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Do you know Raymond Poulidor? Back in the 60s, the Tour de France was dominated by the great Jacques Anquetil, who won the cycling circuit that stops a nation five times, while Poulidor, aka “Poupou”, finished 8 times on the podium, but never won, or even worn the yellow jacket. Regarded as “The Eternal Second”, a perennial underdog, the low-key gentleman with his strong provincial accent was immensely popular with French crowds, who sometimes blamed “Le Tour” victors for beating him.
Well … The French-bred supporters experienced a humbling opening day at the Festival since none of their champions won at all! Shocking! Yet they finished six times on the podium, yet the dam of the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Gr1) was bred in France, and yet we are all very proud of them!
Last year, the AQPS Epatante made the day by winning an emotional Champion Hurdle but without her triumph, we would have come home empty-handed, too.
This four-day meeting in March is a long run (pun intended). No need to rush …
Best French-bred on Day One
1:55 Arkle Novices’ Chase (Gr1) 2m
- 33/1 2nd Eldorado Allen (AQPS), owned by J P Romans & Terry Warner
Bred in Allier by Bruno Vagne
2:30 Ultima Handicap Chase (Gr3) 3m1f
- 14/1 4th Cépage (AQPS), owned by the Bellamy Partnership
Bred in Allier by Hervé d’Armaillé
3:05 Champion Hurdle (Gr1)
- 11/1 2nd Sharjah, owned by Mrs Susan Ricci
Bred in Vendée by Haras de Beauvoir
- 4/1 3rd Épatante (AQPS), owned by J P McManus
Bred in Sarthe by Mr & Mrs François-Xavier Lefeuvre
3:40 David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle (Gr1)
- 10/11 2nd Concertista, owned by Simon Munir & Isaac Souede
Bred in Calvados by Wertheimer & Frère
4:15 Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (Gr3) 2m½f
- 9/2 2nd Saint Sam, owned by Edward J Ware
Bred in Orne by Mrs Irene Catsaras, Mrs Véronique Dubois & Mrs Manon Dubois
- 66/1 3rd Elham Valley, owned by Caveat Emptor Partnership
Bred in Orne by Mrs S Dupray
- 11/2 4th 5/1 Houx Gris (AQPS), owned by Booth Evans Giles & Sullivan Bloodstock
Bred in Nièvre by EARL, Olivier & Marc Trinquet
4:50 Sam Vestey NH Challenge Cup Novices’ Chase (Gr2) 3m6f
- 3/1 3rd Escaria Ten, owned by the McNeill Family
Bred in Maine-et-Loire by J Cesbron
The “FR” of the day: Champion Hurdle 2nd-placed Sharjah
Sharjah was bred 8 years ago in Vendée, a region of France below Brittany that’s famous for the “Chouans”, who resisted the Revolutionaries at the end of the 19th Century “For God, King and Country” (it is also known for its delicious chickens and oysters but that’s another story!).
The son of Doctor Dino (standing at the Haras du Mesnil for €18,000) seems to be equally resilient and proud. Bought at Arqana for €30,000 as a yearling, he was once trained by Jonathan Pease and then by Henri-François Devin at Chantilly and finished in the frame in almost all his races over the flat before his transfer to Willie Mullins for Susan Ricci, as he turned 4.
Since then, he has run 32 times over jumps, won 8 races, took over £600,000/€700,000, and finished 2nd at the end of the last two runnings of the Champion Hurdle, this time beating Epatante, who beat him in 2020!
Ironically, Epatante was born and bred in a village, Chemiré-le-Gaudin, that was on the frontline during the “Chouans” unrest …
French breeder of the day: Bruno Vagne, breeder of Arkle Novices’ Chase 2nd Eldorado Allen
Any French-bred horse with the suffix “Allen” is bred by Bruno and Michèle Vagne in the Allier. Everybody expects his Envoi Allen to win the Golden Miller Novices’ Chase (Gr1) on Thursday as one of the shortest-priced favourites of the meeting, but on Tuesday, another horse bred by Bruno proved a worthy import when finishing 2nd in the Arkle behind the mighty Shishkin. That is 33/1-shot Eldorado Allen, who came late to beat Captain Guinness and Allmankind.
As their initial “E” can tell, since they are both AQPS-bred, Eldorado and Envoi Allen, whose dam is a sister to “Eldorado”, were born in 2014, a bumper year for the quiet breeder as they also welcomed Champion Hurdle winner Espoir d’Allen that year. Sold after two places in France, including one at Auteuil over hurdles, Eldorado seems to quietly develop into a top class chaser, and Bruno and Michèle Vagne hold a bloodline that seems to thrive at Prestbury!
Tomorrow at the Festival
French jumpers usually fare well in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the highlight of the Festival’s second day. Sprinter Sacré, dual winner in 2013 and 2016, and Politologue, the winner of the last edition, are the most recent example of a trend started in 1996 by Klairon Davis and repeated 10 times since.
Once again, a horse from France should start as the favourite of the race as Susan Ricci’s Chacun pour Soi, bred in Saône-et-Loire by livestock dealer Didier Berland, is the market’s favourite at 5/6. The 9-year-old gelding ran 7 times -and won on 6 occasions- in Ireland since he moved from Emmanuel Clayeux’s yard to join the Closutton’s armada at Willie Mullins’.
The good record of French horses on such a race is a bit of curiosity since 2-mile chases in France don’t exist! When the Auteuil programme was conceived, the idea was to run the best jumpers over middle-distances, usually a bit less than 3 miles, and then much further for the main championships. Yet French trainers nowadays emphasize their horses’ jumping ability, which they work early enough so that when they move to either Britain or Ireland, most of them are unfazed by speed runs on straight fences.
The “French” Brigade on Wednesday
37 (36 last year) / 100 runners (37%, 111 in 2020).
Details below
A French-bred to follow: Botox Has
5-year-old gelding Botox Has is a son of the French Derby winner Dream Well out of Bournie, a dual winner over Cagnes-sur-Mer’s obstacles, sired by Epsom and Irish Derby winner Kahyasi.
Bred by Carlos José de Souza Pedro’s famous Hamel Stud (the “Has” suffix), in Normandy, Botox Has started his career for his breeder at leading trainer François Nicolle’s yard. He was prepared for one of the toughest 3-year-old Hurdle races at Auteuil, le Wild Monarch, and finished second to Kick Up. He was shipped to Gary Moore’s yard after that and after a fine start, was out ten months before his winning comeback this season. He failed three times since then but the dual-course winner has spotted a nice opportunity here, in the Coral Cup (Gr3), with a 143lbs-mark.
Wednesday French-bred entries at the Festival (on ITV)
1:20 Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle (Gr1) 2m5f
- 15/8 Gaillard du Mesnil (AQPS), owned by Mrs J Donnely
Bred in Mayenne by Écurie Cerdeval
- 4/1 Bravemansgame, owned by John Dance & Bryan Drew
Bred in Ardennes by M Guiot & B Stoffel
- 14/1 Keskonrisk, owned by Claudio Michael Grech
Bred in Allier by Ms B Poulve
1:55 Broadway Novices’ Chase (Gr1) 3m½f
- 15/2 Eklat de Rire (AQPS), owned by P Davies
Bred in the Manche by Guy & Emmanuel Chérel
2:30 Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle (Gr3) 2m5f
- 6/1 Koshari, owned by Mrs Susan Ricci
Bred in Calvados by Mrs M T Bocq-Verdys, Mrs R Mauri-Amoros & R Amoros
- 7/1 Grand Roi (AQPS), owned by Noel and Valerie Moran
Bred in Loire-Atlantique by Gildas Vaillant
- 11/1 Monte Cristo, owned by Simon Munir & Isaac Souede
Bred in Orne by Jean-Philippe Dubois
- 14/1 Botox Has, owned by John Stone
Bred in Orne by Hamel Stud
- 12/1 Blue Sari, owned by J P McManus
Bred in the Manche by M L Bloodstock
- 33/1 Janika, owned by Simon Munir & Isaac Souede
Bred in Sarthe by H & M Langot
- 25/1 Saint Sonnet, owned by Colm Donlon
Bred in Calvados by Haras de la Croix Sonnet
- 33/1 Dans le Vent, owned by R J Gambarini Racing
Bred in Pyrénées-Atlantiques by Mrs Terrenegre-Laval, J L Laval & A P Larrieu
- 40/1 Breffniboy, owned by F A Clegg
Bred in Calvados by Haras de Manneville
- 50/1 Garo de Juilley, owned by G Thompson
Bred in the Manche by Georges Trincot
3:05 Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase (Gr1) 2m
- 5/6 Chacun pour Soi, owned by Mrs Susan Ricci
Bred in Saône-et-Loire by Didier Berland
- 15/2 Politologue, owned by John Hales
Bred in Sarthe by Antonia Devin
- 14/1 Cilaos Emery (AQPS), owned by Luke McMahon
Bred in Maine-et-Loire by Écurie Nicolas Taudon & J Poitou
- 16/1 Sceau Royal, owned by Simon Munir & Isaac Souede
Bred in Mayenne by Guy Vimont
- 22/1 Rouge Vif, owned by Kate & Andrew Brooks
Bred in Orne by Ecurie D & Mrs A Montbroussous
- 28/1 Greaneteen, owned by Chris Giles
Bred in Orne by Bertrand Compignie
3:40 Glenfarclas Chase (A Cross Country Chase) 3m6f
- Evens Easysland (AQPS), owned by J P McManus
Bred in Mayenne by Mrs M Avril & Ms M L Labbe
- 12/1 Some Neck, owned by the Some Neck Partnership
Bred in Sarthe by La Perrigne & Élevage de Courteilles
- 14/1 Balko des Flos, owned by Gigginstown House Stud
Bred in Maine-et-Loire by Clovis & Florence Bardin
- 18/1 Alpha des Obeaux (AQPS), owned by Gigginstown House Stud
Bred in Maine-et-Loire by Mrs Nicolas Devilder & Mrs S Fasquelle
- 18/1 Le Breuil, owned by Mrs Emma Palmer
Bred in Meuse by C Pelsy
- 33/1 Défi des Carrés, owned by Mrs John Thorneloe & MJR Bannister
Bred in orne by A Lemoignie & Ms E Soreau
- 66/1 Vivas, owned by Nigel M Davies
Bred in Moselle by E Van Haaren
4:15 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Challenge Cup Handicap Chase (Gr3) 2m
- 7/1 Entoucas (AQPS), owned by J P McManus
Bred in Mayenne by J Hardy
- 11/1 Ibleo, owned by the Bellamy Partnership
Bred in orne by Hubert Honoré & P di Pietro
- 20/1 Sizing Pottsie, owned by Ann & Alan Potts Ltd
Bred in Calvados by J C Haimet & Ecurie Océane
- 22/1 Duc des Genièvres (AQPS), owned by Sullivan Bloodstock Ltd
Bred in Allier by Mrs C Serre
- 25/1 Ashutor, owned by the Stewart Family
Bred in Calvados by the Aga Khan
- 25/1 Not That Fuisse, owned by Colm Donlon
Bred in the Manche by E Echaiz-Guevara & Ecurie di Tullio
- 25/1 Capuccimix, owned by Robcour
Bred in Sarthe by Mrs F Dagniaux, G Nordqvist & Mrs N Braem
- 40/1 Theinval, owned by Mr & Mrs Sandy Orr
Bred in Sarthe by V Berouard, Ms L Berouard & S Chatelain
- 40/1 Or Jaune de Somoza, owned by Gigginstown House Stud
Bred in Orne by Mrs L Curti
4:50 Weatherbys Champion Bumper (A Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race) (Gr1) 2m½f
- 20/1 Grangee (AQPS), owned by Syndicates Racing
Bred in Nièvre by Jacques Cyprès & Laurent Couétil