Nicolas de Chambure | Horse Racing Free Tips

Haras d’Etreham Expands, Adds Pre-training and Spelling Farm Haras du Bois

Haras du Bois, a breaking-in, pre-training, and spelling facility, has been acquired by Haras d'Etreham, the stud announced on Thursday. Located 30 minutes from Deauville in the direction of Caen, Haras du Bois has three barns with almost 40 stalls, three lunging rings, a horse-walker, a six-furlong all-weather track, a five-furlong straight sand track and 40 hectares of paddocks and fields surrounded by several forest tracks.

Breaking and pre-training specialists Laura Vanska and Nicolas Leroch, will be responsible for Haras du Bois. Vanska, a 2015 Godolphin Flying Start graduate, holds a public trainers licence and gained experience with the Ehnrooth family, John Hammond, and Francis-Henri Graffard. She spent the past three years as an assistant to Nicolas Clement. A past showjumper, Leroch worked as Fabrice Chappet's head lad for two years and worked for Madame Fabre for the past eight years.

Nicolas de Chambure said, “Haras d'Etreham now has many more horses in training than in the past. This is explained by the selective nature of the yearling market but also by strategic choices to support our own stallions or investment in race fillies. This growth, combined with the evolution in training methods, means that we have been searching for some years for a property to accommodate both our horses and our clients' horses during the different phases of their development. We are very satisfied to have been able to purchase Haras du Bois which fulfills our requirements exactly. Once the straight training track is completed, it will be a comprehensive facility. Laura and Nicolas have extensive experience with young horses, both in training and also the breaking-in process, and we are delighted to welcome them to the Haras d'Etreham within this new project.”

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SF Backing Young French Sires

SF Bloodstock is one of the largest and most successful investors in stallions in the Thoroughbred business worldwide. So when SF throws it support behind a young sire, it's worth taking notice.

SF owns stallions in the U.S., Australia and Europe, and this year the group will find out if its backing of the 2016 champion 3-year-old Almanzor (Fr) will bear fruit, with that three-time Group 1 winner soon set to be represented by his first runners. Meanwhile, SF has continued its patronage of the French breeding business, and in particular the de Chambure family's Haras d'Etreham, by purchasing shares in Etreham's two new flat sires for 2021: Group 1 winners Hello Youmzain (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) and Persian King (GB) (Kingman {GB}).

“Our working relationship with Etreham started with Almanzor after [Etreham's Nicolas de Chambure] presented us with an opportunity to purchase an interest whilst he was still in training,” said SF's Tom Ryan. “Nico and his team do a wonderful job at Etreham. He has an energetic, youthful team around him and momentum on his side.”

Hello Youmzain covers his first book this season at an advertised fee of €25,000, and Ryan said of the G1 Haydock Sprint Cup and G1 Diamond Jubilee S. winner, “Hello Youmzain is a particularly beautiful specimen with all the attributes the commercial market looks for in a stallion prospect. His gate speed was electric–that's one of the many invaluable weapons in his arsenal, as demonstrated last summer at Royal Ascot, when he led gate to wire to win the Diamond Jubilee. His looks and sire lines should serve him well. Kodiac and [damsire] Shamardal both continue to leave an indelible mark on the breed.”

Persian King, a Group 3 winner at two who went on to win the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains and the G1 Prix d'Ispahan and G1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp last year at four, is available for €30,000.

“Persian King, on his best day, was simply brilliant,” Ryan said. “His sire Kingman is well on his way to becoming a dominating force amongst the ranks of the leading Europeans sires. Persian King was remarkably versatile and held in the highest regard by Andre Fabre. He will be supported by some of the most influential European breeders.”

SF's European stallion portfolio also includes the Irish National Stud's G1 Irish 2000 Guineas winner Phoenix Of Spain (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}), and Ryan noted that the operation is supporting its young sires in Europe with its select broodmare band based there. Chief among those is Black Dahlia (GB) (Dansili {GB}), whose stock was considerably bolstered in 2020 when her G3 Round Tower S. winner Lope Y Fernandez (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) picked up placings in the G1 Irish 2000 Guineas, G1 Prix Jean Prat, G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and GI Breeders' Cup Mile. Black Dahlia's G2 Vintage S. scorer Dark Vision (Ire) (Dream Ahead) won last year's G2 Oettingen Rennen as well as Royal Ascot's Royal Hunt Cup.

“Black Dahlia is arguably our flagship mare in Europe,” Ryan said. “She is a three-time stakes producer and is coming into this season off the back of a phenomenal 2020. She foaled a beautiful filly by Wootton Bassett this month and will be bred back to Hello Youmzain.”

SF is also supporting Hello Youmzain with the maiden mare Malakeh (GB) (Harbour Watch {Ire}), who was a listed winner and Classic-placed in Germany and third in Woodbine's G2 Nassau S.; and Sumthingtotalkabt (Mutakddim), whose Grade III-winning daughter Lady Shipman (Midshipman) is the dam of last year's GII Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner Golden Pal (Uncle Mo).

“Malakeh is a maiden mare for 2021,” Ryan said. “Nicolas de Chambure purchased her at Keeneland in November of 2020 [for $115,000] and we were delighted to partner with him and her racing owner Sol Kumin. She was bred and began her racing career in Europe and then raced and ultimately retired in the U.S. She is in foal to Hello Youmzain.

“Sumthingtotalkabt is a mare that we have owned in the U.S. for a number of years. She is the dam of Lady Shipman, making her the second dam of Golden Pal, the 2020 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint winner who was also second in the G2 Norfolk S. at Royal Ascot. She's a great example of a proven mare that we think can really bolster the book of a young sire so we sent her to France to be bred to Hello Youmzain.”

Persian King, meanwhile, will have the support of Eversmile (Theatrical {Ire}), the dam of four stakes horses including Grade I winners Coil (Point Given) and Chiropractor (Kitten's Joy), and young listed-winning mare Northern Eclipse (Northern Afleet). Eversmile, who is also a half-sister to American champion turf mare Possibly Perfect (Northern Baby) first visited Europe in 2014 to be covered by Galileo (Ire), a mating that resulted in the Grade III-placed Decorating, and she returned last year to visit Almanzor (Fr), to whom she is due to foal soon.

“Eversmile is another anchor broodmare for us in Europe,” Ryan said. “She is a Theatrical mare from a beautiful family and is a four-time stakes-producing mare. She is in-foal to Almanzor and will be bred to Persian King.

“Northern Eclipse is a newer addition to our broodmare band in Europe. She is a stakes-winning mare by Northern Afleet. We purchased her off the track in the U.S. and sent her to Europe to be bred to Phoenix Of Spain. She foaled a big, strong filly by him in January and will be bred back to Persian King.”

With stallion shares and broodmares stationed on three continents, one can imagine SF's matings planning to be something of a jigsaw puzzle. Ryan said key factors taken into consideration include conformation and getting young sires off the ground.

“We try to keep our matings process as straightforward as possible,” he said. “I think it's easy to get lost in the weeds and there is a lot to consider. For us, physicality is a big component; I don't think mating ill-matched physicals is ever a good idea, so we pay attention to previous progeny and what they have taught us. Oftentimes, though, we are mating with our stallions in mind and so we come at it not only from the angle of getting the best mating for our mares but also trying to give our stallions some solid support, especially the younger ones.”

Ryan acknowledged the importance of SF supporting its young sires especially during their second, third and fourth years in light of the market's bias towards first-season or proven sires.

“The market certainly is favoring top proven and first-season horses, so for us I think it's important that we support the young sires we're invested in to ensure that they have plenty in the pipeline when their first runners hit the track, and also to make sure that they're well represented at the sales with progeny out of both proven established broodmares and also younger mares that excelled on the track,” he said. “We understand what draws breeders to top proven horses and to first-season stallions, but there are plenty of excellent young stallions like Almanzor in subsequent years at stud that are being well supported and deservedly so. We know that if we want breeder support of our stallions in their second, third, and fourth seasons, we have to show that we believe in them too.”

SF, which typically offers its European stock at public auction, has partnered with de Chambure to race an Almanzor colt bought for 160,000gns at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2019.

“By virtue of our smaller numbers in Europe we haven't typically retained to race, however we did purchase an Almanzor weanling colt in 2019 with Nicolas de Chambure,” Ryan said. “Now a 2-year-old, he is named Faro de San Juan (Ire) and is in training with Francis Graffard. We are very excited about Almanzor; he has all the makings of a top sire and is poised to follow in his sire Wootton Bassett's footsteps.”

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Almanzors Draw Accolades Down Under

Breeders and buyers anticipating the upcoming first 2-year-olds by Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in Europe were provided a boost in recent weeks at the sales in Australia and New Zealand, where the triple Group 1 winner's first Southern Hemisphere yearlings were warmly received. After his three yearlings sold at Magic Millions averaged A$506,666 with a top price of A$800,000, Almanzor went on to be leading first-season sire at Karaka Book 1 with 43 sold for an average of NZ$190,698.

Almanzor, who is based at his birthplace Haras d'Etreham in France, stands Southern Hemisphere time at Cambridge Stud in New Zealand, where he stood for NZ$30,000 last season. Cambridge Chief Executive Officer Henry Plumptre noted that Almanzor's fortunes have been on a rising tide ever since his stud deal was secured, beginning with a nod of approval from one of the greatest stallion masters there has ever been.

“Almanzor is a great physical type,” Plumptre said. “It's very hard to look at him and find fault with his conformation. The first person we put him in front of when he arrived in New Zealand at the back end of 2018 was Sir Patrick Hogan. Patrick looked at him for five or 10 minutes without saying a word, until he said, 'he's absolutely perfect.' He talked about bone below the knee, substance, forearm, shoulder; and the horse has all those attributes.”

After receiving high grades from the man who cultivated the stud careers of the great Sir Tristram and his son Zabeel, Almanzor went on to post promising results with his first European crop at the foal sales in 2019 and again at last year's yearling sales. His 14 first-crop foals sold averaged £84,522/€96,461, while his 53 yearlings sold at auction last year built on that solid foundation with an average of £87,023/€99,323. In the meantime his sire, Wootton Bassett, was continuing to go from strength to strength.

“At the time [that the breeding rights deal was done for Almanzor] Wootton Bassett was a bit of an unknown quantity,” Plumptre recalled. “We were nervous about that, but having been to Normandy to look at the horse and having talked to Nicolas [de Chambure] about Wootton Bassett and what he had coming through–he was very confident that Wootton Bassett would have a good year in France that year and he was subsequently proven right, because he had two or three Group 1 performers. The following year of course he really went to another level and his service fee rose from €6,000 to €20,000, and €20,000 to €40,000. That was a ringing endorsement of Wootton Bassett in Europe, which helped us enormously with Almanzor.”

The Wootton Bassett saga has, of course, continued, with the 13-year-old stallion adding two new Group 1 winners-Wooded (Fr) and Audarya (Fr)-to his roll of honor last year in the wake of his sale to Coolmore, where he stands this year for €100,000. Meanwhile, a select handful of yearlings was sent across the Tasman last month to get the word out early about Almanzor at Magic Millions.

“One of the things that really helped us with Almanzor was that there were three or four yearlings by him that were strategically placed at Magic Millions,” Plumptre said. “That market was very strong this year and he had a huge sale at Magic Millions. We sent one filly and our clients sent three others. Almanzor managed to get an A$800,000 colt that is going to be trained by Danny O'Brien in Melbourne, and we sold our filly for A$380,000, and we had a very good client from the South Island who sold her colt for A$340,000.

“So it was a very good story before we even got to Karaka, and it got people talking. There was a lot of feedback in Australia from Magic Millions about Almanzor, and I think by the time we opened on the first day at Karaka, most of the buying bench-whether it was online or through an agent or trainer–wanted to get their hands on one of them.”

Almanzor's Karaka yearlings were led by a NZ$560,000 colt headed to Chris Waller, and a colt and a filly were each bought for NZ$420,000, by Bruce Perry and The Oaks Stud and trainer Tony Pike. Cambridge and Etreham teamed to buy a filly who is a half-sister to two stakes winners from Curraghmore for NZ$380,000. Cambridge and Etreham also bought three Almanzor yearlings in partnership in the North last year: a colt from Tattersalls who will go into training with Kevin Ryan, as well as a colt and a filly in Deauville who will go to Almanzor's trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. Plumptre said they will likely look to add one more in Australia before the sales season is over.

“I think everyone down there was surprised by how well Almanzor was received,” said Nicolas de Chambure. “With any shuttle stallion, there is always a bit of a fear that the market down there isn't going to understand or respect them. There is always a bit of a mystery there. The reports we were getting were that he was throwing very good types as he had in Europe, and it was just a question of how people down there were going to value them.”

Plumptre confirmed that Almanzor has been throwing his good looks across the board.

“Everyone knows that stallions can be gorgeous and not for whatever reason throw stock at that level,” he said. “We were very lucky that Almanzor's first crop had a high percentage of yearlings and foals that looked like him, had that substance and bone below the knee.”

De Chambure said he thinks a warming to middle-distance sires in the Australian market has also helped Almanzor's cause.

“Talking to people down there, it sounds like there's a bit of a switch in the market where buyers and syndicators and trainers have a bit more time and budget for the later types and horses that look like they'll be 3-year-old milers or 10-furlong horses,” he said. “People realize how much money there is there and sometimes there is less competition than for the early 2-year-old races. I think it's great to see that those stallions can have a great chance and can be popular at the sales as well.”

Plumptre floated the idea that New Zealand could once again establish itself as the key source of middle-distance horses for Australia.

“I applaud the fact that they [Australia] see themselves as the best producers of sprinting horses in the world,” he said. “But 60% of the racing system in Australia is at a mile and above. So there is still a lot of prizemoney available if you have the right horse at a mile, mile and a quarter, mile and a half or two miles. Traditionally the supply chain for those horses was always New Zealand. It would be fair to say that the depth of stallions in New Zealand has dropped in the past 25 years. There is no doubt that stallions like Zabeel and his son Savabeel, and Tavistock, had all been great influences but there were only two or three of them. In the old days in New Zealand in the 1970s and 80s there were a dozen stallions producing these high-class middle-distance horses.

“There was a time too when the attention of the Australian buyer turned to Europe. The exchange rate was very good and there was a thought process that we could go and buy racehorses with a certain Timeform rating and bring them back to Australia and they would perform at that elite level, and it was cheaper to do that and better value because the European stayer was generally seen as better. I've got no problem with that, but I think it's an expensive way of doing it if we can produce the right thing over here in New Zealand.”

Almanzor could quite possibly be the right thing for New Zealand, and Plumptre and de Chambure each credited one another with their role in establishing the young sire to date.

“You can't underestimate the importance of our relationship with Etreham and Nicolas,” said Plumptre. “There is a very strong bond there which we think is fantastic for the Cambridge brand going forward. Nicolas is making a name for himself at a very famous French nursery, and it's so far been an amazing attachment for us. We're racing a couple of Almanzors with Nicolas here in Australia and New Zealand and we're racing a couple Almanzors in Europe. We've got a lot to look forward to.”

“The folks at Cambridge have done a great job marketing this horse and getting breeders to support him,” de Chambure added. “They took a risk with this horse and it's great to see them doing well with him down there. It was a great result for everyone involved to see the Almanzors selling so well.”

The Cambridge Stud/Haras d'Etreham connection will have another shot to continue its good fortune later this year when dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain (Ire) shuttles South after completing his first season at Etreham. Cambridge and Etreham partnered in the autumn of 2019 to purchase Hello Youmzain after he had won the G1 Sprint Cup, and the bay rewarded the gamble to keep him in training at four with a win in the G1 Diamond Jubilee S. at Royal Ascot last year. As was the case with Almanzor and Wootton Bassett, Hello Youmzain's sire Kodiac has reached another stratosphere since that transaction was completed.

“At the time [of the deal] Kodiac was a good stallion, but last year he had a phenomenal year in Europe with his 2- and 3-year-olds, and Hello Youmzain winning the Diamond Jubilee at Ascot,” Plumptre said. “He went to another level as well, which again helps when you're launching a stallion like that. I think there's enough depth in Hello Youmzain's pedigree as well to suggest he will get milers eventually, and as a type he has scope and length which suggests he will get milers. I don't think he's going to be an out-and-out speed horse.”

Plumptre said the interest in Hello Youmzain has been encouraging ahead of the horse's arrival in New Zealand.

“We've got a very good group of people around him, a very good group of breeders supporting the horse,” he said. “The pedigree is very interesting to people here, it's Danehill with a bit of Invincible Spirit in there through his dam. It's all pretty positive stuff; those are the two lines the Australia market wants. Nicolas is very particular about the type of horse he buys into and I have no reason to believe that Hello Youmzain isn't every bit as good a type as Almanzor, and New Zealand breeders are very big on conformation as they're predominantly commercial sellers, so it's important to put a horse in front of him that has that conformation, scope and substance.”

“Our broodmare band at Cambridge is probably 25 to 30% European, so we have some nice pedigrees to cross with him and we have some very good local pedigrees to cross with him,” Plumptre added of Hello Youmzain. “It'll be most enjoyable to see his first foals in a year's time and see what he throws.”

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Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

It has been a year of change at Haras d’Etreham. In August it was announced that the farm’s flagship stallion Wootton Bassett (GB) had been sold to Coolmore. The dominant Irish operation was wise to catch a rising tide but it is Etreham, and in particular Nicolas de Chambure, who must be credited with establishing the increasingly popular stallion.

If we accept the conservative estimate that only one in ten stallions really make it, then it is clear that finding Wootton Bassett’s replacement will be no easy task. Perhaps Etreham already has a worthy successor in his first-crop champion son Almanzor (Fr). Time will tell. And as back up, the farm welcomes two new stallions this year, both Group 1 winners, both by hugely popular sires, and one of them a Classic winner.

Most farms would welcome the chance to start the career of Persian King (GB) or Hello Youmzain (Fr). Etreham has the golden opportunity of launching them both together, having kept the latter in training for 2020 after buying him the previous season in partnership with New Zealand’s Cambridge Stud. Persian King, who was raced by Godolphin in partnership with his breeder Ballymore Thoroughbred, also raced on at four, adding the G1 Prix d’Ispahan and G1 Prix du Moulin to his victory in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains at three, as well as finishing an honourable third in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe as his parting shot before retirement.

“Persian King is one of the best sons of Kingman so he was attractive to many studs around Europe,” says de Chambure. “I think the dynamism of France recently helped us to be able to buy into him and for his owners to be happy about the idea of our partnership, and for the horse to stand in France.”

Persian King was one of the early stars among Kingman’s offspring, winning three of his four starts at two, including beating subsequent 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia (Ire) in the G3 Autumn S. at Newmarket. While that outing from his native France suggested that his trainer Andre Fabre may well target the 2000 Guineas with the imposing colt, Persian King stayed at home as a 3-year-old, winning the G3 Prix de Fontainebleau en route to his Classic success and then finishing second to Sottsass (Fr) in the Prix du Jockey Club.

De Chambure says, “He came back better than ever this year as a 4-year-old. I think his run in the Arc was a bit special for the breeders. They saw something that they didn’t think he was capable of doing. We don’t see that much these days, trainers trying something a bit different with their horses. I think people like the fact that he tried and ran very well in the Arc.”

He adds, “When we buy a stallion prospect their sire is very important so the fact that he is by Kingman is a big plus. It gives French breeders access to that sireline.”

Thanks to Haras d’Etreham and Cambridge Stud, French breeders now also have easy access to a son of Kodiac (GB) in the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Hello Youmzain. While there is a growing throng of Kodiac’s stallion sons in Ireland and Britain, the former Kevin Ryan trainee is the first to retire to stud in France.

“There was never much of a culture of sprinters in France,” de Chambure explains. “The last really good one to retire was Anabaa. This is something a little bit new, and when we found out that he could be bought last year as a 3-year-old it didn’t take us too long to make up our minds. And we were very happy also to keep him in training this year because he won another Group 1 for us and was second in the Maurice de Gheest. So even though we couldn’t go racing, it was a very good year for us and Kevin Ryan did a very good job with him.”

Though sprinting was clearly his game, Hello Youmzain could well be multi-dimensional as a stallion prospect. His dam Spasha (GB) (Shamardal) has produced another two stakes winners on the Flat, including the G2 Gran Criterium winner and G1 Deutsches Derby place-getter Royal Youmzain (Fr) (Youmzain {Ire}), as well as that colt’s full-brother, the Grade 2-winning hurdler Saglawy (Fr). Furthermore, though his first two dams are unraced, his third dam, the G3 Lancashire Oaks winner Sandy Island (GB), is a Mill Reef half-sister to Lord Howard de Walden’s Derby winner Slip Anchor (GB) (Shirley Heights {GB}).

“For a sprinter he has a lot of scope,” de Chambure says. “He’s a good size for a Kodiac and a very good walker, so this, as well as the fact that he’s out of a Shamardal mare with a bit of pedigree as well, I think he ticks a lot of the boxes. I’m sure he’ll get some good 2-year-olds but I can see him getting good milers, and even ten-furlong horses, because he’s got a great mind, and bred with mares with a just a little bit more stamina I’m sure he will be able to. And we hope for that because I always like a stallion who can produce horses that can stay a bit more.”

The winner of the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte in his debut season, Hello Youmzain made two successful trips to Haydock at three to win the G2 Sandy Lane S. followed by the G1 Betfair Sprint Cup. For most stallion operations that would have been enough but, in announcing their purchase of him in October 2019, the partners also declared that he would remain in training at four.

“I think I’ll always do that,” says de Chambure of a decision which was not without its risks. “With Almanzor, we bought into him when he was three and he won the Champion Stakes, and everybody through that we were going to retire him because it was the easy thing to do. But I feel we are all retiring horses too soon these days—stallions and mares. We are driven by the whole economy of the thing but we are all in the industry to have horses to win races, and for me that must be the most important thing rather than the economy around it. When you are lucky enough to own part of a Group 1 horse I think it is important to keep them in training, and horses still progress from three to four. We have enough stallions, we have enough mares, and I think we need to enjoy the sport more. Obviously prize-money doesn’t help in Europe but I still think we need to give the horses more exposure and keep them running more. So in the end, yes, it was a little bit of a risk, but we were happy to do it.”

Of course, this investment in enticing stallion prospects would have been harder to do without the trading of Wootton Bassett. Now firmly established in the vanguard of European stallions, when he retired to stud in 2012 following a winless 3-year-old season he was no easy sell.

De Chambure reflects, “He was very hard work the first couple of years. He was the first stallion I bought when I took over the stud in 2011. I guess people didn’t know me then and the horse wasn’t perfect and there was a question mark over [his sire] Iffraaj (GB) at the time, and so all that together made him not that attractive for breeders.”

He continues, “Everything he did was from very little opportunity but then he got bigger numbers of mares and he has just shown that he is an exceptional stallion. It’s good to see all the French breeders who used him at €4,000, €6,000, €20,000 doing well. He has helped them at the sales and with their families, and there were a lot of French people who bought into him over the years. It’s really a success story for France and it was good to be able to share it with breeders.”

Following a year in which Wootton Bassett has been represented by the Group 1 winners Audarya (Fr) and Wooded (Ire), the horse who was the first to score for him at the top level, Almanzor, will now be faced with another test as his first runners take to the track in 2021.

Of his yearlings, de Chambure says, “It wasn’t the easiest year to be launching a stallion with their first yearlings but I think they were well received. Obviously the reputation now of Wootton Bassett is different to a few years ago and that has given Almanzor even more credit.

“They have a bit of size and quality and there’s a good vibe. Obviously we bred him and we raced him for a while so there’s huge expectations for his first 2-year-olds but there’s not a lot we can do now, we just have to wait and watch them run next spring.”

Haras d’Etreham actually welcomes three new stallions for 2021 as its National Hunt wing, Haras de la Tuilerie, is the new home of the Irish Derby winner Latrobe (Ire) (Camelot {GB}). The operation has a history of standing top-class dual-purpose and jump sires, with Poliglote (GB) and Saint Des Saints (Fr) being two stand-outs in this division in recent years. Last year the stud recruited Goliath Du Berlais (Fr)-a relatively rare National Hunt stallion with jumping form himself— to stand alongside his sire Saint Des Saints and the St Leger winner Masked Marvel (GB).

“Goliath Du Berlais won over fences in France so I was kind of looking for a Flat horse who could bring something different. The Montjeu (Ire) sireline has done really well [in jump racing] and there’s no reason that Camelot won’t. Funnily enough, Latrobe is also out of a Shamardal mare, the same as Hello Youmzain. He is a beautiful horse with a lot of quality, and plenty of size and scope for the National Hunt mares.”

With the size of modern-day stallion books being a bone of contention in the industry, breeders may take some comfort in the knowledge that the Etreham horses are limited to 140 mares in a season, including the newcomers.

“We do the same for all our stallions, the National Hunt stallions as well,” de Chambure says. “We just feel it is creating a little bit of a rarity and it’s a way to respect the breeders’ investment in a share, or a nomination. They know they have a foal or a yearling that has a certain value because the market is not loaded with them. There are different ways to help breeders and I feel it is one of the good ways to help them to create value.”

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