Jean-Daniel Manceau

It might be over-egging the pudding a bit to describe this year's Prix Morny as a familiar tale of woe for the home team. However, in order to understand why the 2024 winner, Whistlejacket, is such a welcome addition to the Normandy stallion ranks for next season, it's important to acknowledge the gaping void that necessitated his purchase in the first place. Increasingly, France seems to be falling behind its British and Irish counterparts when it comes to producing top-class, sprinting juveniles. This struggle was depicted in no uncertain terms...

Group 1 winner Whistlejacket has been acquired by a group of breeders led by Jean-Philippe Dubois and will stand for €14,000 at Haras de Grandcamp next year, France-Sire reported on Friday. The full-brother to fellow juvenile top-level winner Little Big Bear will have his stallion career and syndication managed by Jean Daniel Manceau of Capucines Bloodstock. Dubois said in a statement, "I had the opportunity to follow the two-year-old season of Whistlejacket, a true model of precocity and courage. His victory in the Prix Morny made an impression, It has...

For a horse who won the G2 Gimcrack S. as a juvenile before torching the sprinting scene with a sequence of four straight Group 1 victories the following year, Muhaarar (GB) has been a surprisingly slow burner in his second career as a stallion, certainly compared to the fast start that was expected of him when he was retired to stand his first season at Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum's Nunnery Stud in 2016. It seemed like all the ingredients were there for Muhaarar to make an immediate and significant impact,...