Cheltenham Festival results show the value of sires with jumping ability

Bar the odd exception, the idea of running full horses over jumps with an eye to a future stallion career is one that has never taken off on this side of the Channel.

Often the horses in question are those who made the transition off the back of a successful Flat career, as in the case of Alderbrook, who won the 1995 Champion Hurdle on only his second try at the winter game for Kim Bailey, and Midnight Legend, a Listed winner on the Flat whose win in the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown in 1997 preceded a stud career that would come to be capped by the Gold Cup hero Sizing John.

The scene is quite different in France, where a number of owners are open to the idea of campaigning full horses. For those that succeed, there also seems to be an established willingness from breeders to support them at stud - look no further than the likes of Indian River and Robin Des Champs, both of whom began their careers in France, and the ever popular French veteran Saint Des Saints.