A FEW weeks ago, the Racing Post republished an article I originally wrote for the French Jour de Galop newsletter seeking to give a British perspective to French jumps breeders on the reasons for the ongoing success of their produce.

The article gave various statistics about differences in breeding and development methods in France as against Britain and Ireland. These confirmed a conclusion I came to a long time ago, namely that the principal reason for the greater level of FR-bred successes lies in upbringing not breeding.

The major advantage of French jumps horses is that they are likely to have been broken much earlier than their cross-channel competitors and schooled to begin racing over obstacles considerably sooner. They are not a different sub-species; they are simply raised and developed in a way that gives them far greater chances to succeed as jumps horses.

I was unable to attend the recent ITBA seminar at which possibilities for countering French-bred supremacy were discussed by a panel of experts able to give varying perspectives; but I am pleased that two members of the panel mentioned my article and some of its key statistics were highlighted (unattributed!) in the Racing Post summary of the seminar.

I was even more pleased that the consensus of the panel was reported as being that: “The future of National Hunt racing, it would appear, lies in starting them sooner.”

However, exactly how the Irish NH racing and breeding industries should proceed to do this was rather less clear, although mention was made of possibly introducing three-year-old NH flat races, three-year-old ‘Junior NH’ hurdles, and developing store sales to focus on two-year-olds rather than three-year-olds.

What now follows is a different perspective of French-bred jumps successes, this time not reminding French jumps breeders of all the things they are doing right but instead suggesting to Irish NH breeders various actions that might be taken in their own country to counter the advantages long enjoyed by the French.

There will doubtless be naysayers to some of these suggestions from traditionalists, of a type we have in Britain too, who are content to continue with methods that put the country’s NH breeding industry at a serious disadvantage so long as it doesn’t involve some of their rivals gaining an advantage over them by doing things they don’t really approve of - namely getting jumps horses to do what they were bred to do rather earlier than they do at present! As the old song goes, there are two simple steps to my suggestions: accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.

1. Accentuate the Positive

The most important development pathway for Irish NH horses is the four-year-old maiden point-to-point programme, as is demonstrated by statistics from the 2019/’20 to 2022/’23 NH seasons covering the 52 different winners of Cheltenham Festival Grade 1 races and six other highly-competitive Grade 1s in Britain and Ireland (the King George VI Chase, Tingle Creek Chase, Irish Gold Cup, Punchestown Gold Cup, Christmas Hurdle, Irish Champion Hurdle).

Of these, 26 were French-bred, 21 Irish and five British.

Irish maiden point-to-points provided the first racecourse experience for 12 (57%) of the Irish-bred winners (including Shishkin and Minello Indo), as against three (14%) who made their debuts in hurdles and six (29%) in NH Flat races.

Of the British-breds, two (Constitution Hill and Honeysuckle) also began in Irish points with one first running in a French three-year-old hurdle and the other two in NH flat races. Even three of the French-breds began in Irish points with one (Energumene) providing a rare advertisement for British pointing.

Bearing in mind that many French-breds, including Gold Cup winners Kauto Star, Long Run, Al Boum Photo and A Plus Tard, along with today’s stars El Fabiolo, Fastorslow and State Man, began as three-year-olds in French hurdles, there seems an obvious way for Ireland to counter French dominance: bring forward the maiden point-to-point programme to hold races for three-year-olds.

These might begin in December 2024 to ensure sufficient numbers of runners this year but move to October onwards in 2025, when trainers have had due notice of the programme. Whether such races should be run over the same three-mile trip as other maiden points is best determined by pointing specialists; but encouragement to get horses jumping earlier would really help the development of Irish horses. As a British NH breeder, I would be delighted to see my foals sold to people favouring this route!

For those preferring to stick to racing under rules, two parallel steps might be taken: Introduce Junior NH hurdles for three-year-olds (October to December) and four-year-olds (January to April) that have never run under rules other than in these or in NH flat races, including a small number of blacktype races at prominent meetings in Ireland and Britain.

As in Britain winners of such races during one season should still be able to run in novice hurdles during the next season. Unlike Britain (where the proposal was successfully opposed by some particularly reactionary trainers), a win in a NH Junior hurdle should not incur a penalty in an ordinary novice hurdle.

These races ought to evolve into a rational programme for those wishing to follow the French model without racing in point-to-points, although with conventional hurdle races often run over sloping hurdles with only eight encountered over two-miles, they are less likely to develop the same jumping skills as in point-to-points in which 15 fences of upright fixed brush construction have to be jumped in a three-mile race.

As an aid to supporting Junior NH hurdles, introduce three-year-old NH flat races over at least 14 furlongs from October 1st. These should not be used as a means for backward flat-breds to make their racing debuts before reverting to flat racing. To this end horses racing in NH flat races should be barred from racing in flat races for 12 months thereafter. Such a rule was briefly proposed in Britain by the BHA, but vocal opposition from one particular trainer apparently persuaded the authorities to back down – not one of their better decisions, perhaps!

If we are going to encourage NH-bred horses to race as late three-year-olds or early four-year-olds, it would clearly be ideal if the major store sales focussed on two-year-olds rather than three-year-olds, since these presently encourage NH-breds to be developed as big, bulky three-year-olds rather than racing athletes.

However, this will have to be encouraged by creating a demand for two-year-old sales rather than by arguing that sales houses must do this simply because it ought to be a good idea. As commercial entities they have to follow what the market wants, not what they think it ought to want! If we bring forward maiden points to cater for three-year-olds from October onwards and introduce Junior NH Hurdles from the same time, this ought to create demand for three-year-olds able to race in them.

Accordingly, this should give encouragement for breeders and pinhookers to sell stores as two-year-olds rather than three-year-olds, to allow them at least 15 months of preparation before they are required to race over obstacles. Such two-year-old sales might even feature horses that have been ‘broken at time of sale’ - but hopefully without the suspicion that such youngsters can have been seriously ‘tried’!

2. Eliminate the Negative

A major negative of the present Irish (and, to some extent, British) racing programme is that it delays too many jumps-bred horses from commencing the purpose for which they were bred – racing over obstacles. In this regard the importance of NH flat races may be an ‘enemy within’.

In Britain such races are now limited to three, four and five-year-olds only, which have run under rules only in other NH flat races. Horses can run in no more than three NH flat races unless the fourth and fifth belong to a small number (five) of specified graded races.

In Ireland the rules are laxer: Six-year-olds are allowed to race and starters can have run in up to two hurdle races so long as they have not run in a three-year-old hurdle or won a hurdle race.

Please forgive my ignorance, but I am unclear if there is any limit to the number of runs possible in Irish NH flat races – but it is at least six.

Given that we are talking about developing jumps horses and that five or six races might consume one or more seasons of racing, I do not believe that the approach in either country is optimal.

Accordingly, I suggest that, in connection with improved programmes of point-to-point races (in Ireland) and Junior NH hurdles (in both countries - with no ludicrous deterrents such as novice hurdle penalties for winning such races), both Britain and Ireland should take the apparently drastic but eminently appropriate action to radically rationalise the rules for NH flat races to encourage young horses to race over obstacles rather than remain running in flat races.

Specifically, such races should be open to three-year-olds and four-year-olds only; horses should be able to run in a maximum of three (perhaps excepting a fourth if it is the Cheltenham Bumper, the Aintree Mares’ NH Flat Race, the Punchestown Bumper or the Punchestown Mares’ Bumper).

All horses older than the age of four would simply have no choice but to race over obstacles or contest normal flat races – by then the time for slow learning is over!

The second negative that I would advise Irish and British breeders to eliminate is to overcome the unfounded inferiority complex that has increasingly become established in breeders’ minds that French stallions are superior.

I have long kept statistics of the Racing Post Ratings (RPRs) of the progeny of hundreds of flat and jump stallions. It provides endless hours of fun when the only alternative is doing something involving physical work.

These statistics cover all runners produced when the stallions were standing in England, Ireland or France, and I allow for the lack of ratings for some horses raced in France by converting prize money earnings for unrated horses into RPRs similar to those awarded to horses with similar prize money earnings.

Knowledgeable NH breeders might gain confidence in these statistics since they suggest that the best British and Irish NH stallions include King’s Theatre, Shantou, Gold Well, Stowaway, Beneficial, Flemensfirth and Milan in Ireland; and Midnight Legend and Kayf Tara in Britain.

Among older active stallions, the leaders are Walk In The Park (with excellent results in both France and Ireland), Westerner and Yeats, with Authorized showing great promise from his time aimed at flat production. The leading French jumps stallions include Poliglote, Saddler Maker, Nickname, Martaline and Network among the departed; with Saint Des Saints, Kapgarde, Doctor Dino and No Risk At All top of the active list.

However, no French-based stallion has ranked as highly as the three leaders on my ‘all-time’ list, who were all based in Ireland.

Among active stallions Saint Des Saints would rank similarly to Walk In The Park, Westerner or Yeats. Kapgarde would be the French equivalent of Sholokhov; with Doctor Dino and No Risk At All well below Authorized.

I have identified other stallions that are at least as promising as various prominent French-based sires, though standing at considerably lower fees – but since I want to book mares at these lower fees I won’t mention their names just yet!

Basically, France has had some good jumps stallions - and it still does – but these are unlikely to be better (and for value for money rather worse) than numerous Irish and British-based NH sires that are active today.

The major advantage that French stallions enjoy over British and Irish sires is that in such a widespread country, with breeders geared towards racecourse successes rather more than sales results, more sires are given a chance; and their first runners can then demonstrate their potential as three-year-olds and four-year-olds.

This factor helped Walk In The Park and Blue Bresil several years ago; it helped No Risk At All (a chesnut whose biggest success came in a Grade 3 flat race) more recently; and it is giving their successors much higher profiles than those afforded to British and Irish stallions of similar or greater potential – stallions whose results will take rather longer to show their abilities.

Breeders making extensive use of French stallions are often driven by the belief that the produce of these sires will make far more money at sales than would those by less expensive Irish or British stallions, despite the fact that the latter might be more likely to breed high-class NH horses if their offspring were developed in the French way.

If as a breeder you define success purely by sales results, and you feel able to predict which stallion will be in vogue when the time comes to sell your foal, then by all means try to identify a hot-shot French stallion that will have just produced the next Il Est Francais by sales time.

However, if you have simpler ambitions, merely to breed the best racehorse you can, by using a stallion whose racing record, pedigree, and early produce results indicate high-class breeding potential and whose conformation and temperament suits your mare, then I would offer one final suggestion.

You are far more likely to find a suitable stallion at a reasonable price in Ireland or Britain than by sending your mare all the way to France simply because a rainbow seems to come to its end when you look in that direction.