French Stallions in the Spotlight

By Alix Choppin 

For the first time in over a decade, six stallions will serve covering duties in France at fees of €15,000 and over. The distinguished sextet comprises Siyouni (Fr) (€20,000) and Makfi (GB) (€17,500), both standing at the Aga Khan's Haras de Bonneval, Haras de la Cauviniere's Le Havre (Ire) (€20,000), Haras de Colleville's pride and joy Kendargent (Fr) (€18,000), Al Shaqab's newcomer Olympic Glory (Ire) (€15,000) and Haras du Quesnay's star sire Motivator (GB)(€15,000). This number will increase further in the near future as Intello (Ger), who served his first two seasons at Cheveley Park Stud at a fee of £25,000, and Charm Spirit (Ire), who retires to Tweenhills at the same fee, are both set to relocate to France in 2015. 

This season, only three French-based stallions commanded fees of €15,000 and up, namely Redoute's Choice (Aus) at €60,000–who will stay in Australia next year–Kendargent and Motivator, both at €15,000. Two years earlier, Elusive City (Ire) was the sole French-based sire to reach €15,000. Such lack in depth appeared as a severe depletion when compared to the golden era of the late 1990s, when the likes of Linamix (Fr), Highest Honor (Fr), Anabaa, Bering (GB) and Kendor {Fr} commanded fees up to €60,000. 

Georges Rimaud, Head of the Aga Khan Studs, saluted the resurgence of the French stallion roster. “This really is a positive sign for all those who breed in France,” he said. “First of all, this rise in covering fees is a true reflection of the upgraded quality of French-based stallions. Olympic Glory is a four-time Group 1 winner, Motivator has sired a dual Arc winner, and the other four are highly exciting young sires, whose first crops have achieved outstanding results both on the track and in the sales ring.” 

He continued, “More depth in the upper stallion market will mean more opportunities for the better mares to be covered in France, while in recent years, breeders who wanted to use the top-tier stallions had little choice but to send their mares abroad. I even believe that this bunch is good enough to buck the trend and attract significant numbers of mares from abroad. Our experience with Redoute's Choice has showed that it is feasible: almost half of the mares he covered at Bonneval came from the UK, Ireland, Germany and even North America. At every sale this year, we saw progeny of Kendargent, Siyouni and Le Havre being bought by investors from as far afield as Australia, China or Japan, so I can see why more breeders from all around Europe would want to use them.”