All go at Bouqetot

Aisling Crowe chats with manager Benoit Jeffroy about the stud’s progress, stallions and plans for the future

Photos courtesy of Al Shaqab and Haras de Bouquetot By Zuzanna Lupa

AL SHAQAB is developing its presence in the stallion market and this summer is an important one for Sheikh Joaan’s young operation. Shalaa, who swept through his juvenile season with four Group race triumphs, including at the top level in the Prix Morny and Middle Park Stakes, has his first yearlings going through the sales ring at Deauville.

His foals made quite the impression at the sales last winter and expectations are high that they can dazzle in the heat of the summer.

Mehmas, winner of the July Stakes (G2), the Richmond Stakes (G2) and runner-up in the National Stakes (G1) also shone in Al Shaqab’s silks in his only season to race.

The son of Acclamation is represented at the sales on the Normandy coast this August by his first yearlings.

Tough, talented and precocious, he stands at Tally-Ho Stud where the O’Callaghan family and Al Shaqab have thrown their combined heft behind him.

Olympic Glory and Toronado are a little further down the road in their development and both are enjoying their moments in the sun at a pivotal time for their stallion careers.

Benoit Jeffroy, manager of Al Shaqab’s beautiful Normandy base at Haras de Bouquetot, provides some insight into Al Shaqab’s growing global thoroughbred reach, stretching from Qatar to France, America and beyond.

Olympic Glory sired his first Group 1 winner with his first-crop daughter Watch Me winning the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, a timely boost for this year’s yearlings, and an important result for a young sire. How much satisfaction did you get from that success and has it increased interest in his yearlings catalogued for Deauville?

It gave us great satisfaction indeed as very few stallions can produce a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot with their first crop. He has also got a Classic filly as well with Grand Glory’s third in the Group 1 Prix de Diane.

It is perfect timing coming into sales season, but his offspring were starting to show their true quality by March which helped him to fill his book of mares this year again, with 166 mares covered this past season. Obviously such performances should help his yearlings at the sales this year.

Shalaa, the European champion two-year-old of 2015, has first yearlings for sale in Deauville, with nine catalogued in the premier sale. You have supported him with your best mares, including Treve – can you name some more?

Shalaa probably had the best book of mares ever covered by a first-season sire in France and the quality of his book has been repeated each year since he arrived here at Haras de Bouquetot, with mares visiting from Ireland, England and France.

Treve is one of the 17 Group 1 performers and the 22 dams of Group 1 performers covered by Shalaa in his first two seasons, which also included Breeders’ Cup winners Zagora and Mizdirection, the multiple Group 1 winners Qemah and La Cressonniere, as well as the dams of Avenir Certain and The Fugue.

This season again, Shalaa has been strongly supported by breeders from all over Europe. Al Shaqab Racing and our associates have sent him about 40 mares, including the likes of Grade 1 Madison Stakes winner Shotgun Gulch, the dam of black-type horses Watan and Rabdan. His book also included the Group 1 performer and Group 3 winner Zghorta Dance.

Olympic Glory

What has impressed you most about his stock? What sort of feedback have you received from breeders and consignors? How many homebreds by him do you think you will retain? Our homebreds all show substance and great quality in their coat and head, they are very much stamped by their sire.

The feedback from both breeders and consigners so far has been strong, and that quality was confirmed with Shalaa recording the highest average price at the foal sales last year for a first-season sire. We hope he will do the same with his yearlings. We will retain ten homebreds, who will go into training with our trainers in England and France.

Do you anticipate buying many of his yearlings next month? Our team will see them all, and then it’s up to Al Shaqab Racing’s directors to decide which ones suit our needs.

Mehmas also has five yearlings catalogued in the two Deauville sales, what reception do you anticipate they will receive? We think Mehmas matches what a lot of people are looking for – his progeny look as though they are fast and precocious types, which is what the market wants. We have seen a lot of his foals and they are attractive two-year-old types. One shouldn’t forget that this horse beat Blue Point at Goodwood in the Richmond Stakes, and was also placed second to Churchill in the Group 1 National Stakes and third in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes.

Toronado has been doing well in Europe and is a leading second-crop sire, but arguably he has been doing even better in the southern hemisphere. Do you think there is any reason for that?

Toronado is one of the leading sires of three-year-olds in Europe by number of winners, and by ratio of winners to runners. He already has eight black-type horses with his first crop of three-year-olds so a Group 1-winning horse should not be too far away! Toronado imparts a highcruising speed to his progeny and they like fast ground so we look forward to seeing them perform over the summer. His sire High Chapparal seems to do well as a sire of sires in Australia with Its A Dundeel and So You Think also proving successful there.

What are the shuttle plans for the Al Shaqab stallions this year?

Shalaa is on his way to Arrowfield Stud for his third season and as Invincible Spirit has proved such an influential sire in Australia, he is sure to be popular again with breeders. Toronado returns to Swettenham Stud, and his fee has increased to A$27,500 after the great start his first runners have made.

Mehmas stands alongside Galileo Gold, whose first foals were born this year, at Tally Ho Stud, how did this partnership come about?

Tally Ho had approached us about stallion prospects and when Mehmas came along, we thought he would be suited to stand in Ireland. This first partnership was most successful, and we were delighted to be able to continue it with Galileo Gold. Tally-Ho Stud has done a great job with both these stallions and are giving them every chance; all we can hope for now is that they’ll be successful sires! We also have some very nice foals by Galileo Gold at home.

You also stand Mshawish with Taylor Made Farms and leading first-season US sire Khozan in partnership with Journeyman Stud – what was Al Shaqab’s thinking in developing partnerships with studs in other countries? How do these partnerships work?

We all bring our ideas to the table within the team and at the end of the day Sheikh Joaan makes the final decision. Bradley Weisbord, our US racing and bloodstock representative, finalised these ventures. Mshawish has every chance to succeed in America – he was a tough race horse both on the grass and Dirt and is by Medaglia D’Oro, who is a fantastic sire. Khozan, who is a Distorted Humor half-brother to the champion Royal Delta and this year’s Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile winner Delta Prince, is showing a lot of promise as a stallion and is the leading first-crop sire in the US at the moment.

We have mares residing permanently in the US to support both sires. Our aim in the US is also to try to develop our interests and support our stallions. We have also opened up here in Europe, as we stand syndicated horses such as Zelzal and Al Wukair.

Do you think the partnerships system is a method that other operations could implement to develop their international reach beyond their base country?

Everyone does what they believe is the best so that their horses have the best chance of succeeding at stud. We cannot say what is right or wrong, but we try to stand stallions where we believe they will be attractive to breeders.

You have a significant number of stallions with their first foals on the ground this year and quite a few new recruits to stud, how do you balance such a rapid expansion and what are the future plans and ambitions for Al Shaqab?

It is a key time for a young stud... We have plenty of hope for each of these stallions. We have stallions all over the world now and the idea is to keep developing this and hopefully finding a good one who will boost the system.

Shalaa