Going Solo With Arcadia Elevage

[Wandering Eyes]

A certain amount of admiration is due those who start their own enterprises, especially in an industry that relies on a four-legged speed machine to keep the wheels turning. There has been an influx of new operations in the last year across Europe and notable among them is Arcadia Elevage, owned and operated by Antoine Bellanger, former yearling manager at Ecurie des Monceaux who have been leading vendor at the Arqana August Yearling Sale since 2012.

“I saw a position at Ecurie des Monceaux, which was very young at that time, not very small but smaller than now,” recounts Bellanger. “And I felt something about the farm, I had a good feeling about the farm. So I took the position. At first we had only maybe four or five yearlings and I used to do everything myself. After 11 years, we sold 60 or 70 yearlings with a lot of staff. So I saw that progression year after year.”

Surely watching an operation like Monceaux grow will stand Bellanger in good stead, but the international experience gained by the 33 year-old Loire Valley native will also have a knock-on effect to his own operation’s success.

Said Bellanger, “I grew up in the breeding industry; my parents have a small farm in the Loire Valley and I decided to make my career in the breeding industry. I worked six months in France for a small National Hunt breeder called Patrick Boiteau. Then I decided to travel, so I went to Derrinstown Stud in Ireland for a year and a half. I did pretty much everything, but from there I learned more about the yearling side and I liked it. I decided to go to America to work for Lane’s End Farm…and I learned a lot about organisation because there are a lot of horses, a lot of staff, but it runs smoothly day after day because the organisation is perfect.”

Any possible trepidation felt by Bellanger since departing his role at Monceaux will have faded away this past week at Arqana, given the support he has received from key industry members. That crucial support he wholeheartedly acknowledges could make or break his business.

“Well, first of all Darius Racing and Holger Faust have trusted me to sell a stallion prospect [Khan (Ger) (Santiago {Ger}), lot 829] on Tuesday.” said Bellanger. “On Saturday, David Redvers asked me to buy a Dark Angel (Ire) colt who I really liked and I bought another foal as well for clients. It’s exciting and I feel like it’s been a good booster. I want to do a good job for these people to give back the trust that they have given me.”

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Of the stallion prospect that will be Arcadia Elevage’s first horse to sell at Arqana, Bellanger thinks he could be the real deal.

“Khan is a very interesting prospect,” Bellanger said. “He is a Group 1 winner first of all and he’s a very, very nice individual. He is also a brother to Kamsin (Ger) who is a proven National Hunt sire in France. I think he ticks all the boxes for breeders.”

There is an honesty and kindness to Bellanger that instantly puts you in his corner. You can tell that the decision to set up Arcadia Elevage has not been taken lightly and that there is definitely a desire to build a business that looks after its clients and horses to the best of its ability.

“I’m feeling good and I don’t regret doing it. The farm used to be a cattle farm so we did a lot of work on it. It took a long time to clean it and to do the fencing and the buildings, but it’s started well. The goal is to keep going on the way we started, keep it simple, to focus on horses and make sure all the clients are happy.”

Arcadia Elevage’s inaugural sale will hopefully be an early Christmas present to Bellanger and his partner Aline Giraud of Aga Khan Studs, but whatever the outcome, momentum is building for the fledgling operation that has its sights set on becoming a leading force among French farms.

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