It was a balmy four below as TDN International VP Gary King and I set off for another day driving through the French countryside in search of espresso, baked goods and unpasteurized cheese (and stallions, of course) in the Ford C-Max (with the emphasis on Max). Haras de Bouquetot is Al Shaqab's outpost in Europe, [...]

I've always preferred grey, damp European winters to those in America, where a glaring sun in a cloudless sky is accompanied by bitterly cold temperatures. And so it is ironic that last week's stallion parades in Lexington were held in 45 degree temperatures with a steady rain, and today in Normandy saw a biting cold [...]

It would be impossible to see 23 stud farms and 100 stallions over the course of two days, even if they were all bunched together, never mind spread out over the vast landscape that makes up the Norman breeding region, but that's the annual challenge thrown down by the organizers of La Route Des Etalons, [...]

In mid-December, John Phillips was elected president of the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) for a two-year term. The TDN's Sue Finley sat down with him at the Keeneland January sales as he started his tenure to talk about his goals for the organization.   TDN: Why did you take on this role, and what do [...]

About a month before this year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, the French-language publication Jour de Galop devoted an entire edition giving guidance to those wishing to attend the Arc this year at Chantilly. “Don't be afraid,” they advised. Much like the Breeders' Cup last year at Keeneland, the Arc at Chantilly was a large-format event [...]

They say life is what happens while you're making other plans, and for one of a generation's highest-profile and most well-respected industry journalists in Kentucky, it must often seem just that way. Dan Liebman worked in various roles at the Daily Racing Form and Racing Times, but was best known for his 17 years at [...]

Two months after being rescued from a dire neglect case in Mercer County on a farm leased by trainer Maria Borell and her father, the six horses entrusted to the inmates at the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation's Blackburn Correctional Facility are thriving. While many of them still have months to go in their recovery, each of [...]

The merits of shortening the Prix du Jockey Club from 2400 to 2100 meters in 2005 continue to be debated in France even today, but one thing remains clear: its 12 renewals since that time appear to be producing the same caliber of successful stallion as its earlier, longer distance. Top young sires Shamardal (USA), [...]

After a 10-year battle, the Court of Appeals in Nantes, France has revoked the authorization for the global conglomerate Guy Dauphin Environnement (GDE) to operate a waste dump in Nonant-le-Pin. The decision, handed down Friday, effectively puts an end to the long standoff between GDE and the Sauvegarde des Terres d'Elevage, a group of breeders [...]

While we didn't exactly wake to bright skies and sun, at least the lashing rain of Saturday gave way to a more typical Normandy winter day–overcast with mild temperatures–as the TDN squad set out for day two of the annual Route des Etalons, a series of loosely connected open houses organized by the French Breeding [...]

Every weekend this winter in Normandy has been a beautiful one, they tell us here…that is, until this one, when three TDN staffers descended upon the countryside to take part in the annual Route Des Etalons. Hundreds of people make the trek each year, but perhaps none have come as far as the TDN's International [...]

At the last two sales at Arqana, October and December, things got a little simpler at the former Haras de la Reboursiere et de Montaigu, or at least for those English-speaking salesgoers looking to remember the name of the popular French consignor. In October, the farm and consignment reverted to its original name and will [...]