Tag: No Risk At All

Colin Bowe’s Korkoran Tops Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale

Colin Bowe, who has blooded top-notchers like Samcro, Envoi Allen and more, topped the one-day Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale with Ballinaboola point-to-point winner Korkoran (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}) (lot 26) fetching £240,000 to Ed Bailey Bloodstock on behalf of trainer Harry Derham. 

Korkoran's win came in the same maiden won by two-time Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 winner and Tattersalls Cheltenham February graduate Envoi Allen, who is aiming for a repeat victory in next month's Ryanair Chase.

Now an eight-time Grade 1 winner, Envoi Allen was owned as a young horse by pinhooker and consignor Walter Connors, also the producer of Korkoran.

He said, “Seamus Murphy bought Korkoran privately for me as a foal. It is a wonderful family and we have for a long time hoped to get one from that stud farm.

“We have been fond of him all along, and the sire needs no introduction. He is a middle of May foal and we thought he would not run until April, but he has come to hand earlier than expected. Colin has done a great job and we are lucky he keeps a couple of boxes for us each year.” 

Derham, who took out his trainer's licence last year, was in the news earlier this month when spending close to €500,000 on smart chasing prospect Imagine and talented race mare Mollys Mango at the Caldwell Dispersal, was visibly delighted to bag another big-priced recruit to his yard.

He said, “Ed has been following this horse for a long time, he is back and forth to Ireland all the time. The horse is a beautiful model, a good athlete and to have done this so early in his career, the type of horse he is, strikes us that he must be pretty smart – to be performing to that level already would bode pretty well. You look at him and think what a horse you will be in two years' time.” 

Of the horse's owner, Derham outlined, “He is for Ian Barratt, a new owner to me and who is wanting to develop real high-class team of horses both for the Flat and National Hunt codes–he owns the Jamie Osborne-trained Emaraaty Ana who won in Qatar last weekend. Jamie recommended me, which was very nice of him. Ian and his family are really enthusiastic, let's hope they are lucky.”

The Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale produced a solid afternoon's trade which saw 34 horses sold for an aggregate of £2,469,500 with a strong clearance rate of 89%.

 

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NH Sire No Risk At All Taken Out of Service For 2023

Leading National Hunt sire No Risk At All (Fr) (My Risk {Fr}) will miss the remainder of the 2023 covering season after suffering an accident in a paddock at Haras de Montaigu in France.

According to the farm, the 16-year-old stallion, whose produce include G1 Aintree Hurdle and two-time G1 Christmas Hurdle winner Epatante, will be on box rest for a month and the farm hopes to have him in full readiness to resume his career in 2024.

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Tangi Saliou: ‘I Didn’t Have A Euro To My Name At 18 – You Need To Work Hard’

What is the most important thing needed to get a stallion farm off the ground? A lot of people would rightly guess money but, according to Tangi Saliou, hard work trumps all, and his thriving Haras de la Haie Neuve is living proof to that theory. 

He may not have had a penny to his name when he embarked on a career in bloodstock a little over 20 years ago, but Saliou now stands nine stallions at Haras de la Haie Neuve, and is convinced that there is little that can't be achieved without good old-fashioned graft. 

Group 1-winning juvenile Ebro River (Ire) is the newest stallion to the Haras de la Haie Neuve roster, and represents an exciting new partnership with Al Shaqab, which goes some way in illustrating the trajectory of the stud. 

“If you sit in front of the television all day, you will do nothing with your life. You need to get out there and try to make something of yourself in order to have something good. That is what we have tried to do,” – Tangi Saliou.

Saliou said, “I think Ebro River will cover a lot of mares. I am very happy to have him here because he was a very fast racehorse and we need some horses like that standing in France-some of our mares are not very fast. It's a new partnership for us with Al Shaqab and I am very happy to work with them. Let's hope Ebro River can be the next Mehmas (Ire) in France! I am a positive thinker.”

He added, “My first job in racing was as a rider before working for 10 years at the French National Stud. When the French National Stud finished up, I went to work for Haras de Montaigu where I worked as the technical director for six years. We had a lot of success with Martaline (Fr), No Risk At All (Fr) and we also bred Wings Of Eagles (Fr) as well. 

“About five years ago, I decided to buy a new 50-acre farm two hours west of Normandie. I began with four stallions and now we have nine. As well as that, our farm was responsible for 8% of the entire thoroughbred mares covered in France last year. I have 60 mares here myself and, after buying a new farm last year, we have upgraded and have 45 yearlings and 10 full-time workers. It's busy!”

Seahenge is another Haras De La Haie Neuve resident that fans of British and Irish racing will be familiar with. The son of Scat Daddy carried Michael Tabor's silks en route to victory in the G2 Champagne S. at Doncaster for Aidan O'Brien in 2017 and joined fellow ex-Ballydoyle inmate Taj Mahal (Ire) on the roster. 

Saliou said, “We have worked with Coolmore to get Seahenge and Taj Mahal. We also worked with the Wertheimer family to stand Anodin (Ire) here. So, along with Al Shaqab, who we are also very happy to be working with, we have been busy trying to get many partnerships together to stand these stallions. 

“Seahenge was the champion first-season sire in France and a lot of the trainers are looking forward to his 3-year-olds this season. Seahenge is a big horse and we think his progeny will do even better at three.”

Ebro River winning the G1 Pheonix S. at the Curragh in 2021

So how has Saliou built up the quality at Haras de la Haie Neuve year after year? For starters, the stud places as much emphasis on jumping stock as it does on the Flat, the broodmare band does a lot of the heavy lifting and, perhaps more importantly of all, Salious's wife has a penchant for investing in stock over diamonds.

“We strive to be better, always. When I was 18, I had no money, not even a euro to my name. All I had was my driver's licence and my hurt. My courage was my best friend and I always worked hard. That was the only solution. 

“As well as this, my wife Dorothy is very good. There are some women who like to buy clothes and diamonds but my wife prefers to buy mares. She is very good at that. I always had two or three mares myself. When I was working at the French National Stud, I had two Group 1-producing mares, but I was not even aware of this at the time. It was a very good surprise.”

He added, “One of the mares, Nutz (Fr), bred the Grade 1-winning hurdler in Britain, Elixir De Nutz (Fr) (Al Namix {Fr}). We have been very lucky with horses but, to have the luck, you need to roll the dice. If you sit in front of the television all day, you will do nothing with your life. You need to get out there and try to make something of yourself in order to have something good. That is what we have tried to do. 

“We have some good mares at the moment, 12 of which are ours, and they are split between jumps and Flat mares. We have the dam of Sceau Royal (Fr) and she is in foal to his sire Doctor Dino (Fr). We also have a full-sister to Doctor Dino in foal to Kapgarde (Fr) and bought in partnerships some very good Flat mares as well.”

Saliou's love affair with Doctor Dino does not end there. A number of Christmases ago, when going through the profile of the top-class jumps sire who stood for €20,000 last year, the stallion man stumbled across a sibling who he simply had to add to the roster at Haras De La Haie Neuve.

He explained, “We bought Bande (Ire) in Japan and it was very good business. We had nothing to do over the Christmas holidays and looked up to see if Doctor Dino had a brother anywhere around the world. We saw that Bande was in Japan, called someone there, and got the deal done.”

For how much?

“I don't remember,” he laughed, before adding, “but it was very good business! We got him syndicated and he has covered over 100 mares every year which is very good in France. He covered 165 in 2021 which was the most any jumps stallion covered that year. We have a lot of good-looking foals and yearlings by him and we are very happy with him. He's a very strong stallion and he looks like his father, Authorized (Ire), so hopefully he can be the next Doctor Dino. 

“He only covered 10 mares in Japan before we bought him. Of those 10 mares, he had only eight foals, and only three or four runners. From that tiny crop, he had two winners and one second, which is very good.”

To be able to get over 100 mares into an unproven stallion year after year, regardless of who he is related to, is a fair achievement. So what is the secret?

“We always cover a lot of mares. When you are young and full of energy, you must work hard. I am 46 now but I like to work hard. I always do my best for my clients and, if you think that way, you will do well. I have had the same clients for over 10 years and lots of the same clients who call me up for advice. I work with a lot of trainers, too, and try to be as correct and honest with everyone. If you can be correct and honest, you can work in this industry for a long time, because you need to build long-term relationships.”

 

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“Everyone Is Welcome,” – Opportunity Knocks On La Route Des Etalons

Is it just me or should France be known as the bloodstock land of opportunity? This is the country that saw Wootton Bassett (GB) and Walk In The Park (Ire) pull themselves up by the bootstraps after entering the stud book at relatively modest sums. There are few serious racing nations that provide as much of a chance for a stallion to flourish than France does.
Take Kauto Star (Fr), the greatest staying chaser of the modern era, as an example. He hailed from the largely unheralded Village Star (Fr) but the cream was still provided with the right chance to rise to the top here.

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.


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.”

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.


“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.


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.

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.


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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