Elevages together. That's why it's all such
a beautiful story. To do something with
stallions was always in the back of our
minds.
"I know M. Augustin-Normand is a
wealthy man. But he has also put a lot of
energy into it, a lot of trust. And for us it's
been a great adventure. But not only that.
I feel it's been great for the whole sport
in France – this horse, with this name, get-
ting not one but two dual Classic winners
with five-grand mares. It's just taken off
from there, really. Remember we have
fantastic prizemoney here, with the pre-
miums. We have tracks, the trainers, ev-
erything. The only thing that had seemed
to be missing was the stallions."
Both Alex and de Chambure also give
credit to others who have shown similar
conviction in retiring horses from French
stables to French studs: the Aga Khan,
for one, with Siyouni; and especially Guy
Pariente, with Kendargent. On the face
of it, this horse had done little warrant
the investment of faith and funds made
by Pariente when he decided personally
to magnify his stud prospects to the mar-
ket: this €45,000 Kendor yearling, who
had taken six starts to break his maiden,
thereafter relying on a fourth place in the
Prix Jean Prat and, tried in the US, a sin-
gle win at Hollywood Park before being
retired with a tendon injury. Yet Pariente
converted a dairy farm near Deauville into
Haras de Colleville; bred 61 of the 127
foals in Kendargent's first four crops; and
then had to foot the bill for their train-
ing fees. It looked madness – until ten
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