent challenge of an exceptional rival showed he also has the courage to go with it. That bravery will stand him in good stead when he steps back in trip.”

The result was reversed after that epic battle in the Irish Champion Stakes, with the race-winning tactics given to Fantastic Light by Frankie Dettori possibly one of the jockey’s best-ever big race rides.

Galileo’s trip to the US for the Breeders’ Cup Classic did not reap a result and the colt was retired.

Everything achieved by Galileo, from his racing days to his stud career, has been on a different trajectory to every other horse, apart from his own son Frankel.

Galileo so very nearly went through his racing career unbeaten and then transcended his class to the breeding shed, a rare feat in itself.

His first Classic winner arrived in his first crop of three-year-olds – his daughter Nightime winning the Irish 1,000 Guineas in 2006. Further Group 1-winning three-year-olds also arrived that year – Sixties Icon was

Everything achieved by Galileo, from his racing days to his stud career, has been on a different trajectory to every other horse, apart from his own son Frankel

a Classic winner of the St Leger, and Red Rocks took the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

Through his career Galileo has (so far) has produced 22 Group 1-winning two-year-olds, but the first was Teofilo when he won the 2006 renewals of the Group 1 National Stakes and the Dewhurst Stakes.

He retired unbeaten as a juvenile, but unable to run as a three-year-old due to injury.

Two years’ later, as just a ten-year-old stallion, Galileo got his first Derby winner courtesy of New Approach, whose Epsom win was one of the colt’s three Group 1 victories in 2008. New Approach was also placed three-times at the highest level at three and was unbeaten at two, with wins including the National Stakes (G1) and the Dewhurst Stakes (G1).

The four further Epsom Derby winners by Galileo means the sire is now the winning-most sire of Epsom’s Blue Riband event.

Galileo’s own sire Sadler’s Wells produced a career total of 71 Group 1 progeny winners, Galileo achieved that target by the age of 20.

He then went on to beat Danehill’s career Group 1 record of 84 Group 1 winners in 2019 with Magic Wand’s victory in the Mackinnon Stakes. By then Galileo had been at stud for just 17 years.

The mighty stallion has been a conveyor belt producer of top-class horses, a maker of class horses in numbers just not seen before.

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RIP galileo GALILEO IN NUMBERS 92 Group 1 winners 22 Group 1-winning 2yos 40 Group 1-winning fillies 92 Group-winning fillies 555 stakes horses 338 stakes winners 228 Group winners 34 Group 1 winners broodmare sire 206 stakes winners broodmare sire 1,587 winners, 68.8% winners / runners Progeny earnings: £194,784,668 Stats courtesy of Arion Pedigrees (12.07.2021)

What will his legacy be?

With those numerous sons and daughters at stud, and assuming we are still racing and breeding thoroughbred horses in 300 years’ time, he will be discussed by the breeding experts of that era regarding the extraordinary influence he has had on the breed in the 21st century in much the same way that today’s breeding experts still write about and discuss the likes of St. Simon and Eclipse and Northern Dancer.

If there are such things as magazines in the future, perhaps there will be in the series much like the one that we kicked off in the last issue on the predominance of stallions and how they became as such. Galileo and his sire Sadler’s Wells will be the pivotal names that bloodstock historians will remind readers changed the course of European bloodstock industry.

Galileo was a racehorse and stallion for whom all the stars aligned – he was the best bred horse of his and of several generations, he was out of a mare who has created her own extraordinary maternal influence, whose legacy has been encapsulated by her son’s achievements, he was trained by the best trainer of the era and was on the stallion roster of the largest global, and possibly most ambitious and most commercially run, international stallion operation.

Galileo’s record as a sire of sires, as a sire of fillies and as a broodmare sire, will ensure that his legacy is continued on both sides of the pedigree tree.

He has had 40 Group 1-winning fillies and he has only had 12 crops of fillies breeding so far – he will have 19 crops in total.

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Even if no other super-sire son

by Galileo appears amongst the younger sires already at stud, or the ones still to come, Galileo will still be in the second generation of many leading racehorses right through until the 2050s

With those levels of quality at the top of the Galileo pyramid of ability, as well as with such numbers of incredibly well-bred fillies and colts through his ranks, Galileo’s continuing immortality and influence on the breed will undoubtedly be lengthy.

Next year’s crop will reach their three-year-old year in 2025. It means that his youngest colts and fillies will then have approximately 15 to 20 years of breeding ahead of them, still active towards the 2050s.

The stars are now realigning to his 13-year-old son Frankel, who has six crops of racing age.

He has had another breakout year in 2021 getting his first two Derby winners and he will surely be the “go to” middle-distance stallion for Europe’s leading mares – at least those who are not a paternal sibling.

Frankel, all being well and if he continues his current trajectory, should be covering leading mares for around another 10 years through to 2031. Frankel’s own offspring, grand-daughters and grand-sons of Galileo, could be running and then breeding for another 20 or so years on top of that.

Even if no other super-sire son by Galileo appears amongst the younger sires already at stud, or the ones still to come, Galileo could still be in the second generation of many leading racehorses for some time, and he will see many of us out.

Of course, the ever-changing world of sport, bloodstock and business means that while we mourn the loss of one, opportunities will open for another.

There will be a son of Galileo, who won’t be priced as highly as Frankel (who it is assumed will be given a price increase for next spring) and for whom breeders might start to view as a more affordable option; the son of a king and who might just start to click with success.

The beauty of the breeding industry is that we just don’t know which one it could or will be... if indeed there will be one at all.

And with this year’s arrival of the talented St Mark’s Basilica maybe those leading mares might be diverted his way, depending on the career profile he creates.

He is out of a Galileo mare himself so he can’t be one for all those Coolmore Galileo fillies, some of that starlight has already shone Wootton Bassett’s way.

And looking away from the Coolmore barn, the Aga Khan Studs’ Siyouni is surely going to have his chance to rise and shine. The son of Pivotal is carving out a good relationship with Galileo fillies, Group 1 winners Sottsass and St Mark’s Basilica showing this could be a new path for breeders to trace to Group 1 glory.

I know if I had a good-looking yearling colt by Siyouni with something of a stallion’s pedigree and out of a non-Galileo mare, I might just be giving Coolmore a call to see if they might like to come and take a look see.

WOODED GROUP 1 WINNING SPRINTER

BY WOOTTON BASSETT High class sprinter, winner of the Prix de l’Abbaye Gr.1 & Prix Texanita Gr.3 at 3 years old, and a multiple Group performer at 2.

Defeated multiple Group 1 winner and subsequent Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Gr.1 scorer Glass Slippers in the Prix de l’Abbaye Gr.1.

New in 2021

ROMANISED DUAL GROUP 1 WINNER IN IRELAND & IN FRANCE, CLASSIC WINNER OF THE IRISH 2000 GUINEAS Group performer at 2, Classic winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas Gr.1 at 3, Impressive victor of the coveted Prix Jacques le Marois Gr.1 at 4.

By Holy Roman Emperor, three-part brother to multiple Gr.1 winner & Champion Designs On Rome.

AL SHAQAB RACING

. Haras de Bouquetot, France . +33 (0)2 31 32 28 91 . nominations@bouquetot.com . www.alshaqabracing.com

ted talks

TED TALKS...

‘s

This year’s Group 2 Coventry Stakes winner Berkshire Shadow represents a great value yearling purchase. He was bought at the 2020 Tattersalls October Book 1 Sale for 40,000gns and has already won £63,000 in prize-money earnings, and picked up a Tattersalls bonus worth £20,000

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Value to be had at yearling sales

L

AST YEAR’S BOOK 1 took a little while to get warmed up, but it has taken little time for the the crop of 2019 to be proven on the

racecourse.

Lot 25 by Dark Angel ex Angel Vision made 40,000gns and was subsequently named Berkshire Shadow. He won the Coventry Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, while Lot 37, by Gleneagles ex Astrantia made 25,000gns, was subsequently named Velocidad and won the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes at the

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end of June.

Every major player in the industry inspected both as yearlings at Park Paddocks, but it was Andrew Balding and Donnacha O’Brien who stepped up to buy two great value yearlings at a sale in which the stock sells for an average of nearly a quarter of a million pounds.

October Book 1 yearlings are all qualified for a £20,000 bonus, irrelevant of the sex of the horse.

There are X-rays in the repository for 99 per cent of the yearlings and there is bags of time

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to inspect the already-inspected and graded pedigrees and individuals.

But it never ceases to amaze me that such value is available.

The two yearlings had different routes.

Berkshire Shadow was one of the Cheveley Park Stud draft, the Newmarket powerhouse whose 144 mares,106 horses in training and 87 yearlings dominate British breeding.

With Chris Richardson at the helm it is easy to see why Cheveley Park has churned out relentless

group winners year on year given the attention to detail and the dedication of the former head of Niarchos Stud in the US. Velocidad was raised at Bugley Stud, which is nestled away in the depths of the south-west British countryside, run by Anthony and Marie-Anne Penfold with a handson approach.

The former Newgate Stud empresario Penfold is familiar with the Prince Fahad family of Ramruma and Strategic Prince having developed it over decades, first for the Saudi Prince and then

ted talks

“

There will be an art to collect points to comply with the “greener” England that awaits us and it will be much more that keeping a few bees, pedigree sheep and chickens

“

continuing with a branch of the family himself.

We sold the colt on behalf of the farm.

Two Group winners sold close to each other at Tattersalls, trained and raced a country apart, picked up by good, shrewd trainers for below the production costs!

That, I am afraid, is the bloodstock business.

No piece this month would be complete without a mention of the late, great Galileo, whom I am guessing will have a place in the Coolmore museum next to his sire, Sadler’s Wells.

I was lucky enough to sell 10 yearlings by him at public auction and one of those for £1,000,000.

I only ever sold one mare in-foal to him, and she was the highest-priced in-foal mare sold in 2009 – Massarra who fetched 600,000gns.

He touched a lot of people in many ways through his sons and daughters. A lot will be written about his heir apparent as Derby victories beckon for the progeny of the next stamina-dominant sire.

On the face of it Frankel has the favourite’s chance of picking up the baton. From 2025 there will be no more Galileos to run against in the Derby and so, possibly, the decades of Coolmoore dominance in the English and Irish Derby’s created by that Northern Dancer vision all those years ago, will come to an end.

If Frankel is the one it will be handed down the line for another generation and Galileo memory will live on.

RIP Galileo.

As we transition out of

New Bahrain Turf Series launched

Europe many stud farm owners will be looking at a future replacement to the Basic Payment Scheme.

From January 1, 2021 the scheme is to be phased out and the Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS) is to be introduced.

Farmers will be handed a responsibility to help government reach carbon zero in years to come and, as custodians of the countryside, will inherit the duty of care to pilot our farms encouraging native species of grass hedges and trees back into our lives.

The relentless mowing, strimming Ted is looking forward to re-wilding his stud paddocks

and chopping of wood to be replaced by rotations of the same over three-to-five year period seeing stud farms change in style and look in the coming years.

It will be a challenge and a fascinating for those involved.

There will be an art to collect points to comply with the “greener” England that awaits us with much more that keeping a few bees, pedigree sheep and chickens.

Jeremy Clackson’s series on Amazon Prime illustrates the complexities of making a farming profit.

It is no secret that the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association is working hard to gather information to help stud owners whose Basic Payments make the difference in profit or loss in the annual accounts.

There will be much advice in the coming months as people become creative in reducing carbon footprints, but it seems to me that replacing live covers with AI would minimise transport to and from the farm.

Even though this won’t happen in my lifetime it’s a glaringly obvious solution!

TEN NEW RACES have been introduced to the Bahrain race programme targeting international horses rated 85-100 in a new Bahrain Turf Series.

A prize-fund of £50,000 is allocated per race with a minimum of £30,000 for the winner and the races will link together with a total of £550,000 in prize-money.

The series will also have a bonus point system – at the end of the series the owner of the horse with the most points will win £15,000 and the trainer will get £10,000.

The hope is that wider international participation will help Bahraini jockeys and owners add to their rich horseracing expertise and be able to showcase their local talent on a global level.

His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, chairman of the Rashid Equestrian and Horse Racing Club High Committee, said: “By introducing the new Bahrain Turf Series we hope to further attract great horses to the Kingdom of Bahrain, horses who can add a higher quality of performance to our two most prestigious races, His Majesty the King’s Cup and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s Cup. “My own personal goal is to develop the industry of thoroughbred horseracing in the Kingdom of Bahrain and to facilitate our Bahraini trainers and jockey’s relationships with European connections.”

The third running of the 1m2f Bahrain International Trophy, open to horses rated over 95, is scheduled for Friday, November 19 at Sakhir racecourse.

The three races in Britain and Ireland will grant “Automatic Invitation” to the winners, even if the horses are not originally entered: • Royal Whip Stakes (G3) at The Curragh on Friday, August 13 • Strensall Stakes (G3) on Saturday, August 21 • The Darley Stakes (G3) at York on Saturday, October 9 Entry deadline for the Bahrain International Trophy is Tuesday, October 5.

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girls aloud

T

....Girls aloud

HE NEWS that yet again Panorama is to feature racing (will have been aired by the time you read this) in one of its programmes has really bothered me this week.

Racing as a sport seems to be an easy target for this type of sensationalist journalism that likes to target a small minority of wrongdoers and spin it to the general public as the status quo.

This type of exposé has rarely tried to discover the true side of the story and to offer a balanced view of our industry.

The detractors of horseracing don’t even begin to try to understand that we are not just some callous, money-making activity, but instead is a vital rural bloodstock industry that provides hundreds of thousands of jobs across Europe, frequently in rural areas where otherwise there would be little or no sources of vital employment or investment.

We are a community of people who love their equine charges caring for them to the highest of standards, frequently better than we look after ourselves. We are also committed to finding other careers or homes for these horses once they retire or are no longer competitive racehorses.

Retired racehorses are versatile and intelligent animals who can excel in many different disciplines off the track such as showjumping, eventing, dressage, showing, polo, polocrosse, hunting, in racing schools, and even just as pleasure riding horses or field companions.

The more famous retirees have also become tourist attractions across the world at top-class facilities such as the Irish National Stud, the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, Living Legends in Melbourne, Australia and Old Friends Equine in Kentucky.

There are so many wonderful programmes and associations that do excellent work in retraining and rehoming. They provide excellent support and information to owners, trainers and retrainers alike about how to provide an alternative career for those thoroughbreds who are no longer suited to life as a racehorse.

Godolphin has its own programme called Godolphin Lifetime Care and has branches based in America, Australia, Europe and Japan.

Organisations such as RoR in the UK and Treo Eile in Ireland, as featured in last month’s issue of International Thoroughbred, are dedicated to providing a competition structure and assisting people who take on a racehorse for another discipline. There are also so many great charities who do excellent work that are supported from within the industry such as HEROS and IHWT. One of the newer areas in which retrained thoroughbreds have excelled is Equine Assisted Therapy, which can be used in a variety of ways assisting people with educational and learning difficulties and those with needing therapeutic help to overcome their difficulties.

Former racehorses are excelling in this area due to their intelligent and sensitive nature. HorseBack UK, for example, is a charity that has been assisting military personnel, helping those servicemen and women overcome both physical and mental injuries. In some countries there are also programmes in which former racehorses are even being used to help rehabilitate prison inmates and give them new skill sets.

Sadly, these things don’t sell newspapers or make headlines or prevent

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Cathy Grassick is not happy

one-sided television exposés that claim to know the “hidden truth”. Even some of our own industry publications have been guilty of being more interested in painting our sport in a poor light rather than exalting the hard work and dedication of those people rehoming and retraining and caring for our racehorse population once they leave training.

As an industry we need to get better at communicating our positive messages to the outside world. The hard work that so many owners, breeders, trainers, jockeys and stable staff put in to give their former charges another career or a happy and safe retirement.

Those in the bloodstock industry are only too aware of the love and dedication that is put in every day by so many hardworking people and charities and we need to do as much as possible to ensure this message is heard loud and clear, while at the same time clamping down hard on those that do not do enough and do not look after their charges.

We need to provide the funds required to support the excellent work being done and ensure that those who do not live up to the standard are educated or reprimanded to prevent further “bad outcomes”.

T

HIS CAUSE is one that is dear to my heart having successfully rehomed and retrained so many horses who are no longer racing or breeding. My own Moores Law won six races and €90,000 and competed at both showjumping and showing successfully and gave me the best day when we won our first rosette at the Royal Dublin Horse Show. He was a real character and an occasional challenge, but he was the horse of a lifetime.

Gemma Tattersall has enjoyed amazing success on her ex-racehorse Artic Soul, who though not a particularly talented racehorse, scaled the highest levels of the eventing world to represent Britain.

The Group 1 winner Grandeur, who has been retained by his owner Yvonne Jacques after racing, was retrained to the showing world by the great Jo Bates to win a championship at HOYS. When one speaks of the high standards of care given by the hardworking people in our industry one need only look to the Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff award winners who are celebrated around the world.

The most recent awards took place in Ireland and there were so many deserving winners such as Helen O’Sullivan for her years of dedication to RACE, Anne O’ Connor, racing secretary to Michael Halford, and Emmett Raher, who is head lad to trainer Henry De Bromhead.

We were especially proud this year – our own Newton Stud manager Caroline Hannon won the award for leadership for stud staff. Caroline is a wonderful manager and her hard work and dedication is so greatly appreciated.

The winner of the leadership award for stable staff and the overall winner of the Irish Excellence Award went to the amazing Valerie Keatley, who is head girl for Johnny Murtagh.

In floods of tears she said: “I eat, sleep and breathe horses so it was a huge honour to be nominated and be chosen as one of the finalists.

“It’s just unbelievable – I’m over the moon.”

World Champion

World Champion

The best by Frankel.

The best since Frankel.

Two G1s and three G2s.

Stunningly fast.

Cracksman

Harry Angel

First yearlings at the sales: they’re by the best.

juvenile report

Juvenile behaviour

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juvenile report

The July meeting is always something of a coming of age for the year’s two-year-old crop, and this year was no different.

Aisling Crowe assesses the winning pedigrees and performances, and also identifies some of the more notable maiden winners in England and Ireland over the last few weeks

Lusail (third, right) became Mehmas’s first Group two-year-old winner of the season when taking the July Stakes (G2), a race the sire won himself

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juvenile report

E

UROPE’S RUNAWAY champion first-season sire of 2020 is leading the way with his twoyear-olds once more in 2021.

Mehmas is not only leading the second crop sires’ table at the time of writing, but he is also winning the race to be crowned champion two-year-old sire with 19 winners from 50 runners.

Newmarket’s July meeting saw him record his first Group winner from his current crop of juveniles and it was fitting that the victory came in the Group 2 July Stakes, a race which Mehmas won himself, and for the same trainer and owners as he represented.

Lusail stepped up to Group level with aplomb for Richard Hannon and Al Shaqab Racing in the July Stakes to emulate his sire’s success of five years previously. Bred

by Tally-Ho Stud, where Mehmas stands in partnership with Al Shaqab, Lusail was purchased by Charlie Gordon-Watson for 160,000gns at Tattersalls October Book 2 from the O’Callaghan’s draft.

He is the second foal out of Diaminda, a daughter of Diamond Green, who was a winner at two and fourth in the Listed Dick Poole Stakes for Alan Jarvis.

Diaminda is a half-sister to the Group 1 Golden Jubilee Stakes winner Fayr Jag and they are out of Lominda, a winning juvenile and a half-sister to the Italian Listed winner and Group 3-placed filly Oreade.

Lusail has now won three of his four stars with his only defeat coming on soft ground at Pontefract on his second start. He is entered in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes, but Hannon hinted that he could attempt to emulate Mehmas by winning the Richmond Stakes (G2) at Goodwood, a race that was won in 2020 by Supremacy, who subsequently became Mehmas’s first Group 1 winner when taking the Middle Park Stakes for Clive Cox. Interestingly, Mehmas is building up a bit of an early affinity with broodmare sire descendants of Green Desert – Diamond Green is by the sire, as is Invincible Spirit who is sire of two winners by Mehmas, while Supremacy’s broodmare sire is Arcano, a son of Oasis Dream and so a grandson of Green Desert.

Oasis Dream still turns out talented performers of his own. His son Native Trail, trained by Charlie Appleby, increased his

18

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

Sandrine: going from strength to strength

Needleleaf’s second foal, a filly by Oasis Dream’s “nephew” Kingman is Lot 62 in the upcoming Arqana August Yearling Sale at Deauville

sale price on each of the three occasions he went through the ring and he ensured his value is now even higher after his victory in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes.

He is Group winner number 62 for the July Cup hero and comes from a typically strong Juddmonte family – his dam Needleleaf is an unraced Observatory full-sister to African Rose, winner of the Group 1 Haydock Sprint Cup and third in the Prix Maurice de Gheest (G1).

African Rose is the dam of the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes winner African Rose by Frankel.

Needleleaf is also a full-sister to the Group 3 Prix Aumale winner and Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac second Helleborine, the dam of Coventry Stakes (G2) winner Calyx

by Kingman.

Needleleaf’s second foal, a filly by Oasis Dream’s “nephew” Kingman, is Lot 62 in the upcoming Arqana August Yearling Sale at Deauville.

She is part of the draft of five due to be sold by Native Trail’s breeders Haras d’Haspel.

Needleleaf was part of the sought-after Juddmonte draft at the 2015 Tattersalls December Mares Sale, making 60,000gns to MAB Agency.

Her first son sold for more than three times that at the Tattersalls Craven BreezeUp Sale when selling to Godolphin for 210,000gns from Norman Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm. That was an impressive return on the 67,000gns that Williamson paid for him at Book 1 last October where he was sold

by Kildaragh Stud.

Native Trail’s first trip through the sales ring was as a foal at Arqana where he made €50,000 to Sam Sangster sold by his breeders.

Unbeaten in two starts now and holding an entry in the Group 1 National Stakes, Native Trail has certainly made his younger sister one of the likely more valuable commodities in Deauville.

It was a good July meeting for the Juddmonte Farms’ stalwart, who also sired the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes runner-up Desert Dreamer, out of the Montjeu mare Pure Innocence.

She found only the Group 3 Albany Stakes winner Sandrine too good for her in that

BUNGLE INTHEJUNGLE WINTER POWER

MAURICE OR MADELINE BURNS Rathasker Stud, Kilcullen Road, Naas, Co. Kildare, Ireland.

T 00 353 (0)45 876940 M 00 353 (0)86 2500687 or 00 353 (0)86 3774430 E info@rathaskerstud.ie W www.rathaskerstud.com

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juvenile report contest and Kirsten Rausing’s homebred filly is writing the name of her sire Bobby’s Kitten in lights.

Sandrine’s second dam Starlit Sands is herself one of Oasis Dream’s 62 individual Group winners as she won the Prix d’Arenberg (G3) and was second in the Queen Mary Stakes (G2).

Kodi Bear’s second corp looking smart

As good as Kodi Bear’s first crop is, and they include the Oaks second and Listed Pretty Polly Stakes winner Mystery Angel as well as the Listed winner and Group 1 Commonwealth Cup third Measure Of Magic, his second crop appears to be better.

Rathbarry Stud’s young sire celebrated his first Group winner on Irish Derby weekend when Go Bears Go, runner-up in Royal Ascot’s Norfolk Stakes (G2), won the Railway Stakes, also a Group 2, for Amo Racing and trainer David Loughnane.

Go Bears Go is another to hold an entry in the Phoenix Stakes (G1) at The Curragh in early August and he has strong chances of becoming be the first Group 1 winner for his sire

In doing so he forced Castle Star and Masseto, first and second in the Group 3 Marble Hill Stakes, to be content with the minor placings, with the form of the Norfolk Stakes looking strong.

It was Go Bears Go’s first run over 6f with his debut success and his Royal Ascot run both at the minimum trip. Go Bears Go is another to hold an entry in the Phoenix Stakes (G1) at The Curragh in early August and he has strong chances of becoming the first Group 1 winner for his sire, himself runner-up in the Dewhurst Stakes as a juvenile.

Go Bears Go was bred by Micheal Ryan, owner of Finsceal Beo, out of the Giant’s Causeway mare In Dubai, a winner at two and a half-sister to Group 1 Prix de l’Opera and Flower Bowl Invitational Stakes (G1) winner Nahrain, who is the dam of Benbatl, a son of Dubawi whose three Group 1 victories include the Caulfield Cup. In Dubai is also a half-sister to Listed

Go Bears Go is becoming one of the year’s two-year-old stars: he is out of the 85-rated two-year-old winning mare In Dubai (Giant’s Causeway)

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21

juvenile report winner Baharah and to the second dam of Group 3 Palace House Stakes winner Far Above.

Her dam Bahr by Generous won the Ribblesdale Stakes (G2) and was placed in both the Oaks (G1) and Irish Oaks (G1), as well as the Flower Bowl Invitational (G1).

In Dubai is now the dam of six winners and Go Bears Go was sold by Ryan’s Al Eile Stud to Robson Aguiar for £50,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale.

He formed part of a strong draft of breeze up horses for Aguiar Bloodstock in 2021

and was bought by Alex Elliott on behalf of Amo Racing for 150,000gns at the Craven Breeze-Up.

Good run of form for Gleneagles

Gleneagles is leading third-crop sire courtesy of a run of three-year-old Group winners in recent weeks, but it is a member of his fourth crop who caught the eye at The Curragh on Irish Derby weekend.

Trained by Joseph O’Brien for his mother Ann-Marie, Velocidad won the Group 2 Airlie

Stud Stakes, a race which has previously been won by subsequent Group 1 winners Listen, Roly Poly, Clemmie and Albigna.

Velocidad had the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes second Cheerupsleepyjean 4l behind her in third, with Butterflies, the first foal out of Yet, a Galileo half-sister to Giant’s Causeway, splitting the pair in second.

The winner is unbeaten in her two starts and holds entries in the Lowther Stakes (G2) and the Phoenix and Moyglare Stud Stakes (both G1).

Bred by Bugley Stud and D B Clark, she

MAIDEN WINNERS TO NOTE: Tosen Lydia looks a promising sort for The Gurkha

T

OSEN LYDIA could be a significant filly for her young sire The Gurkha, with the impressive Bellewstown maiden winner boasting a Group 1 entry and a red-hot pedigree.

She is the first winner out of Early Addition, an unraced Makfi half-sister to Love, the winner of five, and counting Group 1 races. Early Addition is also a half-sister to Lucky Kristale, winner of two juvenile Group 2 contests and to the Group 3 winners Peach Tree and Flattering. Second dam Pikaboo is a Pivotal half-sister to Arabian Gleam, a three-time Group 2 winner, the Listed winner Kimberella and to the dam of Listed winner and Group 1-placed Pogo.

Bred by Michael Cunningham, she runs in the colours of Japanese owner Takaya Shimakawa and is trained by Joseph O’Brien. She is entered in the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes, which was won in 2019 by her close relation Love.

Her sire, the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Sussex Stakes winner, has three winners from 12 second-crop runners so far and his best performer is the German juvenile Group 3 winner Best Of Lips, who won the Group 2 Union-Rennen at Bonn this season and was also third in the Mehl-Mulhens-Rennen – the German 2,000 Guineas.

Piz Badile was a fitting first winner for the Niarchos family’s Juddmonte International and Eclipse (G1) winner Ulysses, who stands at Cheveley Park Stud.

Trained by Donnacha O’Brien for his owner-breeders the Niarchos family Piz Badile is inbred 3x3 to Lingerie – his second dam, the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup winner Shiva, is a Hector Protector half-sister to Light Shift, the Group 1 Oaks winner and dam of Ulysses.

Piz Badile is a big, raw and unfurnished colt who looks as if he will truly come into his own at three and older, it was an impressive performance to win his maiden at Killarney on debut.

He is entered in the Group 1 Vincent O’Brien National Stakes

Piz Badile is a big, raw and unfurnished colt who looks as if he will truly come into his own at three and older, it was an impressive performance to win his maiden at Killarney on debut and is the first foal out of That Which Is Not, the best runner out of Shiva. The Elusive Quality mare won the Listed Prix Zarkava at four over a 1m2f and was second over course and distance at Saint-Cloud in the Group 2 Prix Corrida.

The Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes has been mooted as the next challenge for the Newmarket July meeting maiden winner Ardbraccan.

The daughter of Lawman shrugged off the attentions of the drifting Calm Skies to win over 7f for Richard Hannon and owner Merriebelle Irish Farm Ltd and partner. Calm Skies had interfered with Ardbraccan’s run in their previous meeting over course and distance, but the £25,000 Goffs Orby purchase by Peter and Ross Doyle was battle-hardened on her third start and gained her revenge on the Shamardal filly.

Bred by Ellie and Llama O’Mahony, Arbraccan was sold by Whitethorn Bloodstock to Jamie Railton Sales Agency for €25,000 at the 2019 Goffs November Foal Sale.

She is a full-sister to Fool For You, a winner over 5f at two and three who was also fourth in the Listed Land O’Burns Fillies Stakes

juvenile report was sold by Ted Voute for 25,000gns to Donnacha O’Brien at Book 1 (see page 12).

Velocidad is by far the best of the five runners to date out of Astrantia, a Dansili full-sister to Strategic Prince, winner of the July and Vintage Stakes, who is the sire of Group 1 winner La Collina. Their dam Ausherra won Lingfield’s Listed Oaks Trial and is a Diesis full-sister to the dual Classic winner Ramruma and the Listed Chester winner Royal Scimitar.

Ausherra is also a three-parts sister to All The Good, winner of the Group 1 Caulfield

Cup. Astrantia has a yearling filly by Adaay.

Havana Gold: living up to expectations

There were high hopes for Havana Gold’s two-year-olds of 2021, his fifth crop of racing age and the best he has bred so far, conceived the year his first crop turned three. That first crop contained Havana Grey, himself now a sire of yearlings, and the winner of the Group 3 Molecomb Stakes at two and the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes at three.

at Ayr last season for Richard Fahey and John Dance.

They are two of three winners from four runners produced so far

by Bosphorus Queen, who was third in the Listed Golden Fleece Stakes at Fairyhouse as a two-year-old.

By Sri Pekan she is one of four winners out of Turunuc, a winning full-sister to Indestachel (Danehill Dancer), who won the Group 3 Greenham Stakes and was second in the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains.

Discoveries, the full-sister to Alpha Centauri and half to Alpine Star, won a 7f maiden at the Irish Derby meeting, on just her second run. Representing the same combination of owner-breeder the Niarchos family and trainer Jessica Harrington as her Group 1 Coronation Stakes-winning siblings, she held off the sustained challenge of another regally-bred filly in Tuesday, the Galileo full-sister to Group 1 winners Minding and Empress Josephine.

Discoveries holds entries in the Group 2 Debutante Stakes, won by her Sea The Moon half-sister Alpine Star in 2019, and the

Havana Gold currently lies third in the table of leading European sires of twoyear-olds with 12 winners from 39 runners, headed by two his stakes winners – the Listed winners Chipotle and Fearby.

Chipotle has been a star for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton since the season’s flag fall, winning three of his four starts so far beginning with the Brocklesby Stakes at Doncaster on the opening day of the campaign.

He then went on to add a victory at Ascot on Royal Ascot Trials day before returning

Group 1 Moyglare Stakes in which her Mastercraftsman full-sister was fifth before embarking on a stellar three-year-old career which encompassed four Group 1 victories.

Beauty Inspire made a winning debut in the Irish Derby meeting’s opening race, a 6f maiden, for Ger Lyons and his Hong Kong-based owners Beauty Stables.

The third foal and second winner out of Darwell, a daughter of Zamindar who won once from three runs at three, is held in high regard by the Glenburnie team as Shane Lyons confided afterwards.

Unusually for an unraced horse from that yard, he was given an entry in the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes and is also entered in the Group 2 Gimcrack Stakes.

By Mehmas, he cost just €10,000 at the Goffs February Sale last year when breeder Michael O’Mahony sold him to Cross Stables.

The Tally-Ho team then paid £25,000 for him at Tattersalls Ireland’s September Yearling Sale and he was withdrawn from the Craven Breeze-Up and sold privately.

Ardbraccan: broke her duck on her third start in a Newmarket maiden and will bid to emulate her sister who got to a career-high mark of 92

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23

A New Star

DANCINGINTHESTREET (f2)

shot clear of her rivals in the Prix de la Butte Blanche (Maiden) at Chantilly.

30 Homebreds on offer

AT THE ARQANA AUGUST YEARLING SALE By leading sires Siyouni, Wootton Bassett, Le Havre, Mehmas, etc.

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© Agence G / Scoopdyga

Sister of WALLY, LANDFALL - Brother of ROMAN CANDLE A colt closely related to ALPHA CENTAURI, ALPINE STAR...

juvenile report

Chipotle has been a star for trainer Eve Johnson Houghton since the season’s flag fall to the track and winning ways in the Listed Windsor Castle Stakes at the Royal meeting.

Bred by Theakston Stud and sold to his trainer and Highflyer Bloodstock at the Tattersalls Ascot Yearling Sale, he is out of the Makfi mare Lightsome, whose best results were a trio of second placings over 7f at two.

Lightsome does have a good family to fall back on – she is a half-sister to the Firth Of Clyde Stakes (G3) second Mary’s Daughter and to the dam of Sussex Gardens, second in the Naas Juvenile Sprint Stakes (G3).

Lightsome’s dam Aunty Mary won at two and is a Common Grounds half-sister to the five-times Group 1-winning miler Attraction, dam of Group 3 winners and sires Elarqam and Fountain Of Youth. Attraction also has two colts by Frankel yet to run for her, whilst her 2016 Dubawi colt Maydanny is on an upward plane – he is now rated 103, his highest mark yet.

Havana Gold’s second Listed-winning two-year-old of 2021 is Sandown’s Dragon Stakes winner Fearby. Bred by Ringfort Stud out of the One Cool Cat mare Coolminx, he was an impressive 5l winner of the 5f contest at the start of July for Ed Bethell and Clarendon Thoroughbred Racing.

Coolminx was second in the Listed Rockingham Stakes over 5f at York as a twoyear-old and won five times between 5f 6f.

She is a half-sister to a high-class performer in Beau Recall, a daughter of Sir Prancealot and the winner of five graded races in North America and second in four Grade 1 contests.

Havana Gold’s two-year-olds number 146 and they also include Little Earl, who was second in the Listed National Stakes for Robert Cowell and Mrs Fitri Hay.

Gold’s highlights: Havana Gold has had two Listed juvenile winners this campaign so far, above, Chipotle, winner of the Windsor Castle Stakes, and, below, Fearby, who took the Dragon Stakes

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

25

stallion stats Leading European Flat sires 2021: (by prize-money earned to July 12, 2021) Stallion

Breeding

Frankel Galileo Siyouni Lope de Vega Dubawi Sea The Stars Dark Angel Zoffany Kendargent Australia Kingman Kodiac Wootton Bassett Le Havre Mayson Invincible Spirit Camelot Night of Thunder Dandy Man Oasis Dream Iffraaj Gleneagles Dream Ahead Dawn Approach Footstepsinthesand No Nay Never Showcasing Acclamation Mastercraftsman Intello Mehmas Exceed And Excel Dabirsim Anodin Shamardal Rajsaman Bated Breath Adlerflug Power Toronado Cable Bay Teofilo Dutch Art Rio de La Plata Charm Spirit Galiway Pivotal Nathaniel

Galileo–Kind (Danehill) 2013 172 518 Sadler’s Wells–Urban Sea (Miswaki) 2002 160 442 Pivotal–Sichilla (Danehill) 2011 209 683 Shamardal–Lady Vettori (Vettori) 2011 222 764 Dubai Millennium–Zomaradah (Deploy) 2006 168 499 Cape Cross–Urban Sea (Miswaki) 2010 160 497 Acclamation–Midnight Angel (Machiavellian) 2008 278 1043 Dansili–Tyranny (Machiavellian) 2012 250 871 Kendor–Pax Bella (Linamix) 2008 145 622 Galileo–Ouija Board (Cape Cross) 2015 119 385 Invincible Spirit–Zenda (Zamindar) 2015 144 410 Danehill–Rafha (Kris) 2007 318 1184 Iffraaj–Balladonia (Primo Dominie) 2012 124 443 Noverre–Marie Rheinberg (Surako) 2010 153 513 Invincible Spirit–Mayleaf (Pivotal) 2013 150 616 Green Desert–Rafha (Kris) 2003 166 650 Montjeu–Tarfah (Kingmambo) 2014 180 575 Dubawi–Forest Storm (Galileo) 2016 90 292 Mozart–Lady Alexander (Night Shift) 2010 207 907 Green Desert–Hope (Dancing Brave) 2004 158 627 Zafonic–Pastorale (Nureyev) 2007 179 645 Galileo–You’resothrilling (Storm Cat) 2016 116 359 Diktat–Land of Dreams ( Cadeaux Genereux) 2012 115 393 New Approach–Hymn of the Dawn (Phone Trick) 2014 111 381 Giant’s Causeway–Glatisant (Rainbow Quest) 2006 184 692 Scat Daddy–Cat’s Eye Witness (Elusive Quality) 2015 130 377 Oasis Dream–Arabesque (Zafonic) 2011 187 660 Royal Applause–Princess Athena (Ahonoora) 2004 166 659 Danehill Dancer–Starlight Dreams (Black Tie Affair) 2010 148 525 Galileo–Impressionnante (Danehill) 2014 129 421 Acclamation–Lucina (Machiavellian) 2017 151 483 Danehill–Patrona (Lomond) 2005 148 620 Hat Trick–Rumored (Royal Academy) 2014 183 680 Anabaa–Born Gold (Blushing Groom) 2015 99 472 Giant’s Causeway–Helsinki (Machiavellian) 2005 99 325 Linamix–Rose Quartz (Lammtarra) 2013 141 646 Dansili–Tantina (Distant View) 2013 143 551 In the Wings–Aiyana (Last Tycoon) 2010 67 202 Oasis Dream–Frappe (Inchinor) 2013 82 338 High Chaparral–Wana Doo (Grand Slam) 2015 114 464 Invincible Spirit–Rose de France (Diktat) 2016 88 333 Galileo–Speirbhean (Danehill) 2008 106 317 Medicean–Halland Park Lass (Spectrum) 2008 91 362 Rahy–Express Way (Ahmad) 2013 78 376 Invincible Spirit–L’Enjoleuse (Montjeu) 2015 111 491 Galileo–Danzigaway (Danehill) 2016 31 118 Polar Falcon–Fearless Revival (Cozzene) 1997 71 234 Galileo–Magnificient Style (Silver Hawk) 2013 108 349

26

www.internationalthoroughbred.net

To Stud

Courtesy of Weatherbys Rnrs

Runs

Wnrs

Wins

70 110 50 60 57 73 79 98 70 108 67 90 87 110 72 88 51 70 37 61 49 65 83 107 51 67 49 63 50 72 55 73 51 61 38 55 66 91 47 64 55 70 43 56 37 48 28 36 48 71 38 49 52 73 50 69 44 58 32 43 55 71 55 77 46 54 38 47 37 45 34 46 50 69 26 32 23 26 43 54 28 39 28 37 29 39 25 38 37 46 12 16 18 23 31 39

Wnrs/Rnrs% SWnrs SWs 40.69 31.25 27.27 35.58 41.66 41.87 31.29 28.80 35.17 31.09 34.02 26.10 41.12 32.02 33.33 33.13 28.33 42.22 31.88 29.74 30.72 37.06 32.17 25.22 26.08 29.23 27.80 30.12 29.72 24.80 36.42 37.16 25.13 38.38 37.37 24.11 34.96 38.80 28.04 37.71 31.81 26.41 31.86 32.05 33.33 38.70 25.35 28.70

£

13 17 3,314,643 11 13 3,006,676 7 11 2,754,660 9 9 2,145,445 13 14 2,098,620 12 14 2,010,417 7 7 1,986,953 6 6 1,712,211 3 6 1,677,096 7 13 1,484,060 7 9 1,482,340 3 3 1,372,456 4 4 1,355,182 3 3 1,298,191 3 4 1,131,170 3 3 1,055,625 4 4 1,035,671 6 7 999,480 4 4 981,440 4 5 924,851 4 4 918,473 6 6 910,928 1 2 887,926 2 4 857,074 2 4 854,387 3 4 851,649 1 1 847,829 3 4 846,490 1 1 842,732 3 3 820,594 6 6 807,528 4 5 799,621 0 0 789,033 1 1 767,119 5 5 765,450 0 0 744,176 3 3 741,507 6 8 732,846 4 4 712,709 2 2 700,636 4 4 696,457 3 3 696,361 2 3 678,993 3 4 673,276 1 1 671,510 2 2 670,258 2 2 652,559 3 3 636,152

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stallion stats Leading European Flat sires of 2yos 2021: (by prize-money earned to July 12, 2021 Bold = first-season sire) Stallion

Breeding

Mehmas Starspangledbanner Cotai Glory Havana Gold Kodiac Kodi Bear Ardad Dark Angel Showcasing Profitable Caravaggio Oasis Dream Wootton Bassett Galileo Gold Bobby’s Kitten Bated Breath Gleneagles Acclamation Twilight Son No Nay Never Recorder Territories Fast Company Pedro the Great Dabirsim Birchwood Iffraaj Churchill Adaay Aclaim Frankel Dandy Man Bungle Inthejungle Penny’s Picnic Brazen Beau Olympic Glory Australia Holy Roman Emperor Invincible Spirit El Kabeir Al Wukair Panis Hot Streak Siyouni Zelzal Dawn Approach Due Diligence Outstrip

Acclamation–Lucina (Machiavellian) 2017 Choisir–Gold Anthem (Made of Gold) 2011 Exceed And Excel–Continua (Elusive Quality) 2018 Teofilo–Jessica’s Dream (Desert Style) 2014 Danehill–Rafha (Kris) 2007 Kodiac–Hawattef (Mujtahid) 2017 Kodiac–Good Clodora (Red Clubs) 2018 Acclamation–Midnight Angel (Machiavellian) 2008 Oasis Dream–Arabesque (Zafonic) 2011 Invincible Spirit–Dani Ridge (Indian Ridge) 2018 Scat Daddy–Mekko Hokte (Holy Bull) 2018 Green Desert–Hope (Dancing Brave) 2004 Iffraaj–Balladonia (Primo Dominie) 2012 Paco Boy–Galicuix (Galileo) 2018 Kitten’s Joy–Celestial Woods (Forestry) 2017 Dansili–Tantina (Distant View) 2013 Galileo–You’resothrilling (Storm Cat) 2016 Royal Applause–Princess Athena (Ahonoora) 2004 Kyllachy–Twilight Mistress (Bin Ajwaad) 2017 Scat Daddy–Cat’s Eye Witness (Elusive Quality) 2015 Galileo–Memory (Danehill Dancer) 2018 Invincible Spirit–Taranto (Machiavellian) 2017 Danehill Dancer–Sheezalady (Zafonic) 2011 Henrythenavigator–Glatisant (Rainbow Quest) 2014 Hat Trick–Rumored (Royal Academy) 2014 Dark Angel–Layla Jamil (Exceed And Excel) 2018 Zafonic–Pastorale (Nureyev) 2007 Galileo–Meow (Storm Cat) 2018 Kodiac–Lady Lucia (Royal Applause) 2017 Acclamation–Aris (Danroad) 2018 Galileo–Kind (Danehill) 2013 Mozart–Lady Alexander (Night Shift) 2010 Exceed And Excel–Licence To Thrill (Wolfhound) 2015 Kheleyf–Zerky (Kingmambo) 2014 I Am Invincible–Sansadee (Snaadee) 2016 Choisir–Acidanthera (Alzao) 2015 Galileo–Ouija Board (Cape Cross) 2015 Danehill–L’On Vite (Secretariat) 2007 Green Desert–Rafha (Kris) 2003 Scat Daddy–Great Venue (Unbridled’s Song) 2018 Dream Ahead–Macheera (Machiavellian) 2018 Miswaki–Political Parody (Doonesbury) 2002 Iffraaj–Ashirah (Housebuster) 2016 Pivotal–Sichilla (Danehill) 2011 Sea The Stars–Olga Prekrasa (Kingmambo) 2018 New Approach–Hymn of the Dawn (Phone Trick) 2014 War Front–Bema (Pulpit) 2016 Exceed And Excel–Asi Siempre (El Prado) 2016

28

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To Stud

Rnrs

Runs

50 116 29 69 42 108 39 90 59 145 22 56 30 78 35 79 39 94 42 85 37 78 18 44 16 24 27 63 12 24 20 55 11 22 32 63 17 42 26 48 20 51 14 38 25 62 15 31 25 41 14 50 20 43 25 46 31 70 38 91 16 30 26 53 25 67 4 15 12 36 13 36 8 12 19 47 17 32 18 32 11 21 10 33 12 30 17 25 8 15 13 31 11 29 18 42

Wnrs 19 10 16 15 14 7 13 10 11 9 8 4 7 7 4 8 5 6 5 9 2 6 5 5 7 4 4 8 4 9 6 4 3 2 4 1 2 7 3 4 3 2 2 3 3 2 3 6

Courtesy of Weatherbys Wins 21 12 21 19 17 12 18 12 13 12 9 6 9 9 6 11 6 9 6 9 2 6 7 6 7 5 5 8 5 10 7 6 4 4 6 2 3 8 3 5 4 2 3 3 4 3 7 7

Wnrs/Rnrs% SWnrs SWs 38.00 34.48 38.09 38.46 23.72 31.81 43.33 28.57 28.20 21.42 21.62 22.22 43.75 25.92 33.33 40.00 45.45 18.75 29.41 34.61 10.00 42.85 20.00 33.33 28.00 28.57 20.00 32.00 12.90 23.68 37.50 15.38 12.00 50.00 33.33 7.69 25.00 36.84 17.64 22.22 27.27 20.00 16.66 17.64 37.50 15.38 27.27 33.33

1 2 1 2 0 2 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0

£

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sire lines

Who do you think you are?

New genetic evidence proves that the recorded pedigrees of the influential leading sires Bend Or and St. Simon were incorrect, writes Alan Porter

I

N 1981, the year in which his cornerstone book “The Classic Racehorse” was published, the late Peter Willett penned an article which we reprinted in the last issue of International Thoroughbred in which he pondered how a relative small number of sires have wielded a disproportionate influence on the development of the thoroughbred.

The article delves into names from the progression of the thoroughbred, and the evolution of the sire lines One of these involves the long-disputed pedigree of Bend Or, the winner of the 1880 Epsom Derby and, via Bona Vista, Cyllene and Polymelus, the male-line ancestor of Phalaris, who in turn is now in the maleline of well over 95 per cent of the current thoroughbred population.

Bred by the 1st Duke of Westminster, Bend Or was supposedly by the stallion Doncaster and out of Rouge Rose (Thormanby).

Not long after the Derby, however, the owners of the runner-up Robert The Devil wrote to the stewards and to Weatherbys, objecting to the result on the grounds that Bend Or was not bred as he was registered.

This was based on evidence from Richard Arnull, the stud groom at the Duke’s Eaton Stud, who claimed that the horse that raced as Bend Or was in fact Tadcaster, a son of Doncaster and out of Clemence (Newmister), and that the two had been accidentally swapped when sent from the stud to Barrow’s stable in Newmarket, before going into training with Robert Peck at Russley.

The case was duly considered by the

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descending from the founding fathers.

One thing that Willett could not have foreseen is the advent of DNA analysis and it’s revisory impact of older pedigrees. Using mitochondrial DNA, which is transmitted only in the tail-female line, a number of errors in female lines have been discovered.

More surprisingly is that there is now firm genetic evidence to amend the published pedigrees of two of the most important stallions of the late 19th century.

Eclipse and Bend Or. (a) The skeleton of Eclipse at the Royal Veterinary College, London. (b) Bend Or at stud. (c) The 1880 Epsom Derby finish – Bend Or beats Robert the Devil ‘by a nose’ (Hulton Archive/Getty Images). (d) A painting of Eclipse by John Beer (by kind permission of the National Horseracing Museum, Newmarket)

sire lines Jockey Club stewards, who faced a thorny problem with a number of issues.

Arnull, whose evidence contained several contradictions, had been working his notice from Eaton at the time of inquiry, and the stud-books at Eaton were notoriously sloppily maintained, offering little credible evidence. The stud’s manager Major Barlow and other employees supported the claim that Bend Or’s pedigree was correct, although Barlow’s evidence was no clearer than Arnull’s.

Importantly, the Duke of Westminster was an extremely wealthy and powerful individual, who wielded considerable influence. Perhaps, not surprisingly, the stewards issued a verdict declaring that the pedigree of Bend Or was correct and that the Derby result would stand.

One of their number James Lowther later stated that he had subsequently acquired evidence to the effect that it was Clemence rather than Rouge Rose who was the dam of Bend Or, but that evidence never saw the light of day.

And so the version of Bend Or’s pedigree that the stewards accepted is the one that has been in the General Stud Book ever since, but it isn’t the correct one.

belong to the expected haplotypes.

However, the test on the mtDNA of the skeleton of Bend Or showed that he was from the L4a mtDNA haplotype, so was out of Clemence not Rouge Rose.

To be fair, this really has no implications

for breeders today as it is irrespective, but it does, however, radically change historic pedigrees.

First affected is the famous Bend Or/ Macaroni nick, which produced the undefeated Triple Crown winner Ormonde,

BEND OR’S “ORIGINAL” PEDIGREE

DNA extraction of Bend Or’s skeleton

About a decade ago a team from Cambridge University led by Dr Mim Bower extracted DNA from the skeleton of Bend Or, which had long been in the Natural History Musuem.

The matter came down to analysis of the mitochondrial haplotype (group of genes).

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed only through the direct female line.

On paper Rouge Rose was a member of Bruce Lowe family No 1, whose tap-root was Tregonwell’s Natural Barb Mare, while Clemence was a member of Bruce Lowe family No 2, descending from the Burton Barb mare.

Using the Achilli mtDNA haplotype designations, that means that Rouge Rose should be mtDNA haplotype N2a, and Clemence, L4a.

Happily, both Rouge Rose and Clemence still have living descendents, and testing those confirmed that both mares did indeed

BEND OR’S “NEW” PEDIGREE

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sire lines the leading racehorse and sire Kendal, the 2,000 Guineas winner and successful sire Bona Vista (in the male line of Phalaris), and the Goodwood Cup winner and prolific sire Martagon.

Bend Or’s “new pedigree” means he is out of a mare by a son of Touchstone, a halfbrother to the dam of Macaroni.

It could also have great significance if studies such as “Founder-specific inbreeding affects racing performance in Thoroughbred horses”, that established 80 per cent of genetic material in the modern thoroughbred comes from a small group of ancestors. Some of those have positive and negative effects that are practically implemented, as those deep pedigrees will be significantly altered.

One horse for whom the revised pedigree of Bend Or makes even more significance is the mare Martha Lynn, who was a huge factor in the pedigrees of stallions of the middle of the 19th century onwards.

She appears as the dam of Voltigeur (who through Vedette and Galopin is the putative great-grandsire of St. Simon), of Voltigeur’s sister Volley (grand-dam of Lord Clifden, who is the male-line of Hyperion), and of Eulogy, the dam of Clemence, who, in addition to being dam of Bend Or, is also grand-dam of the great racehorse, and important sire Carbine.

Queries over St. Simon’s pedigree, too

We’ve mentioned that Voltigeur is the supposed great-grandsire of St. Simon, and the reason we question that is down to two papers “Y Chromosome Uncovers the Recent Oriental Origin of Modern Stallions” and “The horse Y Chromosome as an informative marker for tracing sire lines.”

These studies found that the three founding fathers from who all thoroughbreds now descend in tail-male line – the Byerley Turk, the Godolphin Arabian and Darley Arabian – have a Y-chromosome known as Tb. This designates a northern Oriental population, which indicates that they were descended from Turkoman, rather than the more southern Arabian stock.

The Byerley Turk and Godolphin Arabian are from a branch that was more recently

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One horse for whom the revised pedigree of Bend Or makes even more significance is the mare Martha Lynn, who was a huge factor in the pedigrees of stallions of the middle of the 19th century onwards linked Tb-o – the Byerley Turk being Tb-oB1 and the Godolphin Arabian, Tb-oB3b.

The Darley Arabian, however was categorised as Tb-d. Around 95 per cent of the breed now traces in male-line to the Darley Arabian, through Eclipse. This is almost exclusively through Whalebone, a great-grandson of Eclipse, who owned a mutation that separated him from other descendants of Eclipse.

The study delivered a particular surprise with a test of descendants of St. Simon, an undefeated runner who was one of the greatest racehorses and stallions foaled in the 19th century.

Under the rules prevailing at the time, St. Simon’s Classic entries were invalidated, due to the death of his breeder Prince Batthyany, but, despite only being a threeyear-old, he thrashed his elders in the Ascot Gold Cup and the Goodwood Cup winning by 20l on each occasion.

He went on to become the leading sire in Britain and Ireland nine times, siring ten English Classic winners of 17 English Classic races.

The accepted pedigree for St. Simon shows that he is another member of the

Darley Arabian line descended from the King Fergus branch of Eclipse.

That means he should carry the Tb-d Y-chromosome, but, when tested, male-line descendents of St. Simon actually carried the Tb-oB1y chromosome, indicating descent from the Byerley Turk.

That anomaly revives an old debate regarding questions that once hung over the origins of St. Simon’s sire, Galopin, winner of the Epsom Derby in 1875.

At the time, there were persistent rumours that Galopin was not by Vedette, a son of the previously mentioned Voltigeur, but by Delight, a Byerley Turk line horse who had stood alongside Vedette.

There is some circumstantial evidence both for and against Delight being the sire of Galopin.

There is a viable alternative possibility.

As far as the stud-book is concerned the Galopin sire line goes back – Vedette, Voltigeur, Voltaire, Blacklock, Whitelock.

The stud-book says that Whitelock was by Hambletonian, but in 1802, when Whitelock was conceived, Hambletonian stood alongside two other stallions, Delpini and Traveller. Both were from the Byerley Turk line, and it’s possible that either of these could be sire of Whitelock.

One hopes at some future point, whether the error occurred with Delight rather than Vedette being sire of Galopin, or at a more distant point in Galopin’s male-line, the question may be resolved by testing a sample from a bone of Voltigeur that is in the racing museum at York racecourse.

St Simon’s one of the most important “breed shapers”

St. Simon’s male-line dominated the first 20 years of the 1900s, and was still potent in the mid-20th century when it was represented by such immortals as Ribot and Round Table.

At the time Willett was writing the Ribot branch was still well-represent with horses such as Alleged and Pleasant Colony carrying the banner in the last quarter of the century, but at this stage its future looks decidedly bleak.

The last high-class sire to represent it was probably the Australian horse Mossman, a foal of 1995, who was by the imported

sire lines Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) winner, Success Express, from the Princequillo branch of St. Simon.

The fate of his sire line notwithstanding, St. Simon remains one the most important shapers of the breed.

Willett’s hopes for the Byerley Turk’s line has come from a different source

Even without St. Simon transplanted to it, at the time Willett was writing he held out some hopes for the Byerley Turk’s line, which had been recently represented by

the highly successful stallion Luthier (by Klairon, from the Tourbillon branch), four time leading sire in France.

Unfortunately, none of Luthier’s sons proved to be consistently top-class sires, and none produced a successful sire son.

ST. SIMON’S ESTABLISHED PEDIGREE There is some debate as to whether Galopin is by Vedette or by his stud mate Delight, who was a Byerley Turk line horse, or even whether there was some confusion even further back in the pedigree.

The Galopin sire line goes back through Vedette, Voltigeur, Voltaire, Blacklock, and then Whitelock.

Whitelock’s sire stood alongside the stallions Delphini and Traveller, also Byerley Turk line horses – and the mix-up could have taken place right back in the 1820s

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sire lines

The Hurry On line, primarily noted for later-developing stayers, has long since died out as far as major racing countries are concerned Instead, the Byerley Turk branch enjoyed what may have been it’s last flourish through a far less expected source.

Another son of Klairon, Lorenzaccio, earned notoriety by defeating Nijinsky in the Champion Stakes. Lorenzaccio himself was a disappointing stallion, but his sprinting son Ahonoora exceeded all expectations.

Although he had a pair of Classic colts in the 2,000 Guineas (G1) winner Don’t Forget Me, and Dr. Devious, who triumphed in the Epsom Derby (G1), his line has been best carried forward by the King’s Stand Stakes (G1) hero and one-time Irish National Stud leading sire Indian Ridge.

It had looked like terminating with him, as although he was an excellent sire, none of his sons were anywhere near as effective.

Though unable to secure the fortunes of his sire line, Ahonoora has exerted a considerable influence as a broodmare sire of sires, appearing in that role in the pedigrees of New Approach, Cape Cross and Acclamation, who is himself developing something of a role as a sire of sires.

Godolphin Arabian: relying on Dream Ahead and Tiznow

Hurry On and Man O’ War, both rugged chestnuts who raced on either side of the Atlantic during the WWI era, offered hopes for the sire line of the Godolphin Arabian.

The Hurry On line, primarily noted for later developing stayers, has long since died out as far as major racing countries are concerned. Man O’ War’s branch has been extended through In Reality, a horse inbred to Man O’ War’s evil-tempered son, War Relic.

In Europe a branch of In Reality has come down through Known Fact, who was awarded the 2,000 Guineas (G1) on the disqualification of Nureyev, Warning and Diktat to Dream Ahead.

Still only 13-years-old, Dream Ahead has

become a successful sire of sprinter/milers, and already has four Group 1 winners to his name. He has Group 1 winner Al Wukair at stud, and has plenty of time to come up with another top-class horse or two.

In the US, the primary representative in recent years has been two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) winner Tiznow (by Cee’s Tizzy, by In Reality’s son Relaunch).

Now retired, Tiznow has been a successful sire of Classic distance runners, but to date a disappointing sire of sires. He does have the Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) hero, Tourist, whose oldest are only three, but it could well be that this is the end of the line for Man O’ War.

Far North, Be My Guest and The Minstrel little impact and the Nijinsky line likely to go Willett began his 1981 article by reflecting on the dominance of that year’s first-season sires’ list by Northern Dancer sons – Be My Guest, Far North and The Minstrel occupying the first three places.

Ironically, however, much as the Northern Dancer line has flourished, this trio have left little lasting impression. Be My Guest was

champion sire in Britain and Ireland in 1982, but was a disappointing sire of sires, – other than with Pentire in New Zealand – and he’s most notable now as broodmare sire of Rock Of Gibraltar and Manduro.

Far North made little long-term impact.

The Minstrel was a successful sire, but his best son, Cigar, the magnificent US champion, was infertile. The Australian colt Naturalism, probably his second-best runner, was a disappointing sire, and none of his other good sons could extend the line.

Far North and The Minstrel were siblings, and also three-quarters brothers, to the Triple Crown winner Nijinsky. Unlike them, Nijinsky was a successful sire of sires with representatives such as Caerleon, Green Dancer, Royal Academy and Whiskey Road.

Royal Academy’s son Bel Esprit sired the undefeated superstar sprint mare Black Caviar, but the Nijinsky line also looks unlikely to continue, unless it’s through the German-bred Silvano in South Africa.

“Stellar success” for Danzig

Danzig, of course, overcame his modest status as a racehorse to enjoy stellar success at stud, and in particular two sons of Danzig, Danehill and Green Desert, have enjoyed tremendous success in Europe and Australia.

In Australia, Danehill first crossed well with the previously dominant sire lines of Sir Ivor and Star Kingdom... and then virtually swept them from the board.

Al Wukair: one of four Group 1 winners by Dream Ahead who traces to the Godolphin Arabian

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sire lines

Danehill first crossed well with the previously dominant sire lines of Sir Ivor and Star Kingdom... and then virtually swept them from the board

In fact in that region it’s reached a state in which Danehilll-line stallions represent a higher percentage of the population than all other stallions combined.

The Danehill line has had plenty of success in Europe, too, through such as the reverse shuttlers Fastnet Rock and Exceed And Excel, Danehill Dancer (sire of Choisir and Mastercraftsman), Dansili (whose son, Harbinger has started well in Japan), Rock Of Gibraltar and Kodiac, but really it now needs a new standout to establish it’s future.

The sprinter Green Desert came up with a trio of extremely successful stallions in Cape Cross, Invincible Spirit and Oasis Dream, all of whom proved capable of siring high-class middle-distance runners and sires.

Sadler’s Wells after winning the Eclipse Stakes in 1984. He and son Galileo have had an extraordinary impact on the breed – between them they have headed the sires’ list 26 times

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Cape Cross has an outstanding Classic sire son in Sea The Stars (half-brother to Galileo), Invincible Spirit is most notably responsible for I Am Invincible in Australia – where he has combined well with other Danehill strains – and the sensational Kingman in Europe, while Oasis Dream has Showcasing, who has done well in Europe and New Zealand.

Danzig also has the very successful US sons, Hard Spun and War Front, still active, War Front having several young sons at stud, including Declaration Of War, who has already stood in Ireland, the US, Australia and Japan, and has proved capable of leaving good runners wherever he is domiciled.

There are also other thriving branches of Danzig in South Africa and South America.

The Sadler’s Wells / Galileo heritage

The other real long term game changer by Northern Dancer in Europe was Sadler’s Wells, a three-quarters brother to Nureyev.

His domination might best be expressed by the fact that he or his son Galileo have headed the leading sires’ list for Britain and Ireland 26 times in the last 31 years, 14 for Sadler’s Wells, and 12 for Galileo, who would appear to have a decent shot of catching or even surpassing his remarkable sire.

It’s hard to believe now, but there was a point where Sadler’s Wells appeared to be a questionable sire of sires, despite some early success by In The Wings (sire of Singspiel).

Then came El Prado, who was not only leading sire twice in the US but also sired the two-time leading sire Kitten’s Joy and the extremely successful Medaglia D’Oro, Montjeu, who has left Camelot, himself making a bright start with his first few crops, High Chaparral, who in addition to doing well in Europe left two good young Australian sires in So You Think and Dundeel from his New Zealand-sired crops, Fort Wood, a star in South Africa; and Galileo.

In turn, the late Galileo has not only emulated his sire’s dominance of the stallion tables, but sired the non-pariel Frankel, himself now making a tremendous start at stud, as well as Teofilo, New Approach, Nathaniel and Australia, among several other successful stallion sons.

Doncaster Premier Yearling Sale 24 – 25 August 2021

travel for the early european yearling sales

FRANCE Arqana August Yearling Sale August 14 : 5.30pm August 15: 5.30pm August 16: 1.00pm

The Arqana client relations team of Marie Houlbec and Claire Gelegs are available to help organise travel to Deauville and accommodation, email: bookings@arqana.com.

Arqana V2: August 17 : 3.00pm CURRENT ENTRY REQUIREMENTS TO FRANCE (as on 18.07.2021) Travelling to France from a country on the green list

No restrictions shall apply if entering France from a green list country or territory.

If you are vaccinated, you must present proof of vaccination status and a sworn statement attesting to the absence of COVID symptoms and of any contact.

If you are not vaccinated, you must present a negative PCR or antigenic test no more than 72 hours prior to departure. Some countries of the European area have been placed under surveillance.

You must also present a sworn statement attesting to the absence of symptoms of COVID infection or any contact.

For a short stay (less than 90 days) travellers must show proof of resources and accommodation

Travelling to France from a country on the amber list

If you are vaccinated, no restrictions shall apply when entering France.

You must present proof of your vaccination status and a sworn statement certifying the absence of COVID symptoms and of any contact.

If you are not vaccinated, you must give a “compelling” reason for travel.

For a short stay (less than 90 days) travellers must show proof of resources and accommodation NOTE: if returning from France to the UK you will be required to quarantine for ten days, with the option for a “quick release” on day five **HEALTH PASS FOR CULTURAL VENUES, MAYBE CAFES AND RESTAURANTS** Travellers over the age of 17 require a “health pass” or a “pass sanitaire” to visit places of leisure and culture with more than 50 people.

In August (at present) it is planned this will be extended to cafes, restaurants, shopping centres, to travel by plane, train and coach for long-distance journeys.

Currently, British and other non-EU QR codes on certificates are not compatible with the TousAntiCovid application or with the EU Digital Covid Certificate scheme.

At the time of writing an NHS vaccination certificate (print and mobile) is acceptable, but please check before travel. As we go to press there is no information for US visitors. https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Actualites/L actu-du-Ministere/Certificate-of-international-travel

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SALE

travel for the early european yearling sales

PLANS With the pandemic still influencing and restricting travel plans, and affecting sales dates, here is the information we have to hand, correct as we go to press in the middle of July, regarding entry requirements for travel to France, Germany or the UK if you are planning to travel to the early-season yearling sales.

Keep checking details online to ensure you are aware of any changes and use this site / app, it is really helpful: apply.joinsherpa.com

GERMANY BBAG September Yearling Sale: September 4,10.00am Yearlings eligible for the BBAG auction series held in Germany

It is expected that by September the sale grounds restrictions will be lifted and the grounds will be able to be open to all. The Baden-Baden racecourse under its new ownership is “reopening” with meetings on August 29, September 1 and 4.

Currently UK travellers may only enter Germany if fully vaccinated, however it is expected that this will soon be changed and all travellers from the UK, the EU and the US will be allowed enter Germany and will not need to complete a period of quarantine. Please check!

Currently, travellers must fill in a pre-departure registration form, and provide proof of a negative PCR test and of vaccination.

UK Goffs UK Premier Sale: August 24-25 Yearlings eligible for the £300,000 DBS Premier Yearling Stakes Goffs UK Silver Sale: August 26 Tattersalls Somerville Sale: September 7: 10.00am Yearlings eligible for £150,000 Tattersalls October Auction Stakes Tattersalls Ire September Yearling Sale: September 14-15

If you are planning to travel for this year’s sales it seems the most important requirements for ease of travel in such an ever-changing situation is to be vaccinated and to have proof that you are

Tattersalls Ire September Yearling Sale P2: September 16

All in P1 and P2 eligible for the Tattersalls Ire Super Auction Sales Race 2022 NOTE: Tattersalls Ire September Sale may be subject to a date change

CURRENT ENTRY REQUIREMENTS TO THE UK (as on 15.07.2021):

If you’re travelling to England from: • a green list country: you must take a COVID test on or before day 2 • an amber list: quarantine where you’re staying and take two COVID tests.

If you have been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme or have not been in a red list country or France in the 10 days before you arrive in England, you will not need to quarantine on arrival in England or take a day 8 COVID test • All UK travellers, who have been in France in the 10 days before arrival, must quarantine for 10 days and take day 2 and day 8 COVID tests.

• a red list: only British nationals can enter These rules must be followed even if you have been vaccinated.

You must provide proof of a negative COVID test taken in the three days before travel and complete a passenger locator form

GERMANY: this link for information – https://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/en/einreiseundaufenthalt/EinreiseUndAufenthalt UK: Use this link to check the most recent details and country by country entry information – https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice

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jerome reynier

Reynier is a man making the most out of life Jocelyn de Moubray meets the Marseilles-based trainer Jerome Reynier, who joined the Group 1 winners’ club in May when Skalleti won the Prix d’Ispahan Photography by Eleonore Groux 42

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jerome reynier

T

The lovely Group 1 winner, Skalleti, who likes to stick to his own routine and who until quite recently had to be the one ridden out first

HE YEAR 2021 has been an important one for Jerome Reynier and his Marseillesbased stable. In only his ninth season as a public trainer Reynier is currently fifth in the French trainers’ table, and with 11 wins and 13 places in Group and stakes races, his record in black-type races is only surpassed

by Andre Fabré and Jean-Claude Rouget.

The Prix d’Ispahan at ParisLongchamp in May was a first Group 1 win for Reynier and for Jean-Claude Seroul’s brilliant Kendargent gelding Skalleti.

Skalleti is now unbeaten in three starts this year, while his stable companion Marianafoot has been one of the other stars of the French season winning all six of his starts, including a Listed and two Group 3s at ParisLongchamp. Seroul’s two six-yearolds Skalleti and Marianafoot have run 33 times between them since Reynier took over responsibility for the owner’s stable at Calas, the training centre which lies between Marseilles and Aix en Provence, in the autumn of 2018.

The pair has won 25 of these starts winning a total of 15 Group and Listed races and more than €2,500,000.

Reynier has passed other milestones this year. The 37-year-old became a father for the second time when his son Marius was born, he and his partner Marie Richert also have a daughter called Rose, while on July 4, Wetrov, a six-year-old gelding part-owned by his partner, became his 500th winner as a trainer when taking a claimer at CasteraVerduza.

“Castera-Verduza is,” he explains, “a lovely little track between Toulouse and Mont-deMarsan. It is a place where you eat very well!”

Thinking about Castera-Verduza, eating and the French provinces leads him on to indulge in a small fantasy.

“Sometimes,” he muses, “I think of giving this up and setting out across France in a camper van with my family and a trailer with a couple of horses behind. We could stop and run at some of the small tracks to pay the bills and just travel around the country!”

For the time being, however, Reynier is firmly focused on his primary dream, which

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jerome reynier is to make a place for himself in the racing world and become one of the leading trainers in France, and in Europe.

Reynier’s decisive contact with racing came not from the animal itself or even from the racecourse, but from memories of events which took place when he was too young to follow and the stories his father Serge Reynier told of them.

The most familiar of these stories was the one about the Prix Djebel at Maisons Laffitte in 1988.

It featured the seasonal reappearance of the two-year-old champion Common Grounds, the winner of the Prix de la Salamandre trained by François Boutin.

He was beaten by a horse from Marseilles called Shaindy, a son of American Stress trained by Henri Rossi, and bred by one Serge Reynier.

Reynier Snr was an architect with a passion for racing, but this interest caused family friction and so when Reynier was growing up in Marseilles there were no horses or even visits to the two racecourses.

“I followed racing with passion,” he says, “but through magazines and books. When my parents separated in 1997 one of the

I really didn’t speak a word of English when I arrived at Old Mill Stud, the first words I learnt were shovel, fork and brush! first things my father did was to take me to Deauville for the August Yearling Sale.”

The sale and the yearlings provided a focus for the young Reynier’s attention. He did his first work experience at the Haras des Chartreux in Normandy at 15 years old, the

Reynier with his wife Marie Richert and eldest child, daughter Rose (2), and dog Poppy

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first time the future trainer was in contact with, and working with, horses.

He then decided he would need to speak English and so he went to work for David Shekells at Old Mill Stud, near Newmarket, to help prepare the yearlings for the Deauville August Sale.

“I really didn’t speak a word of English when I arrived there,” he laughs. “The first words I learnt were shovel, fork and brush!”

O

NCE HE HAD LEFT school with his baccalaureate he prolonged the work experiences and become fully fluent in English. He spent a breeding season at Coolmore, worked the sales in France and Germany and then went on the Irish National Stud’s course.

“At Coolmore the mares I helped to look after included Hold On, whose son Hurricane Run won the Irish Derby that year,” he remembers. “The mark I was given for a study of pedigrees at the Irish National Stud was high enough to help me be accepted on to the Godolphin Flying Start.”

After the Flying Start took him around the world and into contact with trainers, Reynier had a brief stint as a bloodstock agent. He then decided he wanted to be a trainer.

At first he worked as a private trainer for the Ecurie Camacho and then France Galop gave him a licence and he started as a public trainer in 2013 at Calas near Marseilles.

“I never really considered settling outside France,” he explains. “I come from Marseilles and I wanted to move back to be near my father, who was not in good health.”

From the beginning Reynier made a mark and the stable expanded quickly going from 14 wins the first season to 56 by year four.

When Seroul asked him to take over his stable in conjunction with Reynier’s own, the operation bounded forward.

Seroul has some 55 horses in training, many home-breds, as well as the yearlings he buys regularly, and he has been among the leading owners and breeders in France for decades. The horses in the Seroul boxes in October 2018 included Skalletti, an unraced three-year-old, as well as Marianafoot, also a three-year-old but who had won three races

jerome reynier for his previous trainers Frederic Rossi and Patrick Khozian.

“Skalletti was more or less resting when I first took over,” Reynier says. “He had shown plenty of ability at two, but had been very difficult which is why he had been gelded. He then had problems with his feet, problems he still has as he has very flat hooves.

“His feet are the reason we prefer running him on soft tracks, he does love soft ground, but above all he takes longer to recuperate if we run him on firm ground.

“It took time to get to know him. He is a solitary character, who enjoys his routine.

“For years he had to go out first lot, and would stress if anyone went before him.

And though he has become more mature, he still has his own walking ring. We never push him in the morning and he has never worked on the Turf at Calas, only on the All-Weather.

“When he went to Nimes to make his debut I was confident he would run well, even if it is never my aim to win first time out. When he won well without having to be ridden I knew we had an interesting horse!”

S

KALLETI soon proved himself to be a little more than interesting. He won ten of his first 11 races and ended his fouryear-old career with a sequence of Group victories at Deauville, ParisLongchamp and Rome over a mile and then 1m2f.

It took him a few races to come back to his very best at five, but, after beating Sottsass to win a Group 3 in Deauville, he then won a second Group 2 Prix Dollar on Arc weekend before travelling to Ascot to finish second behind Addeybb in the Group 1 Champion Stakes.

Skalleti then travelled to Hong Kong for the Hong Kong Cup in December 2020. The race was not run to suit him as, unusually, there was no early pace and he reverted to old habits failing to settle in the early stages.

He was beaten less than 5l into seventh, but a bad race then turned into a nightmare.

“Skalleti came out of the race very tired indeed,” Reynier explains. “He was so stressed that when he got back to Newmarket on his way home he had a bout

Reynier‘s string using the picturesque gallops at Calas, Marseille

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jerome reynier “He had a joint problem and I decided to give him a long break. I am not sure he is better than ever since his return, but he has won seven in a row and it was a long term plan to win the two Group 3s at ParisLongchamp over 7f.”

R

Skalleti with Matthieu Poggi

of colic. I was convinced we had lost him and was very cross with myself for having taken him to Hong Kong.

“It was only in February that he started to come back to his usual self. He had only been in work for a month or so before he made his seasonal debut at Saint-Cloud.”

Whatever his trainer was expecting Skalleti came back flying putting up one of his best performances to date giving weight and a beating to the Group 1 performers Grand Glory and Ecrivan.

Three weeks later he returned to Paris to beat the Group 1 Prix Ganay winner Mare Australis in the Group 2 Prix Harcourt before winning his first Group 1 over 1m1f with an extraordinary show of speed to win the Ispahan from Tilsit and My Oberon.

Skalleti ran the last 2f in 21.32secs, 15 per cent faster than the average of the race overall, and he accelerated despite losing a shoe before turning into the home straight.

“For the future I would love to run him in the Jacques le Marois over the straight mile in Deauville, but as a gelding he is barred, so he is likely to run in the Gontaut Biron and then we will consider the best route to take to get to Ascot for the Champion Stakes.

“Our aim is keep the horse performing at his peak for as long as possible.”

Marianafoot, the stable’s other star, will also be running in Deauville, with a plan for the Group 1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 6f.

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Marianafoot ridden by Cédric Larry

In my yard we are less than 15 who work full time; we are a family and it is this, and the contact with the horses themselves, that I enjoy the most Reynier is considering running him again only a week later in the Jacques Le Marois over a mile.

“I take eight boxes in Deauville during August and so he would stay on the racecourse and we could keep him ticking over between races.”

Marianafoot has won eight of his last nine starts, a sequence which began in Deauville in December 2019. His only defeat came in Doha when he returned home lame.

EYNIER IS understandably proud of what he has achieved in Marseilles, and for the time being he has no plans to change a winning formula.

“I would, of course, consider carefully any proposition,” he says, “but why would I want to move when things are going well? I also believe it is very difficult for a trainer to move base.

“You get used to using the same tracks and places, and for any trainer to move is to create new and different challenges and problems. Monsieur Seroul has 55 horses and I have 40 boxes of my own and have no plans to take on any more.

“I get up at 3.30am every morning and have the time to go around all of the horses in my care before work begins. If I had more boxes and more horses it would be a different job, a different life, and it would also involve taking a greater financial risk as in France it is expensive to employ people.

“In my yard we are less than 15 who work full time; we are a family and it is this, and the contact with the horses themselves, that I enjoy the most.”

Reynier’s progression to the top five trainers in France has not followed any of the usual paths.

He had almost no contact with any type of horse until he was 15, and his family had no connection with racing and the closed world of racing’s professionals.

“When I did go racing with my father,” he says, “we were always with the public on the outside looking in as he didn’t have the badges to go to the stables or into the paddock.”

Reynier has made his own place in the racing world, and he has done it from his home base in Marseilles. In such a competitive world nothing can ever be taken for granted, but for the immediate future Reynier is in a position where he can afford to continue on his own route.

An outstanding selection of yearlings for Arqana Including a half sister to Champion WONDERFUL TONIGHT and yearlings by Night of Thunder, Roaring Lion, Zoffany, Le Havre, etc.

Top performers bred or sold in the last 2 years include Gr.3 winner GO ATHLETICO and the multiple 2YO winners AXDAVALI, PRINCESSE DE SABA, MOUILLAGE, TOIMY SON, etc.

Guillaume Vitse • Le Lieu Calice, 14430 Hotot en Auge, France • T: +33 6 64 86 28 44 • E: normandiebreeding@gmail.com www.normandie-breeding.com

7 GROUP 1 WINNERS raised or sold in less than 10 years

ÉTOILE

1 E.P. Taylor Stakes (Gr1) 2020 at Woodbine st

I Étoile I Audarya

LOT 55 - Her own sister

I Olmedo I Jemayel I Flotilla I Morandi I Zagora

AUDARYA

1st Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (Gr1) 2020 at Keeneland 2nd Prince of Wales’s Stakes (Gr1) 2021 at Ascot

Éric Puerari : +33 (0)6.07.34.38.24 • Michel Zerolo : +33 (0)6.08.91.04.34

ARQANA AUGUST SALE 43 Yearlings by the international sires

I ALMANZOR (4)

I GALILEO

I SAXON WARRIOR (2)

I AUSTRALIA (3)

I KINGMAN

I SEA THE MOON (2)

I CAMELOT (2)

I LE HAVRE (2)

I SEA THE STARS

I CHURCHILL (2)

I MEHMAS

I SIYOUNI

I CLOTH OF STARS (3)

I NO NAY NEVER

I ZARAK

I CRACKSMAN

I OASIS DREAM

I FASTNET ROCK

I ROARING LION

1st Prix Noailles (Gr3) 2021 at ParisLongchamp

NOBLE TRUTH

very impressive winner of British EBF Maiden Stakes at Newmarket - 2021 July

Philippe Lazare : +33(0)6.33.59.47.15 • Jean-Daniel Manceau : +33 (0)6.30.30.81.27

© Agence G / RacingPostPhotos & Scoopdyga

CHESHIRE ACADEMY

haras de l’aumônerie

W

HATEVER LIES in the future for Julie Mestrallet, her family and her breeding operation at the Haras de l’Aumônerie, the year 2021 will always stand out as one of significant achievements.

In March, Mestrallet gave birth to twin boys Henri and Baptiste, and then only a few weeks later she and her young daughter Agathe Cousin Mestrallet and her mother

The Poule d’Essai des Pouliches winner Coeursamba bred by Julie Mestrallet and her family at Haras de l’Aumônerie

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It’s not all down to luck Classic-winning breeder Julie Mestrallet has made the most of the opportunities that have come her way, writes Jocelyn de Moubray

Photo courtesy of Arqana and by Suzanna Lupa

haras de l’aumônerie Francine Mestrallet became Classic breeders when Coeursamba, who they bred together, flew home to win the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches at ParisLongchamp for trainer Jean-Claude Rouget and jockey Christian Demuro, despite being a 66-1 outsider.

Her boys and Coeursamba share the same birthday on March 26, but this is only one of a series of coincidences and chance encounters, which could lead those so inclined to believe in such things, that Coeursamba was always destined to be the horse who put l’Aumônerie on the map.

If this is what the fates had prepared then they could not have chosen someone better prepared to seize the opportunity right at the beginning of her career as a thoroughbred breeder.

The path which was to lead to Coeursamba began when Mestrallet was already on her second career and working as an assistant at the Clinique Stockwell in Falaise, an equine veterinary clinic run by Dr Christopher Stockwell.

Her mother Francine Mestrallet was a breeder of ponies on the family’s farm the Haras de l’Aumônerie, not far from Pont l’Eveque in Normandy. From a young age Julie had ridden and competed in show jumping events and from the ages of 14 to 15 she was part of the French Junior team.

“I had,” she remembers, “an extraordinary little pony and together we competed all over France and travelled to Belgium and Germany as well. After the junior level the cost of buying the right horses became prohibitive and so from the age of 16 I started working as a groom for different professional riders.

“I spent three years working for Christian Hermon, I went to Switzerland for a year and finally ended up with the Olympic champion Alexandra Ledermann. After six years I had enough and said to myself that I was finished with horses.”

The fates had, of course, chosen a different route and through an introduction Mestrallet started working as an assistant at the Clinique, no longer riding horses for a living but instead learning how to care for them.

“I stayed seven years at Stockwell,” she says. “I was present and assisted at all types of interventions and surgeries, as well as learning about the paperwork and

When she took over at Haras de l’Aumônerie, Julie Mestrallet (left) swapped from breeding ponies to breeding thoroughbreds, despite having little background in the industry

accounting side of the equine business. The clinic only works with horses and during my time its thoroughbred clients included Haras du Quesnay and many other breeders such as the Bader family and the Haras du Vieux Pont.”

Mestrallet used to go to Le Quesnay to take blood samples and its was these visits which introduced her to Anabaa and Bering, at the time the stud’s two star stallions, as well as the success of the Head family’s breeding operation.

In 2011, Mestrallet decided to take over her mother’s farm and despite knowing next to nobody in the thoroughbred business

My mother was not initially very impressed, and it was lucky that I didn’t know my husband Guillaume Cousin then...

decided to breed racehorses and not ponies.

Before starting her new project she spent six months working for the trainer Jennifer Bidgood, who was based at the Haras de Bouquetot, now owned by Al Shaqab, which is only a few kilometers from her family’s farm.

“It was an unusual setup then,” Mestrallet says. “There was no training track and we used to canter the horses in the paddocks.

One day I was sent with two runners to Niort which is a small track in the west of France near La Rochelle.

“One of our horses was running in the claimer and so I had a look at the others in the race and they included Marechale, a four-year-old daughter of Anabaa out of a Bering mare, bred by Alec and Madam Alec Head, who was in for a €5,000 claiming price.

“I had a look at her and despite the fact she failed, yet again, to win and finished only fifth I gave my phone number to her trainer Philip Le Gal and told him that I couldn’t afford to pay €5,000, but I was interested in the filly.

“About a month later Marechale ran again finishing last at an even smaller track and Le Gal called to say that he had enough and couldn’t put up with the filly any longer. He told me that if I wanted I could have her for €2,500 and he would deliver her to the farm as he had a runner nearby at Clairefontaine.”

T

HE DEAL was done and Marechale was on her way to l’Aumônerie. There was the small question of the €2,500 asking price now due, but Julie’s mother agreed to lend her the money and was there to see the fouryear-old being unloaded.

“My mother was not initially very impressed,” Julie laughs, “and it was lucky that I didn’t know my husband Guillaume Cousin at the time as he would have been furious if he had seen her coming off the box!”

Guillaume Cousin has worked for Arqana

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since the beginning and before that for Agençe Francaise. Throughout most of that time not only has he been to every small farm in the country to inspect yearlings, but he has also stood next to the ring on the auctioneers’ left, almost without a break.

The couple met on the farm as the first boarder who arrived in 2012 happened to have been bred by Cousin and he came to look at the mare.

“Guillaume and I don’t look at horses in quite the same way,” Mestrallet explains.

“I love having his advice and listening to his opinions, but sometimes in breeding I think you need to follow your own instinct.”

Marechale lost her pregnancy the first year she was covered, but Mestrallet then won a season to Alexandros, a son of Kingmambo who stood at the Haras de Logis, in a lottery organised by the French breeders’ association and in 2013 she gave birth to a filly foal, who was presented at the Arqana December Sale.

“She was a lovely foal,” Mestrallet remembers. “I had bills of €12,000 to pay and so I made that her reserve and led her up to the ring myself.

“As the bidding went over that figure I kept thinking that’s another ten metres of fencing paid for! In the end she made €26,000.”

The run of good luck continued as Mestrallet then won a season to Mr Sidney, with whom Marechale bred Lady Sydney.

She retired as a Listed-placed winner of seven races with 31 placing and some €435,000 in prize-money and €36,000 in breeders’ premiums, The lottery success continued and Mestrallet won a season to Jukebox Jury.

She bred O’Juke, the winner of the Group 3 St Leger Italiano in 2018, from her other mare O’Keefe, a daughter of Peintre Celebre.

In 2017, Mestrallet decided to send Marechale to The Wow Signal, contrary to the advice of almost everybody whose opinion she asked.

Photo courtesy of Arqana and by Suzanna Lupa

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Top, Mestrallet and daughter Agathe, who gets 10 per cent of any foal sales proceeds, with the Classic winner (main photo).

Mestrallet bought back the filly’s half-sister Comme Une Grande (Alexandros) and their dam Marechale has a colt foal by Starspangledbanner at foot

haras de l’aumônerie “I had watched the son of Starspangledbanner win the Prix Morny and had always loved him,” she explains.

The Wow Signal proved to be almost infertile and died prematurely after producing only a total of 11 named foals, one of which was out of Marechale.

The filly foal went to the sales and was sold to the Haras d’Haspel for €24,000.

“I don’t have the space to keep my foals as yearlings,” Mestrallet says, “but always loved the filly. When she came up to the sale as a yearling I put together a syndicate with friends and the trainer Ludovic Gadbin, we were the underbidders on her to JeanClaude Rouget, who bought her for €40,000.

“With hindsight it was just as well we didn’t get her as I am sure she wouldn’t have had the same career. Who other than Monsieur Rouget would have dared run her in the Pouliches?”

Coeursamba was an excellent two-yearold winning at Saint-Cloud and being placed in Group races at ParisLongchamp and Deauville. She was sold by her original owner Jean Louis Tepper to Abdulla Al Attiyah for €400,000 at the Arqana Arc Sale and went on to finish fifth in the Group 1 Prix Marcel Boussac the following day.

O

NLY THIRD on her seasonal reappearance at ParisLongchamp this year Rouget decided to let Coeursamba take her chance in the Classic.

She responded by travelling sweetly throughout the race and beating the 1,000 Guineas winner Mother Earth comfortably by three-quarters of a length.

After running her race during the preliminaries of the Prix de Diane, Coeursamba was stirred up in the paddock and showed little, she has changed hands again and is now owned by Katsumi Yoshida of Japan’s Northern Farm remaining with Rouget.

For Mestrallet the Coeursamba story is far from over as before Coeursamba had revealed her class the breeder had bought back the Alexandros half-sister, who is called Comme Une Grande.

She had her first foal this year, a colt by

I had bills of €12,000 to pay so I made that her reserve and led her up to the ring myself.

As the bidding went over that figure I kept thinking that’s another ten metres of fencing paid for! the Scat Daddy sire Seahenge. Marechale also has a colt foal by Starspangledbanner, a close relation to Coeursamba.

“In principle and certainly at this stage the plan is to offer him at the Arqana December Sale,” Mestrallet confirms. “Marechale also has a two-year-old Olympic Glory colt, who is in training with Gianluca Bietolini in Maisons Laffitte.”

Marechale has changed the destiny of those involved with her, which would have been impossible to predict at the outset.

She was an ordinary racehorse, who after finishing second on her debut in Deauville for the Head family, ran a further 15 times without ever finishing closer than fourth.

Her full-sister Maxwell was a Listed winner but otherwise there was little of interest in her pedigree for several generations, even if her fifth dam Fine Pearl was France’s three-yearold champion in 1966.

The Haras de l’Aumônerie is now a Classic breeder and will present eight yearlings at the Arqana August Sale and V2, and a further 15 in October. For the select part of the sale it has a Siyouni filly out of a half-sister to Zarkava, as well as colts by Al Kazeem and Holy Roman Emperor.

The farm keeps 15 mares all the year round for clients as well as its own headed

by Marechale, her daughter Comme Une Grande and the Group producer O’Keefe.

In addition to the horses and her children Mestrallet also works for the insurance group Merkel, whose French equine branch is close to the stud. Mestrallet is Merkel’s expert on veterinary expenses and also looks after a few clients’ insurance needs.

“Marechale has,” Mestrallet concludes, “paid for everything on the farm. I gave our daughter Agathe 10 per cent of the foals and she I won’t have to buy her a car when she turns 18 as she already has enough on her France Galop account, even if in the future she will have to share with her brothers!”

Haras l'Aumônerie's Arqana August Sale and V2 entries 2021 Lot

Horse

185

b,c.

216

b,c.

Sire

Dam

Dam sire

Holy Roman Emperor

Gaita

Teofilo

Al Kazeem

Look At That

Monsun

313 b,f. Siyouni

Zarakiysha Kendor

374

b,f.

Pedro The Great

Hoh My Estelle

Sakhee

402

br,f.

Expected

My Pretty Girl

Arakan

415

b,f.

Gutaifan

Por Eso

Touch Of The Blues

435

b,f.

Recoletos

Semenova

Green Tune

446

b,c.

Charm Spirit

Sorceries

Acclamation

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bright sparks

Bright sparks

S

EBASTIEN DESMONTILS will be a familiar figure to many in the British and Irish bloodstock industry, having spent three years working in Darley’s nominations team at Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket.

Since returning to his native France five years ago, to assist in growing the burgeoning Al Shaqab operation, he has become involved in just about every facet of the racing and breeding industry.

He is a prominent purchaser of stock under his own Chauvigny Global Equine banner, both on a public and private basis; runs various racing syndicates; invests in stallion shares; owns a stud at home in the Mayenne region south of Normandy; and even has an innovative new horse trading website to talk about. It’s a wonder he finds time to sleep.

“I wasn’t too involved in the horse business until after I finished my studies,” says the Craon native, whose grandfather and uncles are big names on the trotting circuit. “I studied international business in Paris, and then did an MBA in New Orleans in my mid-20s.

“When I came back to France I worked for a medical company and started to ride out for Etienne Leenders in the mornings, and took out an amateur jockey licence.

“I’d always wanted to be a jockey when I was a kid, but studied instead. I obviously wasn’t very good as otherwise you would have heard of all my big-race successes!

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Martin Stevens chats with four rising stars of the French bloodstock industry “But I really enjoyed riding and it got me hooked on the racing game, so I decided to turn my passion into my job and I was lucky enough to be accepted onto the Godolphin Flying Start course from 2011 to 2013.”

Desmontils joined Darley after completing that programme, replacing his future colleague at Al Shaqab, Benoit Jeffroy, as the organisation’s Frenchspeaking representative in the nominations department.

He credits his time at Dalham Hall for giving him the ideal grounding for his further work in the industry.

“Dawn Laidlaw was a very good boss to me and I learned so much there,” he says.

“I saw how the business worked, and met a lot of people – nearly all the French breeders and many in Britain and Ireland too. I think working in nominations helps a lot in giving you a good overview of what’s happening in all areas of the breeding business.”

Desmontils joined Al Shaqab in 2016

SEBASTIEN DESMONTILS and received the thumbs up from his new employer to conduct his own business interests in racing alongside looking after the Qatari owners’ affairs.

“For some people that might seem a bit strange,” he admits, before explaining how the arrangement came to be and functions healthily.

“When I met with Sheikh Joaan Al Thani in Haras de Bouquetot, he asked if I would work for him as he was thinking of putting together a little side operation for friends he had given racehorses and mares to, and he wanted me to look after those guys and work on the nominations side, too.

“I said I would be very happy to do so, but I wanted to be free to do my own business in my own time. Sheikh Joaan is a very wise man and sees how things get done in our industry, and knew that the more business I would do, the more business Al Shaqab would do. He knows we’re a lot sharper when we have our own skin in the game than when just spending other people’s money.”

Desmontils struck it lucky early in his own business dealings as Ecurie Brillantissime, a syndicate that he put together made up of friends, owned the Turtle Bowl filly Azaelia, a €27,000 Arqana October yearling purchase, who was sent out by trainer Simone Brogi to win two races and to finish a close fourth to La Cressonniere in the Prix de Diane in 2016.

bright sparks “I wasn’t able to get credit at the sales when I started out as no one knew me at all, and so I started the syndicate with five friends all chipping into the pot, and we got lucky as Azaelia was our first horse,” he says.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have friends who were prepared to gamble by re-investing everything we made year after year, and they’re still in the game, with legs in around 30 horses in training and at stud.”

Desmontils also landed himself and his partners a huge payday when Coolmore pounced to buy Wootton Bassett out of Haras d’Etreham last year, as he had bought “quite a few” shares in the son of Iffraaj.

“Everyone was fairly happy when the big deal got done,” he says with some understatement.

He also has a big Japanese client in Hisaaki Saito, for whom he has bought the promising Frankel three-year-old colt Integrant, and has done the legwork in France to help British agent Alex Elliott complete the private purchases of a number of smart jumpers, including the dual Grade 1-winning chaser and Cheltenham

I think working in nominations helps a lot in giving you a good overview of what’s happening in all areas of the breeding business

Desmontils: has enjoyed success in a short space of time but is keeping his feet on the ground Photo courtesy of Arqana and by Suzanna Lupa

Gold Cup runner-up A Plus Tard, the Grade 3-winning hurdler Mitchouka and the useful handicapper Tiger Voice.

And there’s more! He was the intermediary in the deal to sell the Spanishtrained colt Sir Andrew to Hong Kong, where he went on to win two Grade 1s and more than £2.5 million in prize-money under the name Helene Paragon, and he has bought a number of stallions to stand in France, including Manatee, a dual Group 2-winning son of Monsun, and Bande, an Authorized half-brother to Doctor Dino, who covered 150 mares this year.

Not forgetting the innovative online syndication platform that he launched in January.

Equibiz (equi-biz.com) is only a few months old, but its listings have already given visitors the chance to buy into Nationalista – no less than a Nathaniel half-sister to star sprinter Soffia – who went on to win the Listed Prix Urban Sea at Le Lion d’Angers in May. “Equibiz was launched mainly to help young trainers such as Mathieu Brasmes, Gabriel Leenders and Edouard Montfort syndicate their horses, although we also offer shares in broodmares and stallions,” says Desmontils.

“We’re getting good feedback from clients, who are mostly newcomers into the business buying shares of ten, 20 or 30 per cent.

“It’s helping everyone as it allows people an inexpensive way to buy equity in horses, and for those young trainers who buy on spec and want 50 per cent of the horse – they can easily sell the other 50 per cent now.

“The site is more tailored to the French market at the moment, although I believe an English owner has bought one of the mares having had the horse put up to her by a French user.

“We haven’t done much work in Britain or Ireland so far, but the website is in English and we aim to make it more international in time.”

Desmontils has many achievements to pick from, then, when asked what the highlight of his young career has been.

However, his answer reveals that he is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“I feel lucky just to still be in the game after playing at so many tables,” he says. “As

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bright sparks everyone knows, it’s hard to keep your head above the water when there’s so many ups and downs in this game.

“I suppose Azaelia was the filly who started everything for me; it gave me a big kick to buy a yearling and get a Group 1 runner in my first year.

“She gave me a lot of credibility and also, importantly, helped financially as she was the first filly Peter Brant bought when he got back into ownership.”

Neither is Desmontils getting carried away when asked about his remaining ambitions in the industry.

“Of course, I’d like to win the Prix de Diane or the Arc with either a horse I bred or bought for a client, as they’re momentous, and to win a race at Royal Ascot would be a great achievement,” he reflects.

“But really, I’d just be happy to look back

I want to be seen as an honest person who works with transparency and integrity, and with the right people on a successful career with as few regrets as possible, and I want to be seen as an honest person who works with transparency and integrity, and with the right people.”

Hard-working, inventive and resourceful, Desmontils typifies the dynamism in the French bloodstock industry at present.

“When I started the Flying Start course in 2011, the two hottest stallions here were King’s Best and Elusive City, standing at €15,000,” he says. “Now we have top-class proven sires headed by Siyouni and Le Havre, and exciting younger names such as Al Wukair and Zelzal at Bouquetot. And even though Wootton Bassett has just left, he still has a lot of exciting young stock on French farms.

“There’s a lot happening. Perhaps the younger generation here has been more proactive in terms of doing business internationally, but we also have a great system with premiums and prize-money, whereas rewards for owners and breeders are still difficult in Britain.”

An international outlook for the new recruit at Capucines

J

EAN-DANIEL MANCEAU received a ringing endorsement for his rise through the ranks when the renowned Normandy nursery Haras des Capucines recently hired him as bloodstock representative.

The son of successful jump jockey and trainer Loïc is, like many of his generation, making a name for themselves in France, determinedly internationalist in outlook.

An anglophone, he has previously worked for the Arqana bloodstock team in France, at Tweenhills Stud in Britain and in James Cummings’ stables in Australia.

Manceau was in charge of the horses-in-training purchases and sales at Arthur Hoyeau’s bloodstock agency before receiving the offer to work at Capucines from Éric Puerari, Michel Zerolo and Philippe Lazare.

“The collaboration with Capucines got off to a good start with some good results at the breeding stock sales, highlighted by the sales of St Mark’s Basilica’s half-sister Lady In Lights for 520,000gns at Tattersalls and the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches third Mageva for €430,000 at Arqana,” he says.

“The removal of the travel restrictions has allowed us to add some nice prospects to our yearling drafts, including a very good-looking Camelot colt and some well-bred fillies by Almanzor and Galiway.

“It’s been great to start partnerships with new clients and we’re really looking forward to the yearling sales now.”

His arrival has coincided with the Haras des Capucines graduates hitting a rich vein of form, too, he reports.

“We’ve been lucky on the track with some good black-type results

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JEAN-DANIEL MANCEAU and impressive newcomers such as Who Knows, a Siyouni filly who scored in a competitive two-year-old maiden at Chantilly, and Making Moovies, a son of Dabirsim who won his maiden by 5l,” he says.

Going into more detail about the forthcoming Arqana August fixture, he adds: “It’ll be my first yearling sale with Capucines, but I’ve been involved in different roles around the sales ring for a number of years now, especially working as bid spotter and bloodstock assistant with the Arqana team, but also as vendor with Haras de la Perelle, and as buyer with Arthur Hoyeau.

“At Arqana I’ll have a dual role for Capucines – I’ll be present at our boxes to welcome clients, discuss the draft and meet new people, but I’ll also be inspecting yearlings to form judgements on the first-crop sires so I’m better equipped to help clients in their quest to breed future champions.”

Asked if he can put his finger on what makes Arqana August so special, he says: “It’s the first yearling sale in Europe and everyone is excited to be back inspecting stock. In Deauville you have the cream of the annual French-bred crop go under the hammer in a party atmosphere. As well as that, of course, you have the Group 1 races run just across the road!

“What I really like about this sale, though, is the depth in variety and quality of the catalogue. You could find a horse to triumph in

bright sparks

National Hunt success to propelling to new bloodstock horizons

T

HEY SAY THAT THE KEY to the success of French NH horses is the fact they are put to work much earlier than their British and Irish counterparts.

Funnily enough, the same could be said for Thomas Leffray, who was instrumental in breeding one of the best French-bred stars around, Allaho.

His father, a small-scale breeder based near Le Mans, asked him to source a new broodmare and the 15-year-old Leffray found Allaho’s dam Idaho Falls for sale on the internet and bought her for a pittance.

No wonder Leffray caught the bloodstock bug. He started out at Haras de Montaigu and Haras d’Ombreville and then, seven

years ago at the age of 20 and unable to speak English, left France to further his knowledge at Dromoland Farm in Kentucky and Ballylinch Stud in Ireland.

Leffray then spent a year in Australasia, where he worked at Waikato Stud and Newgate Farm, and later settled back in Ireland where he completed the Irish National Stud breeding course and worked with the stallions at Coolmore.

He was snapped up by Arqana last year to join its bloodstock team, focussing on horses in training and the NH sector.

“My first year at Arqana was good despite everything happening in the world,” he says.

“The Arqana team is great and they offer me plenty of chances to learn and meet people.

THOMAS LEFFRAY “In the past 12 months I’ve been working on sourcing high-profile horses in training that would suit our different sales.

“To achieve my objectives, I’ve been on the move and on the ground a lot – going racing and visiting trainers, breeders, owners and other industry professionals all over France.

“With the help of the bloodstock team I’ve been working a lot on the NH department of Arqana, which I really, truly enjoy.

“It’s always a pleasure to inspect the best French jumps stock, seeing the different

Manceau is looking forward to Arqana August draft with Capucines

At Arqana I’ll have a dual role for Capucines – I’ll be present at our boxes to welcome clients, discuss the draft and meet new people, but I’ll also be inspecting yearlings every corner of the world – a nice typical French-bred to try to win the Arc with, a pure stayer to target the long-distance races in Australia or even a sprinter to triumph in the US. The results of Arqana graduates prove that each year.”

Manceau explains the rise of the new generation of energetic, ambitious French industry professionals, to which he certainly belongs, as part of the world getting smaller in the digital age.

“French-bred horses and people are successful and popular all over the world,” he says. “Lots of young French people have been gaining more experience abroad each year, and some of them have never come back and reached new heights – David Menuisier in England or Johann Gerard-Dubord, Ciaron Maher’s assistant in Australia.

“Globalisation and the digital revolution have changed everything and helped young people in our industry. It was harder to find a job opportunity abroad 20 years ago, but today with two clicks on the internet you can apply for a job in racing in America or Australia.

“The French community was also a huge help during my experiences abroad, sharing their contacts and giving me support.”

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bright sparks

Yoh-Benet: a busy lady forging a future with her own bloodstock agency ANNE-SOPHIE YOH-BENET

A

Leffray (left) started with Arqana through the pandemic but he says that he enjoys a “challenge”

pedigrees and various physical traits. I find it very interesting to see the many different methods and opinions of breeders, from the smallest to the largest operations. Every meeting with a breeder, owner or trainer is a new adventure and a new opportunity to learn more about the thoroughbred industry.”

Of course, it has not all been so enjoyable and easy-going in the year of COVID, with several key Arqana sales having to be transferred to Britain due to changing lockdown rules in France.

“Arriving in a new role during a pandemic like this doesn’t make things easy, but I always tell myself that better days will come!” says Leffray philosophically. “There are greater challenges than usual at the moment but, as it happens, I like challenges!

“All the Arqana team has been working hard throughout the crisis to make every sale happen in the best possible conditions.

“It’s not been without pressure and stress at times, but I think the results have been positive and successful. It’s reassuring to see that during these tough times the whole horseracing industry works in harmony to help each other.

“The partnership between Goffs and Arqana to hold our breeze-up sale in

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Doncaster sums up the spirit of co-operation that has flourished. My greatest satisfaction in my new role so far is seeing satisfied vendors and buyers throughout the last year, in spite of everything.”

Asked for his opinion on how the international stature of young French horse people has risen so rapidly, Leffray describes a virtuous circle of success breeding success.

“I think the French bloodstock scene is getting stronger every year all around the world as we’re benefiting from the success of our strong breeding lines,” he says.

“The success of the ‘FR’ suffix abroad has generated a new dynamic in our industry, and we’re being recognised for the results achieved by the good horses we produce.

“But I think that the current energy in France has also been generated by the hard work of all us “Frenchies” working all over the world.

“More and more French breeders, trainers and bloodstock agents, as well as a big percentage of stable staff, have started their careers abroad and become very talented and successful.

“The ‘FR’ trademark seems to be a valuable export and has become recognised in the industry on an international scale, for both equines and humans.”

N INCREASINGLY familiar sight in sales results in recent years has been the name YOHEA as the purchaser of notable lots.

It appeared on the dockets for, among others, Frisella, the winning Frankel filly out of a Dansili half-sister to Kingman, who cost 320,000gns at Tattersalls last December, and Anabasis, a High Chaparral half-sister to A Raving Beauty who was bought for €320,000 at Arqana.

The familiar face behind the name is Anne-Sophie Yoh-Benet, a former project manager at the French Racing and Breeding Committee and key team member of Jean-Pierre Deroubaix’s French Bloodstock Agency.

“My family is not from the horse business, but horses have been my passion for as far as I can remember,” says Yoh-Benet, giving an insight into her background.

“First, I studied sports and then I completed a masters degree in equine science and management between France and the US. During my studies, I learned about horseracing at the Niarchos family’s Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard and at Arqana.

“My first job was at FRBC, where I was in charge of the promotion of French racing all over the world. I travelled a lot – just about everywhere in the world, in fact! Then, I worked for eight years with Jean-Pierre.”

Three years ago, Yoh-Benet decided it was time to stand on her own two feet and set up her own business. The YOHEA moniker combines her surname and the initials of “equine agency”.

“I’m a business woman, but also a mum,” she explains. “I have three kids, so the best way to do everything was to go it alone.

When I opened my agency, I started from

bright sparks

Yoh-Benet is a busy mum and bloodstock agent, and she has a great passion for the bloodstock industry

zero and had to build from scratch. I had to prove my knowledge and competence.

“So I set about finding new clients as I didn’t have any at the start; I knew I would have to find them myself. Luckily, all the horses that I bought from the beginning have been winners, and that’s your best advert.”

Yoh-Benet’s fortunes as a bloodstock agent changed dramatically in 2020 – she won over a big client by managing to communicate her enthusiasm and knowledge for the breeding industry during a chance call.

“It was around a year ago when I was contacted by Xavier Marie, a new owner who has built the most beautiful stud for sports horses in France,” she says.

“During our first conversation, he asked me many questions about racing, how the business works, how breeding works and so on. After two hours on the phone, he decided

Luckily, all the horses that I bought from the beginning have been winners, and that’s your best advert! to start working with me.

“That has to be one of the best moments in my career – I felt that I had successfully expressed my passion to him. That’s what I love about my job: sharing my passion.

“We’ve now bought seven mares with amazing pedigrees and by the likes of

Galileo, Frankel and Zoffany. We’ve mated them with incredible stallions such as Invincible Spirit, Magna Grecia, Saxon Warrior, Frankel, Pinatubo and Camelot.

“He loves breeding. Step by step, we’re putting together an amazing operation at Haras de Hus. I feel so happy every day to have had the chance to work with him.”

Yoh-Benet says her greatest ambition now is “to build for my new client the biggest breeding operation in France,” and adds: “We’d like to import the best pedigrees from the US and Japan, and to breed and race the best horses in the next few years.”

All of which adds to the impression that exciting things are happening in France at the moment.

“I totally agree, and I’m happy about that,” says Yoh-Benet. “There are now more young people in the racing business, and we all have new ideas and amazing goals.”

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Lancade

winner 100. German 1.000 Guineas, Gr.2

Classic Winners Miss Yoda

winner 162. Henkel-Preis der Diana - German Oaks, Gr. 1

Talk to us and we will assist you!

Premier Yearling Sale – 3rd September 2021 October Mixed Sales – 15th and 16th October 2021 www.bbag-sales.de

ioritz mendizabal

Resurgent

success

Liz Price chats with jockey Ioritz Mendizabal, who is enjoying a brilliant season in 2021 and happily admits that he has benefitted from the pandemic

I

ORITZ MENDIZABAL is a name that just rolls off your tongue. That is, if you are Basque. For everyone else it is a bit of a challenge and it takes Aidan O’Brien, who is very meticulous when it comes to names, two attempts before he gets it right.

“Ioritz is a very intelligent jockey,” he says after Mendizabal, who was born in Saint Sebastien, Spain, but who is based in the south-west of France, won the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains on board St Mark’s Basilica.

Back in May, O’Brien might have struggled to pronounce the name of the Basque jockey, who was enjoying only his second ride for the Ballydoyle team after finishing second on Lope Y Fernandez in the Group 1 Prix Jean Prat last year.

Since then though, O’Brien has had ample opportunity to practice his eloquence as Mendizabal has continued to guide his horses to one important victory after the next, offering him not only a first success in the Prix du Jockey-Club (G1) again on board St Mark’s Basilica, but also a first victory in the Prix de Diane Longines (G1) where he timed his ride on Joan Of Arc to perfection.

“He is very intelligent and such a nice

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ioritz mendizabal

Celebration days: Mendizabal on Joan Of Arc after Prix de Diane success

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person,” gushed the master of Ballydoyle after each of these Classic victories. Few people would disagree with him.

In France, where Mendizabal arrived at the tender age of 14 to begin his apprenticeship at the jockeys’ school in Mont-de-Marsan, which lies about two hours north from his home, the 47-year-old is known for being an extremely hard worker, very loyal and simply one of the nicest people in the weighing room.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” he says clearly embarrassed, “but I do think you have to work hard and you must be loyal.

Loyalty is extremely important to me. I’ll give you an example so that you see what I mean.

“Throughout my career, I have often ridden for Mark Johnston and one day he called me up to ask if I could ride in a Listed race in Germany.

“Now, to be honest, there is not a lot of prize-money on offer in Germany and I didn’t know if the filly could win, but I went anyway.

“I live in Pau so I had to get up at four in the morning, take the plane to Paris, then drive to Cologne, ride and then return. I think I got home about midnight and that is a long day.

“I got lucky and she did win by about a neck if I remember, but it wasn’t a given that she would win.

“All of this to tell you that if you want to last in this job, you must be respectful of everything and everyone you meet and you must do things properly. The wheel turns you know, and you don’t want anything coming back to bite you.”

And he adds: “I have been very lucky.

My parents gave me a good education and taught me many things, like being loyal, like not getting down when things go wrong and to pursue my goals.”

His father, who passed away five years ago, was a banker and his mother, who he calls nearly every day, was a teacher.

His father had dabbled a little in breeding horses, but they had no links at all to the horseracing industry.

Yet, they always supported their son in his desire to become a jockey and, although it was tough on this close-knit family, agreed to send him to France as a teenager.

ioritz mendizabal “I always wanted to be a jockey,” remembers Mendizabal. “As a kid that is all I wanted to be, even though everyone knew I was going to be taller than the average jockey. But there were no jockey schools in Spain and so I went to France to the AFASEC school in Mont-de-Marson, which wasn’t easy.

“I was 14, away from my parents and, obviously, I didn’t speak French. But to be honest when you are 14 you learn languages quicker and, in any case, I was just on the other side of the Pyrenees, so it wasn’t out of the world.”

Following three years of learning the ropes at the yard of Michel Laborde in Dax, in 1991 he joined the rapidly expanding yard of Jean-Claude Rouget at Pau where he initially became his go-to man for the races in the Provinces.

A few years later he was promoted to first jockey and started riding more and more often in Paris winning his first Group 1 race on Ask For The Moon in the Prix Saint-Alary in 2004.

That same year he also became champion jockey for the first time thanks to riding 220 winners; it was a new record at the time.

He lost the title the following year to Christophe Soumillon, who also broke the record, but Mendizabal knuckled down and his hard work was rewarded with three more championship titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010.

A

LTHOUGH MENDIZABAL was very successful, the new decade promoted Soumillon to the number one jockey to Rouget’s yard and Mendizabal returned once more to riding mainly in the Provinces.

“I have always been labelled as a jockey for the Provinces,” confirms Mendizabal without the slightest hint of bitterness or regret.

“It was just one of those things. It didn’t matter, I did get to ride in Paris on a regular basis for a while and you have to just keep going.

“My adventure with Monsieur Rouget eventually came to an end about four years ago when I went freelance and I only have

In this job people don’t give you rides to please you, but just because you might not be fashionable, it doesn’t mean you must stop working hard or change the way you do things

good memories from the time I had there.

“In fact, I can’t thank him enough for everything he did for me.”

It is rather typical of Mendizabal to accept rather than revolt, to be grateful rather than resentful for being overlooked in favour of someone else.

Many jockeys would have left the yard at that stage, but not Mandizabal.

“I firmly believe that in order to get anywhere in life, you must never ever be bitter towards anyone,” he says with conviction.

“You must leave the negative behind or you will stagnate. You must look up, always, even when it is hard. I have always been like that, and again it is something my parents gave me on my way and I am now trying to pass on to my two daughters.

“I don’t know if it is the right solution, but it works for me.”

If the first decade of the new millennium

Mendizabal’s major race wins and achievements France Prix du Jockey-Club:

Prix de Diane: Poule d’Essai des Poulains: Prix Ganay: Prix de l’Opera: Prix Saint-Alary: Prix Jean Romanet:

Vision D’État (2008), Mishriff (2020), St Mark’s Basilica (2021) Joan Of Arc (2021) St Mark’s Basilica (2021) Vision D’État (2009) Lily Of The Valley (2010) Ask For The Moon (2004), Germance (2006) Audarya (2020)

United States Arlington Million:

Spirit One (2008)

Germany Bayerisches Zuchtrennen:

Lucky Lion (2014)

Cravache d’Or:

2004, 2008, 2009 and 2010 www.internationalthoroughbred.net

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ioritz mendizabal had allowed him to shine in the spotlight, thanks to his four champion jockeys’ titles, but also to a first Classic victory when the Eric Libaud-trained Vision d’Etat lifted the Prix du Jockey-Club in 2008, the second decade was undeniably a lot quieter.

“Things just died down and I honestly don’t know why,” muses Mendizabal. “You have to ask the people I was riding for why they chose different jockeys.

“In this job people don’t give you rides to please you, but just because you might not be fashionable it doesn’t mean you must stop working hard or change the way you do things.

“You have to be true to yourself. Don’t put yourself under pressure, just do what you always did, unless obviously you have been making major mistakes!

“Otherwise, put your head down and continue. Things will turn around, they always do in racing.”

And he smiles: “Obviously it also helps to have good agents like Pierre-Alain Chereau and Shippy Ellis, because they certainly did a brilliant job when they got me the ride on Mishriff in last year’s Prix du Jockey-Club.”

Mendizabal still can’t believe that, of all the jockeys available, John Gosden chose him to

ride Mishriff in the Prix du Jockey-Club.

“We only really learned on Thursday before the race that the English and Irish jockeys wouldn’t be able to come to France to ride because of the pandemic.

“I knew that my agents had provided Mr Gosden with a list of names and I am still absolutely flabbergasted as to why he chose me.”

H

E PAUSES and laughs: “But I am so incredibly grateful to him, because it just snowballed from there.

Only a short while later I was called to ride for Aidan O’Brien in the Prix Jean Prat for the first time and then James Fanshawe contacted me to ride Audarya in the Prix Jean Romanet and we won!”

The pandemic, which made travelling between countries nearly impossible, has certainly worked in his favour, but it also cost him the ride on Audarya in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf as he tested positive for COVID just as he was about to take off for Keeneland.

“Look, I’m not kidding myself,” he says

Mendizabal’s recent run of top class rides stems from riding Mishriff last year – the jockey made a point of finding the son of Make Believe after he won in Dubai to gave him a thank you kiss

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with the same matter of fact attitude that he displays in all of his views. “I know that I would have never ridden these fabulous horses if travelling to France had remained an option for the English and Irish jockeys.

“And, yes, mentally it was really hard not to be able to ride Audarya in America. But you have to pick yourself up immediately because the next owner doesn’t care that you might have had a tough time.

“He only cares that you are a 100 per cent ready for his horse, so you have to snap out of it and get on with it.”

Mendizabal certainly did more than just get on with it.

Riding out of his skin, he has now won three Classic races in France, including the prestigious Prix de Diane Longines and, based on O’Brien’s comments, who is obviously very taken by the Basque, it would be no surprise to see him donning the famous Coolmore silks again in the future.

Although, in typical Mendizabal fashion, he would never dare to count on it.

“I am so very, very honoured to ride for Monsieur O’Brien and it is such a pleasure to ride these fantastic horses.

“I am absolutely in awe of St Mark’s Basilica, who is the most confident horse you could find.

“He is so incredibly calm, it’s unbelievable.

It is because he can unwind so rapidly that I was able to ask him to come forward at the early stages of the Jockey-Club. I knew he would relax again once he was in position.

“There are not many horses you can ask to do what he did. He has such an amazing temperament; he really is a champion.

“I’m sure he will enjoy a great future, just like Joan Of Arc, who is such a tough fighter.

They are amazing horses.

“And obviously, I will always have a soft spot for Mishriff, who has gone on to such extraordinary things.

“I happened to be riding in Riyadh and also in Dubai and, after he won, I went to find him to give him a kiss and to say thank you for everything he has given me.”

And this is precisely why Mendizabal is so appreciated in France. Because he cares, because he’s loyal, true to himself and always grateful.

And because he is just a very nice guy who also happens to ride some very fine races.

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Tattersalls Royal Ascot Winners

14 of the 19 Royal Ascot Winners bought as yearlings were bought at Tattersalls Yearling Sales.

TATTERSALLS OCTOBER YEARLING SALE, BOOK 1 PALACE PIER QUEEN ANNE STAKES, Group 1 purchased by John Gosden Racing from Highclere Stud for 600,000 gns CAMPANELLE COMMONWEALTH CUP, Group 1 purchased by Ben McElroy from Tally-Ho Stud for 190,000 gns

TATTERSALLS OCTOBER YEARLING SALE, BOOK 3

JUAN ELCANO WOLFERTON STAKES, Listed purchased by Hillen / Ryan from Furnace Mill Stud for 360,000 gns

PEROTTO BRITANNIA STAKES purchased by MP Tregoning from Baroda Stud for 28,000 gns

POINT LONSDALE CHESHAM STAKES, Listed purchased by M V Magnier from Croom House Stud for 575,000 gns

AMTIYAZ BERKSHIRE SHADOW COPPER HORSE STAKES, Handicap COVENTRY STAKES, Group 2 purchased by purchased by Andrew Balding Blue Diamond Stud Farm UK from Cheveley Park Stud for 40,000 gns from The Castlebridge Consignment for 200,000 gns KEMARI QUEEN’S VASE, Group 2 purchased by Godolphin from Fittocks Stud for 400,000 gns ALENQUER KING EDWARD VII STAKES, Group 2 purchased by Armando Duarte from Glidawn Stud for 80,000 gns MOHAAFETH HAMPTON COURT STAKES, Group 3 purchased by Shadwell Estate Company from John Troy for 350,000 gns

FOXES TALES GOLDEN GATES STAKES, Handicap purchased by SackvilleDonald from Manister House Stud for 400,000 gns

TATTERSALLS OCTOBER YEARLING SALE, BOOK 2 SUBJECTIVIST GOLD CUP, Group 1 purchased by Mark Johnston Racing from New England Stud for 62,000 gns

TATTERSALLS ASCOT YEARLING SALE (SOMERVILLE YEARLING SALE)

STRATUM QUEEN ALEXANDRA STAKES purchased by Harold Kirk / WP Mullins from The Castlebridge Consignment for 160,000 gns

TATTERSALLS DECEMBER FOAL SALE DREAM OF DREAMS DIAMOND JUBILEE STAKES, Group 1 purchased by Mick Flanagan from Bumble Mitchell for 37,000 gns

CHIPOTLE WINDSOR CASTLE STAKES, Listed purchased by Highflyer Bloodstock / Eve Johnson Houghton from Theakston Stud for 10,000 gns

INDIE ANGEL DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE STAKES, Group 2 purchased by Capital Bloodstock from Ringfort Stud for 600,000 gns

TATTERSALLS AUTUMN HIT SALE

TATTERSALLS IRELAND SEPTEMBER YEARLING SALE

ROHAAN WOKINGHAM STAKES purchased by Martin Wanless / David Evans from George Scott Racing for 20,000 gns

CREATE BELIEF SANDRINGHAM STAKES purchased by Johnny Murtagh from Moyfinn Stud for €12,000

TATTERSALLS OCTOBER YEARLING SALE

Book 1 October 5 – 7 featuring the £20,000 Tattersalls October Book 1 Bonus Book 2 October 11 – 13 Book 3* October 14 – 15 Book 4* October 15 – 16 *featuring the £150,000 Tattersalls October Auction Stakes

introducing TATTERSALLS SOMERVILLE YEARLING SALE September 7 *featuring the £100,000 Tattersalls Somerville Auction Stakes

www.tattersalls.com

haras de la haie neuve

wave On the crest of a

Tangi Saliou and wife Dorothee of Haras de la Haie Neuvre are looking forward to the auction debut of Seahenge’s yearlings at Arqana in August, writes Aisling Crowe Photos courtesty of Haie Neuve and by Sabine Lösch

N

ORMANDIE IS THE FIRST place which springs to mind when thinking of the French thoroughbred breeding industry, but to its southwest the storied peninsula of Brittany reaches out into the Atlantic Ocean, and it is there where you will find one of the busiest stud farms in France – Haras de la Haie Neuve, near to Mondevert, in the countryside east of Rennes.

This spring, the stud’s seven stallions covered approximately 500 mares in 2021, eight per cent of all the mares covered in France.

It’s an astonishing increase in just three years since the historic farm was taken over by Tangi Saliou and his wife Dorothee, a native of Brittany.

Saliou has been managing stallions for two decades and was formerly a director of Haras de Montaigu, prior to that he worked for the French National Stud, but he had a hankering to establish his own business and stud farm.

The couple jumped at the opportunity to take over the farm where Verglas began

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his stud career and from where the likes of Hurricane Cat, Pedro The Great and Della Francesca have made their name.

The couple has built up a broodmare band of 60, which they use to support their seven stallions, which are split between NH and Flat.

“Alain Regnier and his wife Anne Marie have played an enormous role in the success of Haras de la Haie Neuve and we have a lot of interesting genetics and good stallions,” says Tangi Seriou of the septet that stand at Haras de la Haie Neuve. “We have associations with Emmanuel de Seroux of Narvick international who helps us to source Flat stallions and Sebastien Desmontils who we work with on the NH side.”

Supporting their own sires is vitally important to the couple with three young stallions embarking on their stud careers.

“We have associations with Emmanuel de Seroux of Narvick International, who helps us to source Flat stallions.”

One of those Flat stallions is Seahenge, from the penultimate crop of the stallion phenomenon that was Scat Daddy. The Group 2 Champagne Stakes winner and

haras de la haie neuve

Seahenge (above and left): a $750,000 yearling, the son of Scat Daddy won the Champagne Stakes (G2) and finished third in the Dewhurst Stakes (G1)

Dewhurst Stakes (G1) third is at an exciting and delicate stage of his career – his first crop of yearlings will soon be examined in the glare of the sales ring.

“Scat Daddy is world famous and did so well from his progeny; we really wanted to stand a son of Scat Daddy in France,”says Seriou, going onto explain the Scat Daddy story full circle.

“Scat Daddy’s breeder is French, he breeds the best trotters in the world and fantastic thoroughbreds, and he has a share in Seahenge.

“Seahenge covered 400 mares in his first two seasons between here and in Argentina, where he shuttles, his fertility is excellent.”

The acquisition of the Ballydoyle trainee, who cost MV Magnier $750,000 at the Keeneland September Yearling Sale, is in line with the couple’s policy of offering sires with proven juvenile ability to French breeders and carries on a link with Coolmore

Scat Daddy is world famous and did so well from his progeny; we really wanted to stand a son of Scat Daddy in France

that began with Pedro The Great.

The Group 1 Phoenix Stakes winner and half-brother to Footstepsinthesand had begun to establish himself as an exciting stallion from his Brittany base before his untimely demise two years’ ago aged just nine.

“It is very important to have good twoyear-old horses as stallions in France, there is a market for them and you can develop the business that way,” he explains. “Seahenge also comes from a good family; he is a brother to Max Player, who was one of the best three-year-olds in the US last year and won a Grade 2 recently. Their dam Fools In Love was sold at Keeneland for a million dollars to Cheveley Park Stud in 2017.”

As well as Seahenge, another former Ballydoyle trainee is at the early stages of his stud career at Haras de la Haie Neuve.

Whitecliffsofdover is a son of War Front out of a winning full-sister to Pulpit, and

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The Arqana August Sale 7 YEARLINGS ALL BORN AND RAISED AT STUD

235

339 354

Filly by Kendargent ex Montjess (Montjeu)

398

The Kendargent cross with Montjeu mares has produced some very smart performers: RESTIADARGENT, SOLEIL MARIN, etc.

Filly by Churchill ex Budget (Bated Breath)

453

The stallion’s first crop of two-year-olds are going great guns.

Filly by Caravaggio ex Dianaba (Diktat)

A sister of Yuman and some of sire’s first two-year-old have already gained black type

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The daughter of a sire who has produced two Gr.1 winning fillies Colt by Johnny Barnes ex Mindset (Vettori)

The half-brother Sexy Metro was a Listed winner and 2nd at Gr2 level Colt by Sioux Nation ex Top Chain (Acclamation)

The sire was very speedy and hailing from a precocious female line.

Colt by Johnny Barnes ex Aussie Style (Literato)

Full brother to the dual 2-y-o winner Maroon Six: Prix Hellenquia (Cl2), Prix Baroud d'Honneur (maiden)

M a t h i e u D A G U Z A N - G A R R O S : 06.81.41.25.55 - c o n t a c t @ h a r a s d e s g r a n g e s . f r

© Agence G / Z. Lupa

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Filly by Olympic Glory ex First Drive (Street Cry)

haras de la haie neuve a grandson of the Grade 1 Frizette Stakes winner Preach.

It’s also the family of Scat Daddy’s sire Johannesburg and the Grade 2 winner Tale Of The Cat, sire of seven individual Grade 1 winners. His first crop of 62 are just two-year-olds and only two have run so far, both of them being placed.

The purchases of Whitecliffsofdover and Seahenge have led to the farm partnering with Coolmore to launch the stallion career of Taj Mahal, a Galileo full-brother to Group 1 winners Gleneagles, Marvellous, Happily and, the most recent of them all, Joan Of Arc. Seriou believes that the Group 2 winner, one of the seven foals out of You’resothrilling to earn Group 1 black-type, has the pedigree and race record to rewrite the story of Galileo’s stallion sons in France.

“His pedigree is the best in the world,” he beams. “Taj Mahal covered 82 mares this year and 71 mares last year.

“I think that French breeders are surprised but happy that we have the fullbrother to Prix de Diane (G1) winner Joan Of Arc and at such good value.

“We are happy with his first foals, they are very strong like him and beautiful, too.

“The Galileo sons that have stood in France previously were not as well-bred as Taj Mahal or our NH sire by Galileo, Magneticjim, who won black-type at Auteutil and is a half-brother to the good sires Racinger and Recital, winner of the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud.

“He covered more than 200 mares in his first two seasons and his oldest horses are two.”

Seahenge also comes from a good family; he is a brother to Max Player who was one of the best three-year-olds in the US last year and won a Grade 2 recently

He has 66 registered and a significant proportion of them will be sold by Haras de la Haie Neuve over the next three months.

“We are very happy with Seahenge’s progeny and are excited about the yearlings we are taking to the sales,” is the report.

Haie Neuve offers the only yearling by Seahenge in Arqana’s August Yearling Sale – Lot 297 named Keahenge Bere.

The colt has an American pedigree that includes Street Sense and Mr Greeley but his immediate relatives have enjoyed success in Europe. His Hurricane Cat half-brother Sujet Libre was third in the Group 3 Prix La Rochette and his three-year-old half-brother,

by Haras de la Haie Neuve’s late Pedro The Great, was Listed-placed last season for Frederic Rossi.

There are five members of Seahenge’s first crop catalogued in the V2 Sale, which follows immediately from the August Yearling Sale and they again demonstrate the support which Haie Neuve has given their young sire.

The farm’s homebred representatives

Whitecliffsofdover: is out of a winning full-sister to Pulpit, his two runners so far have both placed

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HE QUARTET OF Flat stallions is completed by Le Brivido, the Jersey Stakes (G3) winner and Poule d’Essai des Poulains runner-up who is by France’s leading sire Siyouni. He was was transferred to Haie Neuve for the 2021 season after standing his first season at stud in the UK. The couple also runs a consigning business for clients and will offer around 70 yearlings at the sales over the next couple of months, including a strong draft by Seahenge.

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haras de la haie neuve are Lot 393, a filly out of Madame Beatrice who is a granddaughter of Storm Cat, which doubles up the sire’s line in her pedigree.

She is the fifth foal out of Madame Beatrice, and all four previous foals have won. Under the third dam is the Group 1 Prix de Diane and Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) winner Zagora.

Lot 457 is from the Midnight Lady branch of that family, which includes Titus Livius and Briseida. He is a son of the Pulpit mare Triple Witching, herself a half-sister to the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois third Holocene and the Listed winner It’s Midnight, who is the dam of international Group 3 winners Tusk and Midnight Sands.

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Le Brivido: the Group 3 Jersey Stakes-winning son of Siyouni moved to France after a year in the UK

Haras de la Haie Neuve Arqana August Sale and V2 entries 2021 Lot

Horse

Sire

Dam

Dam sire

297

b,c.

Seahenge

Fools In Love

Dixie Union

358

ch,c.

Birchwood

Elusive Kay

Elusive City

393

b,f.

Seahenge

Madame Beatrice

Hold That Tiger

436

b,c.

Pedro The Great

Shadow Of The Day

Until Sundown

442

b,c.

Birchwood

Silver Face

Iron Mask

457

b,c.

Seahenge

Triple Witching

Pulpit

468

b,f.

Whitecliffsofdover

Ajab Bere

Peer Gynt

483

b,f.

Whitecliffsofdover

Black Whip

Whipper

491

b,c.

Pedro The Great

Centralienne

Dixie Union

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UMERICALLY, SEAHENGE’s strongest sales representation is at Osarus in September and the star of Haras de la Haie Neuve’s draft is undoubtedly the half-sister to Pedro The Great’s Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks winner Fatale Bere.

Named Kheira Des Sources she is out of the winning Saumarez mare Mofa Bere, another to be bred by Haie Neuve’s former owners, and is from the family of North American Grade 1 winner and sire Golden Act. Fatale Bere was bought for $700,000

by Katsumi Yoshida’s Northern Farm at the 2019 Keeneland January Sale.

Haie Neuve has all angles covered when choosing mares for Seahenge and their band of stallions and that’s evidenced by the wide variety in their yearlings’ pedigrees.

Mary Montagu, a Danehill Dancer halfsister to Willie Mullins’ Ascot Gold Cup runner-up Simenon, has a Seahenge yearling colt catalogued as Lot 78 in the Haie Neuve draft for Osarus.

River Trebor is the dam of five winners, a full-sister to the Group 3 winner Fantastic Filly and a half-sister to the dam of Group 1 winners and sires Stormy River and Silverwave. Her Seahenge yearling colt is Lot 128 at Osarus.

While his first yearlings are going under the hammer in France, Seahenge will be thousands of miles away in Argentina at Haras Vacacion alongside Kingman’s halfbrother Remote, where Seahenge’s greatgrandfather Hennessy once stood.

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SEPTEMBER M O N . 13 - S AT. 2 5

michael andree Alenquer, the Gestűt Römerhof-bred son of Adlerflug, winning the Group 2 King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot. He was an Arqana December €18,000 foal sold by La Motteraye to Glidawn Stud through BBA Ireland, and then an 80,000gns October Book 1 yearling bought by Armando Duarte for MM Stables

Michael Andree’s Gestüt Römerhof is reaping the rewards of long term loyalty to a pedigree with Alenquer’s top-class middle-distance performances this year

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LENQUER is clearly one of the best middle-distance colts of his generation. The MM Stables-owned son of Adlerflug has run only five times to date, but his three wins include a Group 2 and a Group 3 and in those races he has beaten impressively the Derby winner Adayar and Lone Eagle, who came within a few strides of winning the Irish Derby. Last time out, on his first venture into Group 1 company, he finished third in the Grand Prix de Paris.

The William Haggas-trained colt is already an excellent example of the quality of middle-distance horses produced by German breeders. Sadly, his sire died earlier this year at only 17 but he was well on the way to persuading international breeders that he was one of the leading middle-distance sires in Europe.

Alenquer was bred in France by Michael Andree, whose family’s Gestüt Römerhof is close to Cologne and only 20kms from Gestüt Schlenderhan where Adlerflug was bred and stood from 2017 to his death.

This year’s three-year-olds are the first conceived at Schlenderhan as Adlerflug spent seven years covering small books of mares at Gestüt Harzburg before his success brought him back to his home stud.

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Family fortunes

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michael andree

out of a Last Tycoon mare from the family of Urban Sea, and so a German-bred Deutsches Derby winner with an international pedigree.

There are around 20 yearlings and foals by him, as well as a handful of in-foal mares.

Andree has been running Gestüt Römerhof for 20 years having spent most of the previous 20 years working for Coolmore Stud in Ireland.

Römerhof was founded by the Berlin banker Georg von Bleichröder in 1894 and quickly became one of the leading studs in Europe, however, Bleichröder died in 1902 and his family sold the farm to the Prussian National

His 47 three-year-olds already include Alenquer and three other blacktype winners and a total of eight black-type performers is a better percentage to live foals than among many leading sires, including Frankel and Dubawi.

“If he had lived,” continues Andree, “Adlerflug might even have ended up with a profile similar to Monsun’s.

“They both had to make their own reputation, but unfortunately Adlerflug left us before he could make the most of his new international standing. He was an electric type of horse, always on edge and perhaps it is not surprising he should have died so suddenly.

“I knew his dam Aiyana and she, too, was very electric. He is a great loss for German breeding, he has winners every day and runners in all of the best races now.’

Adlerflug was a son of In The Wings

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Stud Gestüt Gradiz in 1905.

“At the time all those yearlings came to Römerhof and stayed here until April as twoyear-olds when they were sent into training at Hoppegarten in Berlin,” explains Andree.

“After WW1, Römerhof became a base for the British army in Germany and then went through several different owners and tenants until it was taken over by the local state government after WW2. The government was considering closing the place down and building over it when my parents managed to buy it in 1955.”

The Andree family has been raising horses for themselves and clients on the farm ever since, as well as standing stallions including horses such as Platini, Mamool and Thewayyouare in recent times.

There are no stallions on the farm today, but between 25 and 30 mares are based there, while some of the original stud is leased to Rolf Harzheim’s Gestüt Bona.

“Among other clients we have ten mares for Jurgen Imm,” says Andree. “He has a total of 20 and the others are with Joe

michael andree Hernon at Castletown in Ireland.

“His horses include the leading German three-year-old and another son of Adlerflug, Alter Adler.”

Alter Adler finished a gallant second in the Deutsches Derby having looked the likely winner at the top of the straight. He finished only a length and a quarter behind the winner Sisafahan.

“We were very pleased with his run,” Andree says, “but look forward to taking on the winner again at either Berlin or BadenBaden.”

Andree started working at Coolmore in 1978 the second year of operation and continued working for the stud on and off for some 20 years.

“There was a wonderful article in the Racing Post recently about the early days of Coolmore which brought back many memories,” Andre expands.

“When I started there were only three barns and an office. John Magnier used to come and have breakfast with us and ask endless questions such as ‘tell me Michael who is that mare and which is that foal?’

“He knew the answers, of course, but wanted to make sure that we did too.

“He used to say ‘you take good care of that mare now Michael!’

“When you consider what Coolmore has become today it is some achievement and of course it has been entirely self-financed.”

Alenquer may be the first Adlerflug to make a mark in England, but his maternal

family has already had success at a high level as it includes Gestüt Röttgen’s Wild Coco, who won several Group races for Sir Henry Cecil.

If you manage to chose the right one a thoroughbred maternal family can supply you with high-class racehorses for a long time.

Andree first became aware of this line when his associate Albert Steigenberger bought an Ela Mana Mou yearling filly from Airlie Stud in Ireland in 1986 for £IR10,000.

She was named Win Hands Down and went into training with Bruno Schütz. On paper she was only Listed placed, but she had plenty of ability and finished fifth in the Preis der Diana and sixth in the Deutsches Derby.

She is the third dam of Wild Coco and through her daughter Wild Romance the founder of the Röttgen branch of the family.

She was unraced, but produced five foals, including a two-year-old Listed winner and in 2012 the Areion mare Wild Blossom, who won a race at a mile and whom Andree bought at the end of her racing career.

Her first foal was a Thewayyouare filly called Winsome Belle, who died after finishing second on her only start.

After her second covering by the local sire Adlerflug to produce Alenquer, Andree decided to send her to France.

She has since had a filly by Zarak. Now a two-year-old she is called Wild Lily and is in training in Deauville with Stephane Wattel.

She has also got a yearling colt by Galiway, who was bought by Edouard de Rothschild for €100,000 at the Arqana December Sale, and a colt foal by The Grey Gatsby.

Wild Blossom is now in-foal to Siyouni.

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COUPLE OF YEARS later after buying the daughter, Andree bought Wins Hands Down’s dam, the Habitat mare Waitotara, from Airlie Stud. She was in-foal to King Of Clubs.

The subsequent filly named Waytowin went on to become a leading two-year-old in Germany finishing second in a Group 2.

The following year Andree sold Waitotara in-foal to Entitled at a sale in Top left: Waitotara’s catalogue page when Andree (right) sold the mare at the BBAG Sale in-foal to Northern Germany. When she was 23, Waitotara produced a filly by Turtle Entitled in 1989 Island called Wind In Her Hair.

Left: Wild Blossom with this year’s foal

by The Grey Gatsby at La Motteraye in Normandy.

She has a yearling colt by Galiway and is in-foal to Siyouni

Photo by Marc Ruhl

Right: Michael Andree at the BBAG September Yearling Sale. Andree runs his family stud Gestűt Römerhof, but had 20 years working “on and off” at Coolmore, and was one of its first employees He is now on the BBAG board and is delighted with the quality of yearlings catalogued for the upcoming September Sale.

Römerfhot has two yearlings to sell at Baden-Baden: colts by Cracksman and Lawman

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michael andree BBAG SEPTEMBER YEARLING SALE “We have the strongest catalogue we have ever had, I think vendors have preferred to stay in Germany to sell their horses this year.

There are some strong pedigrees and the physicals match those pages.

“We have six by Sea The Stars, two by Frankel and a strong crop by young sires, too.

“There are fillies by Adlerflug and Soldier Hollow, whom I am sure will be of interest to international buyers.”

Alenquer winning the Group 3 Classic Trial at Sandown. He was not supplemented for the Epsom Derby and had to miss the Deutsches Derby due to travel restrictions, but he ran a good third in July’s Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris

Klaus Eulenberger, BBAG director

“Edouard is happy with his colt and did call me to ask whether he could buy the dam!”

Andree says. “I have, of course, had other enquiries too, but she is just not for sale.”

Andree keeps Wild Blossom at La Motteraye and has also Wilde Perle, who comes from the same maternal family as a daughter of Platini and Wild Romance, owned in partnership with Guillaume Vitse of Normandie Breeding.

“Wild Blossom is a medium-sized, well-made mare,” says Lucie Lamotte of La Motteraye. “All of Wild Blossom’s progeny have been very athletic; they all have a great walk and like many in the family they seem to be precocious – after all not many Adlerflug colts have been Listed-placed at two like Alenquer.”

F

OR ANDREE, as for many others in German racing and breeding, the French premium system is simply too attractive to ignore. Numerous German breeders and owners keep mares and horses in France to take advantage of the prize-money and the premiums, while in the first half of 2021 German trainers sent over horses to win around a 100 races in France.

Alenquer was born and raised at La Motteraye, but he is not qualified for French premiums as he was offered for sale as a foal at Arqana and bought by Gerry Burke of Glidawn Stud for €18,000.

A horse born in France has to remain in the country until June 1 of its yearling year to qualify for the incentives and Alenquer spent his yearling year at Glidawn in Ireland.

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All of Wild Blossom’s progeny have been very athletic; they all have a great walk and like many in the family they seem to be precocious “I would rather have a good horse than one with premiums!” laughs Andree.

“Gerry does a great job with his horses.

I was surprised when he told me he was going to take the colt to the October Book 1 Sale at Tattersalls, but he was proved right when the horse sold 80,000gns bought by Armando Duarte.”

This year Römerhof will offer two yearling colts by Cracksman and Lawman at the BBAG September Sale in Baden-Baden, and

they will be consigned by Ronald Rauscher.

“I shall prepare them at home, but Ronald has long since taken over the boxes we used to have at the sale and so it is easier to let him present them,” Andree laughs.

Andree is a member of the board of the sales company and is as cautiously optimistic about this year’s sale as current circumstances permit.

“At this stage,” he says, “we look like having an excellent catalogue with yearlings

by Frankel, Sea The Stars and other top international stallions.

“We cannot be entirely sure what the pandemic situation will be in September, but there are several things coming into line.

“It is easier than ever to get to BadenBaden with the airport and high-speed train hub next door in Strasbourg and the racecourse is now under new management and will have four days racing during the week of the sale.”

Alenquer has further big race targets to promote Römerhof and German breeding, and there are several of the BBAG sales graduates racing with success in Britain and international races, including Godolphin’s Listed winner Wirko and other three-yearolds like Lord Protector and Classic Lord, as well as older horses Axana and Kaspar.

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arabian training British trainer Phil Collington on Mith’hath Athbah at the Saudi Cup. Collington has had runners in both the HH The Amir Sword in Qatar and the Obaiya Classic in Saudi Arabia

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arabian training

New Arabian openings for British trainers Trainers in Britain can now train Arabian horses alongside their thoroughbred strings, writes Debbie Burt.

With good prize-money on offer and opportunities on some of the biggest international race days, it is a bit of a no-brainer

T

HE QATAR GOODWOOD FESTIVAL hosts UK Arabian racing’s most valuable race, the Qatar International Stakes, a Group 1PA contest with a prize fund of £400,000.

An eye-catching sum in any year, but even more so now, following the pressures of COVID on racing’s purse strings.

When the card is published it often draws a “Where can I get me an Arabian?” response on social media, often from licensed UK thoroughbred trainers. But that was all to no avail, as until this year, British trainers were not allowed to include Arabians in their string.

However, on January 1, 2021 that rule was changed in a landmark decision by the British Horseracing Authority, bringing the UK into line with the rest of the world in which leading thoroughbred trainers, such as Doug Watson and Francois Rohaut, have long counted Arabians as part of their teams.

As yet, there have been no takers, however COVID delayed the publication of the Arabian Racing Organisation’s fixture list, which was then further hindered by the sad loss of their patron, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum. This resulted in the suspension of all of Shadwell’s racing sponsorship worldwide, including the Dubai International Arabian Races – Arabian racing’s flagship meeting at Newbury.

Accessibility to horses is another factor.

In Europe the premier sale for Arabian racehorses is in the autumn on “Arc weekend” run by Arqana in partnership with the Association Francais du Cheval Arabe de Course (AFAC).

Whilst thoroughbred connections see the weekend as a two-day event, for Arabian racing it is a glorious four-day affair starting at Saint-Cloud with the sale on Thursday.

The next day the same track hosts two Group1PA races, one for three-year-old colts, the other for fillies.

On Saturday the Arabians join the crowds at ParisLongchamp for another top-level contest, this one for four-year-old fillies, their version of the Prix de Diane. The weekend culminates in the €1 millon Qatar Arabian World Cup. Like all auctions, the sale has seen some spectacular prices most notably the

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arabian training €1,050,000 paid for the multiple Group 1PA winner and stallion prospect Dahess in 2007.

But, now after the initial flush of deeppocketed Gulf buyers out to improve their own stock have gone, competition is not so fierce.

The average price at the mixed sale over the last four years has been a more reasonable €27,000, with the sale toppers ranging from €125,000 to €240,000.

Arabians start a year later than thoroughbreds, so top prices usually go to unbroken two-year-olds, though horses-intraining and black-type broodmares with a good cover often feature at the higher end. For those wanting an immediate experience of top-level racing, the sale frequently features several wild cards in the horses-in-training segment, who will have engagements that weekend in Paris.

Whilst there is a trend for unraced horses to be sold off the studs in the summer, or after a couple of wins as three-year-olds, quality animals can still be found at the sale.

I

N 2019 Hoggar De L’ardus went through the ring unsold at €14,000.

He is an attractive, athletic individual, but was by a first-season sire with a not particularly strong damline.

His breeder Philippe Meunier, who had great faith in the horse, decided to retain him and he was sent to leading French trainer Thomas Fourcy. Unbeaten on his debut starts at three and four, he was subsequently sold to Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Thani and went on to win this year’s French Arabian Derby at Chantilly in the colours of his daughter, Sheikha Reem.

This year’s sale takes place on Thursday, September 30 about which AFAC chairwoman, Axelle Nègre de Watrigant, commented: “Highly appreciated by professionals, our sale brings together more than a 100 purebred Arabians rigorously selected around two disciplines: horseracing and endurance. Through it, we are proud to represent the professionalism, enthusiasm and dynamism of the Purebred Arabian industry in France.”

Arabian racing has its own Pattern system with an international handicapping committee to support it, so trainers looking

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Trainer Olivier Trigodet’s (second left) mixed string of thoroughbreds and Arabians at the training centre at La Teste de Buch, France

to give their owners an exciting experience abroad can expand their horizons beyond what is available to thoroughbreds.

Arabian Pattern races regularly feature on high-profile cards and at racing Festivals – the Arc’s Qatar Arabian World Cup and the Dubai Kahayla Classic held on the Dubai World Cup night are the most established, but it is an aspect that is developing fast.

Max Pimlott of the International Racing Bureau (IRT) travels to Qatar every February for the HH The Amir Sword Festival, where he looks after both Arabians and thoroughbreds for European trainers.

“I love going to Qatar,” he enthuses. “It’s a great trip and you’re always made to feel really welcome. The Festival has really grown over the last few years, the quality of horses running has gone up, the quality of horse welfare has improved, the quarantine barns are good, it’s a great operation out there.”

Arabians have two international Group 1PA races, the meeting’s namesake run over 1m4f, and the Qatar International Cup over a mile. Both races qualify for the Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club’s generous travel allowances for horses and connections, and are also free to enter.

The Saudi Cup is the latest international

fixture to gain headlines and though it only has one Arabian race, the Obaiya Classic, it’s the world’s most valuable at $2 million.

Closer to home, though the Arc meeting is a standout, there are many races in Europe which UK trainers can take Arabians too.

The popular summer race programmes at Deauville and La Teste de Buch both have Pattern races for Arabians, arrangements for which Pimlott is happy to assist.

“I complete thoroughbred entries for France nearly every day of the week, to include Arabians as well is no trouble at all,” he explains. “We can’t encourage enough people to go to France to race. It’s so easy to get there, especially from Newmarket.”

Also on Pimlott’s radar is the developing racing nation of Sweden of which he says: “I think there’s an angle there for Arabians, as the racing there isn’t the strongest yet.

“Several UK Arabian trainers have already won there, as have some UK-bred horses.

I’ve got a lot of time for Sweden, they’ve limited resources, but they’re more than willing to encourage overseas participants, whether it’s by travel allowances or the prize-money, which is always very good.

“September’s Stockholm Cup meeting has a Listed Arabian race and, depending on

arabian training

It is encouraging that we’ve already had enquiries from several thoroughbred trainers as how to get involved and what the costs or differences would be for them and their owners... numbers, we’ll be sending a box or two from Newmarket; Arabians will be welcome to come aboard!”

Additional costs for UK trainers who are considering getting involved in Arabian racing are minimal. Though they will require an ARO client account holding at least £500, but there is no need for a separate licence.

Horses must be registered with the ARO (£75) and a monthly horses in training form submitted. Entry fees start at £30 and the prize-money is distributed using Weatherbys criteria.

For next season minimum race values are expected to be £3,000, though ARO’s goal is for £5,000 per race. The Pattern races are of course much higher – the UK Arabian Derby, currently sponsored by the UAE President Cup series and held at Doncaster on St Leger day, is worth £80,000.

There are already owners racing both breeds in the UK – Shadwell Estates being the obvious example, but smaller scale owners have also been enjoying both worlds for a number of years.

Nicola Thorne’s World Of Windhover won at Kempton at the end of June for Chris Dwyer, just two days after Falcon Du Roc’h had given her a first success as breeder when

winning an Arabian race at Windsor.

His sire Tidarbret won a Listed PA race at The Curragh in Thorne’s silks back in 2012, ridden by Johnny Murtagh.

Though trainers will require an Authority to Act (£30) for owners already registered with Weatherbys there are no further registration fees. They will only pay for colours if they are using a different set for their Arabians.

Partnerships and syndicates are welcome, too, and have already had good results – leading UK Arabian trainer James Owen is looking to take his own Racing Club’s horses to the Emirates this winter.

His club’s success has encouraged Ireland’s Blackrock Racing Syndicate to test the water.

One of the syndicates founding member’s Robert Riley Dargan said: “We have been very fortunate to have some

great horses running for our syndicate in the UK and in Ireland. Following the BHA’s announcement in January, we began exploring this opportunity to add another dimension to our racing. We are currently in discussions to lease our first Arabian racehorse in the UK, with a view to going to the Arqana sale in October and becoming more involved with the sport.”

Looking ahead ARO’s director Genny Haynes commented: “It is encouraging that we’ve already had enquiries from several thoroughbred trainers as how to get involved and what the costs or differences would be for them and their owners, particularly those who already own Arabian racehorses in other countries.

“The BHA Rules for Arabian racing are almost identical to those for thoroughbreds and the majority of our races are on thoroughbred cards.

“Now that the challenges of COVID are diminishing, we are working on the race plan, aiming to increase the races for 2022 to pre-pandemic levels, in addition to other incentives for British Arabian breeders.”

For those attracted by the overseas possibilities Pimlott is positive about the future of international racing saying: “It’s definitely still healthy, especially in the Middle East and the smaller European countries. They’re so welcoming, they want us there and all they want to do is improve what they’re already doing – we should be taking a few tips off them!”

Hoggar De L’ardus was an unsold two-year-old at the Arqana PA Sale in 2019 – he won the French Arabian Derby this year

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strömsholm equestrian centre

An equestrian blue print?

Pierce Dargan takes a look at the unique Swedish equestrian centre at Strömsholm, which stages the country’s Grand National and where racehorses are trained alongside eventers, showjumpers and sports horses, and can then be retrained for their new roles after racing.... it just all makes sense and is financially beneficial for all of those involved

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strömsholm equestrian centre

T

HROUGH THE FOREST an hour and a half west of Stockholm you will find a National Park, which is home to one of the most unique equine centres in Europe, Strömsholm.

Strömsholm is not only a training centre for thoroughbreds and home of the Swedish Grand National, but also houses one of Sweden’s three national equestrian centers focused on developing excellence for horses regardless of their sport.

Whether one travels to Strömsholm for the Swedish Grand National, for studies, research, horse sports events, or just a visit, you will see horses thriving in the beautiful,

natural and historic surroundings.

Training horses in Strömsholm goes back centuries. From 1621 the nearby castle of Strömsholm was a center of military horse training supplying the Swedish Army with horses. It continued for hundreds of years as the hub of Swedish equine education.

In 1868, on the initiative of Karl XV, a central riding school for the army was developed with a focus on officer training.

Fast forward a century, with horses of were no longer needed for the army, the site was transformed into the racing and equestrian centre of today.

Not only is it a centre of horse training, but also of education and research and the

The Swedish Grand National: the big race is held at Strömsholm on the course’s one and only annual raceday Photo courtesy of Svensk Galopp and by Elina Bjorklund

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences Equine Science programme is based on site. It is a three-year degree that gives the students deep knowledge in equine science, sport and management. It aims to also help research potential improvements in horse health that could aid in improving horse welfare across the number of equine sports practised at Strömsholm.

This includes retraining practises that help move the racing horses very smoothly into another career at the riding school based at the facility. It means the horses, while they transition into their new career, are still in familiar surroundings.

Strömsholm’s relationship with thoroughbred racing really came to prominence in 1970 with the approval to host the Swedish Grand National.

In 1971 the organising committee was looking to stage a special race to enhance its June race meeting that had been a date in the calendar for many years.

The committee wrote to Mrs Mirabel Topham, owner of Aintree, asking for her permission to call it the Swedish or Svenskt Grand National. She replied “Yes”, and mentioned that no one else had ever bothered to ask and promised to send a trophy.

Swedes now boast it is the only officially sanctioned Grand National outside of Aintree.

The trophy, known as the Topham Trophy, is a silver cup with an engraving of Captain Becher who rode in the first Aintree National. The trophy arrived in time to be awarded to Paul Cook, who had just won the Aintree race on Specify, to win the first running of the race in Sweden on Officer Kelly.

The only professional thoroughbred racing trainer on the site at present (as there are a number of amateur thoroughbred trainers at Strömsholm) is Karen Kuszli, who has seven horses at the facility.

This would be a small to medium-sized yard in Sweden with large trainers in Sweden having 20 horses and the three largest trainers having more than 40 horses.

The facility currently houses 200 horses with the majority being equestrian horses.

Kuszli trains on the long-time training centre and farm of Dennis Persson’s, which

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strömsholm equestrian centre is a stone throw from the main area of Strömsholm.

Strömsholm consists of a number of different stables, indoor schools, cafés and paddocks for both equestrian and race horses.

Persson, a ten-time champion NH trainer in Sweden and dual winner of the Swedish Grand National, trained at the centre until handing over his license to his assistant trainer Kuszli.

“All horses share the same training grounds,” explains Persson. “The gallops are used by some eventing horses, as well as the racehorses. On very bad days in the winter racehorses can gallop on the frozen lake, when there is snow on the lake; we put studs in the heels of the shoes and the snow acts to make it a perfect condition for horses to gallop, it is very good for them.

“It is a long standing tradition in Sweden to gallop on the ice. If it is very bad outside we sometimes will go inside with our racehorses and train in the arena with the equestrian horses. The fences for the Grand National when they are not used for the races are used by the show jumping horses.”

Persson’s family is steeped in Swedish thoroughbred racing history all of which is linked to Strömsholm.

“I was born and raised in Strömsholm,” he recalls. “My father was the first one to get involved in racing in the 1960s. He evented,

Photo courtesy of ridsport.se and by Mikael Sjöberg

Strömsholm equestrian centre has a range of facilities for dressage horses, sports and eventing horses through to both active and retired racehorses

rode as a NH jockey and trained for 40 years before handing the license to me.

“My brother Dicke was the first Scandinavian jockey to get a contract in America and was based in Santa Anita when he was 15 or 16, he had been champion apprentice jockey at 14 in Sweden.

“My other brother Johan won the Sweden eventing for juniors and then became a NH champion jockey in Sweden as well.”

Persson took to thoroughbreds a little later than his other family members, but he went on to achieve great success winning the Swedish NH jockeys’ championship in 2002 and 2003.

After taking a fall which injured his back in 2006 he took over the license from his father Tore, who passed away in 2007.

Persson won his first Swedish NH trainers’ championship in 2008. This was the start of a training career which would see him dominate Swedish NH racing winning ten consecutive championships and the Swedish Grand National in 2008 and 2010.

After the tenth championship Persson gave his training license to assistant Karen and took a job in Bro Park as head of the track.

Persson looks fondly back at his time training at Strömsholm, while passing the baton to the next generation.

“My youngest daughter Emilie won her first race this year. The two Grand National winners in 2008 and 2010 were big days for my family as my brother and father didn’t win as riders or trainers.

“When we finally won, we were able to tick that off our family’s bucket list. The winner traditionally would fill the cup with champagne and drink from it, which we did!

They both were great days.”

Strömsholm’s annual equestrian competition in June is called Strömsholmsdagarna and features a week of dressage, showjumping and eventing Photo courtesy of ridsport.se and by Mikael Sjöberg

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strömsholm equestrian centre

Photo courtesy of Svensk Galopp and by Elina Bjorklund

The race day at Strömsholm is a popular day out, racegoers can enjoy picnics and entertainment

Great history continues to be created at Strömsholm. The once-a-year-only race meeting is one of the most international race days in Sweden. The local horses usually meet opponents from Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic.

In addition to the 115,000 SEK in prize-money, the winner is awarded the magnificent Topham Trophy.

The meeting usually attracts around 4,000 spectators, who also get to watch Scandinavia’s most prestigious hurdle race, the Swedish Champion Hurdle.

Unfortunately, there was no public attendance in 2021.

Paying for such a large and impressive equine centre leads to all the various equine sports working together to ensure Strömsholm prominence.

Amie Karlsson, communications manager at Svensk Galop, explains: “The ATG, the Swedish equivalent to the Tote, which is owned by the thoroughbred and standardbred racing authorities, provides some of its profits to the equestrian sports industry.

“This sum is usually around 55 million SEK. A part of this goes to the three main equestrian facilities in Sweden, of which one is Strömsholm.”

This collaboration between both sports helps to share the costs of the facilities in

which both equestrian and racing events can operate. It means the benefits of such outstanding facilities can be shared by all horse owners in Sweden whether for racing, equestrian or leisure.

Sweden illustrates how a collaboration

Photo courtesy of Svensk Galopp and

by Elina Bjorklund

New generations: pony racing is on site, too

of the various equine authorities, whether thoroughbred, standardbred or equestrian, can work together to keep this iconic part of Swedish horse history not only open but thriving for both equine sports participants and horses alike.

Dennis Persson leading in his daughter Emelie Perrson on House Deposit with trainer Karen Kuszli Photo courtesy of Svensk Galopp and by Elina Bjorklund

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photo of the month: in-form Team Evans – pre-trainer (daughter) and trainer (father) Monmouthshire-based trainer David Evans with daughter Megan at the July Sale at Tattersalls. Evans Snr bought three lots for a spend of 28,500gns and Megan three lots for 21,000gns Photo courtesy of Tattersalls and by Laura Green

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RAINER DAVID EVANS is enjoying a fine season and enjoyed his first Royal Ascot winner in June when Rohaan, the son of Mayson whom he has taken through the ranks from a mark of 55 to 116, won the Wokingham Stakes.

The gelding’s first run at the highest level in the July Cup (G1) ended in disappointment – he could only finish tenth out of 19, maybe the quick ground and an early-race shift of position did not help his cause.

However, Evans’s form quickly resurfaced – the very next day Choux, a two-year-old filly by Exceed And Excel, won the Listed Prix Yacowlef at Deauville, the race worth £26,000 and always an important stepping stone toward finding out the best European juveniles of the year.

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The filly was sold as a foal at the Goffs November Foal Sale for €23,000 bought by FAH Bloodstock. Initially owned in training by Evans’swife Emma, the two-year-old, who is out of Puff Pastry, a daughter of Soft Centre, a half-sister to the Nassau Stakes (G1) winner Sultanina, is now owned by the yard’s main owner, Chris Kiely, also part-owner of Rohaan.

Between July 5 and July 11, Evans sent out 11 runners, seven of them won.

On July 9, he bagged an across-the-card four-timer at Chepstow and Chester –all of the day’s runners being winners.

Megan runs a breaking and pre-training facility at Vicarage Farm in Kirtling, near Newmarket, with jockey and partner Adam Kirby.

The business has also hit the heights this year having broken-in and pre-trained Goolphin’s Epsom Derby winner Adayar.

It pays to buy Irish.

The IRE Incentive scheme is a new initiative from Horse Racing Ireland designed to stimulate and fortify Irish thoroughbred breeding, racing & Sales.

• Series of 150 races in Ireland in 2021 • €10,000 Sales voucher to owner if winner is Irish-bred • To spend on Irish-breds at Irish Sales • Over 35 vouchers already awarded in 2021

Terms & conditions apply For more information visit itm.ie/IRE_Incentive

Broome (AUSTRALIA) Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud-Gr.1

Leading Sires in Europe 2021 Rank Stallion

AUSTRALIA

World Champion 3YO

by GALILEO

Velocidad (GLENEAGLES) Airlie Stud Stakes-Gr.2

1 3 6 -

(by Group winners) Sire

GALILEO Dubawi GLENEAGLES Frankel Kingman AUSTRALIA Adlerflug Lope de Vega Sea the Stars Dark Angel

Sadler's Wells Dubai Millennium Galileo Galileo Invincible Spirit Galileo In The Wings Shamardal Cape Cross Acclamation

Mare Australis (AUSTRALIA) Prix Ganay-Gr.1

GSW

8 8 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4

Source: stallionguide.com, 6th July 2021

GLENEAGLES

Champion 2YO & Champion 3YO Miler by GALILEO

Loving Dream (GLENEAGLES) Ribblesdale Stakes-Gr.2

Contact: Coolmore Stud Tel: +353-52-6131298. Castlehyde Stud Tel: +353-25-31966. E-mail: sales@coolmore.ie Website: www.coolmore.com