As the recent Magic Millions Sale wore on, there was one name that surged the current relentlessly and it was Arrowfield’s newcomer Shalaa. His sire is a genuine dual-hemisphere sensation, one of those genuine sire of sires that we talk about in reverential tones.
As his sons Kingman (GB) and I Am Invincible bestride the globe’s opposing zones like some joint command, attention inevitably turns to his latest offering up to the commercial powers in bloodstock.
Shalaa is to date Invincible Spirit’s (Ire) highest-achieving juvenile, having stampeded through the sprint mainstays of the July S., the Richmond, Morny and Middle Park in 2015. On the track he was pure devastating speed and precocity, fired by that Danzig (USA) intensity that has so impacted European racing since the 1980s.
Shalaa (Ire) Prix Morny | Image courtesy of ScoopDyga
At stud he has so far produced correct, smooth-moving foals who have evolved into yearlings with augmenting prowess. In Europe, they are now in their first racing year awaiting the true test of their physicality and bloodlines.
Now back in his Northern Hemisphere home of Haras de Bouquetot in Normandy, France’s most happening stallion presence for many years faces considerable scrutiny as his juveniles stride on to the turf of Britain, Ireland, France and Japan’s racecourses.
A tantalising first season sire
In all respects, Shalaa is as tantalising a first season sire as it is possible to name in 2020. “He ticks all the boxes,” Haras de Bouquetot’s stud manager Benoit Jeffroy says.
“The Magic Millions was my first experience of an Australian sale and I was impressed with the enthusiasm and the buzz around it. Shalaa has been received as well as we could have expected he would be and we can only be happy.”
Topping Shalaa’s seven yearlings to fetch more than $300,000 at the auction was John Sadler’s $600,000 purchase, the half-brother to the G1 HKJC Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup and G1 Champions Mile hero Contentment (Hussonet).
Shalaa (Ire ) x Jemison (colt) purchased by John Sadler Racing for $600,000
There had been 600,000 spent in euros in his native France at the Arqana August Sale when his son of the G2 Prix de Sandringham winner Maiden Tower (GB) (Groom Dancer {USA}) was snapped up by Emmanuel de Seroux for the Satomi Horse Company. His brand is already global.
Shuttling is nothing new to Al Shaqab, with Toronado (Ire) and Olympic Glory (Ire) occupying important space in Australia in recent seasons, but Shalaa could add that extra dimension with his enticing profile.
Jeffroy sees the link with Australia and New Zealand as vitally important to the operation. “We are trying to be closer to the Australian market and there is a great atmosphere with great people doing great business there,” he comments.
Benoit Jeffroy | Image courtesy of Zuzanna Lupa Photography
“After I Am Invincible it makes Shalaa easier to advertise, he has plenty of speed in his pedigree with his sire-line bringing that factor and so he has arrived here at the right time. Paul and John Messara spoke to the local buyers and they said they looked great, so they are very hopeful he can make it.”
Shalaa’s influence is spread across Europe too, as Jeffroy points out. “He has as many horses in England and Ireland as he has in France,” he states.
“They are going well early, have good minds, seem easy to train and want to go to work, so we’ll hear more when it gets to March or April. There is a real expectation around him and it is an exciting and worrying time! It depends on him now, as all stallions have to pass something on, to be improvers.”
"He has plenty of speed in his pedigree with his sire-line bringing that factor and so he has arrived here at the right time." - Benoit Jeffroy
Jeffroy is in no doubt about the importance of Shalaa standing in France, a country in resurgent mood when it comes to breeding top-class commercial prospects. “We are very proud to be able to retire a horse of his calibre in France,” he says.
“French bloodstock has been more on the map in the last five years, with the likes of Siyouni, Kendargent and Le Havre and it’s a boost for the whole French bloodstock economy and the young breeders and investors. There was a big gap for a while after the old names Anabaa, Linamix and Highest Honor and it went a bit quiet without much happening.
"You only have to see what Siyouni has done in recent times. Ultimately, they have to do it themselves and if Shalaa can in both hemispheres that can only be a positive.”
Benoit Jeffroy | Image courtesy of Zuzanna Lupa Photography
“The Australian people are winners,” he concludes. “They have a good attitude and we have a good relationship with them which we want to be long-term. You can see that they are willing to do things to promote their country’s breeding and racing. This is going to be a big thing for us and it’s so far, so good.”
“The Australian people are winners... They have a good attitude and we have a good relationship with them which we want to be long-term." - Benoit Jeffroy
High-class juvenile, gifted with speed and quality with the genetic factors that tell in both regions of world racing, Shalaa has the perfect alchemy. Now to the proving ground.
Shalaa (Ire) | Shuttling from Haras de Bouquetot to Arrowfield Stud
