Sara Cumani

Not even a blanket of snow and some icy country lanes could deter those on the annual Normandy bloodstock pilgrimage more formally known as the Route des Etalons. With plenty of new sires to show off this year, many of France's major stallion studs welcomed in breeders and members of the public during the weekend showcase which is now in its 14th year. At Haras de Bonneval, the French home of the Aga Khan Studs stallions, more than 600 people turned out on Saturday to see the quartet of stallions...

The final day of the Tattersalls December Mare Sale is usually a low-key affair. Take last year for example. That Thursday, 78 mares were sold for just shy of 280,000gns, a sum that wouldn't come close to buying even one of the headline acts during the sale's blockbuster Tuesday session. But Tattersalls prides itself on catering for all levels of the market and plenty of smaller breeders stay through to the end of the sale in the hope of finding a bargain. That was indeed the case for Domenico Zammitti,...

The story of Attraction (GB) (Efisio {GB}) is one that gives all breeders hope. The crooked-legged filly who was too poorly conformed to go to the sales grew up to be a Classic heroine, her untidy gait propelling her through an unbeaten juvenile season and on through Newmarket's famous Dip to win the 1000 Guineas. And she didn't stop there. On the Curragh, Attraction added a second Guineas title to her extraordinary winning stretch, and then a crowning in front of Her Majesty the Queen in the G1 Coronation S....