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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First Winner For Wings Of Eagles

The 2017 G1 Investec Derby scorer Wings Of Eagles (Fr) (Pour Moi {Ire}) celebrated his first winner on Sunday when the Cedric Rossi-trained Jolienene (Fr) took a 1200-metre Nimes claiming race at second asking. Jolienene is owned in partnership by Cedric Rossi and Charley Rossi.

A €220,000 Arqana August Yearling, Wings Of Eagles emulated his sire in winning the blue riband. He stood his first season at his birthplace, Haras de Montaigu, for €12,000 before being recruited to Coolmore's National Hunt stallion ranks at Beeches Stud. Wings Of Eagles has 36 foals in his first crop.

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Lope De Vega Stars On Track And In The Ring

DEAUVILLE, France—The second part of the Arqana October Yearling Sale concluded on Wednesday with consistent results across the two-day section. Again, the clearance rate was encouragingly high at 82%, with 131 horses sold for €3,179,000 at an average of €24,269 and median of €20,000.

Lope De Vega (Ire) had been represented by his fifth juvenile stakes winner of the season when Godolphin’s unbeaten Parchemin (Ire) landed the listed Prix Isonomy at Deauville and several hours later across the road at Arqana, another of the stallion’s young chestnut sons led the third day of trade.

Bred by Framont Limited and offered through Haras de Castillon, lot 465 joined a large intake of sales yearlings for Al Shaqab Racing this season after Paul Hensey and Nicolas de Watrigant went to €95,000 to secure the half-brother to the stakes-placed Mohab (GB) (Sir Percy {GB}).

“He was a lovely individual and Lope De Vega is a proven sire who does it day in and day out. He’s also out of a mare by Mr Greeley, which always adds a bit of brilliance to a pedigree,” said Hensey of the son of the unraced Princess Aurora, a half-sister to American listed winners Willard Straight (Lion Cavern) and Jesse’s Justice (Lear Fan).

Commenting on the increased activity by Al Shaqab at the yearling sales this season, Hensey, who was appointed chief operating officer in June, added, “We’ve bought almost 40 yearlings. We were keen to support our own stallions and Sheik Joaan is very conscious of the fact that times are hard for breeders.”

Al Shaqab also bought lot 452, a filly by its freshman stallion Al Wukair (Ire) and from the family of another of its former stallions, Style Vendome (Fr), from the Fairway Consignment for €60,000.

Owner Manfred Schmelzer enjoyed success over the weekend in Germany with a French-bred when his juvenile filly Noble Heidi (Fr) (Intello {Ger}) won the G3 Preis der Winterkonigin and he sent his trainer Henk Grewe in pursuit of the day’s second-top lot, a Rajsaman (Fr) colt who is closely related to that sire’s dual Classic winner Brametot (Ire). The latter is now standing in Germany at Gestut Ebbesloh after spending his first two seasons at Haras de Bouquetot. 

Lot 436, offered by his breeder Haras de la Perelle, is a son of the unraced Morning Sun (Ger) (Law Society {Ire}), who is a full-sister to the dam of Brametot as well as being a half-sister to Germany’s pre-eminent stallion of the modern era, (Monsun {Ger}). This same family was represented in the one of the opening day’s top lots, as Matauri Pearl (Ire) (Hurricane Run {Ire}), the dam of the €450,000 Sea The Stars filly, is a grand-daughter of Morning Sun’s half-sister Morning Queen (Ger) (Konigsstuhl {Ger}).

Born To Sea (Ire) has undergone a semi-reinvention since being relocated from Ireland to Haras des Faunes in France, with a number of his offspring enjoying successful careers over jumps. Francois Nicolle, one of the country’s leading National Hunt trainers, has added a yearling filly to his string in the shape of lot 514, a grand-daughter of the classy sprinter Superstar Leo (Ire) (College Chapel {GB}), whose family has featured prominently in France of late via the treble G1 Prix de la Foret winner One Master (GB) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}). 

Nicolas de Watrigant, who bought the filly for €70,000 on behalf of the trainer said, “Francois Nicolle  has had success this year with offspring of Born to Sea, such as [listed hurdle winner] Born to Hold (Ire). He had seen her at Haras des Faunes and really wanted to buy her.”

The daughter of Speed Song (GB) (Fasliyev) was bred by the Tsui family’s Sunderland Holdings and was consigned by Haras des Faunes, where Born To Sea covered a book in excess of 150 mares this year.

Among those stallions with first yearlings this season is the Derby winner Wings Of Eagles (Fr), who spent one season at the stud where he was born and bred, Haras de Montaigu, before being switched to Coolmore’s National Hunt roster in Ireland. A member of his debut crop will be heading to the Melbourne stable of Danny O’Brien after being bought by Jeremy Brummitt for €60,000. The same trainer/agent combination has enjoyed notable success with northern hemisphere-bred Russian Camelot (Ire) (Camelot {GB}), the winner of two Group 1 races in Australia and favourite for this Saturday’s G1 Cox Plate.

Bred by Mathieu Daguzan-Garros of Haras des Granges, the Wings Of Eagles colt (lot 432) is out of the Red Ransom mare Mix-feeling (Ire) and his 2-year-old half-brother Mexico City (Fr) (No Nay Never) was recently third in the G3 Killavullan S. for Aidan O’Brien and the Coolmore team.

“He wasn’t just my pick of the day, he would have fitted in very well on day one,” said Brummitt. “He didn’t need the update to make us follow the horse strongly. It is inconceivable that a horse who was good enough to win the Derby cannot command a full book of Flat mares in his first season, particularly when you look at some of the stallions he was up against.”

Brummitt has bought two colts in partnership with O’Brien at Arqana this week, the other being a colt by Intello (Ger) (lot 47) during Monday’s opening session. The pair also bought eight yearlings at the Tattersalls October Sale. 

Tina Rau was another to sign for a yearling by Wings Of Eagles, also at €60,000. The first foal of the Medicean (GB) mare Sajida (Fr) (lot 485) hails from the family of Arc winner Sagamix (Fr) and also that of Newsells Park Stud’s star broodmare Shastye (Ire), whose Galileo (Ire) yearling colt recently topped Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale at 3.4 million gns.

Rau said of the February-born colt, who will be trained in Chantilly by Nicolas Clement, “He was my pick of the day, an absolute star horse. Overall I have been very impressed with the yearlings by Wings Of Eagles. I didn’t necessarily have him on my list of horses to follow but they all seem to have a lot of quality to their coat and skin, and I always think that’s a good sign. This one was the easiest-moving of the Wings Of Eagles bunch and his pedigree makes easy reading too. He’s obviously going to take a little bit of time but I am very glad we got him.”

Part 3 of the October Sale gets underway from 2pm on Thursday, and the sale concludes on Friday.

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