Ten must-see stallions on the Route des Etalons this weekend

7yo b h Sea The Stars-Strawberry Fledge (Kingmambo)
Haras du Logis

Cloth Of Stars ticks every box for breeders. First, he was a top-class middle-distance performer, winning the Prix Ganay and twice finishing placed behind Enable in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. He mixed it with the cream of the crop, running placed behind Cracksman, Hawkbill, Poet's Word, Sea Of Class and Waldgeist as well as Enable.

Second, he has an unimpeachable pedigree, being by Sea The Stars out of a Kingmambo sister to Oaks heroine Light Shift – dam of Ulysses – and a half-sister to champion race mare Shiva. Those relations mean he has the epoch-defining ace racemares turned broodmares Urban Sea and Miesque in his first three generations.

Third, he has the looks to match his pedigree and performance, as you will see if you visit him as he embarks on his second season at Haras du Logis on the Route des Etalons.

12yo b h Diktat-Land Of Dreams (Cadeaux Genereux)
Haras de Grandcamp

Former Ballylinch Stud resident Dream Ahead enjoyed a breakthrough year in 2019, trebling his tally of Group 1 winners when Glass Slippers landed the Prix de l'Abbaye and first-crop son Donjuan Triumphant scored in the British Champions Sprint on his career swansong aged six.

The top-notch sprinter – rated Europe's joint-champion two-year-old of 2010 alongside Frankel, no less – was also represented by Diamond Jubilee Stakes runner-up Dream Of Dreams and the speedy three-year-old filly Forever In Dreams, placed in the Commonwealth Cup and British Champions Sprint.

Prix de l’Abbaye winner Glass Slippers helped her sire Dream Ahead enjoy a breakthrough year in 2019Credit: Edward Whitaker

His first crop conceived at his second stud home of Haras de Grandcamp turned two in January so he is at an interesting juncture of his stallion career.

Grandcamp boasts a new emigre from the British and Irish ranks this year in Lethal Force, while Lawman and Dabirsim are among the other draws at the farm.

17yo gr h Kendor-Pax Bella (Linamix)
Haras de Colleville

Head to Haras de Colleville to see a bona fide record-breaking stallion, with the stud's stalwart Kendargent setting a new benchmark of 114 progeny wins in 2019.

It has been a remarkable Cinderella story for Kendargent. An unheralded Group 3 runner-up, he started covering mainly his owner Guy Pariente's own mares in the early years of his stallion career but managed to produce a high percentage of black-type performers in spite of those limited chances and subsequently gained wider recognition.

He is now responsible for 28 stakes winners including the Group 1-placed Goken, Jimmy Two Times, Kendam, Kenhope, Notte Bianca and Restiadargent, as well as Skalleti, who signed off 2019 with a string of three Pattern race victories.

Kendargent stands at Colleville alongside son Goken and the Listed-winning Galileo stallion Galiway, the leading French-based first-season sire last year.

14yo b h Noverre-Marie Rheinberg (Surako)
Haras de Montfort et Preaux

Montfort et Preaux is one of the principal places of worship for Route des Etalons pilgrims as it houses an idol of the French stallion ranks in Le Havre.

The Prix du Jockey Club winner spent his first four seasons at the operation at a fee of just €5,000 but, thanks chiefly to strong support from owner Gerard Augustin-Normand and stud manager Sylvain Vidal, he has supplied 33 stakes winners including dual French Classic heroines Avenir Certain and La Cressonniere, as well as fellow Group 1 winners Suedois and Villa Marina.

Le Havre: an established star of the French stallion ranksCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

Consequently, he is standing at a fee of €50,000 this year.

A visit to Montfort et Preaux has a touch of extra intrigue this year as the stud has recently been bought by Kazakhstan-born businessman Nurlan Bizakov, although it is very much business as usual with staff and stock, including the second stallion Recorder, staying put.

18yo b h Montjeu-Out West (Gone West)
Haras du Quesnay

Even without stallions Haras du Quesnay would be well worth a visit. The quintessential Normandy stud, it features half timbered buildings and manicured lawns, and Criquette Head is usually on hand to provide a warm welcome.

As it happens, La Quesnay does have more than its fair share of equine talent too, including 2005 Derby hero Motivator, who wrote his name into history books as sire of Head's dual Arc winner Treve.

The son of Montjeu was back in the news in the past 12 months through high-class hurdlers Pentland Hills and Stormy Ireland and as damsire of leading two-year-old sprinter A'Ali and top-notch middle-distance filly Fleeting.

Motivator is joined at La Quesnay by two other Group 1 winners in Intello and Recoletos, while studmates Anodin and Attendu have received strong support from their owner-breeders the Wertheimer brothers.

13yo ch h My Risk-Newness (Simply Great)
Haras de Montaigu

Haras de Montaigu bade farewell to its emblematic stallion Martaline last year, as the source of countless jumps stars – Agrapart, Dynaste, Kotkikova, Terrefort and Very Wood to name a few – died aged 20.

The magnificent white stallion will be irreplaceable but, fortuitously, the stud stands another exciting prospect for the National Hunt in No Risk At All.

The oldest crop of the Group 3-winning son of My Risk are six-year-olds but he has already supplied last month's Grade 1 scorers Epatante and Esprit Du Large plus the useful sorts Allaho and Gumball.

Montaigu is also launching the second career of Beaumec De Houelle, a Grade 1-winning son of Martaline in 2020 – another good reason to visit the stud this month.

No Risk At All has already supplied last month’s Grade 1 scorers Epatante (pictured) and Esprit Du LargeCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

7yo b h Invincible Spirit-Ghurra (War Chant)
Haras de Bouquetot

Ten years ago the Normandy stallion scene was down in the dumps, with the death of big-hitter Anabaa aged 17 and the early retirement of Linamix, and exciting sires such as Chichicastenango, Verglas and Turtle Bowl having been sold abroad as soon as they made their names.

But thanks to the attractive French premium system encouraging people to race and breed across the Channel, as well as the emergence of Le Havre, Siyouni et al, the stallion ranks have been completely revitalised.

The decision of Al Shaqab Racing to base its breeding headquarters at Haras de Bouquetot in Normandy also helped, and the most compelling proof of the health of the resurgent stallion ranks is that the brilliant two-year-old sprinter Shalaa, by in-vogue sire of sires Invincible Spirit, was the most expensive new recruit anywhere in Europe when he retired to Bouquetot in 2017. His keenly anticipated first crop are two-year-olds in 2020.

13yo b h Pivotal-Sichilla (Danehill)
Haras de Bonneval

Perhaps the pre-eminent name in a golden age for the French stallion scene, Siyouni has delivered 34 stakes winners headed by Classic victors Ervedya, Laurens and Sottsass – all the more impressive for the fact that he is another on this list who started out at a negligible fee, in his case €7,000.

The son of Pivotal now commands a fee of €100,000, a record for a sire based in France and out of the reach of many travellers on the Route des Etalons. However, his younger Bonneval studmates could the next big thing.

They are Dariyan and Zarak, both top-flight winners by outstanding sires out of Group 1-winning racemares: the former a son of Shamardal and Hong Kong Vase heroine Daryakana and the latter by Dubawi out of the exceptional Zarkava.

6yo b h Galileo-You'resothrilling (Storm Cat)
Haras de la Haie Neuve

This newcomer to Haras de la Haie Neuve can lay claim to being one of the best bred stallions in France. He is by phenomenal champion sire Galileo out of Coolmore's brilliant young broodmare You'resothrilling, a Group 2-winning Storm Cat sister to Giant's Causeway and to the dams of Decorated Knight and Storm The Stars.

You'resothrilling produced five Pattern winners, all Group 1 triumphant or Group 1-placed, from her first five foals – Classic winners Gleneagles and Marvellous, Moyglare Stud Stakes scorer Happily, Belmont Oaks third Coolmore and Taj Mahal himself, a dual Group 2 winner in Australia who ran second in the Secretariat Stakes.

Haie Neuve also introduces to breeders this year Bande, an Authorized half-brother to in-demand jumps sire Doctor Dino, and is also home to Seahenge, Magneticjim and Whitecliffsofdover.

12yo b h Iffraaj-Balladonia (Primo Dominie)
Haras d'Etreham

It is worth a trip to Haras d'Etreham to catch a glimpse of Wootton Bassett as he could be in for a big year with his two-year-old runners, as they were bred in the afterglow of his first-crop son Almanzor being crowned Europe's three-year-old champion with victories in the Prix du Jockey Club and British and Irish Champion Stakes.

Wootton Bassett, who stood for as little as €4,000 in 2015 but is now up to ten times that this year, is also the sire of Group 1-placed Patascoy and Wootton as well as exciting three-year-old colt Helter Skelter, not beaten far when fifth in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp in October – a race won by his sire when it was contested over a furlong shorter.

Almanzor, whose first yearlings go under the hammer in 2020, stands at Etreham alongside Wootton Bassett, while the roster is completed by newcomer City Light, a classy sprinter; Scissor Kick, a visitor from Australia who has first juvenile runners this year; and the magnificent jumps sire Saint Des Saints.

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