THE French-bred Djelo (Montmartre) and the Irish-bred Master Chewy (Walk In The Park) contested a two-mile handicap chase at Aintree in November 2023, the latter carrying top-weight and giving three pounds to Djelo, the second highest-weighted runner.

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Master Chewy started favourite, but had to give best to Venetia Williams’ runner, going down by three-parts of a length when he was headed in the final strides. Both geldings were at Newbury on Saturday last, but this time not in competition with each other. Instead, both won their respective contests, and each triumph came in a Grade 2 chase.

There has been plenty of comment recently on the performances of horses that have brought large sums at the sales, but failed to go on and justify the spend. Both Djelo and Master Chewy realised a six-figure sum, and their subsequent race records have been different, though each has gone on to become a multiple graded chase winner, and been placed at Grade 1 level.

Djelo cost bloodstock agent Guy Petit €140,000 at an Auctav online sale in late 2021, just after he had won on his debut in a three-year-old hurdle at Nancy for his owner-breeder Gildas Blain. He moved to Venetia Williams but was not seen again for more than a year, making a winning debut in a handicap hurdle for new connections. The rest of that season appeared to show Djelo’s limits, with just a couple of placed efforts.

Last season started well, with that Aintree victory, and then Djelo quickly added wins at Newbury and in a Grade 2 chase at Ascot. He was not disgraced, though soundly beaten, in the Grade 1 Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown and the Grade 1 Turners’ Novices Chase at Cheltenham. This season Djelo has faced the starter four times, won twice, and added the Grade 2 Denman Chase at Newbury to his roll of honour, which now comprises two hurdle wins and five victories over fences. Since his move to Britain, he has bagged more than £250,000 for his owners, a fine return on their investment.

Traditional

Djelo represents a very traditional French National Hunt family, and his success is no great surprise.

His Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells) sire Montmartre won the mile and a half Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at three for his owner and breeder, the late Aga Khan IV. He only raced five times, winning three, and his sole disappointing run came in the French Derby. Montmartre met with a setback after his greatest success, and the plan was to keep him in training at four.

The following February came the announcement the he suffered a recurrence of the setback which prevented him from being trained for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, a race for which he joined his stablemate Zarkava as ante-post favourite. Always highly regarded by his trainer, Alain de Royer Dupré, Montmartre was prepared for the Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby after a single maiden victory. He enjoyed no luck in running, but showed his true ability when easily winning the Group 3 Prix du Lys over a mile and a half at Longchamp.

Montmartre then confirmed his talent when dominating the field in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris on Bastille Day, where he had pattern winners Curtain Call, Alessandro Volta, Prospect Wells, Doctor Fremantle, Cima De Triomphe and Centennial behind him. In that year’s international classifications, he was rated equal with Henrythenavigator, Goldikova, Conduit, Big Brown, Youmzain and Zenyatta, and the joint -third top-rated three-year-old colt behind New Approach and Raven’s Pass.

Soon after his retirement came the news that Montmartre had been sold to the French National Studs in a deal brokered by Ghislain Bozo of Meridian International. Bids for the stallion were made by many leading studs around the world, but in choosing the offer of the Haras Nationaux, which ensured that Montmartre would remain in France, His Highness the Aga Khan demonstrated his support for the indigenous breeding industry.

No surprise

It is no surprise that as a son of Montjeu, Montmartre has enjoyed plenty of success as a jumps sire, though his fee this year of €3,700 does not place him among the elite in France.

He is well-known outside France thanks to the emergence in his second crop of Petite Parisienne, the Willie Mullins-trained winner of the Grade 1 Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle at the 2015 Punchestown Festival for Gigginstown House. Two years later that Grade 1 tally doubled when the Gordon Elliott-trained Labaik was a surprise winner of the Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Djelo’s dam Djeville (Balko) failed to win, though her placed efforts saw her finish second in a Grade 3 hurdle at Auteuil. Her only other winner to date, Ramo (Kapgarde) who has won three hurdle races for Venetia Williams, was also purchased by Guy Petit, but for a more modest €57,000.

Djeville has five winning siblings, two of which were placed in blacktype races. They are her full-brother Starko (Balko) and full-sister Bellaville, also by Balko (Pistolet Bleu).

There is just a single other blacktype winner in the first four generations of Djelo’s family, and it is a mare who gained that important success in Ireland. Nadiya De La Vega (Lost World) won in France before she raced for the Million In Mind Syndicate, winning twice. She remained in training with Nicky Henderson after selling to JP McManus for £70,000, and went on to win the Grade 3 John and Chich Fowler Memorial Mares Chase at Fairyhouse, and she came within half a length of repeating that success the following year, beaten by her stablemate Une Artiste, now dam of Intense Raffles.

Tattersalls Farm

Present Soldier, Arctic Bresil and Master Chewy (Walk In The Park) occupied the first three places in the Tattersalls NH Four-year-old Geldings Maiden in November 2021 at Tattersalls Farm, and shortly afterwards all three sold at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale. Their subsequent careers did not always live up to expectations.

Present Soldier sold for £300,000, raced three more times, and placed in a maiden hurdle. Arctic Bresil won on his racecourse debut after topping the sale at £305,000. He contested a Grade 1 on his next start, disappointing on that occasion, and never won again.

Master Chewy, a €28,000 foal buy from breeder James Hoare, sold to Willy Twiston-Davies, and he has recouped about half of his £300,000 sale price with three chase wins, including last weekend’s Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase. He previously won the Grade 2 Wayward Lad Novices Chase at Kempton, and last April was beaten a head by Found A Fifty in the Grade 1 Maghull Novices’ Chase at Aintree.

Master Chewy’s fourth dam Old Penny (Tarqogan) was the daughter of a sire who went on to achieve a lot of success with his jumpers, but she was a winner at two and three before making her way to Australia. There she bred the Group 1 winner Copperama (Comeram), and Old Penny has been an outstanding success with her descendants, and among the many Group 1 winners who can claim her as a source is the champion Faint Perfume (Shamardal).

Copperama’s Group 3-winning half-sister Postage Due (Luskin Star) made a return trip, coming to Ireland from Australia, but she did not have the same impact as her famous sibling. The best of just five winners she bred was Back Log (Bob Back) who placed in a listed race at Tipperary. Back Log, who had seven winning offspring, is the grandam of Grade 3 Tipperary novice hurdle winner Williamstowndancer (Beat Hollow), and Master Chewy. The latter is the first winner from Shake The Tree (Shantou) who has a host of young stock to race in the years to come.