Tenacious Teofilo son Diplomat to stand in jumps sire role in Normandy

German owner Eckhard Sauren has found a stud position for Diplomat, his hard-knocking son of Teofilo who was a prolific winner on the Flat and also scored over jumps.

The eight-year-old will stand at Haras de Pont d'Ouilly in Normandy from next year, with Sauren telling galopp-online.de: “The stud was once a leading player in breeding and is in the process of renovation.

“The horse will be marketed primarily as a jumps stallion.”

Diplomat will stand at a fee of just €1,000 with a live foal guarantee.

He is an intriguing proposition for jumps breeders. Originally trained by Mario Hofer, he rose through the handicap ranks to finish placed in three Pattern races at or around a mile in Germany at four.

At five he was a three-length winner of the Group 2 Premio Presidente della Repubblica and at seven, by then with Jean-Pierre Carvalho, he took the Group 2 Meilen Trophy at Cologne.

Although he excelled at around a mile on the Flat, this year he joined Carina Fey and scored in an Auteuil conditions hurdle held over 2m2f on very soft going.

In all, he won 11 races from 53 starts and was placed on 24 occasions.

Diplomat also holds interest from a pedigree perspective. Out of German champion two-year-old and Grosser Preis von Berlin heroine Desidera, he is a half-brother to 11 other winners including Dickens, who was runner-up in the Deutsches Derby, and the smart middle-distance performer Daressalam.

Another of Diplomat's half-sisters, the Monsun mare Desimona, is the dam of Willie Mullins' Grade 3-winning and Grade 1-placed hurdler Sancta Simona.

Maternal granddam Diasprina was also a champion two-year-old filly in Germany, and she features as third dam of Kentucky Derby and Dubai World Cup winner Animal Kingdom.

This is also the family of Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Don Cossack and Group 3 scorer Davidoff, sire of Grade 1-winning hurdler Saturnas.

Diplomat was originally bought by Sauren from the draft of his breeder Gestut Rottgen for €55,000 at the BBAG Yearling Sale.

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