Gallic influence setting fashionable trends

RACING: French-bred horses are proving popular with Irish trainers and owners, who are keen to hit the ground running with a more mature type, writes BRIAN O'CONNOR

IT MIGHT be St Patrick’s Day in a quintessentially English part of England, but if the horses could talk this afternoon there would be an unmistakably French accent to the action.

In fact, take the Gallic influence out of today’s card and day three of the festival would have even more of a “runt of the litter” vibe than it does already.

It would mean no Big Buck’s, Grands Cru or Zaynar, all French breds who dominate the betting for the World Hurdle. And no Poquelin, who tops the market for the Ryanair Chase. Throw in J’y Vole and other star names such as Voy Por Ustedes and the French flavour is obvious.

That French influence has been as clear this week as it has been for the last decade. Kauto Star has been the flagship horse for a breeding and racing industry in France that is increasingly putting its Irish and English National Hunt counterparts in the shade.

For a country like Ireland which markets itself as the “home of the horse” that is a bitter pill to swallow, yet there is no denying the central role the French have on Cheltenham.

Willie Mullins’ hugely powerful string are the backbone of the Irish challenge here, yet Quevega, So Young, Golden Silver, Mikael D’Haguenet and so many others were all sourced in France by the champion trainer.

Even Quel Esprit, a product of the Irish point-to-point field, is French-bred, while Hurricane Fly is Irish-bred but did all his flat racing in France before being purchased by Mullins.

“When you buy in France, you know what you’re buying because they have proper form in proper races,” Mullins says. “It’s very rare you’re able to buy them with proper form off the flat in Ireland, and if you go to the point-to- points you’re looking at big money for horses running around a field in a race that has probably been divided. The form isn’t valid, certainly not for the type of money that is being asked for. In France the form is there in black and white.”

Zaidpour cost €80,000 at the sales after failing to justify the Aga Khan’s hopes on the flat. Within months of joining Mullins he was a Grade One winner over jumps. In an environment where point-to-point winners are routinely making over €100,000, the French option is easy to understand.

Mullins has also had huge success with products of the Irish point-to-point scene, such as Florida Pearl and Cooldine, but he accepts that generally such animals mature more slowly.

“When a man rings up looking for something to buy, it usually helps if you have something that can go early,” he says. “In fact, I find now that people are ringing up specifically looking for French-breds.”

That’s a sore point for breeders and buyers who traditionally have viewed the Irish horse as the quintessential National Hunt type. Even the old argument that French horses don’t last long-term looks weak when looking at Kauto Star, Master Minded or Big Buck’s.

What many owners and trainers stress, however, is the importance of knowing your way around the French scene before splashing out. “It can be a very expensive place to buy, especially a horse with form. Maybe for a young horse there is good value, but that means you need very good contacts over there,” argues Henry De Bromhead, whose best performers like champion chaser Sizing Europe have been products of the Irish point-to-point game.

“It may sound stupid, but all I want is a good horse and I don’t care where they come from. I don’t think there is anything different in particular about the French horses. Maybe they go better on soft ground, but that’s about it. They start them off younger over there, but that’s just the system in France. I’m sure if we used a similar system the results would be the same.

“But actually Irish point-to- pointers are getting really well advertised at the moment. I love buying store horses so that’s what I’ll continue to do,” he adds.

It’s one of the curios of such a tough game that racing is so fashion-conscious when it comes to jockeys, trainers and indeed horses.

The Irish breeding industry now finds itself with a real rival when it comes to producing racing’s top-flight stars. And while it is usually true that nothing dates quicker than the trendy, there is also the reality that no one does fashion better than the French.