One can't blame breeders either for showing such interest in the new stallions at stud, for they have yet to be judged (though they will be, just as soon as their first foals hit the sales grounds) and have therefore “done nothing wrong”.

Let's not forget that in almost all cases, for a stallion to be at stud in the first place he was a decent racehorse. But there are degrees of decency, from the downright jaw-dropping bred-in-the-purple Classic winner to the Group 3 winner whose precocity and speed are really all he has going for him unless he can throw a nice type in the first place, and then those nice types can go on to do as their father did. That can be enough these days, and there's a separate and lengthy debate to be had about whether that really should be enough. But for breeders trying to sustain their business through a commercial approach, the first thing that matters is how likely you are to be able to sell a foal or yearling well, no matter how much we all know that breeding for the racecourse is what really counts in the long run, as long as that run isn't too long a run, if you know what I mean.

Aye, there's the rub. The long-term view can be rewarded with the greatest riches. Breeding a 'Cup horse', for example. Big prizes on big days, or perhaps a big offer from another nation that has already lost its way on the stamina front, or indeed from a major jumps owner if things haven't quite worked out on the Flat. Increasingly, through, few breeders can or want to wait that long. And as one breeder remarked at the recent foal sales, “At least if you have a horse by a first-season sire you know that every pinhooker is going to look at him.” 

So as we begin our Value Sires series in Europe for the season ahead, we will tackle the newcomers first before we head on, in price brackets, to those stallions who may or may not be suffering the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, which in the bloodstock business often merely means they are no longer this year's 'it boy'.

How anyone can base a business plan on such an unpredictable collective whim is beyond me, but that's the challenge faced by breeders when deciding on matings each year. If you are using a currently popular stallion who will cover a large book then you'd better pray extra hard for a corker of an individual if there are any holes in your mare's pedigree or production record. 

From Paddington (GB) at €55,000 to a handful of sires at €5,000, with just about everything in between, there is a huge range in both price and talent of this year's intake. We are not including a full list of new sires here, and the three which we consider to represent the best value in this division feature on the podium at the conclusion of this piece.

Value is relative, of course, and the fee for Paddington is punchy enough but then he was superb last year in his somewhat unusual progression from the Madrid Handicap in a bog at Naas through to that string of four Group 1 victories on summer ground at the Curragh, Ascot and Sandown and then back to more give at Goodwood. You can't really argue with a record that includes the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James' Palace S. (beating Chaldean), Eclipse S. and Sussex S. Mostahdaf (Ire) and Nashwa (GB) had his measure at York in the International but by then Paddington had won six on the bounce, at a rate of a race pretty much every month since late March.

His first three dams all earned black type on the track, and we like to see a bit of Montjeu (Ire) on the page, through his Listed-winning dam Modern Eagle (Ger), providing a variation on a theme of Coolmore's other two sons of Siyouni (Fr), Sottsass (Fr) and St Mark's Basilica (Fr), who are both out of Galileo (Ire) mares. Paddington's granddam Millionaia (Ire) (Peintre Celebre) was runner-up in the G1 Prix de Diane and great granddam  Moonlight Dance (Alysheba) was third in the G1 Saint-Alary. But his fourth dam Madelia (Fr) (Caro {Ire}) outpointed them both by winning the Diane, Saint-Alary and the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, so there is plenty on the page to reinforce his claim to future greatness. 

It is up to each breeder to decide whether or not €55,000 is a price they can swallow, but it is a pretty safe bet that Paddington, himself a €420,000 yearling, will already have plenty of takers.

Coolmore is big on bears this year, and in fact Paddington and his fellow new recruit Little Big Bear (Ire) both hail from Wildenstein families, with the latter being a great grandson of the Hall-of-Famer All Along (Fr) (Targowice). Reinforcing  the No Nay Never blood in Tipperary, he did as he was expected and was fast and early. At three, he added the G2 Sandy Lane to the previous year's win in the G1 Phoenix S. in which he was injured. He was then beaten by Shaquille (GB) in the G1 Commonwealth Cup and a further injury incurred in the July Cup brought about his early retirement. Little Big Bear starts out at €27,500.

Putting on the Rizz

The Oxford English Dictionary's word of the year for 2023 was 'Rizz'. No, me neither, but apparently if you're a regular TikTokker, you will already know that this means “style, charm, or attractiveness, and the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner”, or put more simply is a shortened version of charisma. 

I don't know the French translation of rizz, but let's go with 'ooh la la', and it's something which Ace Impact (Ire) has in spades. Who among us did not marvel at the way he chewed up and spat out the otherwise brilliant Big Rock (Ire) down the Chantilly straight in the Prix du Jockey Club? Could he stay a mile and a half? Could he ever, just as soon as the afterburners were engaged to propel him past Westover (GB) and Onesto (Ire) in the Arc.

Jean-Claude Rouget told TDN in October that he watched Ace Impact's six races through again after he was retired, perhaps to remind himself that, though brief, his career really did burn brightly. Always leave them wanting more, they say, and he certainly did after six perfect races. It's a shame but understandable, as when it comes to launching a Prix du Jockey Club and Arc winner at an almost brand new stallion operation, the time to strike is when he is unbeaten and his last sensational run is still emblazoned on breeders' memories. 

In contrast, we saw plenty of Modern Games (Ire), who holds that rare bragging right of being a Group 1 winner at two, three and four, and a dual Breeders' Cup winner to boot.  He's a proper miler, a Classic-winning one, and it'll cost £30,000 to send him a mare, but good luck if you've been dawdling as it was reported at Darley's open morning on Tuesday that he was full before Christmas. 

It's not hard to see why as Modern Games is a lovely individual with balance and scope, who joins his sire Dubawi (Ire) on the Dalham Hall Stud roster. His family is one which is increasingly repaying Sheikh Mohammed, who bought his granddam Epitome (Ire) (Nashwan) from her breeder Gerald Leigh. She has given the Godolphin operation the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Ultra (Ire) (Manduro {Ger}) among her 10 winning offspring. Modern Ideals (GB) (New Approach (Ire) did not make that list of winners, running only twice unsuccessfully in France, but she has more than atoned in her second job as the dam of not just Modern Games but also his fellow Classic winner Mawj (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}) and Listed winner Modern News (GB) (Shamardal).

Son has also followed father in the case of Chaldean (GB), who is now at Banstead Manor Stud alongside Frankel (GB) and, like his sire, won the 2,000 Guineas and G1 Dewhurst S. If there were two buzz names during the December Sales among those touring the stallion studs of Newmarket then they were Chaldean and Shaquille (GB), whom we will come on to a bit later. Chaldean is at £25,000, which is significantly more that two other sons of Frankel retiring to Newmarket studs with higher ratings this year but, as Patrick Cooper pointed out in yesterday's TDN, he has plenty going for him on the commercial front. Chaldean was a relatively early two-year-old, carrying decent form through wins at Newbury then the G3 Acomb S., G2 Champagne S. and finally that year's Dewhurst before claiming his Classic laurels on his return to Newmarket. 

We wait to see what his Group 2-winning half-brother Alkumait (GB) (Showcasing {GB}) can achieve with his first runners this year, but certainly Chaldean's family has been much in the news for his breeder Whitsbury Manor Stud. Five of his dam's offspring have now earned black type, including the Group 1-placed Get Ahead (GB) (Showcasing {GB}), who sold for 2.5 million gns at Tattersalls in December. It's a family going places, and Juddmonte will doubtless lend the might of its broodmare band to help Chaldean get off to the best possible start at stud.

France Blessed with Enticing Names

Had Vadeni (Fr), who was featured last week, been retired after his impressive three-year-old season, it is easy to imagine that he would be standing for more than €18,000 but that is his opening mark now at Haras de Bonneval which could well represent value about a horse who romped to victory in the “stallion-making” Prix du Jockey Club before also landing the Eclipse against his elders. 

His fellow Aga Khan Studs newcomer Erevann (Fr) can't match Vadeni on performance but he can on pedigree and this son of two Classic winners, with a good helping of 'rizz', really does look excellent value at €8,000. 

France is not short of new and enticing stallion prospects this year and three worthy of mention here are Mishriff (Ire) at €17,500, Onesto at €12,500 and Bay Bridge (GB) at €6,000.

In some respects Mishriff is both fortunate and unfortunate. A badly-placed kick to the wall of his stable last winter meant that he missed all of what should have been his debut covering season. His price has been trimmed from what was his planned opening fee of €20,000, and you get an awful lot of performance and physique for the price he is now. He was a terrific racehorse who moves like a dream. Then of course there's his family, which includes those not insignificant stallions Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB). Go and have another look at Mishriff at Haras de Montfort & Preaux if you're in France for the Route des Etalons. You won't be disappointed, especially as that extra year of letting down before embarking on his stud duties means that he now looks like a man among boys when compared to fellow new recruits.

Onesto is a new Frankel for France at Haras d'Etreham. A compact horse whose breeze-up fractions at Ocala belied his middle-distance pedigree, he sent agent Hubert Guy into a similar rush to buy him for $535,000 and bring him back to Europe where he duly won the G1 Grand Prix de Paris.

After winning the G1 Champion S. of 2022, Bay Bridge had a frustrating time of it last year. He did win the G3 September S. to bring his tally to seven victories from 16 starts, giving a solidity to his record, which included a close second to Luxembourg (Ire) in the G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup. A later-maturing and powerful individual, the son of New Bay (GB) joins Haras du Mesnil, a stud with an excellent track record. He really should be given some consideration at his bargain fee. 

Your Guess is as Good as Ours

If Mehmas (Ire) is the next Kodiac for Tally-Ho Stud, then who will be the next Mehmas? Could it be a son of Kodiac in the farm's latest stallion, Good Guess (GB)? His trainer Fabrice Chappet thought plenty of him from his earliest days in training, and it wasn't just because he was an expensive yearling at 420,000gns. He won his first two races as a juvenile but it wasn't until his three-year-old season that we really saw him flourish when Good Guess won the G1 Prix Jean Prat and G3 Prix Djebel, both over seven furlongs. Bred by Cheveley Park Stud, he's a grandson of their 1,000 Guineas winner Russian Rhythm (Kingmambo) and he's a well-made individual. At €17,500, he will have the Tally-Ho faithful, not to mention a decent number of the home mares, in his corner. 

Triple Time (Ire) very nearly made the podium below, but I'm only allowed three spots and it was a competitive field in this division. At £10,000, he has been fairly priced for his opening season at Dalham Hall Stud. Like Chaldean, he is a Group 1-winning miler by Frankel from a family that is clearly going places. Triple Time, winner of the Queen Anne S. last season, was actually rated 2lbs higher than Chaldean but his significantly lower fee reflects the fact that his top-level win didn't come until he was a four-year-old, though he was a Listed winner at two. He was lightly raced, making only two appearances in each of his last two seasons, but he was clearly no slouch and is one of two Group 1 winners from his dam Reem Three (GB) (Mark Of Esteem {Ire}), who has so far produced seven black-type runners. The family could be boosted further still this year by Classic prospect Rosallion (GB)  (Blue Point {Ire}).

Like Tally-Ho Stud in Ireland, England's Whitsbury Manor Stud has a loyal following of commercial clientele along with its own sizeable band of mostly speedily-bred broodmares. With Showcasing and Havana Grey (GB) the stud has had two of the most talked-about stallions in Britain in recent years, which is why one can't overlook the farm's latest recruit Dragon Symbol (GB), who was also bred at Whitsbury Manor. By Cable Bay, he appeared to be a Group 1 winner for a few agonising moments when finishing first past the post in the Commonwealth Cup. The race was awarded to Campanelle (Ire) in the stewards' room and he was demoted to second. Dragon Symbol has won five sprints in total as well as finishing second in the G1 July Cup and third in the G1 Nunthorpe. Could this bridesmaid become the bride, or even better the groom, in his next career, which he starts at a fee of £8,000?

There has been a lot going on at the National Stud stallion yard in recent years with the arrival of Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) in 2022 being followed the next year by Stradivarius (Ire). Now comes the Shadwell-bred Mutasaabeq (GB), a son of Invincible Spirit from a solid stallion family which includes Nashwan, Unfuwain and Deep Impact (Jpn), with Baaeed (GB) in the wings. Mutasaabeq, a treble Group 2 winner whose pedigree was discussed in more detail in these pages recently, is introduced at a very reasonable £6,500. 

The shuffling of the pack which has brought Soldier's Call (GB) to Dullingham Park for his first season in England has meant that there was room for another son of Showcasing at Ballyhane Stud in Ireland. Step forward Asymmetric (Ire), the G2 Richmond S. winner and Morny third of 2021, who returned from a stint in America to win a Listed contest at Deauville last year on the same card that his half-brother Mill Stream (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}) claimed his first stakes victory. Speed is what it says on his tin, and there will doubtless be plenty of breeders signing up for that at €7,000.

TDN Value Podium

Bronze: Mostahdaf (Ire), Beech House Stud, £15,000

As a good-looking winner of both the G1 Prince of Wales's S. and G1 Juddmonte International and a well-bred son of Frankel, it's hard not to think that Mostahdaf is a snip at £15,000. His dam Handassa (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) is a Listed winner who has already bred another dual Group 1-winning miler in Nazeef (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) while granddam Starstone (GB) (Diktat {GB}) is a half-sister to Goodricke (GB) and Pastoral Pursuits (GB), who were both Group 1-winning sprinters by Bahamian Bounty (GB). It's a classy pedigree which really should be pretty commercial. 

Perhaps the fact that Mostahdaf didn't race at two has moderated his fee, and he was undoubtedly at his best at five, but if durability and soundness count against horses these days then we are in the fast lane of the highway to disaster.

Silver: Angel Bleu (Fr), Sumbe, €9,000 

Sumbe has a trio of Group 1-winning newcomers, with the aforementioned Mishriff as well as Belbek (Fr), who should not be overlooked at €7,000. But Angel Bleu at his opening price of €9,000 really smacks of value. On the track he was an extremely likeable individual. Fast, early, but most importantly, hardy. He ran eight times at two for five wins from five furlongs to a mile, including the G2 Vintage S., G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere and G1 Criterium International. He may have been written off when a setback curtailed his three-year-old season, but the son of Dark Angel (Ire) was back at four to win the G2 Celebration Mile and Listed Spring Trophy.

He's a strong and bonny individual with an international pedigree of broad appeal. His dam, by Galileo, is a sister to Group 1 winners Highland Reel (Ire) and Idaho (Ire), while the achievements of his Australian third dam Circles Of Gold (Aus) (Marscay {Aus}), on the racecourse and at stud, are worthy of their own book.

Gold: Shaquille (GB), Dullingham Park, £15,000

Of course none of this matters until we can see what their runners are capable of, but it was hard not to fall for Shaquille when he sauntered out to the new stallion showing ring at Dullingham Park during the December Sales. He was one of the talking points of that week, with many favourable comments from a range of breeders from all over Europe and he thus receives our first gold medal of this series.

Shaquille doesn't really look like a sprinter, but that's what he was, and a very good one at that, winning the G1 Commonwealth Cup and then downing the colours of his older rivals in the G1 July Cup. He too can call on Galileo as his broodmare sire, and he is by a long way the best son of Charm Spirit (Ire), who was a multiple Group 1-winning miler himself. Grand-dam Danehurst (GB) (Danehill) was more than useful for Cheveley Park Stud and also very fast, as was the G1 Cheveley Park S. winner Hooray (GB) who is from the same family and, being by Invincible Spirit, bred on a similar pattern.

If Shaquille's youngsters look and move like him then he'll be off to a good start in the sales ring, and that, as we know, is a first important marker which can then determine his level of support down the line. 

The post Value Sires for 2024 Part I: New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Rafha and Moon Cactus were both daughters of Kris (GB) (Sharpen Up), an outstanding miler who became champion sire of Great Britain and Ireland in 1985 when his oldest offspring were 3-year-olds, thanks largely to the terrific season enjoyed by Britain's Fillies' Triple Crown heroine Oh So Sharp (GB). Oh So Sharp became an excellent broodmare, responsible for Rosefinch (Blushing Groom {Fr}) who edged out Dancing Brave's full-sister Jolypha in the G1 Prix Saint-Alary in 1992. Rafha and Moon Cactus, though, did even more to advertise Kris's talent as a sire of broodmares.

Moon Cactus bred four stakes winners including the 1995 G1 Oaks heroine Moonshell (Sadler's Wells) and her younger full-brother Doyen, who excelled on firm ground in the summer of 2004 when firstly breaking Ascot's 12-furlong track record in the G2 Hardwicke S. at the Royal Meeting and then following up over course and distance five weeks later with a superb win in the G1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth S.

Ultimately, though, Rafha has proved the most influential of these eminent matrons. Her legacy continues to expand, 33 years after her Prix de Diane triumph, and she is now even more revered than she was on that glorious summer's afternoon when she galloped to Classic glory at Chantilly.

It is not unfair to say that Rafha did not produce a racehorse of the distinction of either Moonshell or Doyen (or, indeed, of Colour Chart's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies-winning daughter Tempera), but four of the seven black-type performers whom she produced were stakes winners. Easily the pick of these was Invincible Spirit (Ire) (Green Desert). Trained, as his mother had been, for owner/breeder Prince AA Faisal by John Dunlop, Invincible Spirit was a tough sprinter who raced for four seasons, winning a listed race as a 2-year-old and at Group 3 level at four before enjoying his best campaign as a 5-year-old in 2002, taking the G3 Duke of York S. over six furlongs in the spring and the G1 Haydock Park Sprint Cup over the same distance in the autumn, putting in his best performance on the 17th and final start of his career.

A first-season stud fee of €10,000 was fair for Invincible Spirit when he started out at the Irish National Stud as a 6-year-old in 2003. He had maybe lacked some of the precocity that a lot of the breeders who patronise sprinting stallions like to see, but he was a Group 1-winning sprinter and had shown himself to be a durable one at that. Furthermore, it helped that he was a son of Green Desert (Danzig) who was very popular at the time, buoyed in part by his superb son Oasis Dream (GB), who had been an outstanding 2-year-old in 2002, most notably breaking Newmarket's six-furlong juvenile track record when winning the G1 Middle Park S.

Green Desert, himself formerly an outstanding sprinter, was already on the way to being respected as a sire of sires, not least because his Group 1-winning son Cape Cross (Ire) was starting to do well.  Curiously, Cape Cross ultimately became best known for his Derby and Oaks winner Sea The Stars (Ire), Golden Horn (GB) and Ouija Board (GB) but that slight anomaly shouldn't deflect attention away from the fact that Green Desert was a terrific conduit of Danzig's speed. Oasis Dream has been much more typical of the Green Desert line, becoming an absolute stalwart of the ranks of British-based sprinting sires over an extended period, just as his father was before him.

Invincible Spirit was an immediate success as a stallion. He had his first runners in 2006 and got off to a flying start when his first runner Spoof Master (Ire) won Britain's first 2-year-old feature of the new season, the Brocklesby S. Invincible Spirit continued to churn out winners as the year went on, so much so that his fee rose from €10,000 to €35,000 for the 2007 season.

Invincible Spirit's position was further consolidated in 2007 when his first 3-year-olds included the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club hero Lawman (Fr), whose Classic triumph was instrumental in Invincible Spirit's fee shooting up again to €75,000 in 2008.  Also running for Invincible Spirit in 2007 was the very fast 2-year-old filly Fleeting Spirit (GB), winner of the G3 Molecomb S. and G2 Flying Childers S. as well as being runner-up in the G1 Cheveley Park S. and G2 Lowther S. She subsequently developed into a wonderful sprinting mare, arguably her sire's second-best daughter behind Moonlight Cloud (GB), and her finest hour came when she won the G1 July Cup as a 4-year-old. With his career thus heading onwards and upwards, Invincible Spirit ultimately had his fee peaking between 2016 and 2019, when his nominations cost €120,000.

The six seasons 2015 to 2020 inclusive were particularly good ones for Rafha with both Kodiac and Invincible Spirit featuring in the top ten every year.

Although Rafha ended up as the dam of four stakes winners, her second most-distinguished child was not one of them.  Kodiac (GB) can be described as a three-parts brother to Invincible Spirit, as each is by a son of Danzig, Kodiac being by Danehill. Like Invincible Spirit, Kodiac was a tough sprinter, but unlike his superior sibling, he couldn't quite manage to score in stakes company, his four wins (from 20 starts) consisting of a maiden-race success and three triumphs in handicap company.  He did at least manage a couple of minor placings in stakes company, finishing second in the G3 Hackwood S. over six furlongs at Newbury and fourth in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest over 1300m at Deauville as a 5-year-old in 2006.

Under normal circumstances, Kodiac's achievements would perhaps not have been enough to secure him a place at stud.  However, there's nothing quite like being in the right place at the right time. As the 2006 racing season drew to a close, it was clear that Invincible Spirit was about to be priced out of reach of many of the Irish small breeders who had used him so satisfactorily in his early years. At the time Danehill was at the peak of his popularity as a sire of sires, so it made sense for Tally-Ho Stud to take a chance that Invincible Spirit's fast three-parts brother by Danehill might appeal to many breeders and might become a successful sire.

That was the theory and, happily, it proved to be a sound one.  Kodiac started out at a fee of €5,000 in 2007 (which had to be lowered to €4,000 a couple of years later), but once he began to have runners in 2010, he soon started to pay back many of those who had put their faith in him.  He quickly established himself as an ultra-reliable source of tough, precocious and very fast horses, both colts and fillies. In a pleasing piece of symmetry, 10 years after retiring to stud, he was standing at a fee 10 times higher than it had been at the outset. The price subsequently continued to rise after that and, now aged 22, he is still churning out fast, precocious horses such as 2023 G2 Lowther S. heroine Relief Rally (Ire), who recently sold for 800,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale.

It is frequently noted that the 1993 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Urban Sea (Miswaki) usually has two sons in the top five of the General Sires' Table of Great Britain and Ireland.  The 2019 season was her piece de resistance, as her two Derby-winning children Galileo (Ire) (Sadler's Wells) and Sea The Stars (Ire) occupied the first two places in the championship.  Under the circumstances, the fanfare justly directed at Urban Sea possibly takes some of the spotlight away from Rafha, whose feat of also having two sons consistently in the upper echelons of the sires' championship should not be underestimated.

The six seasons 2015 to 2020 inclusive were particularly good ones for Rafha with both Kodiac and Invincible Spirit featuring in the top 10 every year. Kodiac in particular has been remarkably consistent. He first broke into the top10 of the sires' table in 2015, having finished 15th in 2014 (in which year Invincible Spirit achieved his best position, finishing second to Galileo).  From 2015 until this current season Kodiac has never been out of the top 10, and he regularly tops the table for the most number of winners in a season.

In one sense, Rafha's sons merit even greater respect than do Urban Sea's stars. Galileo and Sea The Stars were Derby winners who started out covering high-class mares from the outset but Invincible Spirit and Kodiac did not have that luxury, having instead had to 'make their own luck' as stallions. Despite these relatively humble beginnings at stud, the influence of both Invincible Spirit and Kodiac will not end when they cease to have runners because they have already started to establish their own sire lines.

Just as Lawman was Invincible Spirit's first headline-maker as a racehorse, so he was his first successful son at stud. Lawman's first crop included G1 St James's Palace S. winner Most Improved (Ire) and the star of his second crop was G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and G2 Rockfel S. winner Just The Judge (Ire). G1 Racing Post Trophy winner Marcel (Ire) and G1 St Leger winner Harbour Law (Ire) followed, although–disappointingly–Lawman seems subsequently to have fallen out of commercial favour, notwithstanding that he is still in action at Haras du Mazet in France (having started out in Ireland at Ballylinch, where his fee peaked at €25,000).

The popularity of Invincible Spirit's best son Kingman (GB), winner of four consecutive Group 1 mile races as a 3-year-old in the summer of 2014, shows no sign of waning. An immediate hit at stud with his first-crop son Calyx (Ire) winning the G2 Coventry S. in June 2018, Kingman has gone from strength to strength and consistently posts eye-catching statistics when measured by totals of individual stakes winners or black-type ratios. With, to name but three sons, Calyx at Coolmore, four-time Group 1 winner Palace Pier (GB) at Dalham Hall and three-time Group 1 winner Persian King (Ire) at Haras d'Etreham, Kingman could well become a notable sire of sires.

Calyx currently lies in third place in the 2023 first-season sires' table for Britain and Ireland. Invincible Spirit's grandson thus sits ahead of three sons of Invincible Spirit with their first juveniles this year: Inns Of Court (fourth), Invincible Army (eighth) and 2019 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (12th). All have a chance to become established as long-term residents of the stallion ranks in this part of the world, joining their elders Territories (Ire) and Mayson (GB) and Swiss Spirit (GB).

The 2011 crop which featured Kingman also contained Charm Spirit (Ire), winner of three Group 1 mile races during the 2014 season. He, too is currently in vogue thanks to his very fast son Shaquille (GB), winner during the summer of the G1 Commonwealth Cup and the G1 July Cup. Shaquille looks sure to be popular at Dullingham Park, where he will have a first-season fee in 2024 of £15,000. Another likely future flag-bearer for Invincible Spirit's line is his three-time Group 2-winning son Mutasaabeq (GB) who starts off at the National Stud in 2024 at a fee of £6,500.

Kodiac, too, is well represented by sons and grandsons at stud.  As was the case with their father, Ardad (Ire), Kodi Bear (Ire), Prince Of Lir (Ire) and Coulsty (Ire) all started out without any significant blaze of publicity. Each has done plenty to raise his profile since starting to have runners, while Ardad's three-time Group 1-winning first-crop son Perfect Power (Ire) is about to stand his second season at Dalham Hall Stud. The one drawback for the furtherance of the line is that Prince Of Lir's fastest son, G1 Nunthorpe S. winner Live In The Dream (Ire), is a gelding.

Being represented by a 2,000 Guineas winner at the age of 27 would be unusual, but for the redoubtable Invincible Spirit it may well happen.

Sons of Kodiac who have yet to have runners include the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Fr), G2 Coventry S. winner Nando Parrado (GB) and G2 Flying Childers S. winner Ubettabelieveit (Ire). Furthermore, this year's G1 Prix Jean Prat winner Good Guess (GB) will join his father on the Tally-Ho roster in 2024 at a fee of €17,500.

Elsewhere, Best Solution (Ire) had his first 2-year-old runners this year in Germany, in which country he recorded two of his three Group 1 victories (at, untypically for the progeny of Kodiac, 2400m). International stud success for stallions sired by Rafha's sons is, of course, commonplace. Most notably, Invincible Spirit briefly shuttled to Australia early in his career and there produced the tough sprinter I Am Invincible (Aus) who has become astonishingly prolific sire of stakes winners of all ages. He deservedly became Australia's champion sire in 2021/22, retained the title last term, is currently leading the standings this season, and is already respected as a sire of sires. The Invincible Spirit horses Cable Bay (Ire), National Defense (GB) and Shalaa (Ire) have all enjoyed success at stud in both hemispheres, while Cable Bay is about to get under way as a sire of sires with his fast son Dragon Symbol (GB) retiring to Whitsbury Manor Stud.

Invincible Spirit's G1 King's Stand S.-winning son Profitable (Ire) has headed out to Turkey ahead of the 2024 season, notwithstanding that he started out well on the Darley roster in Ireland with his first crop of juveniles containing 2021 G2 Queen Mary S. heroine Quick Suzy (Ire). Looking to spread Rafha's influence even farther afield will be the Invincible Spirit horse Digital Age (Ire), a Grade I winner in the USA in 2020 of the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic S. over nine furlongs on a firm turf track at Churchill Downs. Digital Age stands in South Africa at Mauritzfontein Stud. It should also be mentioned that the treble Group 1 winner Mishriff (Ire), a great grandson of Rafha through his female line, and successful on turf and dirt, is about to make his belated debut at Sumbe in France.

To return to Invincible Spirit and Kodiac, their success at stud has been one of the most heartening bloodstock stories of the 21st century to date. The sire-sons of each look set to ensure that this story will run and run, not to mention that each has plenty of good racehorses still to come. Most obviously, Invincible Spirit's unbeaten 2-year-old son Ghostwriter (Ire) stamped himself as a serious Classic prospect for 2024 when he extended his winning run in the G2 Royal Lodge S. at Newmarket at the end of September. Being represented by a 2000 Guineas winner at the age of 27 would be unusual, but for the redoubtable Invincible Spirit, it may well happen.

The post Rafha’s Influence Prevails Through Her Dominant Sons appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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.”

The post ‘We Stand Behind Our Customers’: Sumbe Launches Three New Stallions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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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.”

The post Group 1 Winners Angel Bleu and Belbek to Join Sumbe Roster appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Winner of the 2020 G1 Prix du Jockey Club, Mishriff added the G1 Longines Dubai Sheema Classic and G1 Juddmonte International S. after a breathtaking success in a lone appearance on the dirt in the $20-million Saudi Cup. Mishriff was sidelined early this year, with Sumbe hopeful that he could begin his first season at stud, but time was called Friday.

“The Sumbe team regrets to inform that in the best interest of the horse, MISHRIFF will not commence stud duties this year,” the tweet begins. “Despite significant progress in his recovery, our veterinary team advised that all covering plans should be canceled or the remainder of this breeding season.”

From the damily of Invincible Spirit (Ire) and Kodiac (GB), Mishriff was to be offered at an introductory service fee of €20,000 in 2023.

The post Mishriff To Skip 2023 Breeding Season appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A similar story was shared on one of the final stops of this year's Route des Etalons at Haras de Montaigu as the stud's Mathieu Leffray, along with his brother and father, sourced a mare by the name of Idaho Falls (Fr) for the miserly sum of €500 from the French equivalent of Done Deal.

The great No Risk At All, sire of Allegorie De Vassy, who should harden her reputation as a leading Cheltenham Festival contender @thurlesraces today.
Already the sire of Allaho and Epatante, it's easy to see why @HarasMontaigu's No Risk At All is so popular with NH breeders. pic.twitter.com/JPKxuZT0Bz

— Brian Sheerin (@BrianSheerin91) January 22, 2023

What has that got to do with anything, you might ask? Because it was Idaho Falls who went on to produce multiple Grade 1-winning chaser Allaho (Fr), the highest-rated son of Haras de Montaigu's No Risk At All (Fr), who played a starring role on the Route des Etalons.

No Risk At All has proven his versatility as a jumps sire given he is also responsible for Champion Hurdle-winning mare Epatante (Fr) and, as he stood proud in the French sunshine, another high-class prospect, Allegorie De Vassy (Fr), hardened her reputation for Cheltenham Festival honours when winning by a street at Thurles.

Opportunity does not just knock for the National Hunt breeder alone at Haras de Montaigu, either, with G1 Prix Morny and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Dabirsim (Fr) new to the roster, as Emma Berry highlighted in her preview of La Route.

Along with the opportunities available to Flat an National Hunt breeders in France, another thing that quickly became apparent whilst touring through Normandie was how interconnected the breeding sector is, with every stud playing host to a foreign-registered vehicle and many of the same faces who toured the Irish Stallion Trail a week previously spotted in attendance.

One man in particular who reported an increased level of international traffic, largely down to young sires Persian King and Hello Youmzain, was Nicolas de Chambure of Haras d'Etreham. A strapping son of Kingman (GB), the French 2,000 Guineas winner Persian King is quite the contrast to the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Fr), but both stallions, whose foals sold well in 2022, compliment each other at stud.

“We have great expectations for them,” de Chambure said. “We put in plenty of work in getting Persian King and Hello Youmzain purchased and then by putting the syndicate together to support them.

“When the foals arrived, it was the first step towards seeing a little bit more of them, and obviously the breeders had high expectations and they've met those expectations so we are very happy.
“Persian King and Hello Youmzain are very different horses. That is also why we took the risk to retire two horses in the same year because they have very different profiles and are from different sire lines.

“The foals also looked different and were what you'd expect from their stallions. We will keep a good eye on them throughout the spring and right up to the yearling sales. That's going to be very important for them and then hopefully they will be spread out among good trainers around Europe. We will be supporting them as well.”

First stop on the Route des Etalons, the TDN Europe team drop in to @Haras_d_Etreham, where Nicolas de Chambure tells @BrianSheerin91 all about young sires Hello Youmzain and Persian King. pic.twitter.com/gBKjV4B5gn

— TDN (@theTDN) January 21, 2023

De Chambure added, “The fact that British and Irish breeders can see that these good French sires have appeal to the main pinhookers and trainers in the industry, I think that will give them the confidence to increase their trust in these French stallions on the whole. It has been very positive.”

Etreham also has the first 2-year-olds by City Light (Fr), a smart miler by Siyouni (Fr), to look forward to in 2023 while, interestingly, de Chambure revealed that breeders are now adopting a different approach to the mares they are sending to Almanzor (Fr).

He explained, “City Light has over 90 2-year-olds to run this season and, being a son of Siyouni, there is a bit of a buzz about him. The first reports are positive. His 2-year-olds are quite racey and, by the end of the year, we can expect them to be showing what they can do because they should be 2-year-olds.

“Almanzor has four or five exciting horses who have just turned three. He has an important year ahead of him but I think he has the numbers coming and breeders have adapted in the mares that they have been sending him. We are going to continue to see him improve and his next big horse is just around the corner, I am sure of that.”

That horse could well be the Aga Khan's Rajapour (Ire), unbeaten in three starts at two and, crucially, hailing from the smart Rock Of Gibraltar (Ire) mare Raydara (Ire), who is exactly the type de Chambure will be encouraging breeders to send Almonzor going forward.

“We were all a bit surprised that Almanzor had been throwing some size and, from his first crop, we got a few who were a bit big and backward. We all realised that and, even though they were like that, he showed that he can sire a really good horse. They can quicken and they have a turn of foot. Most of the breeders, the mares they have sent him now have a bit more speed and are more short-coupled, and we have seen the difference in the progeny.”

a half an hour down the road from Etreham, some of the finest National Hunt sires standing in France were on show Haras de la Hetraie , including Gold Cup-producing Kapgarde (Fr), whose Fakir D'Oudaires (Fr) took the feature G2 Kinloch Brae Chase at Thurles on Sunday.

The sire of last year's Gold Cup hero A Plus Tard (Fr) was joined in parade by fellow accomplished National Hunt stallion Great Pretender (Ire), best known for being the sire of Benie Des Dieux (Fr) and Greaneteen (Fr).

But it wasn't all about the stallions at Haras de la Hetraie, as not only did the stud offer top-notch entertainment when For Fun (Fr) lived up to his name by trying his hardest to break away from his handler, but the spread on offer was not bettered on the trip.

If it's French onion soup made by the boss himself, Pascal Noue, a fine selection of cured meats and enough oysters to feed a small village, Haras de la Hetraie was worth the trip even for those who hadn't got a mare in tow.

However, the majority of the people who made the trip to Sumbe were there in a professional capacity, according to Mathieu Le Forestier, nominations and racing manager at the stud, who reported that a lot of business had been done across the two days.

Easy to see why. Horses like Mishriff (Ire) don't retire to stud very often and, despite the fact that his debut season will be interrupted due to a slight setback, Le Forestier explained how interest in the stallion has not dwindled in the slightest because of it.

He said, “We envisage him covering 140 mares this year, which is a good number. The Prince [Faisal] will send him 35 to 40 mares of his own, which leaves about 100 nominations in Mishriff. “There have been virtually no cancellations from breeders after we announced his setback and the interest in him did not wane. We expect that he will resume covering on Mar. 15 and we don't see it being a big issue, except maybe for in the case of maiden mares.

how good is Mishriff looking? pic.twitter.com/G0LfM6XLKr

— TDN (@theTDN) January 22, 2023

“There aren't many alternatives to a horse of the quality Mishriff has in France and we have waited a long time to have a freshman with credentials as good as he has in the stud book here. Selling him is not the hardest job in my life.

“The good thing about Mishriff and Golden Horde (Ire) here at Sumbe is that they do the talking. We have done a lot of business over the past two days. There have not been many passers by and most of the people that have come here have been serious breeders.”

On the 2020 G1 Commonwealth Cup winner Golden Horde, who stands for €8,000, he added, “Golden Horde has been popular. He'll have good numbers but, most importantly, the right blend of people who breed to race and those who breed to sell have used him. We have 15 yearlings by him that we plan to race and they will be divided up between Andre Fabre, Jean-Claude Rouget, Roger Varian and Clive Cox.”

The sentiments shared by Le Forestier about Mishriff were be echoed by Mathieu Alex at Haras de Beaumont about G1 Qipco Champion S. winner Sealiway, set to stand for €12,000 this season, and very much the pride and joy of Pauline Cheboub's operation.

Asked if there had been much international interest at Haras de Beaumont on Saturday and Sunday, Alex said, “Yes, German, Irish, English, Swedish, Danish, American–we have had plenty of interest. This is business but also, and this is very important, the Route des Etalons gives us a chance to open our doors to the public and the industry needs that. Tourists, neighbors, it doesn't matter, everyone is welcome and we have to open the doors and explain our game. We have to show them that we love our horses. We have a mission.”

He added, “Sealiway was a champion two-year-old, which is extremely important nowadays. He won a Group 1 in England, the Champion S., where he beat three Classic winners, so he is a serious horse for France. That type of horse usually retires somewhere else. This place is for him. If it wasn't for him, none of this would be here. He's an extremely important horse and stallions like him are extremely important for this country. You've seen it with Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr), Wootton Bassett (GB), the whole country is propped up by them because they attract breeders from abroad. Also, they prop up the sales. So we need stallions like that.

“There has been a short-supply of top-class stallions in France and then we had three or four good ones at the same time. I don't know why that is. Siyouni is getting old, Le Havre is dead and now Wootton Bassett is gone. There is an opening and we need new good ones coming through. French people know that and, without mares, it doesn't matter how good Sealiway is, we need the mares. We are in the process of sorting out the mares for him this year and the important thing is numbers.”

If La Hetraie boasted the best food of the tour, well then the biggest crowd was recorded at Haras de Bonneval, where over 100 people turned out to see Siyouni and co strut their stuff during one of the afternoon sessions on Saturday.

Siyouni may have been the star attraction but Zarak (Fr), one of the hottest properties the country has to offer and set to stand for €60,000 this term, sent tongues wagging. Even Alain De Royer-Dupre turned out to say a few words about his Group 1-winning son of Dubawi (Ire) who has quickly made his mark at stud.

Wooded is quite impressive @AlShaqabRacing! pic.twitter.com/cDKQU0WEPU

— TDN (@theTDN) January 21, 2023

One of the more famous studs in France, Haras de Bouquetot, were provided with an opportunity to showcase some of its newbies, with Galileo Gold (GB) having made the move from Tally-Ho to stand alongside fellow newcomer Thunder Moon (Ire). Armor (GB) should make plenty of appeal to breeders, being a speedy son of No Nay Never, but there was no doubting the star attraction, as Wooded (Ire) wowed everyone in attendance and makes plenty of sense at €12,000.

Whether you are a high-end breeder on the Flat, want to produce the next big jumping star or are in search of a bit of value over both codes, the 2023 Route des Etalons confirms that there is something for everyone in France.

Three takeaways from the Route des Etalons
After a helter-skelter two days touring some of the best studs in France, here are some takeaways from a memorable trip.

Important Newbies
Mathieu Alex obviously has a vested interest in seeing Sealiway succeed but he spoke frankly and honestly about the need for another superstar stallion in France.

Siyouni is obviously operating at his pomp and, if Zarak continues on the trajectory that he is on, he could well take over the mantle but the importance of horses like Sealiway and Mishriff entering the stud book in France cannot be understated. Let's hope they are a success as there is clearly an opening there.

Well hello Zarak @AgaKhanStuds pic.twitter.com/5t42wzsa1L

— TDN (@theTDN) January 21, 2023

Exciting Times For Haras d'Etreham
Haras de Etreham managed Wootton Bassett from a €6,000 freshman to becoming a €40,000 stallion after just seven seasons before Coolmore swooped in and secured a deal for him to stand in Ireland in 2021 where he stands to this day for a cool €150,000.

Have Etreham uncovered the next Wootton Bassett in either Persian King or Hello Youmzain? That is obviously an exceptionally high bar to aim for but the early signs are promising.

In Persian King, Etreham can offer breeders a quality son of Kingman who has plenty of size while Hello Youmzain is exactly what you'd expect one of the fastest sons of Kodiac to look like.
The first foals by both stallions went down well in 2022, with some notable names signing for the progeny of the two, and it appears as though the future is bright for everyone at the famous French stud.

Dominance Of The Jumps
The dominance of the French-breds over jumps in Britain and Ireland is nothing new and a major highlight of the trip was getting the chance to see Kapgarde and No Risk At All in the flesh.
On Saturday, the Willie Mullins-trained It's For Me (Fr) (Jeu St Eloi {Fr}) shot to the head of the Champion Bumper betting when bolting up in a Navan bumper for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

Jeu St Eloi is more or less an unknown as a stallion in Britain and Ireland, which goes back to the point made about France's ability as a nation to churn out top-class horses time and time again from relatively obscure origins.

Not an easy name to pronounce, but Beaumec De Houelle could be an interesting one for NH breeders in Britain and Ireland being a Grade 1-winning hurdler by Martaline. pic.twitter.com/tNqNpYARgR

— Brian Sheerin (@BrianSheerin91) January 22, 2023

Beaumec De Houelle (Fr) could be the next sleeper of a stallion for National Hunt breeders to take note of. One of the only sons of Martaline (GB) to stand in France, he won five of his six starts, including the G1 three-year-old hurdle at Auteuil in 2018.

Of course, jumps horses retiring to stud is nothing new in France, with Balko being another example, whereas it is quite rare in Ireland. Apart from Nickname, few entires have competed at the highest level, although who's to say what heights Sir Eric would have reached had he not suffered a fatal injury.

The French do things differently, that's for sure, and they are all the better for it. The proof, as they say, is in the eating, and there was a lot to digest on this trip.

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Trained by John and Thady Gosden, Mishriff amassed almost £12 million in career-earnings and is set to stand for €20,000 for his debut season at stud. 

A spokesperson for stud said, “Sumbe regrets to announce that our new stallion Mishriff has suffered a minor setback which may delay his stud duties until mid-march 2023.

“Although his condition is of non-threatening nature and does not put his stallion career in jeopardy, Mishriff will be in stall rest for a while. Equine welfare ranks at the top of our values and we are taking every precaution to ensure Mishriff's swift and complete recovery in accordance with our standards.

“This unexpected situation is a big blow for us, all the more considering Mishriff's tremendous early popularity and his soaring first book of quality mares. We will soon confer with the owners of all booked mares and find individual solutions. 

“We are thankful for the great anticipation Mishriff has triggered and we are hopeful for your continuous support today and in the future.”

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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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Prince AA Faisal's homebred landed Classic honours when winning the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and returned as a 4-year-old to win the word's richest race, the $20-million Saudi Cup, before claiming further Group 1 success in Dubai and Britain in the Sheema Classic and Juddmonte International. Trained by John and Thady Gosden, he has won seven of his 19 races and more than £11 million in prize-money, a tally he could yet enhance in Paris this weekend. It was announced on Tuesday that Mishriff will be partnered in the Arc by Britain's champion jockey-elect William Buick.

Haras de Montfort et Preaux, which was until recently home to leading French sire Le Havre (Ire), who died in March, is one of several prestigious stud farms owned under Nurlan Bizakov's Sumbe banner, which incudes Haras du Mezeray and Hesmonds Stud in England.

A statement released by Sumbe on Tuesday afternoon read, “We are delighted to announce that we have reached an agreement with Prince Faisal that Mishriff will stand as a stallion at Sumbe in 2023. Prince Faisal is a very successful owner/breeder and has raced many champions who have gone on to become excellent sires.

“We believe this is great news for French breeders after the recent loss of two incredible stallions, Le Havre and Wootton Bassett (GB) [to Ireland]. Since the untimely death of Le Havre earlier this year we have been actively looking for a nice stallion prospect.

Nevertheless, Mishriff was our main target–he won the Prix du Jockey Club, the ultimate stallion-making race, in a highly impressive time. Mishriff has been unbeaten in France and his achievements in 2021 were nothing short of extraordinary–that year's world champion turf horse, he won the world's most expensive race in Saudi Arabia on dirt, the Dubai Sheema Classic at Meydan in record time, as well as the Juddmonte International S. by six lengths. Although he has nothing more to prove as a champion, we hope he finalises his career in a style that befits his level.”

It concluded, “Mishriff is a son of Make Believe, the winner of Poule d'Essai des Poulains, from the family of Invincible Spirit (Ire), Kodiac (GB), Pinatubo (Ire) and many others. His great granddam, Rafha (GB), won the Prix de Diane, making him French in several generations. An outstanding-looking horse, he has won over £11,700,000 in prize-money and we cannot wait to introduce Mishriff to breeders.”

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Egan recorded the biggest payday of his career when partnering the John and Thady Gosden-trained Mishriff to Saudi Cup glory in 2021, however, the ride aboard the three-time Group 1 winner became available after last week Prince Faisal revealed that he would be using the best available jockey.

That announcement came shortly after Mishriff finished second in the G1 Coral-Eclipse, an effort Doyle said points to the fact the 5-year-old retains all of his old zest for the game. 

He told Nick Luck's Daily Podcast, “I couldn't be more thankful to the connections for putting their trust in me and choosing me to ride him.

“He's an incredible horse and what he has achieved is just outstanding. I thought his run in the Eclipse showed he is still right at the top of his game.”

Doyle, who has already won the Qipco 2,000 Guineas aboard Coroebus (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and the 1,000 Guineas on Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}) this season, added, “I'm going into Mr Gosden's tomorrow morning to pop on him as obviously I've not ridden him before, but I've seen a fair bit of him and it will be nice to jump on board before Saturday.

“He travels into his races really well and I thought he was a shade unlucky in the Eclipse. It was an incredible run really to get stopped the way he did and when he got out he really hit the line hard.”

Mishriff is a general 4-1 chance for Saturday's Group 1. He finished second behind Derby hero Adayar (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) in the mile-and-a-half contest 12 months ago.

Opposition in this year's race is headed by another Derby winner, the Ralph Beckett-trained Westover (GB) (Frankel {GB}), last seen storming to glory in the Irish equivalent at the Curragh in June.

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