11 minute read
Stallions on show
Aisling Crowe reports on her two weekends spent viewing handsome stallions in Ireland and France, and avoiding strange men on ferries
THE CHRISTMAS COBWEBS were quickly shaken off this year with an exciting couple of weekends going around stud farms in Ireland and France in early January, getting a close look at some of the stallions both countries have to offer.
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Breeders in both countries are spoiled for choice and here are a selection of young sires that caught my eye as I travelled around the farms.
Irish Thoroughbred Marketing’s annual Stallion Trail kicked off the extravaganza in Ireland over January 10-11.
First stop was the sylvan idyll that is the Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud, based outside Kilcullen in County Kildare. It was there where HH The Aga Khan hosted a lunch for HM The Queen during her historic state visit to Ireland in 2011 and the setting, fit for a queen, is home to a king; the champion racehorse and leading sire Sea The Stars whose dual Derby-winning son Harzand stands alongside him.
Gilltown is one of the most popular studs on the Irish Stallion Trail, and the cars spilling out of the parking area and down either side of the road leading to the offices and courtyard where the stallions are shown, were testament to the enduring popularity of the champion racehorse, whose undefeated three-year-old season was all of 11 years’ ago.
Right: Tamayuz with some admirers at Derrinstown Stud
Many of the people visiting the farm were there for one reason only, to see in the flesh the horse who thrilled them when winning six Group 1 races from the 2,000 Guineas to the Arc for owner-breeders the Tsui family, trainer John Oxx and jockey Michael Kinane in that unforgettable season.
The reaction from many when Sea The Stars strutted under the archway into the courtyard was a joy to witness, the power a racehorse has over human emotions so very clear to see in the delighted faces of the crowds at Gilltown.
Now 14 years old and the sire of 12 individual Group/Grade 1 winners and more than half a century of individual stakes winners, Sea The Stars looks every inch a champion worth his €150,000 covering fee. Already the sire of a successful young stallion in Group 1 Deutsches Derby winner Sea The Moon, Sea The Stars’ next stallion prospect lives alongside him in the same, immaculate stallion complex.
The busy two days all becoming a bit too much for Vendangeur at Anngrove Stud Photo: ITM
The Aga Khan’s homebred Derby winner Harzand will have his first runners in 2020 and the European champion three-year-old of 2016 has developed into an imposing stallion. Much darker than his sire, Harzand endeared himself to those who were waiting for the arrival of Sea The Stars with a touching display of affection for handler Billy.
Mark and Elaine Clarke of Wardstown Stud inspect Decorated Knight at the Irish National Stud
My first encounter with Harzand came at Gilltown in the winter of 2016, shortly after his arrival at the farm, when he displayed that gentle and affectionate nature and it was heartwarming to see that his character remains unchanged by his change of career. It’s an important point for breeders to note when considering a stallion for their mare, and Harzand has a fantastic temperament to go with his handsome looks and Derby victories.
One of the next studs visited was appropriately the Irish National Stud, which is developing a stallion roster to cater for a broad spectrum of breeders from NH to the elite level on the Flat.
The newest recruit to the band is last year’s Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain, who was also such a close second in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity at two.
Adding a Classic winner to the roster for this spring, and with the first foals by Decorated Knight and National Defense impressing at the sales earlier in the winter, the Tully farm was a must on the opening day of the trail.
The Group 1 Irish Champion Stakes winner Decorated Knight has really let down in to a fine horse since he retired to stud.
Very closely related to Gleneagles, whose first crop contained seven stakes horses, including the Group 2 winners Royal Lytham and Royal Dornoch, Decorated Knight hails from one of the best equine families in the world.
His dam Pearling is a full-sister to the legendary Giant’s Causeway and to Group 2 winner You’resothrilling, the dam of Gleneagles and his Group 1-winning fullsisters Marvellous and Happily, all, like Decorated Knight, by the inimitable Galileo.
A select bunch from Decorated Knight’s first crop came onto the open market as foals and were headed by the 190,000gns colt out of the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes winner and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes second Princess Noor, from the family of Fairyland and Dream Ahead.
It should be an exciting year for those Decorated Knight’s connections who house his first yearlings and, if they develop the way their sire has since his racing career ended, they will have nothing to worry about come sales time next autumn.
National Defense is a different type of horse, very “French” in his physical makeup and was a Group 1 winner at two in the country when successful in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère.
He stands alongside his own sire Invincible Spirit and his first crop are yearlings of 2020. An easy mover and an athletic horse, it’s easy to see why he cost Sun Bloodstock €280,000 at the 2014 Arqana August Yearling Sale. The stud will be hoping those athletic qualities will have been transmitted to his foals and, as his sire has shown time and again with his sons, those genes he has are some of the strongest out there.
From the moment Phoenix Of Spain is led from his box it’s obvious why the farm bought his breeding rights, even before he made his three-year-old debut.
A handsome horse who cost 220,000gns as a yearling and 78,000gns as a foal, he has an athletic walk and a fine presence about him. Top class at two, he was scintillating in the Irish 2,000 Guineas.
As a Guineas and Group 3 Acomb Stakes winner, Phoenix Of Spain has plenty to recommend him to breeders, but he is also from the hottest sire-line in Europe as a son of Lope De Vega and grandson of Shamardal. With his sire now boasting a six-figure covering fee and Shamardal private at Darley, Phoenix Of Spain’s €15,000 fee looks a bargain for breeders wishing to tap into the sire-line.
My second day of the trail was dedicated Wootton Bassett at Haras d’Etreham, a first viewing on day one of the Route des Etalons to NH stallions and concentrated on the Blackwater Valley area of Cork and Waterford.
Kendargent: one of the leading sires in France and Haras de Colleville’s flagbearer, the 17-year-old son of Kendor has produced six Group 1 winners
It’s the home of steeplechase racing and a picturesque location, but Fermoy and its surrounding townlands were shrouded in the mists of the first storm of 2020.
At Coolmore’s Castlehyde Stud, where the operation stands a mixture of Flat and NH stallions, new acquisition Maxios, the 12-yearold son of Monsun, was the undoubted star of the show.
Even in the gusts of an Irish storm, Maxios projected an imposing presence and generated plenty of attention from breeders anxious to assess his physical qualities ahead of booking a date for their mares.
On looks alone it’s easy to see why Coolmore bought the dual Group 1 winner and relocated him to Ireland from Germany. A dark bay, almost black horse, he looks to have the physicality, size and scope that NH breeders look for in a stallion and, as a son of Monsun, the pre-eminent source of NH sires in Europe, he has the right bloodlines.
At €6,000 he could also offer value to Flat breeders who are not wholly concerned with breeding for commercial speed, although as the winner of the Group 1 Prix du Moulin over a mile, Maxios did not lack for acceleration.
He hails from an outstanding Niarchos pedigree as a half-brother to Arc winner Bago and a grandson of the Group 1 Prix Morny winner Coup De Genie, a full-sister to the brilliant sire Machiavellian, with Group 1-winning or performing juveniles under his second dam.
From just his second crop he has already sired a Classic winner in Diamanta, successful in the Group 1 Preis der Diana last year for trainer Markus Klug and ownerbreeder Gestuet Brummerhof. He also produced the Group 3-placed juvenile filly Suada out of an Invincible Spirit mare in his first crop.
Across the Channel First impressions of the Route des Etalons the following week will remain with me forever as the glorious Haras d’Etreham had the dubious honour of being the first French stud farm I ever visited.
The Etreham stallions more than lived up to their fabulous surroundings with Saint Des Saints, the patriarch at 22 gleaming in the early morning winter sun, but it was a younger member of the roster who really caught the eye, the European champion three-year-old colt Almanzor looking an absolute picture in the stallion yard.
Galiway: had six winners from 13 runners in his first crop, including the Group 3 winner Kenway
He is another young sire with his oldest crop just yearlings, and he looks to have a very bright future ahead of him.
His first foals to come on the market made a splash, not just at Arqana where they averaged €110,571 for seven sold, but at Goffs and Tattersalls, too.
A handsome horse, like his sire Wootton Bassett alongside whom he stands, he has that aura about him so many champions do. A fine physical, Almanzor has a pedigree to match his looks – he hails from an Aga Khan family, his dam Darkova was a Listed winner and half-sister to the champion Darjina.
SOME SLICK nagivating (google maps and the very good Route des Etalons map) got us from Etreham back to Haras de Logis, to Haras de Grandchamp where we bumped into Skysports and Equidia’s Katherine Ford, checking out stallions for her own mare, and then on to Haras de Bonneval to see Siyouni and friends
We ended the day at Montefort Et Preaux where we were kindly looked after by Mathieu Alex and were given a late parade by Le Havre and Recorder, and a viewing of some choice yearlings by the younger sire.
The farm has of course recently been purchased by Nurlan Bizakov and Alex is looking forward working with the new management team.
A very good pizza found in the depths of Trouville on evening one was followed by pasta on evening two, and a stay in a slightly bizarre Airbnb (one of the bedrooms boasted a fridge!) and conversation in Spanish, the only common language with the bachelor landlord.
Day two kicked off early doors at Haras de Bouquetot, which opened its doors at 9.30am so we could get in early, and the champion juvenile Shalaa is clearly one on whom a lot of hopes are pinned for 2o2o. Following the success of his sale foals in 2018, his sale yearlings were well received last autumn with an average price of 99,000gns and a top price of €600,000 and 29 six-figure lots.
Reliable Man
He has the look of a tough running champion and, if his juvenile runners inherit his outlook, the stud’s 2020 hopes should be realised.
The former Derby winner Ruler Of The World caught the eye, even amongst a group of good-looking stallions such as Shalaa and Toronado.
Owned in partnership by Coolmore and Al Shaqab, the chesnut son of Galileo is standing his first season at the French stallion farm. Already the sire of a Group 1 winner in his small first crop through the exploits of the Moyglare Stakes, the Pretty Polly Stakes, the Matron Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare heroine Iridessa, the Derby winner is a boost to the French stallion ranks, which are becoming increasingly more powerful.
A gorgeous looker, well made and put together, Ruler Of The World appears to have that impeccable Galileo temperament that trainers love.
From an outstanding sire-producing family that includes A.P. Indy, Lemon Drop Kid, Summer Squall and Duke Of Marmalade, French breeders are fortunate to have the opportunity to use such a well-bred and goodlooking stallion.
Our tour moved on to Haras de Quesnay where the energetic Arnaud Poirier from France Sire was busy filming, and then to Haras de Colleville.
The farm’s stallion showing zone really is a stunning spot, and Galiway, who had a good summer last year with his first crop of runners producing six winners from 13 runners, including a Group 3 winner, presented himself well.
The farm’s flagbearer Kendargent looked in great nick and surveyed the surrounding Normandy countryside as the king he is. Our final stop of the tour was at Haras d’Annebault to see the good-looking Group 1 winner and producer Reliable Man, heading into his third year at stud in France.
We returned to Le Havre for our crosschannel ferry, pleased with the number of farms visited and stallions viewed on a beautiful weekend in Normandy. What could have been better than to spend two days driving around the Gaellic countryside visiting wonderful farms for the chance to see such fine stallions?
The ferry’s return trip was not as turbulent as when we headed to France the previous Friday, and, thankfully, the slightly weird man we met on the way over and who took it upon himself to become our friend, did not re-materialise. www.internationalthoroughbred.net 47
