Sealiway

With the stallion fee announcements coming in thick and fast this week, it is worth reflecting on the busiest stallions in France for the 2024 covering season, following our recent round-up of the figures for Britain and Ireland. Firstly, our thanks must go to our esteemed colleague Adrien Cugnasse of Jour de Galop for sharing the figures he painstakingly put together this summer. They show that Haras de Colleville's Galiway (GB) was the busiest boy in the country by some margin with a book of 248 mares - the largest...

When Sunway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) wrapped up his two-year-old season with a win in the G1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, it was both a confirmation that his sire's early success was no fluke, and that his breeder has an uncanny knack at stallion-making. In 2007, Guy Pariente took a gamble on a horse no one else wanted to stand at stud and built an entire farm around him. Within a few years, Kendargent was one of the most popular stallions in France. So when he came up with another unheralded...

Not even a blanket of snow and some icy country lanes could deter those on the annual Normandy bloodstock pilgrimage more formally known as the Route des Etalons. With plenty of new sires to show off this year, many of France's major stallion studs welcomed in breeders and members of the public during the weekend showcase which is now in its 14th year. At Haras de Bonneval, the French home of the Aga Khan Studs stallions, more than 600 people turned out on Saturday to see the quartet of stallions...

The stallion business, just like many other aspects of life in the racing world, is a cyclical one. Riding the high waves is easy, but arguably of most importance is to keep paddling away below the water line when things are a little flat. Keen observers of the French scene will detect a swell on the horizon. Following the untimely demise of Le Havre (Ire) and the sale to Coolmore of Wootton Bassett (GB), Siyouni (Fr) has been almost a lone head bobbing along in the elite waters, but the...

A share in Haras de Colleville stallion Galiway (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) was purchased by the Broadhurst Agency's Laurent Benoit for €160,000 to be the top-priced offering during Arqana's final online sale of the year Tuesday, Dec. 19. The rising 13-year-old is the sire of 14 black-type winners, eight at group level, including G1 Champion S. and G1 Prix Jean Luc Lagardere hero Sealiway (Fr) and Sunway (Fr), victorious in the G1 Criterium International. Galiway is also the sire of Vauban (Fr), a Group 3 winner on the flat and a...

A significant addition to the Tattersalls December Mares Catalogue is the wild-card entry of Kensea (Fr), the 13-year-old daughter of Kendargent (Fr) who has the rare distinction of being the dam of two Group 1 winners. That notable duo consists of the full-brothers Sealiway (Fr) and Sunway (Fr). One of the sons of Galiway (GB) was the busiest stallion in France this year during his first season at Haras de Beaumont, while the latter is a serious Classic prospect for 2024 on either side of the Channel. Guy Pariente, who...

Haras de Beaumont's first-season sire Sealiway (Fr) has had his first three mares scanned in foal in Normandy. The G1 Champion S. and G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner will cover more than 120 mares in his debut season at the Chehboub family's new farm close to Deauville.   "He has started his new job well and we are delighted with his book of mares for his first season at stud," said Haras de Beaumont manager Mathieu Alex. Those mares to the son of Galiway (GB) include the Group 1-placed Forces...

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)...

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...

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...

The catalogue for the Aug. 13-15 Arqana August Yearling Sale is online and can be viewed at www.arqana.com. Having already produced the likes of Angel Bleu, Hello You, Mangoustine, Rougir, Sealiway, Noble Truth, Meditate and Skalleti, the 2022 renewal is comprised of 313 yearlings which will be sold over three days, a departure from the two-day format previously. The sales times are as follows: Saturday, Aug. 13: 2p.m. - lot 1 to 145 Sunday, Aug. 14: 5.30p.m. - lot 146 to 230 Monday, Aug. 15: 5.30p.m. - lot 231 to...

Trainer Francis Graffard has indicated that Malavath (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}) is on course for the QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 1 following her victory in last week's G3 Prix Imprudence. The Tally-Ho Stud-bred filly is owned by Everest Racing, David Redvers and Barbara Keller, and she enjoyed a successful juvenile campaign, winning the G2 Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte before travelling to California to finish runner-up to Pizza Bianca (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf. Behind her in fourth that day was Cachet (Ire) (Aclaim {Ire}),...