'In breeding you have to be proactive' - Ecurie des Monceaux mating plan insight

From its picturesque pitch in rural Normandy, leading French breeder Ecurie des Monceaux has sent out an increasing concentration of high-class winners in recent years.

Matters reached new heights in 2020 when the farm was represented by Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Sottsass, who had added Europe's premier middle-distance contest to a CV that already featured the Prix Ganay and Prix du Jockey Club.

Although residing among a whole host of blue-chip broodmares, Sottsass's dam, Starlet's Sister, has quickly emerged as an immensely important mare for Monceaux.

Not only has she produced the three-time Group 1-winning son of Siyouni, she has also been represented by the seven-time Grade 1 scorer and US champion turf mare Sistercharlie, while the exploits of her second foal, My Sister Nat, have helped her offspring to notch a combined 14 Group/Graded victories.

As if all that were not enough, the Galileo mare was also responsible for the €2.5 million Dubawi filly who topped last year's Arqana Select Sale when bought by Oliver St Lawrence and Fawzi Nass.

Starlet's Sister would be a worthy addition to the book of any of the world's top sires, but Monceaux director Henri Bozo says they will be keeping it simple with this year's mating by sticking with a proven recipe for success.

"Starlet's Sister is carrying to Siyouni and we've decided to go back to him this year," he says. "It's a mating worth trying again and we're keeping things simple. She has twice been to Dubawi with very exciting results; the two-year-old filly in training with Roger Varian who topped last year's Arqana yearling sale, and her yearling sister who is here at Monceaux and is very nice."

The Dubawi filly out of Starlet's Sister brings €2.5 million at ArqanaCredit: Zuzanna Lupa

With Sottsass having begun his stallion career at Coolmore this year, where he has been introduced at €30,000, Monceaux will be supporting their homebred hero with four of its mares.

Bozo says: "Of course I'm a bit biased but I think Sottsass has a lot of appeal, he was a very good horse and had a really impressive turn of foot. I think he has an enormous presence and he's by a super sire, so to me he's an obvious horse to use."

The quartet visiting Sottsass are: Knyazhna, the dam of Sacred Life who is carrying to Dubawi; After Dawn, a sibling to Ectot and Most Improved who has already produced a "beautiful" Lope De Vega colt foal; Avocate, who produced a filly by Wootton Bassett; and Thrust Home, a daughter of Fastnet Rock from the further family of Deep Impact.

"It's a source of great pride and we get a lot of pleasure from seeing people backing our yearlings and being rewarded with a horse like Sottsass," adds Bozo. "He's given us two amazing years of excitement and deep joy for all the team."

Starlet's Sister is joined by a whole host of members of Monceaux's signature 'P' family.

Platonic, the grande dame of the farm who has founded her own dynasty having been bought for 100,000gns in 2004, has been retired from breeding duties, but the mantle has been taken up by her daughter Prudenzia, dam of Group 1 winners Chicquita and Magic Wand and source of €10.195m worth of Arqana yearling sale receipts.

Henri Bozo: 'In breeding you have to be proactive and try to move forward often'Credit: Patrick McCann

Among her six seven-figure yearlings is the €1.625m Godolphin-owned Dubawi filly Philomene, who Monceaux and co-breeder Lady O'Reilly's Skymarc Farm have retained a piece of. This year the dam has returned to Dalham Hall Stud for a replication of that mating.

"Prudenzia has been covered by Dubawi," says Bozo. "We're very happy with her three-year-old Philomene, who is in training with Andre Fabre and won at Longchamp first time out, and her Galileo colt [sold to MV Magnier for €2m in 2020] is now in training with Aidan O'Brien."

Other members of the Platonic brood include Prudenzia's Dansili sister Prudente, the Group 3-winning Montjeu mare Pacifique and the winning Mulan, a daughter of Kingman. In turn, Pacifique has been joined by two daughters of her own this year, namely the Prix de Lutece scorer Paix, who is by Muhaarar, and Psara, a daughter of Invincible Spirit.

"Prudente is in foal to Night Of Thunder and is going to Camelot, he's a stallion I like a lot," says Bozo. "He carries the class of Montjeu and this family has worked very well with Montjeu before. Patricia Boutin, who is advising Lady O'Reilly, who we own the mare in partnership with, was very adamant about going to Camelot and I think it makes a lot of sense.

"From this family we also have Psara, she's in foal to Churchill and is going to Night Of Thunder, who brings Dubawi and Galileo blood and he's a very powerful physical. I think he's a stallion who crosses well with this family. Mulan is also going to Night Of Thunder, and she's just foaled a beautiful colt by Dubawi.

Magic Wand: Group 1-winning daughter of Galileo and Prudenzia was bred by Ecurie des Monceaux and Skymarc FarmCredit: Patrick McCann

"Pacifique is in foal to Bated Breath, he's a nice stallion and Dansili is doing well with this family. She's going to a horse who I think is really one of the most exciting young stallions and that's Pinatubo. I saw him when he won at Deauville and I saw him at Dalham Hall during the December Sales and I was amazed. I think he's a very good-looking stallion and he's carrying some exciting blood.

"Pacifique is also the dam of Paix, who has just scanned in foal to Dubawi on her first covering this morning."

As well as Paix and Prudenzia, Monceaux is also sending more recent acquisitions Pollara, a $975,000 purchase, Pretty Spirit, a three-parts sister to Persian King, and Right Hand, a Lope De Vega half-sister to Prix Vermeille heroine Left Hand, to Dubawi this year. The son of Dubai Millennium, who boasts 44 top-flight winners on his stud record, is standing his fifth season at £250,000.

"Pollara is another going to Dubawi," says Bozo. "She's a Group 3 winner by Camelot who we bought in foal to War Front at Keeneland and she's just produced a beautiful first foal. He's very nice.

"Another exciting mare is Right Hand, we bought her with partners in December [for €370,000]. She's from a good Wertheimer family and will be going to Dubawi for her first cover. Her Dansili half-sister, Nohand, won first time out for Andre Fabre and looks very promising."

Dubawi: standing for £250,000 in 2021Credit: Edward Whitaker

Secrete, a Cape Cross half-sister to Group 1 winner Plumania and the dam of black-type performers Normandy Eagle and Solage, is in foal to perennial champion sire Galileo, although Bozo says plans for her and Polygreen, dam of Prix Maurice de Gheest heroine Polydream, remain fluid.

"Secrete is in foal to Galileo but she's due late," says Bozo. "If she was to foal down in time we'll go to Siyouni with her. Polygreen is in foal to Siyouni but she's an older mare now, so once she's had her foal we'll see if she can be covered again or whether she needs to be retired. She's in great form at the moment and she's been an amazing mare for us."

Another elite stallion featuring prominently in Monceaux's mating plans is Lope De Vega. Ballylinch Stud's son of Shamardal has earned a career-high fee of €125,000 for the 2021 covering season, thanks in no small part to his 12 Group/Grade 1 winners.

The Monceaux mares bound for Lope De Vega include Golden Valentine, a winning daughter of Dalakhani out of a half-sister to Goldikova, Prix Bertrand de Tarragon scorer Silva and the Listed-winning Birch Grove, who joined the broodmare band at 700,000gns.

"He's a stallion we're using quite a lot, he brings a lot of speed, he's very proven and is easy to mate too," says Bozo. "We've always used him but we're sending him better mares now. We've got some nice foals and yearlings on the ground by him and I'm a big fan.

"Golden Valentine is in foal to Dubawi, she also has a nice yearling colt by him too. Silva is a stakes-winning mare from a nice family and Birch Grove is a young Galileo mare whose first foal is a filly by Kingman. She's in foal to Dubawi."

Lope De Vega: 'He brings a lot of speed and is easy to mate,' says Henri BozoCredit: Ballylinch Stud

Juddmonte's rising star Kingman, who will stand his seventh season at Banstead Manor Stud at a fee of £150,000, will receive a brace of Monceaux's mares. Interestingly both are by Shamardal.

Bozo says: "We're sending two to Kingman, one is Correze, an exciting young mare from a good family. Her first foal is by Siyouni and she's in foal to Frankel.

"The other mare going to Kingman is a new addition, Zargos. She's an Australian mare owned in partnership and was bought privately in Australia. She's a Group 3 winner by Shamardal so she's exciting too."

Although an abundance of blue blood courses through Monceaux's broodmare band, it is clear that no expense has been spared in maintaining the level of quality Bozo and the team have to call upon, with mares added from as far afield as Australia and Kentucky, as well as closer to home at Arqana and Tattersalls.

"I think we have to try to upgrade things and to get better every year," says Bozo. "The broodmares are the key point of what we're doing so we want to have a select band of mares.

"You have to be open and you can see success comes from anywhere. For instance, I'm very impressed with the Japanese industry and would love to be able to go and buy something from there one day, and we see a lot that American blood can mix well with European stallions.

"A lot of our investments are in partnerships so we're spreading our risk. In breeding you have to be proactive and try to move forward. I know it's not easy to be able to afford to, but that's why we do it in partnership."

Luca Cumani: owns Volcanique in partnership with Ecurie des MonceauxCredit: Laura Green

One of the operations Monceaux counts among its partners is the Cumanis' Fittocks Stud, who bred and sold the French farm's foundation mare Platonic.

"We bought three at Tattersalls, including a mare called Volcanique in partnership with the Cumanis, she is going to Siyouni this year," says Bozo.

"We also bought a filly out of training from Juddmonte called Siliqua, she's going to Le Havre - I think he's very good value for money and he's done so much at stud.

"The third was Palmyre, who we bought in foal to Kingman. She's foaled a nice filly and she's going to Wootton Bassett this year. We're sending six to Wootton Bassett. I started using him quite late but I'm very impressed with him. We have five yearlings by him and they're all really nice individuals. He's a stallion I see going from strength to strength."

Bozo adds: "We're also using Frankel, I think he's a very proven stallion, Mehmas, who had some brilliant results last year, and Zoustar, who we have some very impressive individuals by. We're also sending mares to Hello Youmzain, who's a beautiful horse with a lot of speed, and Sea The Moon, who I think is really making his mark now and showing a lot of ability."

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