Route des Etalons

The studs participating in the 2026 edition of La Route des Etalons have been confirmed, with 21 farms set to open their doors on Friday, January 23 and Saturday, January 24. "These two days are both professional and one of the social events of the year," read a press release issued by La Fédération des Eleveurs (French TBA). "We look forward to meeting you there on January 23-24. Thank you in advance to the studs, the visitors and our sponsors and partners." The full list of studs welcoming visitors and...

Where to start on the first morning of the Route des Etalons? It was a decision which would have been easy to rush into, what with so many enticing options to choose from, all of them immaculately presented, ready and waiting to welcome the first guests of the day. 'Pace yourself,' I reminded myself. 'There's always tomorrow for anything you don't get to today.' Anyway, that's enough about the breakfast buffet at the hotel. Suitably fueled with a pile of crepes, cakes and pastries that would have made my dentist...

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)...