Rougir To Continue Fine Run For The Chehboub Family

It has been quite the run for the Chehboub family's Haras de la Gousserie this autumn. First Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) won the G1 Prix de l'Opera on Arc weekend. Then Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), whom they race in partnership with the colt's breeder Guy Pariente, took some fairly notable scalps on QIPCO British Champions Day when landing the G1 QIPCO Champion S.

The gallant stayer Skazino (Fr) (Kendargent {FR}), winner of three Group races at ParisLongchamp this season, only narrowly failed to keep the good times rolling when finishing a length second to the progressive 3-year-old Scope (GB) (Teofilo {Ire}) in the G1 Prix Royal-Oak last Sunday, but there is still the chance of another big international score this year as Rougir heads to California for the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Del Mar.

“It's the best season so far for us with four very good horses, including the best 3-year-old filly in France and the best French stayer in Skazino, who is in really good form,” says the charismatic Pauline Chehboub, 27, who manages the growing racing and breeding operation for her father, Kamel.

In a way, the success has really just rolled on from the previous glorious autumn, when Sealiway progressed from winning a Vichy listed race to being placed in the G3 Prix la Rochette before providing the family's first major success on Arc weekend by winning the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere. With a decent second in the Prix du Jockey Club this term behind St Mark's Basilica (Fr) (Siyouni {Fr}) and, following a switch from the stable of Frederic Rossi to his nephew Cedric, a fifth-place finish in the Arc, Sealiway was perhaps overlooked going into Ascot. That is unlikely to be the case in the future.

“The plan for the moment is to keep him in training as a 4-year-old,” Chehboub says. “My father thinks he will be better at four. We love a challenge. We know we have a champion in our stable so it will be interesting to see him at four, running in the biggest races in the world. We really think that the best is yet to come. In the Champion Stakes he ran a really true race and the best horse won. He is a champion because nothing bothers him–the track, the going–he is an easy horse with a good temperament and that is so important.”

Rougir, too, had more than hinted at her prowess during her juvenile season when finishing third in the G1 Prix Marcel Boussac before winning the G3 Prix des Reservoirs a fortnight later.

She continues, “Rougir is a very solid filly who will run in the Filly & Mare Turf at the Breeders' Cup where she will have a pace advantage. We are confident that she will run a big race. She's a tough filly and we are happy to travel with her.”

Natives of Marseille in the south of France, where the majority of their horses are trained, the Chehboubs have established their breeding operation in the centre of the country in the Loire region, not far from a number of successful Thoroughbred studs, most notably Haras du Mesnil. But they also have plans for expansion on the racing front, as Pauline Chehboub explains.

“We have just bought a stable in Chantilly and we are very excited to be part of this project that will include a lot of yearlings and young horses. Richard Chotard will train for us there. He is a friend of ours, as is Xavier Nakkachdji, who will also be working there. We can't wait to have our first runner from this stable,” she says.

“It is important for us to keep horses in the south of France because that's where we were born and where we live, so it is especially important for my father to keep some horses there, and lots of trainers have had success for us there. We have shown that is is not impossible to train a horse like Sealiway in Marseille.”

Though the family also race homebreds, both Rougir and Sealiway were bought at the yearling sales for what now look like very reasonable sums. Rougir was picked up at Arqana's August Sale for €55,000 from her breeder Jan Krauze, while Sealiway was bought from the same sale for €62,000 from Pariente's Haras de Colleville, with the breeder retaining a share.

“Our best horses are from Arqana and the sales,” says Chehboub. “We have big ambitions and we are trying to have more yearlings, but at the same time we want to be more selective. To find one champion or good horse you need to have a lot of horses. We have grown over the years and we buy horses in August and October, and in the future my father would like to buy horses in England and Ireland as well as the USA. We love the racing in America so he would love to go to Keeneland for the sales.”

Kamel Chehboub's love affair with American racing was almost certainly enhanced by the triumph in the 2008 GI Arlington Million of Spirit One (Fr) (Anabaa Blue {GB}), whom he bred and raced with his brother Bouzid. The brothers initially kept their breeding stock at Haras de Lonrai before investing in their own land at Haras de la Gousserie not long after Spirit One's valuable victory. 

“My father has a busy life in the property business and horses are his passion but when you have more and more horses it becomes a business. It is wonderful though to be able to share that passion with your family,” says Pauline, a former pony showjumping champion.

“We have 20 broodmares at the farm but we are trying to reduce that number and keep the best ones. We don't know yet if we will keep Rougir but with a filly like her, she could be a very good foundation mare for the stud.”

As a Group 1 winner already, Rougir has done plenty to advertise her credentials as an enticing future broodmare prospect. The next step for the French star is to conquer America, and as the Chehboub family has already shown, this is far from impossible.

The post Rougir To Continue Fine Run For The Chehboub Family appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Leading French Sophomore Sealiway Prepares To Take On Arc De Triomphe

The 3-year-old Sealiway will tackle the Group 1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Paris-Longchamp on Sunday, Oct. 2. The Arc is a “Win and You're In” for the Breeders' Cup Turf at Del Mar; Sealiway competed at the 2020 Breeders' Cup at Keeneland, finishing fifth in the Juvenile Turf.

He will be making his comeback in the race, having not been out since his second place in the Qatar Prix du Jockey Club (Group 1), the French Derby, on June 6 at Chantilly.

The best French 3-year-old, Sealiway carries the colors of the Haras de la Gousserie, who race him in partnership with Guy Pariente, his breeder. He is trained in the South-East, at Calas, by Cédric Rossi.

“Sealiway is going to go to the Arc, if all goes well between now and the big day,” said Pauline Chehboub, communications director for Haras de la Gousserie. “So far we are happy with his preparation. It looks like we are heading for an Arc with few runners. His morning rider has a good feeling: and thinks he's good, if not better than before the Jockey-Club. Sealiway did a gallop at Salon-de-Provence last Friday, where race conditions were replicated, and he was also schooled in the paddock. That put him back in the zone. He is in good condition. The choice of his jockey has not yet been made.”

Sealiway will be the first Gousserie runner in the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, which also applies to his trainer, Cédric Rossi. The colt was the best French 2-year-old in 2020: as on the day of the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, he excelled in the Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère (Group 1), which traditionally crowns the best French juvenile. He gave the Chehboub family their first French Group 1 win that day. The Chehboub family had already won at the highest level, but in the US: in 2008, when their representative Spirit One won one of the most coveted races of the US calendar: the Arlington Million.

The post Leading French Sophomore Sealiway Prepares To Take On Arc De Triomphe appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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