The Grade 1s staged over the weekend of the Dublin Festival did a fine job of promoting the French bloodstock industry – the eight Grade 1s staged over the two days all went to horses boasting an FR suffix.
And that weekend’s Gallic influence spread even further – the Sandown-hosted Scilly Isle Chase (G1) was won by Gerri Colombe, a son of Saddler Maker and bred by the Boistier family in France, the French-bred horses took a full house of top level wins.
Maybe the most important result over the weekend was the coming of age of State Man who put himself firmly at the top of the Champion Hurdle list of contenders with an impressive four and three-quarters length victory over crowd favourite Honeysuckle in the Chanelle Parma Irish Champion Hurdle (G1), his victory denying the wonder mare her fourth win in the race.
The son of Doctor Dino made all and, turning for home, quickly put distance between himself and the field, showing a fine burst of speed unmatched by his rivals. He has now run eight times, won six races five of which are graded races, with his last four victories all coming at the highest level. The six-year-old is putting in a significant shift, while the vanquished Honeysuckle lost nothing in defeat behind such a progressive gelding.
State Man is a half-brother to Statuaire (Muhtathir), who won the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle (G1) also for trainer Willie Mullins. Both horses were bred by ML Bloodstock with State Man initially trained by Daniela Mele for the breeder and for whom he finished second in the 2020 Listed Prix Wild Monarch at Auteuil on his career debut. He was sold privately after to Mullins and owner Joe and Marie Donnelly.
He fell on his first run for the new ownership at Leopardstown, when disputing the lead, but since that reverse has not been headed, collecting the County Hurdle (G3) at The Festival last March, the Champion Novices Hurdle (G1) at Punchestown, the Morgiana Hurdle (G1) and the Matheson Hurdle (G1) before his Dublin Festival victory.
His dam Arret Station (Johann Quartz) won three times over jumps for ML Bloodstock, including registering success in the Listed Prix de Chambly as a three-year-old.
She has had a near full breeding record since producing State Man and has an unraced 2018 gelding by Kapgarde called Soir De Grace, a 2019 Pastorius filly named Bus Station, a 2021 Born To Sea filly with the name Sea Station and in 2022 produced a filly by It’s Gino who has been named Gina Station.
The 21-year-old Doctor Dino, a son of Muhtathir, is one of an elite group of NH stallions standing in Europe and Haras du Mesnil has him priced at a career high of €20,000 for 2023. He started out in 2010 at €3,000, which was his base figure for his first six years at stud, and he has since produced seven NH Grade 1 winners, as well as Group class winners on the Flat
His top-priced sales horses of 2022 were both fillies and were both sold on bespoke online bloodstock auction platforms. Jade De Grugy, the winner of her sole start, was bought unsurprisingly by PB Bloodstock / H. Kirk and W.P, Mullins when sold by iwanthewinner.com last October for €230,000, while Royale Maraux, a two-time Listed winner over fences and hurdles, fetched the same amount on Auctav.com at one of its Flash Sales, purchased by Highflyer Bloodstock.
She is now in training with Tom Symonds and is owned the progressive and ambitious Dahlbury Racing with a breeding plan in mind. She is a half-sister to the Grade 2 winner and Grade 1-placed chaser Royale Pagaille, the French Grade 2 winner Royal Astaranaia and her dam Royale Cazoumaille was a Listed-winning hurdler.
Il Etait Temps, a surprise Willie Mullins-trained Grade 1 winner of the Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle when stablemate and race favourite Facile Vega failed to fire, was also bought privately by Mullins in France after two runs and without a win to his name.
Bred in 2018 by Emanuel Clayeux and SC Ecurie Couderc, the gelding is by Jukebox Jury who has stood at Burgage Sud in Ireland since that year. Il Etait Temps is the son of Montjeu’s third Grade 1 NH winner after Farclas took the Triumph Hurdle in 2018, and Stuke won two top level hurdle races in Italy.
Maybe the victory for Il Etait Temps should not have been such a surprise – the five-year-old had previously collected Grade 1-placed form when third in last year’s running of the Spring Juvenile Hurdle and when second in December’s Future Champions Novice Hurdle then behind the weekend’s vanquished Facile Vega (Walk In The Park).
Jukebox Jury is, of course, sire of the top-class Flat-performer-turned-hurdler Princess Zoe, winner of the Group 1 Prix Cadran and who dead-heated alongside Ladybank at Punchestown at the end of January on her first outing over hurdles. At 300,000gns, Princess Zoe had failed to find a new buyer in the Sceptre Session at the Tattersalls Mares’ Sale last December and so trainer Anthony Mullins and owners Patrick Kehoe and Mrs P Campton have rolled the NH dice.
The mare is entered in the Albert Bartlett and currently a 20/1 chance. It would be exciting prospect if she can make her way to Prestbury Park, but she will need to build on her first run to be competitive.
Her joint-winner Ladybank is trained by Henry De Bromhead for Kenneth Alexander and is another filly, like Honeysuckle, purchased by Peter Malony’s Rathmore Stud on behalf of Alexander. Honeysuckle was purchased after her point-to-point success, but Malony acted much earlier for Ladybank spending €50,000 on her as a foal at the Tattersalls Ireland NH November Sale when purchasing the daughter of Balko from Millhouse Stud and breeder John Lightfoot.
Ladybank does not hold any entries at The Festival, and although she is a British-bred she comes from a wholly French family being a half-sister to the Jean-Marc Lucas-bred Athena Du Berlais, winner of the Italian Grade 1 hurdle for trainer Guillame Macaire, and is out of the French Loup Solitaire mare Wendy Du Berlais.
It has been announced that her fellow Alexander-owned mare Honeysuckle (Sulamani) will not be Champion Hurdle bound at The Festival, but will run in the Grade 1 Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle. She will likely be taking on last year’s winner Marie’s Rock (Milan) and the needs-to-be-supplemented Epatante, who is by another leading French-based sire in No Risk At All.
Epatante was beaten by Honeysuckle in last year’s Champion Hurdle, but if she is added to the mares’ field, and seemingly in better form than last year, we could be in for a fine sight as the three mares round the home turn at Prestbury Park.
Between the three they have won 21 Grade 1 races, and they are fine advertisements for the merits of racing fillies and mares over a full racing career, as well as of the benefits of a race programme that includes a variety of types of races solely for mares and fillies.