The Weekly Wrap: Quesnay Rises Again

There's been plenty of discussion about the significant renewal in the French stallion ranks over the last decade and a pleasing factor of recent results, both in the sales ring and on the racecourse, is that two stallions of rising repute are both associated with a stud which was very much to the fore the last time the French stallion scene was in its pomp.

Within a fortnight in the summer of 2009, Haras du Quesnay lost both Highest Honor (Fr) and Anabaa. The former, who died at the age of 26 a year after he was pensioned, would have come as less of a shock, but the death of Anabaa at 17 after complications arising from colic surgery was a bitter pill to swallow. Another Quesnay stalwart, the homebred Bering (GB), had been retired from duties at the end of that year's breeding season and died at the age of 28 in December 2011.

The beautiful row of stallion boxes at the farm just outside Deauville has been home to a number of sires since that time and it's fair to say that none has really captured the imagination, despite the fact that Motivator (GB), who arrived at Quesnay after a stop-start career at the Royal Studs, has been responsible for arguably the most celebrated horse to grace the French turf in recent times, the Head family-bred Treve (Fr).

That could well be about to change, however. In a 'stallion-share' agreement, Quesnay stood Intello (Ger) for two seasons in 2016 and 2017 after the son of Galileo (Ire) had completed two seasons at Cheveley Park Stud in Newmarket, where he returned this year.

A year earlier, another talented Wertheimer-bred colt, Anodin (Ire), had retired to Quesnay immediately after finishing runner-up to Karakontie in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, the race his full-sister Goldikova (Ire) had made her own between 2008 and 2010.

After covering 138 mares in his first season (followed by 107 and 86) and being given only moderate support from buyers at last year's yearling sales, Anodin is now in fifth place in the European first-crop sires' table with 10 winners from 30 runners, including Sunday's G3 Prix des Chenes winner Anodor (Fr), who led home another son of Anodin, Insandi (Fr).

“It's really special for us as he's the only son of Anabaa we've ever stood at Quesnay,” said stud manager Vincent Rimaud on Monday morning as he reflected on an exciting week for farm's young stallion.

“It's also good for the Wertheimers, who have had such a long association with Quesnay, and also stand Intello and our new stallion, Attendu (Fr), here.”

In fact, the names Wertheimer and Head are woven into the success of Anodin. Freddy Head trained the horse and four of his siblings, while his sister Criquette Head trained another three. Freddy Head also owns Decize (Fr), the dam of Anodor, who races in the colours of Jean-Louis Bouchard in partnership with the trainer's wife.

“Decize is by Kentucky Dynamite, who also stood at Quesnay and Freddy trained Anodor's first three dams,” Rimaud noted. “He's a bit like Treve in that he is a 100% Quesnay horse.”

A stallion with two established owner-breeders behind him will naturally have a decent chance of producing some talented offspring and Alain and Gerard Wertheimer have not only supported Anodin with their own mares but have also made some notable yearling purchases. The stallion's first stakes winner, Harmless (Fr), was bought at Arqana's V.2 Sale last year for €35,000 from breeder Sydney Vidal, and racing manager Pierre-Yves Bureau was back in action last week at the Osarus Yearling Sale at La Teste.

After signing for a session-topping colt out of Bahia Gold (Woodman) at €115,000, he said, “We want to continue to support the stallion as we did at the [Arqana] V.2, and as we have done with Intello (Ger). We sent Anodin another 25 mares this year.”

The success of Anodin's first runners has led to a significant upturn in the demand for his second crop. In 2017, his yearlings sold for an average of €29,395 (for 47 sold) while so far this year, all 16 offered have sold, returning an average of €54,548.

The current buzz around both Anodin and Intello, who is second only to Camelot (GB) in the second-crop sires' table, is a much deserved fillip for two of France's most revered breeding operations.

Man For All Seasons
Another stallion operation which had plenty of cause for cheer over the weekend was Newsells Park Stud. Nathaniel's outstanding daughter Enable (GB) returned to the fray in ebullient fashion, her belated 2018 debut very much worth the wait as she extended her winning sequence to seven. Hours later, The Tin Man (GB), the best offspring of another of the stud's residents, Equiano (Fr), relished the wet conditions at Haydock to land his third Group 1 and ninth victory from just 20 starts.

It remains a source of constant bemusement that The Tin Man's trainer, James Fanshawe, who has proved himself consistently over the decades he has been training, isn't given more patronage. One suspects that his tendency to nurture gently a horse's potential over several seasons—a trait that marks him out to this observer as a consummate horseman—is a training method now increasingly shunned by owners lured into the 'run 'em early and make a quick buck' mentality encouraged by those neither paying the sales bill nor the training fees.

It's sad because, from champion sprinters to champion hurdlers, Fanshawe is quite clearly among the very best trainers in the land.

Foreign Influence in Paris
Back in 1996, Always Aloof led home a 1-2 for his sire Alleged in the G3 Prix Gladiateur at Longchamp in the blue and white stars of Swedish owner-breeder Sven Hanson, and those same silks returned 22 years later to the new-look winner's circle aboard Called To The Bar (Ire) (Henrythenavigator) on Sunday.

The 4-year-old is trained in Chantilly by Hanson's compatriot Pia Brandt, who was also recording her second victory in the race after Bathyrhon (Ger) (Monsun {Ger}) brought her name to wider prominence in 2014 by becoming Brandt's first Group winner.

In fact, the results at ParisLongchamp on Sunday provided a perfect advertisement for the French Racing & Breeding Committee to continue to encourage foreign breeders to become involved in France.

Along with Sven and Carina Hanson, who bred Called To The Bar under the name Fair Salinia Ltd, Spaniard Dario Hinojosa triumphed in the main race of the day, the G1 Prix du Moulin, with the admirable Recoletos (Fr) (Whipper).

The 4-year-old dual Group 1 winner is a son of the Highest Honor mare Highphar (Fr), who was bred by Hinojosa, the former owner of Newmarket-based Chevington Stud, from Pharatta (Ire) (Fairy King), a IR£15,000 foal purchase from Goffs back in 1995.

Pharatta proved to be a shrewd purchase, winning the G3 Prix de Sandringham and finishing fourth in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches. Though Highphar was herself unraced, she has enhanced Pharatta's legacy considerably and is also the dam of Castellar (Fr) (American Post {GB}), winner last month of the G2 Shadwell Prix de la Nonette, also in her breeder's colours.

Like Hanson, Hinojosa has called on a Chantilly-based compatriot to train for him, and both Recoletos and Castellar have contributed to a fine season for Carlos Laffon-Parias, who is fourth in the French trainers' table behind Andre Fabre, Jean-Claude Rouget and Alex Pantall.

Finally, the G3 Prix d'Aumale was won by Rocques (Fr) (Lawman {Fr}), who was bred by the Rome-based Di Paolo family's San Paolo Agri Stud which keeps three mares at Haras de Montaigu, including the dam of Rocques, Regina Mundi (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}).

Bought from the Montaigu consignment for €60,000 at Arqana last October, the filly is now unbeaten in three starts and looks to be another enticing Classic prospect for her trainer Fabrice Chappet. Before then we may see her back in Paris on Arc weekend for the G1 Qatar Prix Marcel Boussac.

Braveheart
There aren't too many Classic winners still winning races at the age of nine but then there's only one Wicklow Brave (GB) (Beat Hollow {GB}). Of course, purists wouldn't consider the G1 Irish St Leger, open to older horses, to be a proper Classic and indeed Wicklow Brave won it as a 7-year-old, two years ago to this very day. He did, however, lead home significant rivals in the Ascot Gold Cup winners Order Of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) and Trip To Paris (Ire) (Champs Elysees {Ire}).

The veteran, who won three bumpers as a 4-year-old before becoming a successful hurdler and later being tried on the Flat, may have been running in smaller, weaker company of late but he's notched four wins in a row this summer, including on Sunday at Listowel, where he had time to indulge in some Kerry sightseeing during his two-mile trip before easing himself 56 lengths clear of his two rivals.

Bred under Juddmonte's Millsec banner, Wicklow Brave was bought for €11,000 as a yearling by Bobby O'Ryan and then brought back to Tattersalls Ireland as a store horse by Luke Barry's Manister House Stud. Selected at three by Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins for what now seems like a bargain sum of €43,000, he is closing in on earnings of €1 million.

But it's not really about the money. Wicklow Brave has taken his owner Nick Peacock to major racing festivals on three different continents, winning at Cheltenham, Galway, Punchestown and the Curragh, and running in the Melbourne Cup, Caulfield Cup, Belmont Gold Cup, on British Champions Day and at Royal Ascot. His 47 starts to date have culminated in 14 wins and it looks like a steeplechasing campaign could be on the cards this winter, with Mullins hoping for a clean sweep of Group/Grade 1 races across the Flat, hurdles and chase fences. Let's hope fortune continues to favour the Brave.