Karaktar reference: why Haras de Cercy believes the best is yet to come for the sire of Il Est Francais and Kala Conti

When a young stallion has a calling card like Il Est Francais from their very first crop, it is easy to imagine life will become much easier thereafter for the stallion master tasked with charting the horse's career.

In the case of Karaktar, a son of High Chaparral who has just embarked on his eighth season standing at Haras de Cercy in France's AQPS heartland, a look at last year's covering statistics might lead you to assume it's merely become a case of picking up the phone and counting the euros.

He was visited by 243 mares, earning him the slightly humorous crown of the 'Rocco d'Or', which is awarded by the website France Sire to the most active stallion for the year and named for an Italian adult film star.