KAPGARDE (Garde Royale) is one of the best National Hunt sires in France and the Haras de le Hetraie kingpin, who will turn 23 in the New Year, is again set to stand for a fee of €15,000.

The multiple Grade 1 winner Milord Thomas is among a trio who have flown the flag for him in France by winning at Grade 1 level, while dual Grade 1 King George VI Chase winner Clan Des Obeaux, Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase and Melling Chase winner Fakir D’Oudaireies and A Plus Tard are among his best in Ireland and Britain.

A Plus Tard was bred by Antonia Devin and purchased privately by Alex Elliott for Cheveley Park Stud. He carried the colours of Antonia (nee Feeney) when he was a listed winner over hurdles in France, where he won or was placed on all his starts. He was then transferred to Henry de Bromhead in 2018.

Since he moved he has maintained his record of never finishing out of the first three and, having beaten Chacun Pour Soi to capture last December’s Grade 1 Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase, he returned to the same meeting and added a star-studded Grade 1 Savills Chase to his roll of honour. Now he has made history by becoming the first Irish-trained winner of the Grade 1 Betfair Chase, having chased home his stablemate Minella Indo in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Best winner

A Plus Tard is the best of three winners from his dam Turboka (Kahyasi) who was placed a few times, and she is also the grandam of a listed flat winner, Style Icon (Doctor Dino) and the listed-placed hurdler Le Lude (Turgeon).

The seven-year-old A Plus Tard’s grandam Turbotiere (Turgeon) was a multiple listed winner in France and group-placed, and she is the dam of eight winners.

That octet includes three blacktype winners over jumps in Turbotin (Passing Sale), Dottore (Doctor Dino) and most recently L’Aubonniere (Doctor Dino). The last-named, a four-year-old filly, is a rising star of French racing, one of her three successes being achieved in the Grade 3 Prix Orcada Chase at Auteuil. She races for Antonia and Henri Devin and in May she was runner-up in the Grade 1 Prix Ferdinand Dugaure Chase.

Grade 1 winning mares are a feature too of this family, and back in the fourth remove Ladykish (Comte Du Bourg) appears. She was a Grade 1 winner over fences as a four-year-old, while her full-sister Turkish Junior came close to also being a Grade 1 winner, being narrowly denied in the Prix Ferdinand Dafaure Chase.