Op/Ed: Vue Alternative

By Larry Stratton

There is no disputing the impact that French-bred runners have had on British and Irish jump racing over the past two decades, or the mileage journalists and broadcasters have got out of it. There is, though, a serious divergence of opinion over the cause of French-bred dominance, which has been ascribed variously to earlier education of young stock, the wide spread in the geographical location of French stallions, and access to a more talented pool of race mares.

Jump racing at a young age is not a new phenomenon on the continent, dreamt up as a 21stcentury selling tool for their horses in training. I recall back in the 1980s a filly (from a Flat family commercially hot at the time), repatriated to Ireland by a breeder, whose form claim to fame was “placed in a steeplechase in Belgium at three”.

But the schooling and racing of horses over jumps at a younger age did not give the French horses any more advantage then than it does now. It does not make those horses intrinsically better; it just helps them fulfil their potential, and to run to the level their ability allows, at a younger age.

So, given that, two questions arise. 1) Why are British- and Irish-bred six- and seven-year-olds (who by that age have had similar, if later, levels of schooling and racing to those their younger French rivals enjoyed) not able to mix it, statistically, with those younger French horses?, and 2) how is it that the list of the very best horses to have emerged from the ranks of Irish four-year-old point-to-points is disproportionately heavy with French-breds?

The argument that the geography of France gives breeders there an advantage is based on the premise that sires standing in remote locations get better opportunities since breeders are more inclined to use local stallions than travel extreme distances to patronise more commercially obvious horses.

Some irony right there, as breeders bypass excellent stallion opportunities in Meath or Kildare to walk in a mare from Northern Ireland to this year's must-have sire in Cork.

So, high-class racemares, that has to be the key: the French are breeding better horses than us because their programme for young fillies produces such a great pool of top racemares.

Well….the three best French-bred horses of the past 25 or so years are Kauto Star, Sprinter Sacre and Master Minded. Kauto Star is out of an unraced mare whose own dam scored in two of her three provincial hurdle races and in 11 minor provincial Flat races – from 59 starts! Sprinter Sacre's dam placed on the flat as a three-year-old on her only outing, which was a significant improvement on the record of her dam who was fifth on her only flat try and unplaced in four attempts over fences. The story is a little better for Master Minded, whose dam was first and third in hurdle races; but her dam, while a two-year-old winner, could only manage a handful of placings from 36 starts over jumps.

Among the top current horses the story is much the same: Galopin Des Champs is out of a mare who won four Flat claimers and a provincial hurdle from 28 starts; Il Est Francais's dam ran twice unplaced over hurdles; Star Face, the dam of Douvan and Jonbon, ran once, unplaced; Bravemansgame's dam ran twice unplaced; Gerri Colombe's dam ran three times unplaced.

In fairness, there are mares who had ability to be found amongst the mothers of some of the top current runners – the dams of Protektora, Royale Pagaille, State Man and Fastorslow all showed some ability and managed some black type.

In short, there is no evidence that French breeders are breeding out of mares which are any better quality than those in Britain and Ireland. So why are the French-bred horses so good in recent years? My answer is that their stallion line-up is drawn from a widely diverse gene pool and is not short on speed.

The sires of the best current jumps sires are an eclectic group of lesser-knowns – where we have Sadlers' Wells and Cape Cross, they have Garde Royale, My Risk, Smadoun, Saint Des Saints, Robin Des Champs, Cadoudal, Lost World.

Hybrid vigour is not an advertising jingle, nor a construct dreamt up by a marketing whiz asked to come up with a catch phrase to help sell a sire lacking in the blood of the current 'commercial big thing'. It is real, and while it is not the answer to all of the French success, it surely looks to be a better alternative than sending a stream of mares by Old Vic, King's Theatre, Oscar and Kayf Tara to sons of Galileo and Montjeu, or daughters of Galileo horses to sons of Sea The Stars.

Nor do the French have any qualms about using entire jumpers as stallions, even when they have shown little ability: Kapgarde was a Graded hurdle winner second in a Grade 1 chase; Saint Des Saints was a Grade 1 level hurdler; Blue Bresil a Grade 2 placegetter; but Robin Des Champs earned no black type in his four wins from five starts; and current wunderkind Jeu St Eloi ran in six hurdle contests without managing to win a race of any description.

The other main attribute which French sires possess ahead of the jumps stallions in these islands is a bit of speed. No Risk At All was a Listed winner over 1600m and a Group 3 winner at 2000m; and he was by a horse who won four Group 3 1600m races; Doctor Dino may have scored his biggest successes as an older horse over a mile and a half, but had plenty of good 1600m form as a younger horse; Blue Bresil, before he was sent hurdling, was placed in Group 2 company over 2100m.

Not convinced about the speed element? Well, here's a question: who's been the best pound-for-pound sire, with the best Cheltenham strike-rate, over the past couple of decades?

Bit subjective I know, but smart money would be on Jeremy, whose Cheltenham Festival roll of honour from just two National Hunt crops from his time at Garryrichard House Stud includes dual Festival winner Corach Rambler (also a Grand National winner), and the Grade 1 novice hurdle scorers Sir Gerhard and  Appreciate It. He also got Triumph Hurdle winner Our Conor in the first of five ostensibly Flat-bred crops sired at the Irish National Stud.

Jeremy was by the seven-furlong Group 1 two-year-old winner and subsequent sprinter Danehill Dancer and his own best form was at a mile, at which trip he won in Group 2 company and placed in both the Queen Anne and the Sussex Stakes.

And here is another question: best jumps sire in Britain and/or Ireland in the past 50 years?

This is not up for discussion. The horse concerned stayed a mile and a half at three, and stuck on well enough to finish a distant second to the Derby winner Reindeer in the then-Classic Irish St Leger, but his best form came at two when runner-up in the Dewhurst Stakes and again as a four-year-old when second to Nijinsky over seven furlongs in the Gladness Stakes.

He played a significant part in the early growth of what would become the world's greatest bloodstock empire. He also set the description template for National Hunt sires in the five decades since, because it was and still is a given that to be considered for a career as a jumps sire – let alone to be successful at it – you have to be bay and 16.1½hh.

He was chesnut and 15.3hh. His name was Deep Run.