Haras de Beaumont Buys Into Classic Hero Ace Impact 

The Prix du Jockey Club winner Ace Impact (Fr) (Cracksman {GB}), who is currently the top-rated three-year-old in Europe, is to continue his racing career for a partnership which consists of his original owner Serge Stempniak and the Chehboub family. Upon his eventual retirement, he will stand at the Chehboub-owned Haras de Beaumont, close to Deauville.

Unbeaten in four starts to date, Ace Impact set a new race record in winning his Classic for Stempniak and trainer Jean-Claude Rouget. From the first crop of Cracksman, who was one of the earliest stars for his sire Frankel (GB), he was bred by Waltraut Spanner. Unsurprisingly, there has been interest in the exciting young colt from stallion farms around Europe.

“I was very keen for Ace Impact to remain in France for his future stallion career,” said Stempniak. ” It was also very important for me to engage in a French partnership. I had a lot of offers from abroad. However, I thought that this was a shame because the horse certainly has a great career ahead of him in the breeding shed in France. I'm very happy to enter into a partnership with the Chehboub family whom I met a short while ago. We hit it off straight away. They are people with great human values. I have retained a 50 per cent stake in Ace Impact, and the terms of our agreement stipulate that the horse will carry the colours of both concerns on an alternate race basis.  My last condition was that Ace Impact's Arc bid should be in my colours.”

Pauline Chehboub owns Haras de Beaumont with her father Kamel, traditionally racing their horses under the banner of La Gousserie. The stud, which is on part of the land formerly used by the historic Haras du Quesnay, was officially launched in December and is already home to the stallions Sealiway (Fr), who covered 160 mares in his first season this spring, and Intello (Ger), who was sent 130 mares.

She said, “Ace Impact is the best Classic winner of his generation in Europe, and his rating ranks him among the top five horses in the world. Ace Impact represents an exceptional opportunity for French breeders. We're really of the same mindset as Serge Stempniak, as letting him go abroad would have been a huge loss. He's also a very attractive type. With the help of Mathieu Alex, who is a key lynchpin in the success of Haras de Beaumont, we are fortunate to have enjoyed a successful first breeding season.”

Jean-Claude Rouget signed for Ace Impact as a yearling at Arqana for €75,000. He has indicated that his ultimate aim this season is the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, with the colt likely to be seen next in Deauville in the G2 Prix Guillaume d'Ornano. After that, Ace Impact could head either to Longchamp for the G2 Prix Niel, or to Leopardstown to contest the G1 Irish Champion S.

The trainer said, “This is a very good indicator for French racing and breeding. Kamel Chehboub has made a major statement by purchasing a 50 per cent stake in Ace Impact, and with the aim of standing him as a stallion at his Normandy stud when his racing career ends. Serge Stempniak, having acquired the colt as a yearling at the Deauville sales, will retain 50 per cent in the colt, at least until the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in which we hope to run.”

Haras de Beaumont manager Mathieu Alex, who played a key role in the stallion career of another Prix du Jockey Club winner, Le Havre (Ire), added, “The stallion business is extremely competitive, so securing a high-class horse like Ace Impact is fantastic news for Haras de Beaumont and for France. Unbeaten, Ace Impact is the fastest Prix du Jockey Club winner and his rating of 123 makes him the best three-year-old in the world today. He's got a great mind and his turn of foot is exceptional. In the care of one of the best European trainers, Jean-Claude Rouget, his future is exciting.”

 

 

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12 Questions: Pauline Chehboub

First job in the Thoroughbred industry?

Actually, my first job in the Thoroughbred industry is my current one, manager of our racing operation.

Biggest influence on your career?

Without hesitation, my dad from the beginning. I have a very high regard for him, and for what he has done. He is a self-made man.

Favourite racehorse of all time, and why?

Miesque, she had everything. A magnificent racehorse with a sturdy character, and in addition, she was a wonderful mare.

Who will be champion first-season sire in 2023?

Ten Sovereigns. His first yearlings were impressive at the sales, a mix of power and tenacity. He was a superb, unbeaten 2-year-old.

Greatest race in the world?

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is such a historical race. Super popular and hard to win.

If you could be someone else in the industry for a day who would it be, and why?

Maybe a top-class jockey like Mickael Barzalona (a very good friend) to feel his sensations. It must be a lot of adrenaline on a big day like Arc day or the Dubai World Cup.

Emerging talent in the industry (human)?

I would say Christopher Head, it runs in the family. For his first season as trainer, he has already trained a Group 1 winner. That is just the beginning for him.

Name a horse TDN should have made a Rising Star, and didn't?

Horizon Dore. An unbeaten two-year-old and very, very impressive.

Under-the-radar stallion?

Intello, he has done a really good job so far. Fantastic racehorse, superb pedigree, already produced Group 1 winners. And at €8,000 for 2023.

Friday night treat?

Popcorn (and Netflix).

Guilty pleasure outside racing?

Eat well and drink white wine or my favorite cocktail 'HUGO' with St Germain Liqueur.

Race I wish I'd been there for…

Flightline's Breeders' Cup Classic this year.

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Sealiway the Centrepiece at Brand New Beaumont

It is unquestionable that the cessation of the Head family's operation at Haras du Quesnay is a sad development for French breeding but there is at least one phoenix to rise from those ashes in the launch of the Chehboub family's Haras de Beaumont. Set on 100 acres of land formerly owned by Alec and Ghislaine Head on the Quesnay estate, and just across the road from the chateau, the new operation's proximity to Deauville is one major draw, as is the retirement to the French stallion ranks of the dual Group 1 winner Sealiway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}), who carried the Chehboubs' green-and-yellow silks of their Haras de la Gousserie with distinction in France and England. 

Kamel Chehboub and his daughter Pauline, who plays a key role in the family's racing and breeding interests, campaigned Sealiway in partnership with his breeder Guy Pariente having bought him as a yearling at the Arqana August Sale in 2019. His subsequent rise to Group 1 star is very much a feather in the cap of Pariente's Haras de Colleville, as not only is Sealiway from the first crop of resident stallion Galiway, a son of Galileo (Ire), but his dam Kensea (Fr) was also bred there and is by the stallion that made the farm's name, Kendargent (Fr). Step back one more generation in the pedigree of Sealiway and we find that his second dam Sea Island (Fr), bought inexpensively by Pariente as a yearling, is by the former Quesnay resident Gold Away (Ire). What goes around, comes around. 

The success of this horse on the racecourse has in no small way driven the Chehboubs' desire to make a major impact on the French scene by launching their own stallion operation. Sealiway has been joined at Haras de Beaumont by the 12-year-old Intello (Ger), whose stud career thus far has been split between Quesnay and Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, and the George Strawbridge-bred Stunning Spirit (GB), a Group 3-winning miler by Invincible Spirit (Ire) in the same colours as Sealiway who started his stud career at Haras de Hoguenet and has his first foals on the ground this year. It is plain, however, that this new venture very much centres on one horse.

“Sealiway, It starts with him,” says Pauline Chehboub. “We have a horse like him, a champion, and we wanted to do the best for him. We are very proud to offer Sealiway in France. He won the Champion Stakes in the UK and he was the best two-year-old in France.”

The Chehboubs are certainly not newcomers to the racing scene. Hailing from Marseille, Kamel and his brother Bouzid raced the 2008 GI Arlington Million winner Spirit One (Fr) (Anabaa Blue {GB}) who spent some years at stud in France. They already own Haras de la Gousserie in the Loire region, and they also enjoyed a major victory on Arc weekend last year when Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) won the G1 Prix de l'Opera. She was subsequently sold for €3 million to Peter Brant and Michael Tabor and went on to win this season's GI EP Taylor S. for Chad Brown.

Running a commercial stallion operation is a new direction, however, and the family has played a masterstroke in appointing Mathieu and Emilie Alex to run Haras de Beaumont. Mathieu Alex, who cut his teeth in the business with a lengthy stint at Coolmore, was a key player in the success of Haras de la Cauviniere, later Montfort et Preaux, and its flagship stallion Le Havre (Ire), who died earlier this year. 

Pauline Chehboub adds, “We are very happy to establish this new project in France and to do that with family and with a good team like Mathieu and Emilie. That's super exciting.”

Alex is all too aware of the commercial imperatives key to launching a new stallion when he says, “It's clear [Sealiway had] quite an extraordinary racing career because he won his first race as a two-year-old in May over six furlongs. He had the speed to win over six. He won the Champion Stakes over ten. He was second only to St Mark's Basilica in the French Derby, which is a great stallion-making race. He was a champion two-year-old in France.

“It's the interesting part about him. Because he raced at two, three and four people forget, but he was extremely good as a two-year-old and had a lot of precocity, and there is a lot of precocity in his pedigree. And that's one of the targets with him, to try to target that two-year-old market as well.”

Sealiway, who had only arrived at Haras de Beaumont three days in advance of TDN's visit in early December, is certainly playing his part well so far. A relaxed individual who appears to enjoy posing for the camera, he is an easy-moving horse who will surely draw admirers as visitors descend on the new stud through the early months of 2023 and for the Route des Etalons on January 21 and 22.

“Sealiway is obviously a very important horse for for the this new operation and this farm,” Alex continues. “The owners want to support the horse. It's so important not only to send good mares to the horse, but also to raise [the offspring] properly and send them to good trainers. It doesn't always work, but this is the formula we like to follow.”

Alex acknowledges that the former inhabitants of the land now known as Haras de Beaumont set a formidable example to follow.

He says, “It's part of the Quesnay, which has been extremely successful. It's going to be very difficult to do as well as the Head family but we'll try hard for sure. And we are very fortunate to have this land. A lot of champions have been bred here. Treve has been raised here. So, you know, it's a dream for us, but we work hard for it. This location as well, when you're standing stallions, we are 10 minutes away from Deauville, so when people are at the sales, they can give us a call, we have a shuttle, they come here, they'll see the horses, and they can be back in town 10 minutes later.”

Sealiway is of course not alone in the new stallion barn. His fellow Galileo-line sire Intello is rising 13 and has the Group/Grade 1 winners Intellogent (Ire) and Adhamo (Ire) to his credit. Stunning Spirit, meanwhile, hails from the Strawbridge family that produced Group 1 winner Rainbow View (Dynaformer), a sister to his dam. 

“Intello has got an extraordinary ratio of stakes horses, 11% stakes performers to runners, which is huge,” Alex notes. “And he's a very well-bred, good-looking horse. He was a French Derby winner, and he's a proven sire at a very reasonable fee, so we are very happy to have him, and we are also going to stand Stunning Spirit, who is a group winner by Invincible Spirit and his dam is a full-sister to Group 1 winner.”

As outlined by Alex, the Chehboub family plans to support Sealiway with a number of mares from their own broodmare band as well as some recent purchases, including Key Success (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}), the dam of black-type earners Axdavali (Fr) (Goken {Fr}) and Axdaliva (Fr) (Elusive City), bought at Arqana last weekend.

Pauline Chehboub says, “We bought three mares at Goffs especially for him: one by Dubawi, one by Acclamation in foal to Sea The Stars, and another Group 1-placed [mare], so we'll send maybe 25 or 30 mares to him this year.”

Pauline will have her work cut out as she oversees the family's stable in Chantilly, which is the base of trainer Ludovic Rovisse. Their 55 horses in training are also spread between a number of trainers including Jean-Claude Rouget, Francis-Henri Graffard, Yann Barberot and Didier Guillemin.

“I have a lot of trainers to follow and we have maybe 25 two-year-olds, so it is very busy,” she says. “But I love the breeding, it is my passion, so I will help Mathieu and Emilie and spend time in Deauville and Chantilly.”

She adds of Sealiway's recent retirement from the Graffard yard, “It was a special moment when he left the stable at Chantilly for the last time because there was a lot of sentiment for this horse. He has been different class from the beginning, since my father saw him as a yearling. He's a good mover, he could do short distances and Classic distances so, for me, he had everything.”

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Sealiway to Stand at New Venture Haras de Beaumont 

The 2021 G1 Champion S. winner Sealiway (Fr) will retire to his owner's Haras de Beaumont near Deauville for the 2023 covering season.

The 4-year-old son of Galiway (GB) will be the first stallion to stand under the Beaumont banner, the new base for Kamel and Pauline Chehboub's breeding enterprise on land purchased from the Head family at the famed Haras du Quesnay. Haras de Beaumont will be managed by Mathieu Alex.

“I think we have the place for this champion in France. He deserves his place at stud,” Pauline Chehboub told TDN. “He was the best 2-year-old in France, one of the best 2-year-olds in Europe, and he was the best horse in France last year.

“To be able to stand him at such a magical place as Quesnay and to have as our first stallion a champion such as Sealiway makes us very proud and excited. It is a new turn in our career as owners and breeders. Our goal is to breed at the top level and to race the next champion.”

The Chehboubs, who race under the name Haras de la Gousserie, campaigned Sealiway in partnership with his breeder Guy Pariente. Among his five victories at two, he won the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, the race also won by France's current champion sire Siyouni (Fr). The following season Sealiway was runner-up to St Mark's Basilica (Fr) in the G1 Prix du Jockey Club and also ran fifth in the Arc before winning the Champion S., in which he beat Classic winners Adayar (Ire), Mac Swiney (Ire), and Mishriff (Ire).

The Chehboub family previously stood their homebred Arlington Million winner Spirit One (Fr) at stud in France but are now in the midst of a significant expansion of both their racing and breeding operations. Kamel Chehboub's daughter Pauline is managing the racing stable recently purchased in Chantilly which is now the base of Ludovic Rovisse, who is training 35 horses for the family.

Commenting on the significant purchase of part of Quesnay, Chehboub said, “I think it's very important to us to perpetuate what has happened on this land. The Head family was an example for everyone in this industry and for us too. 

“Beaumont is a major project, a story of people and encounters. We have called on Mathieu and Emilie Alex who, thanks to their expertise, will support us in doing everything possible to try to achieve our objectives.”

“It will be exciting in December to be able to show breeders the stud and Sealiway when they are in Deauville for the sales. We will be supporting the horse and we would love to add some new mares to the stud because he deserves to be covering mares at the top level. Unfortunately we sold Rougir last year, as he deserves this type of filly.”

In a banner year for Haras de la Gousserie in 2021, Rougir (Fr) (Territories {Ire}) won the G1 Prix de l'Opera on Arc weekend a fortnight before Sealiway's triumph on British Champions Day at Ascot. The filly was sold later that year by Alex under the Sumbe banner for €3 million to Michel Zerolo on behalf of Peter Brant and Michael Tabor. In Tabor's colours she won last weekend's GI EP Taylor S. for the Chad Brown stable. 

“We are proud to have raced such a filly,” said Chehboub. “She showed on Saturday that she was still the mare we had in France. I think she just needed some time to acclimatise to a new country, and one that's very different in France.”

For Chehboub and her father, the search is now on for the next stars to race under their new title of Ecurie de la Gousserie from their Chantilly yard alongside Les Aigles.

“I think my father is proud of what we have achieved so far, and the continuity of that is our project now. We have our eyes on the future. I would say the best is in front of us and that's very exciting.”

At Haras de Beaumont, Mathieu Alex has been appointed to run the stud and launch the career of Sealiway, a role for which he is well qualified, having previously worked with leading French sire Le Havre (Ire), among others, during his days at Haras de Montfort et Préaux, later known as Sumbe.

“It is exciting to start our activity with a horse with the class of Sealiway,” he said.  “His performances at the highest level, his warrior attitude and his longevity make him a true champion. 

“The Chehboub family and Guy Pariente are determined to do everything they can to give Sealiway the best possible start at stud. This is very positive for the French breeding industry. We will do our utmost to involve breeders in this exciting project and thus share the success of such an adventure.”

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