'The chapter's finished but it's a good story' - The Bluesman keeping the Firmini story alive for Bernard Stoffel

The tale of Firmini looks set to continue along positive lines for the foreseeable future fuelled by her promising son The Bluesman, a 14-length winner at Chepstow on Easter Monday. 

The five-year-old by Crillon was jointly bred by a familiar name to National Hunt enthusiasts, Bernard Stoffel, who also shares responsibility for having bred King George VI Chase hero Bravemansgame. He teamed up with Vincent Leroy for The Bluesman, and Michel Guiot in the case of Bravemansgame. 

Stoffel, a vet in Belgium, said on Tuesday: "I don't have so many mares, two, three or a maximum of four, but at the moment I have only one. 

"I was quite happy to have winners in training with Paul Nicholls, who is obviously one of the best trainers in the UK. It's a pleasure and an honour to have my horses with him."

On the exciting The Bluesman, who was ridden by Freddie Gingell at Chepstow, he said: "He was a nice foal who turned into a nice horse and was third in a good point-to-point, and I hope he continues to improve."

Owned by Neil and Alfie Smith, he was third in a Dromahane point-to-point for Denis Murphy, having been hammered down to Ballyboy Stables for €140,000 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale in 2022. 

He went on to sell to Nicholls and Tom Malone for £200,000 at the Goffs UK Coral Gold Cup Sale at Newbury in December. 

On how he came to breed The Bluesman with friend Leroy, Stoffel said: "Firmini is a very well-bred mare who was bred by a good friend of mine in Jean-Pierre Dubois; he's one of the best horsemen in the world. 

"At that time he had too many mares, so I did a deal with him to get Firmini and then did another deal with Vincent to breed her first foal. 

"Crillon was at Haras de la Baie, near Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, so it was midway between Vincent in Brittany and me based in Belgium. It's a long story and a story based on friendship as Jean-Pierre and Vincent are good friends of mine. I have good friends in different places."

The story of the late Firmini has more chapters to come, with three youngsters in the pipeline including the winning Fimiblue, a four-year-old, and the Neil Mulholland-trained six-year-old Inoui Machin, a winner over hurdles at Hereford last month as well as a dual bumper scorer. 

"We've also had some other nice horses with Firmini," continued Stoffel. "Certainly one is Inoui Machin, who is by Montjeu's son Honolulu. After that she visited a stallion I bought with Jean-Pierre called Morpheus, a half-brother of Frankel, and Firmini had two foals by him including Fimiblue. 

"She was a good winner in France last year, while Francky Blue is in Ireland and was bought by the Bleahen brothers. They also bought the last progeny, King Of The Blue, by a stallion called Kingfisher who I share with a few guys. Unfortunately, Firmini died, yet overall it's a good story and I love the bloodline."

Stoffel's chief claim to fame, at least in the bloodstock business, is arguably the purchase of Brave Mansonnien, a son of Mansonnien who he bought after seeing an advert in Paris-Turf during a tour of Normandy several years ago. 

The 21-year-old, who is best known for being the sire of Bravemansgame, is stationed at Haras de Talma, while Sea The Stars' Prix Guillaume d'Ornano winner Knight To Behold is now based at Leroy's Arvez Farm in Brittany.

Stoffel said: "Naturally, Brave Mansonnien is my favourite stallion. I bought him more than ten years ago now, when nobody wanted him any more. It's one of my favourite sire lines and he has given me some very good horses. And he's not finished yet!"

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