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France is known for strict rules when registering
trotters with American bloodlines. Tradition in France
says that the French trotter is a French trotter and
a different breed than the American Standardbred is,
and the French authorities say that the French trotter
must be preserved. For this reason very few horses has
been exported from the USA to France. It did however
happen in the 1920's with the stallions The Great McKinney
and Sam Williams, then later in the 1930's with Calumet
Delco. In the late 1970's, the Star's Pride son Florestan
was allowed as a sire - because his dam was the great
French mare Roquepine. As a result of Florestan's huge
success in the French breed, the French Trotting Association
(S.E.C.F.) agreed that a few selected US stallions could
have a few foals registered in the French stud book
each year from 1988 to 1992. Today the American sire
lines are responsible for a big part of the French trotter.
The reason why some people consider the French trotter
beeing different from the American Standardbred, is
because their origins are different and that the French
trotters have different physical characteristics. The
traditional French sire lines go back to the Godolphin
Arabian (in the early 1700s). "The French Hambletonian",
Fuschia,
and a few other important sire lines in the French trotter,
descend from the Godolphin Arabian. Fuschia leads to
both Fandango and Kerjacques, two of the most important
sires in French trotting ever. The bloodlines of the
French trotters also include more thoroughbred blood
in the maternal lines when compared to the American
Standardbred. The Hambletonian, the foundation sire
of the American Standardbred, descends from the Darley
Arabian (late 1600/1700's).
The fact that the French trotter is known for quite
a few other characteristics than the American Standardbred
is not a surprise when knowing the different origins
of these horses. These characteristics include the fact
that French trotters are later developed for speed,
they race best over long distance races and their gait
is less fluent. The French trotter has changed dramatically
the last 10 - 15 years, after beeing mixed with US bloodlines.
For this reason it is easy to understand why a mix of
French and American blood has become so successful all
over Europe. These horses combine early speed with power
over long distance races, and their overall soundness
is supposedly better. All the big Stakes for young European
horses are raced over longer distances than one mile,
and the last few years it has been proven that a mix
of US and French bloodlines is almost a necessity to
win the big Stakes - no matter what country in Europe
is considered.
The Great McKinney and Sam Williams
The two sires Sam
Williams and The
Great McKinney were both foals of 1922 in the USA.
They were exported to France before the French stud
book was closed for the first time - January 30th, 1937.
Both sires made an immediate impact on the French trotter.
Sam Williams was a son of Peter
Scott and out of the mare Blitzie (daughter of Walnut
Hall, a grandson of Electioneer). He sired several siring
sons in France, with Tamerlan and Mousko Williams beeing
the most important. Mousko Williams later sired Horus
L and Carioca
II, with Carioca II developing some one of the most
influental sire lines today.
Carioca II's sire lines should be well known in the
US. His son Ura is grandsire of Ourasi that battled
with Mack
Lobell and Sugarcane
Hanover in the March of Dimes at The Meadowlands,
and another son, Narioca, is grandsire of Roosevelt
International winner Ideal
du Gazeau. In France, Carioca II's son Sabi Pas
is now responsible for one of the most respected sire
lines. This is mostly through his son Fakir
du Vivier, but also other successful sons of Sabi
Pas are Jet du Vivier, Hetre Vert and Kronos du Vivier.
All these sires have several sons and grandsons representing
them in the French breeding shed today. Fakir du Vivier
may be best known in the US as broodmare sire to Victory
Tilly, but in France his sons has had tremendous
success and today his grandson Coktail
Jet is a huge success as a stallion all over Europe.
The Great McKinney was a grandson of McKinney
and out of a daughter by Peter
the Great. He was exported to France in 1927, and
sired two great sons with the French supermare Uraine:
Kairos and Ogaden. In the US, McKinney was a late bloomer
but had guts and soundness to go heat after heat, day
after day. He also sired horses with these characteristics,
and his sire lines have died in North America of natural
causes. In France the offspring of Kairos and Ogaden
matched perfectly with the French trotter, and these
lines are known for giving the more elegant horses in
France. Even in Sweden the McKinney sire line was of
importance for a long time, but has died out today.
Kairos has been a success as a sire line builder and
was grand sire to Pluvier III that won the Roosevelt
International. Another grandson of Kairos, Nonant le
Pin, is the sire of Buffet II who has several sons and
grandsons in the French breeding shed today. Ogaden
is grandsire of Caprior through the Prix d'Amerique
winning son Feu Follet X. Caprior might be mostly known
today as father to the great Dubois mare Nesmile (dam
of Buvetier d'Aunou, Defi d'Aunou a.o.), but he also
has several sons and grandsons among the French stallions.
Another son of Ogaden was Luth Grandchamp - third sire
to Quadrophenio that has made quite an impact with numerous
sons in France as active stallions today. Quadrophenios
son Caballio in Blue is the sire of Kesaco
Phedo - the toughest contender against Kaisy
Dream when these two champions were 3 and 4 years
old.
Calumet Delco
This horse was foaled in 1929, and later exported to
France. He was a son of Peter
the Brewer, the beautiful son of Peter the Great
and Zombrewer (granddam of Greyhound
and Yankee Maid a.o.). Dam of Calumet Delco was Dillcisco
- in the US mostly known as granddam to Star's
Pride. Calumet Delco was owned in France by Monsieur
Albert Veslard, the man that also owned the well known
French stallion Gael.
As mentioned above, the French stud book was closed
for blood outside of France for the first time January
30th 1937, and this became a problem for Mr Veslard.
In 1937 his French stallion Gael had great fertility
problems, but he still was registered as sire of several
foals in 1938. Among these foals were the two important
horses Quiproquo II and Quiroga
II, and also the mare Quinauderie. Quiroga II went
on to build an important sire line that is highly active
today as well - mostly through his sons In Extremis
(grandsire of Gazon), Jokai (grandsire to James Pile)
and Mitsouko (sire of the great Hadol du Vivier but
also other horses makes this line alive today).
The sires Quiproquo II and Quiroga II inherited different
characteristics to their offspring, compared to what
Gael was known for already. This was discussed for quite
a while, and in 1992 the son of Albert Veslard made
a public statement that the sire of the horses foaled
in 1938 by Gael, was in fact by Calumet Delco. As there
are no officially registered foals by Calumet Delco
in the Stud Book du Trotteur Francais, his line doesn't
officially exist, however its existence is commonly
accepted in France where the leading trotting magazine,
Trot Information, refers to this line as 'Lignee
Calumet Delco'
Florestan
There were quite a few people in France that were opposed
to the fact that their idol Roquepine
was bred to US stallions in 1970 and 1971. The French
stud book was still closed at this time, and the two
resulting foals had to be registered as bred in the
US. These two colts were Florestan,
foaled in 1971 by Star's Pride, and Granit, foaled in
1972 by Ayres. Both horses were shipped to France to
be racehorses, but as they were registered as foreign
bred horses, they had no races in France except for
FFA races.
Florestan was a talented young horse, but racing a
green horse against FFA competition is not a good recipe
for making a good racehorse. It is said that this killed
whatever chances Florestan had to be a Stakes winner,
he had tons of ability. However, in 1977 it was made
a decision to open the French stud book for foals by
Florestan and his brother Granit, but only if these
two horses became the property of the French National
Stud.
Florestan made a huge impact on the French trotter.
His siring sons are numerous, and the most successful
ones are the great stallions Passionnant
(grandsire to the promising young stallion Kinder
Jet), Opus Dei, Podosis
(sire of First de Retz, Gai Brilliant and Bonheur de
Tillard a.o.) and Quito
de Talonay (sire of the young champion Kitko and
grandsire to the Dubois stallion Kaisy
Dream).
Kimberland and Mickey Viking
The rules that made it possible for Florestan to be
a sire in France were also taken into action regarding
Kimberland,
a horse foaled 1976 in the US. Kimberland was a son
of Nevele
Pride and out of the French mare Astrasia, and he
was bred in the US by the legend Delvin Miller. In this
respect it is interesting to note that Mr Miller also
bred Big Lama, a 1962 foal by Jamie (son of Darnley)
out of the French mare Lama. Big Lama made almost 55,000
USD before beeing exported to Sweden, and has been a
tremendous success as a broodmare sire. The Swedish
champion Copiad is his most known grandson.
Kimberland also had great success as a sire, and today
he is represented with numerous grandsons in the French
breeding shed. Some of these horses are Voici du Niel,
Ulf d'Ombrée and Ustang de Mai.
The Nevele Pride blood has proven to be very good to
cross with French mares also on other occasions. In
1986 the French stud book was again opened for the horse
Mickey Viking
- again under the conditions that he had to be sold
to the French National Stud. Mickey Viking was bred
in the US, and a foal of 1979. He was by the Nevele
Pride-son Bonefish
and out of the Songcan-mare Misty
Sister. This makes Mickey Viking a brother to the
multiple Stakes winner Newmarket and also Love Me Tender
S - the dam of Constable. In 1986 Mickey Viking entered
his French breeding career, after having raced in France
and already owned in France.
Mickey Viking entered stud in 1986 but died in 1987.
His limited oportunity did however make a huge impact
on the French trotter. He has several siring sons, and
his most famous is the French top sire Viking's
Way.
Workaholic
Because Florestan had made such a big impact, and Mickey
Viking's limited crops had such success, the French
authorities decided it was time to buy another US stallion
and bring to France. The French National Stud now bought
the 2 year old champion Workaholic,
by Speedy Crown out of Ah So (by Speedy Count). Workaholic
entered French stud in 1989 and soon became the new
champion sire in France. He now has numerous sons and
grandsons as well, breeding the French mares. The filly
that beat the colts in the Orsi Mangelli in Italy in
2002, Leda d'Occagnes, is by the Workaholic-son Cygnus
d'Odyssée.
The French Stud Book opens slightly
In the beginning of the 1980's the French stud book
was open a little for horses with Standardbred origins.
It was agreed to that 10 French mares could be bred
to selected Standardbred stallions (the best in the
US and Europe) and the resulting foals will be registered
in France. This gave us horses like Tarass Boulba (by
Speedy
Somolli) that became a hit as a sire, and Send me
Flowers (mare by Super
Bowl) that became the dam of the stallion Classic
Rodney.
In the years 1988 to 1992, the French Stud Book were
opened for limited opportunities after the French Trotting
Association (SECF) and the USTA made an agreement. The
agreement said that 10 French mares were to be bred
in the US and 10 Standardbred mares were to be bred
in France, and the resulting foals were to be registered
in both Stud Books. In France, this deal made stallions
such as Cezio Josselyn
and Defi
d'Aunou by Armbro
Goal, Battling Joe by Speedy
Crown, Big Prestige
and Buvetier
de Aunou by Royal
Prestige and And
Arifant by Sharif
Di Iesolo. Each of these stallions have raised the
speed in the French trotters and have several sons in
French breeding shed today. Two exceptional daughters
of Speedy Somolli were also a result of this agreement:
Amour d'Aunou (dam of In
Love With You and granddam of Love
You - both promising sires in France today) and
Amour d'Aunou that set a French record as a 3 year old
in 1:58 and made almost 1 million Euros.
During this agreement, very few American breeders were
interested in shipping mares to France to breed to French
stallions. For this reason, a few Standardbred mares
were shipped to France by French horsemen, and this
resultet in a horse like Coktail
Jet (out of the Super Bowl mare Speedy Sug) a.o.
Today it is the sire lines from Nevele
Pride and Speedy
Crown that has been most successful when crossed
with the French trotter. The only sire in France from
Super Bowl's sire line is Emil Suede by Napoletano.
However, Super Bowl is broodmare sire to the huge success
Coktail Jet. The Victory
Song line is doing very well through Sharif de Iesolo
(Italianbred grandson to Victory Song). In Europe Sharif
di Iesolo is known as "Europe's Speedy Crown", and his
son And Arifant in France has numerous sons and also
grandsons breeding mares.
In 1993 the French stud book was again closed for regisering
horses with Standardbred parents, but Workaholic
is an exception. A few years ago, to preserve the origins
of the French trotters, the decision was made that it
is no longer allowed to register foals with both sire
and dam of 50% Standardbred origins.
Mickey Vicking (US)
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