Prix Morny hope Ramatuelle blazing red-hot trail for family operation

It is hugely satisfying for everyone involved to breed a horse like Blue Rose Cen.”

There is some irony that, as we sit on a porch looking out over a portion of the 250 hectares of Hotellerie, the news of an unlucky defeat for Blue Rose Cen in the Nassau Stakes at Goodwood is less than an hour old.

Both men watched the race on their phones while out in the paddocks, and you sense that, even had the result gone a different way, there would not have been rivers of champagne flowing back at the house.

Jean-Pierre spent 26 years managing at Haras de Montaigu, while Guillaume – in common with many of the new generation of Normandy breeders – left France to learn more about the business around the world.

“I was an apprentice at Haras de Fresnay-le-Buffard and I also spent some time at Ecurie des Monceaux between trips abroad,” says Guillaume, whose travels took in Ireland, Britain, the United States and Australia.

“I started off at Camas Park Stud and then Coolmore in Ireland, before going down to Coolmore Australia.

“Then I went to Indian Creek in the US, which was great. I finished up in Britain, where I did the whole sales circuit.”

He adds “It was all geared towards breeding and sales preparation and while I was in the US, I was already thinking about my next steps in France and perhaps setting up a small breeding operation.

“We found this place and it was a little bit too big for me on my own. My parents said, if that’s where you want to set up, we’ll share the adventure with you.

“There had never been horses on this land and we had to put a lot of structural work in initially; everything needed redoing from A to Z so that we could have it all just as we wanted.”

JEAN-PIERRE was particularly attracted to the opportunity to restart from scratch, rather than take on an existing stud.

“I won’t show you any photos because it was in a very sorry state!” he says.

“The thing I liked is that this had been a cattle station, so there had never been horses here before. That was important to me.

“The land must not be too bad because we bred a Group 1 winner very quickly.”

The horse in question was Mubtaahij, a son of Dubawi who the Garcons sold from their very first yearling draft at Arqana and who won the UAE Derby and Santa Anita’s Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes.

The legacy of her dam, Pennegale, is present among the select seven yearlings Hotellerie will send to Deauville this week.

Her daughter, the Intello mare Private Success, is responsible for lot 26, a colt by Haras d’Etreham’s Persian King.

Of the choice of Dubawi, Guillaume says: “When you get a really good mare who has already proved herself, you shouldn’t hesitate to send them to the best stallions. We send around 50 mares to Britain and Ireland each year.

“This colt is stamped by his sire but is a nice size. Some people can be worried by Persian King because he is such an imposing physical.

“But crossed with quite a small, neat Intello mare, we’ve ended up with a very nice horse; well proportioned and with good balance.

“He’s a quality colt who carries plenty of his father in him. Pennegale produced Lily Of The Valley by Galileo, so we know it’s a cross that works well.”

While the Hotellerie name is rarely out of the news it seems, the team are also helped by a nice bit of timing; among the yearlings heading to Deauville they have fillies by two of the hottest sires of the moment, as well as a third whose female line is also making a lot of headlines.

City Of Troy and the Yeguada Centurion-bred Ramatuelle – born here and sold by Garcon pere et fils to Arthur Hoyeau for €100,000 in August last year – have ensured that the three lots by US Triple Crown hero Justify will be among the busiest during inspections this week at Arqana.

Guillaume believes lot 242, a filly out of the Maclean’s Music mare Hollywood Glory and bred by Yeguada, will not disappoint.

“In terms of timing and the buzz around Justify, it couldn’t be better,” he says. “She is completely different to Ramatuelle physically. Ramatuelle is really made like a sprinter. This filly shares a similar character with Ramatuelle and the other Justifys that I’ve seen, in that they all have plenty of energy.

“They are always ready for action and on the lunging rein, they give a lot.

“She has a wonderful shoulder, a good mind and she loves her work. She is a very attractive mover as well. It’s a pleasure to be associated with Justify, I like him a lot.”

There are rather more Siyounis in the catalogue but, with the exploits of Tahiyra and the Arqana brochure’s cover star, Paddington, fresh in the minds of buyers, there are hopes that lot 285, a daughter of the Le Havre mare Malevra, can at least match the exploits of her Wootton Bassett halfsister, who made €200,000 when sold to Klaravich Stables here last year.

“We bought the mare along with agent Frederic Sauque for a client who had been a long time in the trotting world and was launching his interest in thoroughbreds,” says Guillaume.

“He’s a fantastic client who has invested heavily; the mare was €430,000 at the sales carrying to Wootton Bassett. We sold the Wootton Bassett to the US last year and she is posting some nice times for her breezes.”

He adds of this filly: “She is a wonderful Siyouni, very much stamped by the sire and the right size. While she might not be that precocious, she has an awful lot of class and is just what you are looking for in the daughters of Siyouni. She is very expressive and does everything well.

“And we have a super filly foal by Siyouni coming up behind her. Obviously we’ve sent Malevra to the right stallion, but I think she is also a top broodmare.”

PUJALS is responsible for a couple of exotic crosses among the draft, including a Zarak filly out of an allAmerican family (224), the only yearling by Maximum Security in the catalogue (246), and what Guillaume freely admits is a “very big” colt by No Nay Never out of the fine racemare La Berma (265), about whom he adds: “I’m not sure we’ve taken one as big to the sales.”

But the Yeguada Centurion trademark might be most evident in lot 240, a daughter of Ten Sovereigns out of the Aga Khan-bred and -raced mare Haziyna, herself a halfsister to dual Derby hero Harzand.

Another of Haziyna’s siblings is Harasiya, the dam of Jockey Club and Jacques le Marois runner-up Big Rock, another of the flagbearers this season on the track for Pujals and trainer Christopher Head.

“The filly has a lot of class and I think she has quite a bit of Big Rock about her,” says Guillaume.

“She is well muscled and has a beautiful head, built for speed.

“I really like her and I’m also a big believer in Ten Sovereigns. They aren’t always the most precocious but I hope he will have a big autumn.

“People probably expected fireworks a little too soon but I think he could enjoy some success in the second half of the year.”

Pujals sold Haziyna at Arqana last December, at which time Big Rock was yet to break his maiden.

Guillaume is unapologetic and fully shares his client’s belief in moving on mares with little sentiment.

He says: “Personally, I can become disappointed in a mare quite quickly and you shouldn’t hesitate to turn over horses and to renew the stock.

“You can try different matings but if a mare hasn’t given you satisfaction by the second or third product, I wouldn’t persist.

“You never know, that mare could still produce a nice horse, but I think you have a better chance trying with another.”

Renewal seems to be a recurring theme at Haras de l’Hotellerie. What remains constant is the personalised, a la carte service the Garcon family gives to all the horses they present at the sales, virtually all of whom are bred and raised on this land, whether from their own stock or that of their clients.

That should ensure there are many more headlines to write, perhaps starting this week.

Al Dasim

3yo ch c Harry Angel - Dance Hall Girl (Dansili)

The half-brother to Flying Scotsman Stakes winner Tashweeq hails from champion sprinter Harry Angel’s first crop and has been a fine flagbearer alongside Prix Sigy scorer Marshman.

The Skymarc Farm-bred three-year-old had made £50,000 from Goffs UK when selling to owner Sheikh Abdullah Almalek Alsabah last August and initially went through two trainers in Clive Cox and Kevin Philippart de Foy before arriving at George Boughey’s Newmarket base.

Having landed a Windsor maiden on his second start for De Foy, scoring by an easy four lengths, he has progressed with time and experience, winning back-to-back Wolverhampton novice contests last autumn.

The colt made it five wins on the spin by going on to notch a hat-trick at Meydan this year, featuring a convincing Group 3 success, while he wasn’t disgraced when beaten just three lengths in the Group 1 Al Quoz Sprint on Dubai World Cup night.

Not seen since, he has a scopey frame to fill and can be expected to improve again.

Brave Emperor

3yo b g Sioux Nation - Roman Gal (Holy Roman Emperor)

Middleham Park’s Sioux Nation gelding has done well on his travels this season, with