Safeguarding a French Breeding Jewel

Normandy is replete with picturesque stud farms of varying sizes but few can boast the rich history of Haras de Saint Pair. Originally established in 1883 by Leonce Delatre and for many years under the ownership of Count Evremond de Saint Alary, the farm on the outskirts of the pretty village of Cambremer has for the last 10 years been the property of Andreas Putsch, who views its 130 hectares as something of an equine Camelot.

“It's a powerful place,” he says as we sweep past paddocks up the main drive to the lovingly restored manor house at its heart. “I don't feel like the owner, I feel like the custodian.”

Under the fastidious stewardship of the man whose bloodstock knowledge is largely self-taught but expansive, the stud which has been the birthplace of four G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners and once stood the ill-fated champion sire Omnium II (Fr) is gradually returning to its former glory.

The G1 Prix du Moulin winner Vadamos (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) is the most decorated graduate of the most recent phase in its history, but he may soon be challenged for that title by Trais Fluors (Fr) (Dansili {GB}), unbeaten until finishing runner-up to Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) in last weekend's G1 Prix Jean Prat; and Via Ravenna (Ire) (Raven's Pass), the winner of the G3 Prix Imprudence in April who heads next for the G1 Prix Rothschild next month.

“I looked for a farm for a long time because I wanted to be close to Deauville to have somewhere I could come home to after the sales and the racing. It took me five years to find it,” says Putsch. “It's been a lot of work, a real learning process and a great adventure. I wouldn't want to miss any minute of it.”

His residency in Switzerland for two-thirds of the year means that he is physically unable to enjoy the farm on a daily basis, but one senses that even while ensconced in the mountainous Engadine valley, Putsch's questing mind wanders constantly back to the more verdant pastures of Normandy's Orne valley.

“The thing that interested me about this farm was that it had a long history of producing good horses but then had a spell,” he said. “I thought it should be possible to go back there. I'd bred horses before, boarding on other people's farms, so I had to learn about farming and that was a fascinating process. I think when you learn, you can read as many books as you like but the thing that really sticks is when you have your own experience. Every place is different and I had to learn how this farm works. Once you have that intimacy with the farm, it becomes interesting. But I'm convinced that genetics is only one third of the breeding process, then another third is how you raise them, and then of course the training. If there's one weak part, it's not going to happen.”

Born in Germany, not far from Baden-Baden, it was the sport horse world which initially sparked Putsch's equine interest, and he bred his first show jumper from one of his grandmother's mares at the age of just eight.

“I loved racing and once I had sold my part of the family business to my brother I could really get involved,” Putsch says. “You have to love what you do. All my energy and thinking goes into this farm, that's why I'm happy.”

Under his former 6C Racing banner, Putsch's initial involvement in racing and breeding was purely commercial.

“I was breeding to sell. I tried to buy mares with good pedigrees who didn't have such good racing records. Some of their offspring sold well, so commercially it was a success, but what bothered me was that there weren't enough good results on the racecourse with those horses. Then I read Joe Estes's book which compared mares' performances and I studied all the dams of the good stallions. I decided that the way to go was to buy performance over pedigree–it's very difficult to afford both.”

The G1 Prix Vermeille winner Pearly Shells (GB) (Efisio {GB}) is the only survivor from that previous operation within the broodmare band at Saint Pair, and she has earned her place, not just on the track but as the dam of three black-type horses. Her Group 3-winning daughter Pearl Banks (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) and Listed-winning granddaughter Pearly Steph (Fr) (Oasis Dream {GB}) are also among the herd. However, there is little room for sentimentality when it comes to restricting the numbers, as any sensible breeder must do.

Putsch says, “I believe it's dangerous to have too much faith in your own families, so I am always into keeping what works and changing what doesn't work. You have to keep investing all the time. I never have more than 60 horses on the property. I always try to stay under 25 mares, which is good because it forces me to be selective. If a new one comes in she has to be better than the worst one here.”

Some tough decisions will have been made then in order to make room for some well-credentialed purchases from last season's breeding stock sales, including the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches runner-up Irish Rookie (Ire) (Azamour {Ire}), a December Sales acquisition at 935,000gns who is now in foal to Dubawi (Ire). Putsch was back in action at Tattersalls this week, adding La Patria (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}) to the ranks at 270,000gns.

The breeder has retained five shares in Vadamos, who has been given a flying start at one of the most commercially astute farms in Europe, Tally-Ho Stud.

“It's fantastic, he covered 185 mares in the end,” Putsch says. “Getting him onto such a commercial farm which has so many mares and which supports their own stallions was really important to me. I will support him, but the programme of Saint Pair is not to make stallions, it's to make families. Vadamos is not part of the breeding programme: I'm not going to do a Lagardere and send all my mares to him. I feel I need to be free to choose the stallion that I think fits.”

The development and planning of the modern-day Saint Pair does not end with the equine residents. Putsch has built two matching barns–one for colts and another for fillies–in which the yearlings can seek cover, and a deep straw communal bed in the winter, with each opening out onto paddocks to allow freedom of movement while the summer paddocks are rested.

“They have plenty of space and fresh air to move around and they have shelter, too. They do come in, we know that, but the choice is theirs.”

The first crop of yearlings to enjoy these state-of-the-art structures included Trais Fluors, who was offered for sale later that year, but was bought back by his breeder after behaving badly at Tattersalls. His juvenile misdemeanours are now fully forgiven, as Trais Fluors, under the tutelage of Andre Fabre, has progressed from one facile maiden victory at two, to Listed and Group 3 successes this year. A win at the highest level is surely within his compass.

“He's a gentleman today but we had to bring him home from the sale–lucky me,” adds Putsch.

Not so lucky, however, is that the colt's Group 3-winning dam, Trois Lunes (Fr), also a Saint Pair homebred from the first crop of Manduro (Ger), has been tricky to get in foal since producing her talented son at the first attempt. She has had just one subsequent foal–a colt by Kendargent (Fr)–and is not in foal this year.

More and more, Putsch and his counterparts can call on a burgeoning array of desirable stallions among the domestic ranks in Normandy, a situation which suits the breeder's plans.

“My experience is that it's tough to send pregnant mares abroad,” he says. “When the foals come back and I compare them to the foals here, there's a huge difference. Thankfully the stallions are getting better in France, so I try only to send the empty mares and maiden mares abroad.”

In planning his matings and potential purchases, he calls on his “sparring partners”, the brothers Crispin and Jocelyn de Moubray. “I don't call them advisors but I like to discuss things to make sure I'm not galloping totally in the wrong direction.”

In addition to his private solo venture at Saint Pair, Putsch has maintained strategic links with other noted French breeders at Ecurie des Monceaux and Haras des Capucines.

“It's paramount that this place plays for itself, so I do a lot of commercial trading on the side, if you like,” he explains. “I would like to think that my breeding programme at Saint Pair is not commercial. Whenever I make a mating it's for racing.”

Such trading has included selling half of Vadamos during his racing career to John Camilleri of Winx (Aus) fame, while multiple group winner Jimmy Two Times (Fr) was recently sold privately to Godolphin.

“You have to sell a lot of yearlings to be paid the same amount that you can get for a Vadamos or a Jimmy Two Times, so I really shouldn't send yearlings to the sale, I should race them all,” he says.

Haras de Saint Pair does sell yearlings, however, but never at the August Sale, despite having stock more than worthy of inclusion at Arqana's flagship auction.

“I've found that selling at the October Sale works very well for us. It gives the horses more time in the paddocks and then we are a big fish in a small pond. I think I've sold yearlings well in October that wouldn't have made the same amount in August as they wouldn't have been ready,” he explains.

“I want to raise them as naturally as possible. I always think that when you go to a good horse farm you see lots of cows and hardly any horses. When you see horses everywhere, forget it, it's not a good farm.”

As already alluded to, it is important to learn from mistakes, especially in breeding. Putsch is happy to admit to his, and even to reverse an earlier decision if it will help his farm. He bought the Group 3 winner Via Milano (Fr) (Singspiel {Ire}) as a 3-year-old in training for 170,000gns and then sold her on at six for 55,000gns after she produced two small foals. Her second foal Via Medici (Ire) (Medicean {GB}) went on to become a Group 3 winner herself in Putsch's colours.

“When the trainer of Via Medici started telling me she had talent, I made sure I bought her dam back privately and she's been a tremendous mare since then–she's probably the most consistent mare on the farm,” he admits. “She goes back to the family of Ribot and she produces precocity, speed, toughness –it's all there. Obviously when I started I wanted those big, strong, good-looking horses and that's what you get paid for at the sales, but the small ones seem to have fewer problems and generally they stay sound. If you are a commercial breeder you might not have the luxury to breed from the small families.”

Putting commerciality aside, at least when it comes to his cherished personal project at Haras de Saint Pair, has allowed some flexibility in tempting to solve the puzzles which intrigue so many breeders and clearly have Putsch in their grasp.

He says, “I've always been fascinated by breeding. I am a horse breeder, nothing else. It took me a long, long time to understand a few things, and it took me even longer to understand that I will never understand everything.”