French stallions shaping the trotting breed ‘down under’
The steady flow of French trotting stallions to Australia and New Zealand in the past few years, driven largely by the Victorian breeding conglomerate Haras Des Trotteurs, looks set to have a profound effect on ‘down under’ breeding, yearling sales and racing for years to come.
After decades in which few, if any, French-based stallions could command the interest of breeders and yearling buyers in Australasia, France has gradually become the flavour of the month with trotting pundits.
The French-bred square-gaiters are renowned for their strength and athleticism and when crossing to daughters of the speed orientated American stallions the product is a refined individual capable of competing in the best of classes.
The renaissance has been spawned mainly by stallions from the lines founded by two of France’s greatest racehorses and sires Coktail Jet and Ready Cash.
Coktail Jet
Both Group 1 Grand Prix d’Amerique winners, the pair have dominated the French sires’ premiership this century in no uncertain manner, with Coktail Jet capturing the title on six occasions and Ready Cash being the premier stallion for the last nine years.
Of course, Coktail Jet is best known ‘down under’ as the progenitor of the mighty Love You, Europe’s champion sire for more than a decade, and one of Australasia’s premier sires since his first crop raced here in the 2013/14 season.
As the sire of Australasia’s richest ever trotting mare Queen Elida, the dual NZ Trotter of the Year Monbet, the Breeders Crown champion Keayang Chucky and the triple Oaks winner Habibti, Love You is without question one of the finest trotting stallions ever to become available to southern hemisphere breeders.
Love You is now making his presence felt as a sire of sires. Quaker Jet, his richest and best performed son, has left Group 1 winners in Australia in Im Ready Jet, Revelstoke and Fancy and numerous other ‘black type’ winners.
Another two sons of Love You in Classic Connection and Village Mystic have already made an impact from restricted stud chances in Australia.
Classic Connection, a European Group 1 winner and a multiple Group 2 and 3 winner, has sired four winners from five starters in his first crop including the talented two-year-old fillies Afternoon Breeze, the winner of three of her four starts and runner-up in the $75,000 Nutrien Equine Classic, and the NSW Foundation Trot winner Cee Cee In Paris along with a smart colt in Hammer.
Standing at the Goulburn Equine Centre, Classic Connection has a lot in his favour on the score of blood. Apart from being by Love You, he is out of the USA 2YO Trotting Filly of the Year Crys Dream and a member of the family of the USA Breeders Crown champion Brigham Dream.
Afternoon Breeze (Classic Connection)
Village Mystic, a seven-time Group winner and million dollar earner, is one of the most proved sons of Love You in Europe.
To date he has sired the winners of over $44 million at an average of almost $100,000 per qualifier and the winners of more than 1,000 races. He is in ninth positon on this year’s French sires’ premiership with 90 winners and $4.6 million in progeny earnings.
In Australia, Village Mystic has been represented by the Group 1 Need For Speed winner Amandine and the Listed winner Courmayeur, while in NZ, he has left the Sires’ Stakes champion and 4YO Trotting Entire of the Year Mystic Max.
Village Mystic’s frozen semen is available from Haras Des Trotteurs.
However, Coktail Jet’s influence on Australian and NZ racing and breeding does not end there!
The dual Group 1 winner The Best Madrik, the sire of five winners from five starters in this country headed up by the prolific Menangle winner and Group 1 placegetter Right Moves, is another of the Coktail Jet progeny to make his mark at the stud.
The leading percentage sire Used To Me, who is standing at Somerset Farms in Queensland under the Haras Des Trotteurs banner, is out of a mare by Coktail Jet.
From 90 foals of racing age, Used To Me has sired 40 winners from 55 starters at a tremendous average of $36,000 per starter.
His stock include the Vicbred champions Don’t Care and Gardena Ronda, My Used To Be, the recent NSW Carousel victor Familiar Tricks, the Listed winner Queen Of Quebec, the multiple Group placegetter Imsettogo and the Redcliffe Cup winner Izarra.
USED TO ME
Meanwhile, Ready Cash, a Hall of Famer in France, has been the leading money-winning sire in four different countries to date and now his sons as sires are coming to the forefront.
Bold Eagle, the winner of 21 Group 1’s and $7 million in stakes and Europe’s first sub 1:50 trotter, heads an imposing list of stallions available to Australasian breeders sired by Ready Cash.
He is the sire of the Elitlopp finalist and multiple Group 1 winner Aetos Kronos, the two-time Group 1 and Swedish Oaks winner Eagle Eye Sherry, the Group 1 Svenskt Travkriterium winner Brambling and the Criterium des Jeunes winner Green Grass in his first couple of crops to race.
The list of French-bred stallions available ‘down under’ this season also includes the great Bird Parker, the world two-mile champion and the sire of the winners of more than $30 million in Europe, Face Time Bourbon, a dual Grand Prix d’Amerique winner, the eight-time Group winner Eridan and Brillantissime, the sire of the Victorian country cups winner Hopeful Beauty.
Always Ready, the Australian 2YO Trotter of the Year and a dual Vicbred champion, and All Cashed Up, a Group 2 juvenile winner and a Victoria Derby, Breeders Crown and Anzac Cup placegetter, are a pair of young Victorian-bred sons of Ready Cash at the outset of their stud careers.
Another French-bred stallion in Orlando Vici cemented a name for himself in the annals of Australian trotting history through the deeds of the dual Inter Dominion champion and Australian and NZ Horse of the Year Just Believe.
A Group 1 winner himself, Orlando Vici has a 100 percent record at the stud in Australia with 28 winners from 28 starters at an amazing average of $130,000 per starter. Besides Just Believe, he is also the sire of the Group 2 winner Ollivici, the Victoria Derby and Vicbred champion Cravache d’Or, the Vicbred Final winner Visionary and the Group 3 victors Adelle and Brandlo Prince.
He has been among the top bracket of trotting sires since his first crop raced here in 2017/18.
In Europe, Orlando Vici has left the winners of more than $70 million including the European Championship and Elitlopp heat victor Un Mec d’Heripre, the winner of $3.6 million.
Orladno Vici