Zelzal

In this series, the TDN takes a look at notable successes of European-based sires in North America. This week's column is highlighted by the victory of Tribalism in Arcadia. No Nay Never Colt Finds His People BR Thoroughbreds' Tribalism (No Nay Never) graduated going a mile at Santa Anita on May 30 (video). The Michael McCarthy trainee was bred by Phoenix Thoroughbreds Limited. Second on debut at Keeneland, Tribalism was a $280,000 buy-back out of the Keeneland September Yearling Sale. The third foal and first winner for the multiple stakes-placed...

Zelzal has been deemed fully fit to cover mares in 2026 following an examination. The Haras de Bouquetot resident's 2025 season was disrupted due to health reasons. Amelie Lemercier, sales manager at Haras de Bouquetot, said, "Leader among sires of two-year-olds in France and responsible for 10 black-type performers in 2025, Zelzal confirms his position as one of the most dependable stallions in France thanks to the quality and consistency of his progeny, both on the track and in the sales ring. There are very few proven stallions, in France...

   Zelzal, who will stand for an unchanged fee of €10,000, anchors Al Shaqab Racing's Haras de Bouquetot roster next year. Jour de Galop first reported the news. The 12-year-old son of Sea The Stars has sired 11 stakes winners to date and has a trio of Group/Grade 3 winners to his credit in Dolce Zel, Short Final and Ouraika. Wooded, who sired G1 Prix Jean Prat hero Woodshauna this season, will also stand for his 2025 price at €7,000. Priced at €5,000 in his first year at stud, Al...

A Bayside Boy colt from Haras de la Louviere topped Friday's session at Part 2 of the Arqana October Yearling Sale when knocked down to Sebastien Desmontils, on behalf of Chauvigny Global Equine, for €67,000. Lot 538 is out of an unraced daughter of the G1 Preis der Diana heroine Penelopa (Giant's Causeway), whose other offspring include the Listed River Eden Stakes winner Pennymoor (Frankel) and G1 Irish 1,000 Guineas runner-up California Dreamer (Mehmas). Towards the end of the session, a Zelzal colt (lot 610) offered by the Fairway Consignment...

Part 2 of the Arqana October Sale kicked off on Thursday with another 154 yearlings going under the hammer, the pick of which was a De Treville colt from the Haras des Capucines draft who fetched €95,000. Bought by trainer Christophe Escuder, lot 428 was making his second appearance on the Deauville sales ground, having fetched €26,000 when Sumbe offered him as a foal at the December Breeding Stock Sale. He is a sibling to three winners out of the winning Galileo mare Gagarina, including a full-sister in Gregarina whose...

A man knows he is in clover when there's a bloodstock agent outside his door waiting to see his horse before he's even had time to chuck his breakfast into the feed pot on the morning of the sale. But that's exactly the scenario Danny O'Donovan faced into with his Zelzal colt on Friday and it proved a good omen with the €35,000 yearling purchase going on to top the sale at €270,000 to Peter and Ross Doyle.  This was a result that rubber-stamped an exceptionally good year for O'Donovan,...

First job in the Thoroughbred industry? Summer job as a stud groom at Highland Farm in Paris, Kentucky, that was managed by Peter Kirwan in 1999. Everything looked big and new at the time especially the Clydesdales that were kept on the farm not far from the Thoroughbreds! Biggest influence on your career? My friends Benoit Jeffroy and Gabriel Leenders. Unlike me the two of them are born and raised in this game and they have been keen to share their knowledge and experience with me since I decided to...

The mighty Sea The Stars (Ire) seems to have had more sons retired to the National Hunt stallion division than to the Flat, and he is of course represented by some notable new recruits to the stallion ranks this year in Britain in two of his most celebrated sons, Baaeed (GB) and Stradivarius (GB). Another son, Crystal Ocean (GB), topped the charts for the number of mares covered in Britain and Ireland in 2022, though of those 338 he of course covered predominantly jump mares at the Beeches Stud in...

The Group 3-placed Epic Poet (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) (lot 18) and a share in Classic winner Persian King (Ire) (lot 11) are two of the highlights of the Arqana December Online Sale at 3-5 p.m. on Dec. 15. The Jean-Claude Rouget-trained Epic Poet won the Listed Prix Pelleas at Compiegne in July. Third in the G3 Prix du Prince d'Orange on Sept. 4, he was most recently second in a pair of listed races at Marseille Borely. Persian King, who won the G1 French 2000 Guineas among his...

It is a question that has long fixated the bloodstock industry: which stallion can be caught as he rises to the top? As we know, those good stallions can be hard to find. Opportunity is naturally a key element to early success, but a stallion still needs to make the most of the chances afforded to him and for every one that lives up to expectations, there will be also be plenty who flop. As often said, horses are a great leveller and with that in mind, there is also...

Benoit Jeffroy's Haras de Castillon, a burgeoning force on the French racing and bloodstock scenes, burst into international prominence in December when it consigned the Group 1-winning Grand Glory (Ire) (Olympic Glory {Ire}) at the Arqana December Breeding Stock Sale, where she sold for €2.5-million. The quickly growing Castillon has only been in existence under its current guise since 2015, but the Jeffroy family has a history of breeding quality racehorses from their SCEA des Prairies, with just one recent example being Zelda (Fr) (Zelzal {Fr}), a listed winner last...

Arqana staged the second renewal of its November Yearling Sale on Saturday, with figures in line with its 2020 edition held amid the pre-vaccine pandemic. Last year, 215 yearlings were offered and this year it was 207. More were sold this year, 167 compared to 155, allowing the clearance rate to rise to 80.6% from 72%. The aggregate settled at €1,057,500, while the average was €6,332 (down slightly from €6,981) and the median was the same at €5,000. The top price was €30,000 compared to €57,000 last year, and that...