‘We Stand Behind Our Customers’: Sumbe Launches Three New Stallions

For most farms it is enough just to be introducing one new stallion to the market in a season. For Nurlan Bizakov's Sumbe, that task is multiplied by three as the Normandy-based operation launches homebred Belbek (Fr) and Angel Bleu (Fr) at the same time as relaunching Mishriff (Ire) after a false start.

It is unlikely that anyone has forgotten Mishriff but the stallion business is a fickle game. A misplaced kick to the wall of his stable at Haras de Montfort & Préaux at the beginning of the year left the multiple Group 1 winner with a foot injury which meant he was unable to start his new job in February. Instead, his covering debut will take place in February 2024.

Last week in Deauville, he was on show with all five Sumbe stallions at Clairefontaine racecourse, enabling breeders to call in while at nearby Arqana. They won't have been disappointed by what they saw. Mishriff, always a fine-looking horse in his days in training, has developed into a truly imposing specimen during his year of leisure. To this beholder, he comes very close to being a textbook example of a Thoroughbred.

“Mishriff, as everybody knows, had a setback last year,” says Sumbe manager Tony Fry.

“It seems such a long time ago now that he won the Prix du Jockey Club. He won on turf, dirt. There was a few races that he was unlucky in, but he was a true world champion.”

Fry notes that Mishriff is 1.66 metres tall – that's 16.3hh in old money – and it is easy to believe that breeders are renewing their initial interest in the horse, especially with his fee now reduced a little to €17,500 from what would have been his opening mark of €20,000.

Mishriff remains the sole Group 1 winner for his sire Make Believe (GB). On his top line he traces back through Makfi (GB) to Dubawi (Ire), the horse who became such an effective conduit for the blood of Mr. Prospector on this side of the Atlantic, ensuring that his ill-fated sire Dubai Millennium (GB) could at least be remembered in stallion terms as a one-crop wonder.

Underneath, Mishriff's family holds equally lofty claims to greatness. Bred by his owner Prince A A Faisal, he is a member of the family which has stood Nawara Stud in ample stead over the years. His dam Contradict (GB), by the increasingly useful broodmare sire Raven's Pass, fell just short of gaining black type herself but she has bred three black-type earners, with Mishriff, her third foal, way out in front. Contradict is out of the Group 3 winner Acts Of Grace (Bahri), making her a granddaughter of the G1 Prix de Diane winner Rafha (GB) (Kris {GB}). The latter's success at stud has by now far outstripped her Classic credentials on the track, and through her sons Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB) especially, her imprint can be found in reams of modern-day racehorses.

Mishriff makes his debut alongside a horse who has a special place in he heart of his owner: Belbek, a son of Showcasing (GB). His dam, the Makfi (GB) mare Bee Queen (GB), was purchased from Juddmonte and, as a granddaughter of Banks Hill (GB), represents one of that operation's key families. 

“He's a Sumbe homebred, so that gives him the pride of place,” says Mathieu Le Forestier, the former trainer who joined Sumbe last year. “It's very meaningful that the first stallion that we bred here in France in our first year here joins the roster as an exciting prospect. 

“He's been a champion two-year-old. And what's very interesting about him is that he started off in April, he was the first runner from André Fabre's yard. And even before the summer, he won the Prix du Bois. He clicked off fractions in the upper level of what's been seen in the last decade in France in this specific race. He went all through the year and picked up the crown in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, which is obviously an important race in the stallion business.”

He continues, “He's been around all year at three and he eventually bowed out with a nice Group 3 win, beating horses of Group 1, Group 2 level, older horses. So it's a good starting point for a future stallion. He comes from one of the deepest families in Europe and is the close relative of 12 other Group 1 winners.”

Tony Fry adds, “Belbek is a Juddmonte-bred through and through. Showcasing was Juddmonte and Bee Queen was Juddmonte. So, thank you to Juddmonte. 

“You can't make somebody use your stallion. All you can do is show them and say, 'Here they are. What do you think?' And people can stand in front of you for ten minutes and pick out faults and positives and whatever. But he's an exceptionally good-looking horse, a nice-moving horse with a great disposition. He took his racing well, he took everything well. And the mare is a very kind mare as well. She's just one of those sweetheart mares. And again, she'll always be special to us for providing Nurlan with his first Group 1 winner. So we're very hopeful. We'll send a good selection of mares to him, as we have with all our stallions. You can't ask people to use them unless you believe in them and follow it through yourselves.”

Sumbe has somewhat cornered the market in winners of the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagradère as joining Belbek is the previous year's victor Angel Bleu, who should be a valuable addition to the French stallion ranks. Though he went off to be trained in England by Ralph Beckett, the son of Dark Angel (Ire) was bred in France by Pan Sutong at Ecurie des Monceaux, and he recorded his two most significant wins there in the Jean-Luc Lagardère followed by the G1 Criterium International. His other five wins included the G2 Vintage S. and, at four, the G2 Celebration Mile and Listed Spring Trophy for Marc Chan and Andrew Rosen.

Though they both won France's major two-year-old contest for colts, Belbek and Angel Bleu are very different types, with the latter a smaller and more compact individual than the tall Belbek.

“He's 1.61 metres, a deep horse with a strong neck and very strong shoulder,” says Le Forestier of the dapple grey Angel Bleu. “He really looks to be the early-maturing, strong, sturdy type that may be very appealing to breeders.”

Adding a bit of oomph to a decent race record is the fact that Angel Bleu's dam, Cercle De La Vie (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is a full-sister to the Group 1-winning stallions Highland Reel (Ire) and Idaho (Ire) from the family of the top Australian broodmare Circles Of Gold (Aus) (Marscay {Aus}), who in turn produced the stallions Haradasun (Aus) and Elvstroem (Aus).

While the first books for the trio are being drawn up, there is also the anticipation next season of the first runners for Sumbe's G1 Commonwealth Cup-winning stallion Golden Horde (Ire), who, as a son of the G1 July Cup winner Lethal Force (Ire), also represents the Dark Angel sire-line. Then there's De Treville (GB), who doesn't have quite the same lofty race record but has the distinction of being the first foal of the great Dar Re Mi (GB) (Singspiel {Ire}). A dual winner, he managed Group 3 placings on three occasions, and the stallion's family has been given a major boost by his high-flying half-brother Too Darn Hot (GB), both on the track and through the exploits of his first crop of runners in 2023.

“We try our best to address every segment of the market,” says Le Forestier. “We have De Treville at entry level and then up to Mishriff at the top end. We have sprinters, we have middle-distance horses.”

Tony Fry, who started his association with Nurlan Bizakov in England as manager of Hesmonds Stud, has seen plenty of change during his tenure. He says, “It's been 13 years now. When we started, it was six mares that we bought in December back in 2010. And now we're up to 55 mares, new stallions and two farms in France and still a farm in England. We have Haras de Montfort & Préaux and Haras du Mézeray in France, and Hesmonds in England. Montfort is the stallion station and we board mares here. Mézeray is more Nurlan's private farm, and we take in boarders there as well. They're only six kilometres apart.”

He continues, “I remember we were we were driving out of Hesmonds one day and he said, 'One day I'd like to to buy a farm in France.' And I said, 'I hope you do. If you do, it means you enjoying the industry. It means you're having success. It means you want to expand.' So that was 12 years ago and it did happen. He still enjoys it. As we all know, with horses, there's plenty of downsides. It's normally more bad news than good news. But he's taken the bad news. We move on and he still wants to succeed and breed Group 1 winners, be in Group 1 races, be in the best races. So the ambition is still there.”

Bizakov's ambition is plain to see, not least in naming Sumbe after his birthplace in Kazakhstan. The operation took on its first major sponsorship earlier this year when backing the G1 Prix Morny and the entire undercard on one of Deauville's major summer Sundays.

“The long-term plan is to establish it as a top-tier brand,” says Le Forestier. “First of all, the boss sees himself as a breeder, and every venture he makes into the business is breeding-orientated. He has a very long-term view about things and it impacts everything in the company, be it horses in training or stallions. For instance, when we take in a new stallion prospect, the first client, the first user of the stallion would be Mr Bizakov himself. We're trying our best to make people understand that the brand is a multi-dimensional operation and that we stand behind our customers in the stallion business because we are our primary customers.”

 

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Group 1 Winners Angel Bleu and Belbek to Join Sumbe Roster

Nurlan Bizakov's investment in French racing and breeding has been significant since 2019 when he bought Haras de Montfort et Preaux, followed later by the purchase of Haras du Mezeray. Branding his stallion and breeding operation as Sumbe, he added Golden Horde (Ire) to the roster for the 2021 season, and last year announced that Mishriff (Ire) would stand for Sumbe, with De Treville (GB) also on the roster. The line-up for 2024 has been enhanced again with the announcement that Bizakov's homebred Group 1 winner Belbek (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) has been retired, and that he has bought another Group 1 winner, Angel Bleu (Fr) (Dark Angel {GB}). The latter, now four, has been supplemented for Saturday's G1 Queen Elizabeth II S., and will race for his original owner Marc Chan in partnership with Bizakov.

A dual Group 1 winner at two, taking the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and Criterium International after also winning the G2 Vintage S. at Glorious Goodwood, Angel Bleu was named the French Champion juvenile and was the second-highest-rated two-year-old in Europe in 2021. His distinctive Group 1 double was previously achieved by Blushing Groom in 1976 and Irish River two years later.

“Not only is he a tough, sound horse, but he looks the part, and he's from a real stallion family,” says Sumbe's manager Tony Fry while taking a break from yearling inspections at Arqana. “The dam side is full of Group 1 performers. We followed him as a two-year-old and liked him, but the deal couldn't be done, and then two years later it has been done. Sometimes it's worth the wait.”

To date, Angel Bleu, who was Dark Angel's highest-rated juvenile, has won seven of his 17 starts, including the G2 Celebration Mile in August. His pedigree has plenty of depth, too, as his dam, Cercle De La Vie (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), is a full-sister to the Group 1 winners and stallions Highland Reel (Ire) and Idaho (Ire). His third dam is the Australian Oaks winner and champion broodmare Circles Of Gold (Aus), whose sons Elvstroem (Aus) (Danehill) and Haradasun (Aus) (Fusaichi Pegasus) were both globe-trotting Group 1 winners and stallions.

Reflecting on the career of Angel Bleu, his trainer Ralph Beckett said, “As well as being really talented, Angel Bleu is a very tough individual, whose race record shows he took his racing very well and kept coming back for more. To do it at two, three and four is a rare thing nowadays.” 

Belbek followed Angel Bleu on the list of winners of the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, and it is a roll of honour which includes the names Siyouni (Fr) and Wootton Bassett (GB), who have made such an impact on the French stallion ranks in recent years. A son of the Makfi (GB) mare Bee Queen (GB), who was purchased by Bizakov from Juddmonte, his third dam is the brilliant racemare and black-type producer Banks Hill (GB) (Danehill), sister of the stallions Dansili (GB), Champs Elysees (GB) and Cacique (GB), making his fourth dam none other than the blue hen Hasili (GB) (Kahyasi {Ire}).

“He'll always be very special, whatever he does,” says Fry of Belbek. “Again, as a son of Showcasing, he'll be popular. He's a Group 1-winning two-year-old. Things just didn't quite go his way this year through no fault of his own. But he's a beautiful-looking horse, and again it's a Juddmonte family through and through. I don't think you can ever really go wrong with those.”

Though Mishriff joined Sumbe last year, a foot injury sustained after retirement ruled him out of his first covering season, meaning that the farm is launching three new stallions. As a winner of the Prix du Jockey Club, followed by the Saudi Cup, Dubai Sheema Classic, and Juddmonte International for Prince Faisal, Mishriff needs little introduction, but the breeding fraternity will need a small reminder that he is essentially a new stallion in 2024.

“A lot of people were with us for the journey last year,” Fry says. “We had to disappoint them. I don't think anyone was more disappointed than us, the boss, and Prince Faisal, obviously.

“But he's back, he's healthy, he looks fantastic. He's let down, and you have to remember what a good racehorse he was. And I think anybody that saw him before the setback said what a beautiful-looking horse he was. He really fills the eye. People have just got to go back, look at his races and realise that it's just a wonderful opportunity to have a horse like that in France. And again, people are very quick to knock horses being retired, but he stood three years of training and racing.”

He adds, “Prince Faisal had eight mares for him last year. He was very patient. He bought a couple of expensive mares for him, including [dual Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed] Oscula. He's still keen and the horse is very dear to his heart. So he'll be sending a good batch of his broodmare band to Mishriff.”

That home support for the Sumbe stallions also holds true for the G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde. With an average just above €43,000 for his eight yearlings sold at Arqana in August and the V.2 Sale, he has another nine members of his first crop to be sold this week.

“We've got 18 by Golden Horde at home and I could open the gate and show you those and there's nothing I'd be hiding because they are just solid, attractive horses,” says Fry.

“To send 18, 20 mares to Golden Horde, everybody knows the success rates of stallions. That's the big belief that we have in that horse.” 

He adds, “Our broodmare band now numbers 50 or 50-plus, and we'll be in the market to look at mares for our stallions. As I have said on a number of occasions, it's very easy to go out and sell the stallions; you can be a salesman and you can sell your nominations but we want to say 'We believe in this horse. We are backing him with our own mares. We're behind you. We want him to work for us and the breeders.' So we will be investing in mares for all of our new stallions and our existing stallions. That's important.”

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Mishriff Takes Up The Mantle at Sumbe

In the stallion yard at Sumbe's Haras de Montfort, the reputation of the late Le Havre (Ire) casts a long, figurative shadow. He was of course not the only stallion on the roster, but he was the first, back in the days when the farm was launched under its original guise of Haras de la Cauviniere, and he became one of France's most important stallions, given plenty of respect from breeders father afield in Europe and Japan.

Le Havre is hard to replace, but in the season after his death, Sumbe could hardly have a more alluring new arrival than Prince AA Faisal's Mishriff (Ire). Like Le Havre, he won the Prix du Jockey Club, a race with a tall reputation when one considers the winners who progressed successfully to the stallion ranks: think Darshaan (GB), Bering (GB), Peintre Celebre, Hernando (Fr), Montjeu (Ire), Shamardal, Lope De Vega (Ire), and New Bay (GB), with Study Of Man (Ire), Sottsass (Fr) and St Mark's Basilica (Fr) to follow.

 

 

Mishriff's immediate male line is formed of three different Guineas winners in three countries: Make Believe (GB), Makfi (GB) and Dubawi (Ire), and this is surely the first time that the latter, the newly crowned champion sire in Britain and Ireland, features as the great grandsire of a stallion. Underneath, the lineage of Sumbe's treble Group 1 winner is no less impressive. With the great Rafha (GB) (Riverman) as his third dam, this is a family which includes two stalwarts of the Irish scene, the half-brothers Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB). It is their half-sister, the G3 Princess Royal S. winner Acts Of Grace (Bahri) who is Mishriff's grand-dam, and his mother is the winning Raven's Pass mare Contradict (GB), who has already produced three black-type horses, including Listed winner Orbaan (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and G3 Craven S. runner-up Momkin (Ire) (Bated Breath {GB}).

Prince Faisal, who has carefully cultivated this family over generations, also raced Mishriff's sire Make Believe, a 180,000gns purchase as a foal from breeder Simon Hope of Aston Mullins Stud. His support of that Ballylinch Stud resident with a member of his signature family has resulted in Make Believe's best offspring to date, and the prince will surely put his breeding clout behind Mishriff, too, along with Sumbe's Nurlan Bizakov, who has a significant broodmare band of his own spread across his studs, which include Haras du Mezeray and Hesmonds Stud in England. 

“Mishriff was a one-of-a-kind horse,” says Sumbe's Mathieu Le Forestier. “He won a [French] Derby and there are only a handful of Derby winners each year, but even fewer go on to become superstars and be consistent and repeat their form in the long run, which he did.”

And that really gets right to the crux of the matter. Mishriff will be six by the time he covers his first mare. In his 21 starts he won seven times. Just three of those appearances were made in his juvenile season, in the manner in which his trainer John Gosden often introduces his Classic prospects, and he won his maiden in November at Nottingham by ten lengths. His Saudi ownership meant that he had a slightly less orthodox Classic preparation than would ordinarily be the case for a Newmarket-based three-year-old. In February of 2020 he was flown to Riyadh for the inaugural Saudi Cup meeting and finished second in the Saudi Derby. 

We all know what happened next. With the Covid pandemic wreaking havoc on the early days of the European Flat season, Mishriff made a delayed reappearance back at his home course in early June, winning the Listed Newmarket S., setting him up perfectly for his success in the Prix du Jockey Club, which was run in early July. A second French raid that summer saw him add the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano to his record. More was to come.

“His breakthrough was when he was four,” says Le Forestier. “He went on a winning streak starting in February in the Saudi Cup on the dirt over nine furlongs. And he won three weeks later in Dubai, over 12 furlongs on the turf [in the Sheema Classic]. And after the stint in the Middle East, he came back to win the Juddmonte International in the summer by six lengths, which was a stunning performance, and it was very important to be able to win a Group 1 on British soil.”

That season also included being runner-up to Adayar (Ire) in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. after a rather over-exuberant performance in the Eclipse, in which he was third of four on ground he perhaps didn't appreciate. However, he came close to winning that same contest this season when beaten only a neck by Vadeni (Fr) having been hampered in his run. He couldn't add to his tally of wins in his final season of training, but in six Group 1 starts this summer and autumn he was only out of the first four once, closing out his career with a fourth in the Breeders' Cup Turf.

Le Forestier continues, “Mishriff arrived soon after the Breeders' Cup and he's settled in well. He's a very nice, quiet horse, a little bit manly in the yard.

“Of course, we will send him a number of mares ourselves, and Prince Faisal will as well. So he'll have good support from his owners.”

Mishriff joins a young roster at Sumbe. Recorder (GB), a son of the Galileo bred and owned by the late Queen Elizabeth II stands alongside De Treville (GB), the Oasis Dream (GB) half-brother to Too Darn Hot (GB), whose first-crop runners in 2022 included the TDN Rising Star Gain It (Fr). The line-up is completed by G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde (Ire), who will have his first yearlings at the sale in 2023. 

Though Le Havre was lost to a tumour in March, his influence will be felt for some time to come. At the Tattersalls December Mares Sale his Group 3-winning daughter Ville De Grace (GB) sold for 2,000,000gns to Lordship Stud, while later that same week at Arqana, a Le Havre weanling half-sister to the dual Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Treve was sold to Juddmonte. With the Yoshida family also having bought Le Havre's first two Classic winners, Avenir Certain (Fr) and La Cressonniere (Fr), his legacy as a broodmare sire is gaining momentum internationally, while one of his sons, Motamarris (Fr), stood his first season at Haras du Mazet this year.

“Losing Le Havre at age 16 was a big loss. It was not expected so soon,” says Le Forestier. “It's not easy to find a replacement for such a horse, so they've been looking carefully, making bids here and there, trying to find the right one. And eventually they made a decision on Mishriff and we are very thankful that we could reach this agreement so that Mishriff could come to France.”

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Le Havre Remains At €40,000 As Sumbe Announce Fees

Nurlan's Bizakov's Sumbe operation has announced its stallion fees for 2022, with flagship sire Le Havre (Ire) remaining at €40,000 and Golden Horde (Ire), who covered his first book of mares this year, being reduced to €8,000 from €10,000.

“Le Havre, the sire of 45 stakes winners, had another stellar year in 2021 and we feel very fortunate to stand such a high-class stallion,” said Sumbe's Mathieu Alex, who indicated that Bizakov has supported Golden Horde, a Group 1-winning son of Lethal Force (Ire), with 20 of his best mares.

He added, “Next year looks particularly exciting with the first foals of Golden Horde arriving. We have a lot of faith in this high-class athlete, who was a Group 1 winner at Royal Ascot and a Group winner at two. Golden Horde is a beautiful horse and breeders love him when they see him. We have supported him with very good mares and will continue to do so. We really appreciate all the support and thank the breeders for their commitment.”

The Normandy-based Sumbe roster also includes Her Majesty the Queen's Recorder (GB), a group-winning son of Galileo (Ire), and the well-bred Treville (GB), an Oasis Dream (GB) half-brother to champion juvenile Too Darn Hot (GB) out of the stellar racemare Dar Re Mi (GB). Recorder will stand at €4,000, while De Treville, who has joined Sumbe since Bizakov's purchase of Haras du Mezeray in March, is priced at €2,500.

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