guillaume vitse
W
HEN HE TURNED 45 Guillaume Vitse and his wife Camille decided that if they didn’t set up their own business soon they would probably never do so. And so in 2018, after 11 years working with Guy Pariente at the Haras de Colleville, Vitse took over the Haras du Lieu Calice, near Beauvron-en-Auge. He presented his first draft at the Arqana V2 Sale under the name Normandie Breeding and went on the prepare drafts for Osarus, and the Arqana yearling and breeding stock sales. After his first full breeding season keeping mares for clients from Britain and Germany, Vitse will start off the new yearling season with four lots catalogued at Arqana in August, two in the main sale and two in the V2. This year’s Arqana August Sale is down in numbers and there are 12 fewer horses catalogued for the weekend select sessions. Of the 345 lots in the sale more than a third will be presented by the four biggest consignors – Haras des Capucines, Ecurie des Monceaux, La Motteraye and the Haras d’Etreham. “There are not many high-class yearlings available to consign for August,” reasons Vitse, “and if I want to have a bigger draft I realise I am a newcomer and will have to prove myself with the work I do.” Work and the need to “prove yourself” are two concepts which come up frequently in conversation with Vitse. He was born and brought up in the breeding world and is as aware as anybody that it is never straightforward to find and maintain a place in such a competitive environment. Vitse’s father Jean Patrick Vitse was the manager of the Haras de la Verrerie when it was owned by Elie de Brignac, a prominent breeder in France from the late 1960s and one of the founders of the Agence Française, the forerunner to Arqana. De Brignac died suddenly in 1985 and only a few months later his colt from the first crop of Golden Fleece, a half-brother to the Prix de Diane winner Dunette, was sold at Deauville
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His own boss
Jocelyn de Moubray chats with Guillaume Vitse, who has set up Normandie Breeding and is keen to put a lifetime of experience to good use. At Arqana August, the Normandie Breeding draft includes the Holy Roman Emperor full-sister to Roman Turbo, this July’s winner of the Group 3 Anglesey Stakes
