Recorder Foals Step Out On Arqana Stage

[Wandering Eyes]

DEAUVILLE, France-the foal sales provide the market an opportunity to get a feel for the progeny of young sires, and shoppers at Arqana this weekend will have a good opportunity to form an opinion on Montfort et Preaux’s Recorder (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), as the Group 3-winning 2-year-old has 11 first-crop foals catalogued.

Recorder, bred and raced by The Queen and trained by William Haggas, raced only at two but won two of his three starts. He took a seven-furlong Newmarket maiden in July of 2015, with eventual G1 Gran Premio del Jockey Club victor Ventura Storm (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) in his wake in third, before taking York’s G3 Acomb S. with the Group 1-placed Cymric (Kitten’s Joy) back in third.

“Recorder was one of the highest-rated 2-year-olds in England that year,” recalled Montfort et Preaux’s Mathieu Alex. “He won his maiden very impressively, defeating a Group 1 winner. And then he was an impressive winner of the Acomb S. The horse in third that day, Cymric, was then a short-head second in the G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere in France. So he had true Group 1 form. He only raced the two, but he showed that he had a lot of ability.”

Montfort et Preaux, in its former guise as Haras de la Cauviniere, is best known for developing Gerard Augustin-Normand’s Le Havre into one of the best sires ever to stand in France, and Alex said that when the team received the call that The Queen was interested in starting Recorder in France, it was met with great excitement.

“It’s obviously a great honor to stand Recorder, owned by Her Majesty, The Queen of England, who has done so much for the industry. To have a horse like him in France is a great privilege. He’s by Galileo and he’s out of a multiple group winner in Memory. His first foals are very nice. We’ll know more in two years’ time and hopefully we’ll have a good story.”

As Alex referenced, Recorder is out of the G2 Cherry Hinton S. and G3 Albany S. winner Memory (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}). Recorder was her first foal, and the following year she produced his listed-winning and G2 Yorkshire Cup-third full-brother Call To Mind (GB) and his listed-winning three-quarter brother Learn By Heart (GB) (Frankel {GB}). The mare’s 3-year-old Space Walk (GB) (Galileo {Ire}) was a winner this year for The Queen and Haggas, while her first filly, the 2-year-old Dusty Dream (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), ran twice this year for the same connections. Memory has a yearling filly by Galileo.

Alex said the team at Montfort and Preaux is in weekly contact with The Queen’s staff about Recorder, and the 10 mares she has sent to the stallion annually board on the stud.

“We are in touch with them every week, letting them know how many mares he has covered, how many mares he has booked to him and how the foals are going,” Alex said. “It’s a very nice way to work. They have put a lot of trust in us and we greatly appreciate it.”

Recorder has bred around 250 mares in his first-season at stud, and Alex said his first crop are showing traits of both their sire and illustrious grandsire Galileo.

“His foals have been very, very popular,” he said. “We’re getting a lot of very positive feedback from the breeders. Most of them have been back, so that’s always a good sign. We have about 20 Recorder foals on the farm, so we have a good knowledge of what they’re like physically and mentally, and they have been very easy to deal with from the beginning. They seem to have a lot of confidence, and we really like them physically. They are strong and they’re very forward. They’re the type of foals that are born and as soon as they can get up they come to you and see you.

“Time will tell, but we are very happy at the moment. I think the breeders were delighted with him, but also they really appreciate that Her Majesty, The Queen of England would stand a horse of this calibre in France.”

Montfort et Preaux has also supported the stallion with mares, and the operation has come full circle in a way, as Alex revealed that one of its nicest Recorder foals is out of La Hoguette (Fr), who was one of Le Havre’s first stakes winners.

“We have supported Recorder the same way we did with Le Havre, and we will keep doing so, but he’s also had plenty of support from outside breeders and also breeders from England. They look forward, like they will be sharp 2-year-olds. Time will tell, but we’re excited about Recorder.”

Alex said he is looking forward to seeing the market’s reception over the weekend, but noted it is just the beginning of Recorder’s story at stud.

“To have Recorder’s foals selling at the end of the year in Arqana, it’s exciting for us,” he said. “And we’re also seeing the foals that breeders are retaining, and there are very good reports about them. The foal sale is important, but we’ll probably know more next year at the yearling stage. But we have to say it’s very positive.”

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