'We're prioritising our family and our children' - Karwin Farm up for sale but Vayres committed to 2026 covering season

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

Karwin Farm, one of the newest and most dynamic entrants into the Normandy stallion and breeding scene, is to be put up for sale with the 2026 covering season to be the last under the husband-and-wife team of Gregory and Ambre Vayre.

The operation first opened its doors to clients in 2022 and has stood out for both the ambition of the Vayres to invest in state-of-the-art infrastructure, as well as their eye for a diverse group of stallions serving both codes. 

All five stallions on the 2026 roster, including newcomer Grey Man, will complete a full season covering, while Gregory Vayre confirmed that Karwin's future direction would be in the hands of whoever buys the 66 hectare site, which is situated 50 miles south of Caen.  

Vayre told the Racing Post: "It’s our choice to sell the stud this year, and it’s a choice we’ve made for our family. We feel we’re missing out on seeing our children growing up because we work every day and lots of nights. We are going to prioritise our family and our children."

Asked whether the next chapter in the couple's journey would remain in the breeding industry, Vayre added: "We are going to move abroad. We won’t be working with horses when we leave but we will keep all the racehorses we currently own. It’s the stud and the breeding we’re letting go of."

Gold Tweet won the Cleeve Hurdle in 2023 and was third in the Prix La Haye Jousselin last NovemberCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Vayres' silver silks with a gold cap have been carried with distinction by the Gabriel Leenders-trained Gold Tweet, one of nine horses in full or part-ownership in 2025 under the banner of Karwin Farm. 

He was an impressive winner of the 2023 Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham and is now one of France's leading chasers, finishing third in the Prix La Haye Jousselin in mid-November while Karwin Farm is also a part-owner of Too Darn Hot filly Break Dance, who took a decent two-year-old conditions event at Deauville at the back-end of the year.

The family are also sole proprietors of two of the five stallions on site, while two more are retained outright by their racing owners. 

"All five will complete the next covering season with us, there’s no worry on that front, said Vayre. "After that it depends on who the new buyer is, and whether or not they want to continue the farm as a stallion station or not."

A son of the late Wootton Bassett, Grey Man is the newcomer to the Karwin line-up, having won the Prix Francois Boutin for owner Jean-Philippe Dubois and trainer Patrice Cottier at two, before chasing home the classy pair Ramadan and Beauvatier in the Prix de Fontainebleau at three. The half-brother of Poule d'Essai des Poulains runner-up Dastarhon and the Coronation Stakes second Lesstalk In Paris has been introduced at a fee of €3,000.

Grey Man is the latest son of Wootton Bassett to retire to stud in France, and will stand at Karwin Farm for €3,000Credit: Racing Post/Burton

God Blessing is a classy miling son of Siyouni whose first foals are due to hit the ground in the early weeks of 2026, while the line-up also boasts stallions by Deep Impact, Scat Daddy and Camelot.

"It will also be the choice of the various different partners and owners as to whether they wish to stand their horses here under new ownership or move them elsewhere," said Vayre. "The new Wootton Bassett who has joined us for 2026, Grey Man, is owned entirely by Monsieur Dubois.

"Our Deep Impact stallion, Keiai Nautique, is one we hold a large share in but who also has three other owners, including Narvick International’s Emmanuel de Seroux. 

"Van Beethoven has around 20 shareholders and God Blessing is 100 per cent the property of Jose Delmotte’s Haras d’Haspel. And we are the sole owners of Nerium, who will be sold in due course."

Keiai Nautique, the winner of the 2018 NHK Mile Cup in Japan before having a stint in Australia, could potentially have runners this year while Van Beethoven, who took the Group 2 Railway Stakes with Aidan O'Brien, has fielded 13 winners so far including last year's German 2,000 Guineas runner-up Ciaran.

A son of Siyouni, God Blessing is one of five stallions who will stand at Karwin Farm in 2026

Both Gregory and Ambre Vayre started out in the world of showjumping and purchased the farm in 2018 with the initial thought of breeding and standing thoroughbreds. 

In the eight years as owners of the property they have never stopped adding to the facilities, with many of the buildings constructed in the distinctive local stone. 

And any thought that the couple have let that side of the business slide even as they considered their family's future is readily dismissed, with the stallions now housed in brand new premises across the farm from their previous lodgings.

Vayre said: "Whoever buys the stud will be acquiring a farm with a lot of new infrastructure, including a completely redone stallion station with six boxes, a covering shed, a walker and an indoor school as well as a variety of paddocks, everything is new on that side of things. 

"It's a stud farm that has been thought out to be very practical and functional, and all the infrastructure is very recent." 

Karwin Farm will once again be one of more than 20 studs to open its doors during the Route des Etalons – Normandy's stallion trail – on January 23 and 24. 

Read next

Breeders in limbo as Sands Of Mali certificate dispute puts recent sales at risk 

Back-to-back Relkeels for Pastorius as Kabral Du Mathan shows Cheltenham class