Alain and Gerard Wertheimer have completed the purchase of the two remaining parts of the Wildenstein family's racing and breeding concerns, bringing together two of France's most celebrated entities. 

The racehorses that have hitherto borne the two-tone blue of Ballymore Thoroughbreds are set to carry the Wertheimers' 'Goldikova' silks, beginning in high-profile fashion on Sunday when Pensee Du Jour will race for the brothers in the Group 2 Sumbe Prix Alec Head and be ridden for the first time by retained jockey Maxime Guyon. 

Of arguably even greater value is the broodmare band formerly under the banner of Dayton Investments, which includes descendants of two of the most influential bloodlines in European racing, the A and P families developed by successive generations of Wildenstein breeding dating back 100 years. 

Pierre-Yves Bureau, racing and breeding manager to the Wertheimer brothers, told French racing daily Jour de Galop: "We can confirm that we have recently acquired the whole of the stock belonging to Dayton Investments.

"It's a rare opportunity to integrate into our broodmare band numerous elements of exceptional quality, like the dams of Classic winners Persian King and Paddington, as well as the horses in training such as Pensee Du Jour.

"The yearlings and foals have also joined the Wertheimer et Frere team."

All Along and Walter Swinburn after winning the 1983 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Both dynasties have tasted success in the Arc on multiple occasions, with Allez France the first Wildenstein winner of Europe's greatest all-aged prize in 1974, a victory which was followed by All Along, Sagace and Peintre Celebre. 

Jacques Wertheimer owned the 1976 and 1981 winners, Ivanjica and Gold River, while his sons had inherited the stable by the time that Solemia triumphed in 2012.

Bureau said: "We hope to continue and develop the success of the great Dayton Investments families which, since 1923, have been among the most important in the European stud book, and which have produced four winners of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. 

Alain and Gerard Wertheimer (right) pictured at Deauville last yearCredit: Edward Whitaker

"The principal bloodlines which will now join our stud are descended from iconic mares like Albertine [the dam of Arcangues and granddam of Aquarelliste], of Madelia [the fourth dam of Paddington] and of Petroleuse [the granddam of Peintre Celebre and fourth dam of Persian King.]

The Wildenstein racing concerns were divided in two in the early 2010s, with 108 horses going under the hammer during a record-breaking dispersal sale at Goffs in 2016. 

The Wertheimer story in racing began with Alain and Gerard's grandfather Pierre and, in addition to their three Arc winners, the family has raced such champions as Riverman, Lyphard, Goldikova and Intello, meaning they already have a rich breeding legacy of their own, to which this new acquisition adds considerably. 

Three rare gems among the Dayton collection

Pretty Please

A winning daughter of Dylan Thomas and Giant's Causeway mare Plante Rare - a half-sibling to multiple Group scorer and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud second Policy Maker and the Prix du Cadran-placed Pushkin, among others - Pretty Please has to rank as a high-class producer from the Wildenstein band. 

Herself a close relation to Prix Ganay winner and Group 1-winning sire Planteur, Pretty Please is the dam of none other than Poule d'Essai des Poulains and champion older miler Persian King, Haras d'Etreham's son of Kingman who has his first crop of yearlings selling this term. 

Modern Eagle

Modern Eagle has not been far from the headlines this term thanks to the exploits of her exceptional son, Paddington, who has notched up wins in the Irish 2,000 Guineas, St James's Palace Stakes, Eclipse and Sussex Stakes. 

Paddington is the latest star bred by Dayton Investments and his dam, Modern Eagle, is among the stock purchased by Wertheimer et FrereCredit: Edward Whitaker

The Montjeu mare was a stakes winner and hails from a brilliant family, being out of the Prix de Diane second Millionaia, a Peintre Celebre half-sister to Dewhurst Stakes second Fencing Master - and herself a daughter of Prix Saint-Alary winner Moonlight Dance. There is Group 1 quality throughout as Moonlight Dance, a half-sibling to Prix du Jockey runner-up Marignan, is out of champion filly Madelia. 

Miss France

A daughter of Dansili and the top-class racemare Miss Tahiti, the winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac and second in the Prix de Diane and Saint-Alary, Miss France lived up to her name by flying the flag for Andre Fabre and her owner-breeders over three seasons. She won the Oh So Sharp Stakes at Newmarket as a juvenile, while her Classic year saw her take her biggest success in the 1,000 Guineas, as well as second in the Prix Rothschild and Sun Chariot Stakes. 

She returned at four for two black-type places, including when second to the Wertheimers' Impassable in the Prix Daniel Wildenstein. The 12-year-old has not yet fared as luckily in her second career, with his sole racecourse representative, the Galileo mare Miss Lara, placing three times but failing to win. She has an unraced five-year-old Galileo sister called Miss Saigon and a two-year-old Dubawi filly who is unnamed.

Pedigree reporting by Kitty Trice

Read this next:

Martin Stevens talks all things Sumbe with Tony Fry in Good Morning Bloodstock