Allegorie De Vassy

The multiple Grade 2-winning chaser Allegorie De Vassy (lot 769) topped Wednesday's final session of the Goffs December National Hunt Sale when bought by Justin and Jackie Owens of Mount Armstrong Stud for €150,000. The eight-year-old daughter of No Risk At All, who was offered in foal to the late Jukebox Jury, was consigned by trainer Willie Mullins' Closutton Stables. Incidentally, Mount Armstrong was also responsible for the most expensive weanling sold earlier in the day when lot 615, a Walk In The Park filly out of the Grade 2-winning...

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)...