Hello Youmzain filly Allee de Bercy A quick-fire double in France by first-crop Hello Youmzain two-year-olds and further big wins by progeny of Almanzor in New Zealand and Australia have kept Cambridge Stud’s high-profile shuttle pair in the headlines.
Hello Youmzain has been popular with breeders and buyers from the time he retired to stud in 2021 as the winner of the Gr. 1 Royal Ascot Diamond Jubilee Stakes and Gr. 1 Haydock Sprint Cup. In his debut season at Haras d’Etreham he sired 115 foals, followed by another 95 from his first shuttle run to Cambridge Stud.
Now, with the European flat season gathering momentum, tangible results have come with wins by Hello Youmzain juveniles Allee de Bercy and Reux in France. Early last week Allee de Bercy scored on debut at Chantilly in the 1000-metre Prix de la Mere Marie, followed on Friday by Hello Youmzain colt Reux, who improved significantly on a debut fifth to win the Prix des Cigales over 1200 metres at Marseille.
“It’s very exciting to see Hello Youmzain getting results on the track already,” commented Cambridge Stud’s Scott Calder. “We felt that given the horse he was himself and the types he’s been leaving, there would be some two-year-old action, but to see it happening so early is very positive.
“From what we’ve seen of his early runners, they’re showing good early toe and look very competitive. To get two early winners, and one of them on debut at one of France’s premier tracks (Chantilly), you could hardly wish for a better start.”
While Calder concedes it’s still early days in the stud career of the Danehill line stallion, various other pointers also augur well.
“There’s a lot more water to go under the bridge, but all the signs around Hello Youmzain are very encouraging. Speaking from our perspective, the benefit of well-sold yearlings is that they find their way to leading stables.
“From what we saw at the sales earlier this year, that’s very much the case with this horse. All the good judges were on them and the feedback we’ve had since is also highly encouraging.
“It’s also reflected up in Europe at the spring breeze-up sales. Across France and the UK, 13 of Hello Youmzain’s two-year-olds have sold at the equivalent average of $285,000, which really tells you something. Buyers have really come for them, so obviously the word on him is strong.”
Meanwhile, fellow Haras d’Etreham Almanzor continues to rack up the winners on the local scene, with highly rated colt Geriatrix stamping his passport to the Queensland Winter Carnival with an impressive win at Rotorua, and fellow three-year-old Positivity adding another stakes win in the Gr. 3 South Australian Fillies’ Classic at Morphettville.
The Ben Kwok-owned Positivity, one of 17 stakes winners by Almanzor, had earlier won the Gr. 3 Sunline Vase at Ellerslie in March before finishing second in the Gr. 1 New Zealand Oaks. She now heads to the spelling paddock while trainer Andrew Forsman plots a programme around staying features for her four-year-old season.
Geriatrix, who sports the equally familiar colours of part-owner Sam Kelt, has more immediate plans, with trainers Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott now set to add him to their Queensland Carnival contingent.
Almanzor, whose autumn stakes tally includes the widely diverse Sydney Cup at 3200 metres to his Northern Hemisphere-bred son Circle Of Fire and the 1200-metre Welcome Stakes by his two-year-old son Nucleozor, should again be in demand for what will be his seventh season at Cambridge Stud.
“Starting with his first-crop three-year-olds, Almanzor established himself as a sire of classic performers,” Calder observed. “He’s gone from strength to strength since and as things stand now, we really couldn’t ask for more from him.
“He’s doing what we always hoped he would do and now his statistics, ranging from major Cup winners to classic performers and even two-year-old stakes winners puts him at an elite level as far as stallions go.”
There was no shortage of the usual discussion when it came to setting service fees for Cambridge Stud’s 2024 roster, and Almanzor was in the centre of that.
“You have to recognise a range of factors, and we’ve seen a lot of that in where the market has landed on service fee announcements across Australasia lately. We landed on $30,000 for Almanzor, which we believe prices him very competitively, especially for those younger mares kicking off.
“At that level Almanzor gives breeders a very good chance to do well commercially by breeding their mares to him.”
Calder reports no shortage of interest – and bookings – to Cambridge Stud’s new recruit, Chaldean, Group One-winning son of the outstanding racehorse and sire Frankel.
“Chaldean has been an easy sell, what with the Frankel factor and this being one of his very best sons, his overall credentials make him a such a compelling prospect, so at a fee of $35,000 he’s very attractive.”
Ahead of the spring breeding season, the upcoming New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling Sale at Karaka on June 20 holds immense interest and no less at Cambridge Stud, with the pending debut of the first crop by Snitzel’s Group One-winning son Sword Of State.
“He’ll be well represented in numbers at Karaka,” Calder added. “Sword Of State has the right profile, his line of weanlings certainly look the part, and we’re very confident he’ll go well.”
