Sealiway

Yesterday's piece with a selection of leaders in the French bloodstock community concluded with a teaser regarding the future stallion career of Daryz, the winner of last year's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe for Francis-Henri Graffard and the Aga Khan Studs. Of course, there is a lot of water to pass under the bridge, and more Group 1s to be won, before a decision has to be made, but it will be a conversation all the same as to whether Daryz takes up residence at the Aga Khan family's Haras...

Haras de Beaumont has announced a reduction in fee for its unbeaten Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Ace Impact, who will stand at €30,000 next season, down from €40,000 in his first two years. En route to his victory in the Arc, Ace Impact set a new record when winning the Prix du Jockey Club - a race won in recent years by the likes of Shamardal, Lope De Vega, Le Havre, New Bay and Study Of Man. "Ace Impact was the highest rated three-year-old in 2023 and his...

Circle the wagons and sally forth as one, for Deauville is in view, which means only one thing: it'll soon be Christmas. There is, however, a circuitous route to be navigated before we reconvene under the Normandy lights in December. And right now, surely even the older members of the travelling show can lift an enthusiastic heart, along with the odd glass or two, as the summer holidays merge happily with the beginning of the European yearling sales at Arqana and some damn good sport across the road at the...

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...