The Big Interview: Nicolas de Chambure

The most expensive stallion to retire in France in 2017 was Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), whose wins in the G1 French Derby, and the G1 Irish and G1 English Champion S. propelled him to honors as the European champion 3-year-old of 2016. From the first crop of Wootton Bassett, who also stands at Etreham, Almanzor is available at a fee of €35,000 for 2018.

Kelsey Riley caught up with Haras d'Etreham frontman Nicolas de Chambure this week at the Arqana sales to talk to de Chambure about market reaction to Almanzor as the breeding season approaches.(Click here to watch this video.)

KR: Almanzor was the best 3-year-old of his generation not in just France, but in all of Europe. Talk us through the campaign that led to his Cartier Award.

NDC: As a 2-year-old, he won pretty early in the season. He won in July and he ended up winning a listed stakes over a mile as a 2-year-old so we thought he was going to improve and be a better 3-year-old, which he did. And then he won a Group 3 as a prep for the French Derby. And then he won the Derby at 20-1 because at the time there were other horses in Europe that were a bit more fancied for the Derby and he won that easily. And then after that, he just kept winning and he won the G2 Guillaume d'Ornano in Deauville before winning the G1  Champion S. in Ireland and in England, where he beat an amazing field, especially now when there have gone on to be eight individual Group I winners in the race. Everybody agreed that was one of the best Group 1s in Europe for many years. So I think that was one of the main factors for him to win the Cartier Award.

KR: Etreham has a history with the horse, having bred him and sold him as a yearling before buying back into him. What can you recall about him as a young horse?

NDC: He was from the first crop of Wootton Bassett, so obviously we were keen to follow his progress as the year went on as a foal and then as a yearling. And he's just progressed with time physically. He was just a better horse every month and he reached a really good level of conditioning and athleticism in August (at the Arqana 2014 Yearling Sale), and he was bought by Jean-Claude Rouget [for €100,000]. At the time we were very happy with that. We knew he was going to do his best and do a good job with him. So at this state, we thought we've done our best. He was a nice horse going to a good trainer so we could dream a little bit.

KR: And then the sporting decision was made to keep the horse in training at four, but his campaign was very affected by the EHV outbreak in Rouget's stable. Can you talk about what happened during that time and how that affected him?

NDC: Well, it was big decision to keep him racing at four because obviously he would have retired as a 4-year-old at the top of his career and it would have been an easy decision to make, but we thought he was such a good horse. He had just reached his best level, so we thought, `you don't have a good horse like that in your yard every year so we thought let's try to win the Arc and to give him another year. But, unfortunately, that was not the wisest decision we've made because the outbreak appeared in the spring and there were a few horses in the yard and he had to miss a couple of months. But the timing was very difficult after that to go back in full training and reach his best condition again. So we decided to retire him and to just send him to stud.

KR: Not only did Etreham breed Almanzor, but you stand his sire Wootton Bassett as well, who has continued to be successful since producing Almanzor in his first crop. Can you talk a bit about his rise up through the stallion ranks?

NDC: Everything he's done so far has been with very low numbers and lower-quality mares. So I feel that what he's done is pretty special, and he's gotten stakes horses with every crop. And he's got a 2-year-old called Wootton who's been unbeaten in two starts, having won a listed race in his second start by six lengths. I think he could be a proper Group 1 horse next year. If you think about a stallion with only about 60 foals bred at €6,000 having two Group 1 winners, that's pretty special.

KR: Absolutely. And then with Almanzor, with Etreham and SF Bloodstock to be involved in his ownership will all but guarantee him some very nice mares in his first book. Can you tell us how many he'll cover and if you know who any of those mares will be at this stage.

NDC: The horse is limited to 140, so he won't cover more than that. I think that's plenty enough for a horse to get a good start and get all the support he needs and then there's a great syndicate. We've sold 22 shares to breeders around Europe and America as well. So he's going to get great support. Not too many horses have performed so well in three different countries. He won the Derby in France. He was best horse in Ireland, and best horse in England that year so he's got the whole market open to him. All the trainers know him, all the agents know him so I think he's offering a very broad sort of perspective for people. He had enough speed to have always a good position if he wanted in a race. And then, he had that very, very special turn of foot and that will to keep going, to accelerate. So, I think just as a racehorse, he was really good and then, he's a great physical. He's really well-balanced. He has a great presence, good walk, he's correct. And we need to breed athletes. And he's an outcross to Northern Dancer, so he's going to get so many of those good European mares that have too much Danehill or Sadler's Wells. We're seeing a lot of international support because of the fact that he won in different countries. Everybody knows him, everybody's been impressed with his racing. Most of the people have seen him at the races. He's a very European and international prospect.

Some of the mares in his first book include the dam of Grade II winner Uni (Fr), a Galileo full-sister to Rhododendron (Ire), a stakes-winning daughter of Sophisticat, and the dam of G2 Prix Mallory winner Al Wathna (GB).

KR: Let's talk just a bit about the French breeding industry in general. It's seen a bit of a revolution with horses like Wootton Bassett, Le Havre (Ire), Siyouni (Fr), and horses like that, and some better mares coming into the country as well. Can you talk a bit about this improvement of the industry and why this has happened?

NDC: The why is a bit of a mix of different factors, I think. Maybe French people have had more faith recently in their own market, in their own ability to get a good stallion going and support their own stallions as well. We have been retaining some good horses. So I think that just gave confidence then to other farms, to other breeders in France. But it's great. It's a great dynamic now in France.