Hear the full interview
From 34:10 in Tuesday’s episode of Nick Luck Daily. Press play to start at the interview.
Pascal Noue of Haras de la Hetraie, one of the biggest National Hunt studs in France, has predicted that the French jumps foal crop could fall by up to 15% next year.
Speaking on the Weatherbys world tour, Noue told Nick Luck that economic and political uncertainty in France is hitting the market. “In France, we are in trouble,” he said. “With the next election in 2027, there are a lot of questions. The market is decreasing, and there is a lack of interest in racehorses. It’s not easy for breeders to imagine what their future will be.”
“I think we’re going to lose something like 15% of mares next year. That is my opinion, because the economic conditions are dreadful,” he added. “For National Hunt, the people who invest in racehorses and in breeding programmes are not very rich people, and they are keeping their money now.”
“I think we’re going to lose something like 15% of mares next year, because the economic conditions are dreadful.”
Pascal Noue
From cattle farm to leading jumps stud
Haras de la Hetraie sits on the edge of a forest in Normandy, south-west of Bayeux. In a little under 20 years, Noue has turned it from a cattle farm into one of France’s leading jumps studs. He came into the business after years working for France’s national research institute and the national studs.
Great Pretender has now retired, joining Kapgarde, who was retired two years ago. “Everything is OK for him,” Noue said. Nirvana Du Berlais has taken over as the stud’s headline stallion. He covered 230 mares last year, making him the most popular National Hunt sire in France.
‘Not a good way’
Noue is uneasy about one stallion covering so many mares. “I think it’s not a good thing to do such a number of mares with just one sire,” he said. “Each time you do 230 mares, you stop two or three other stallions from coming through, because they don’t cover 70 or 80 mares. We are happy to have done it, but if we sit and think, I’m not sure about it.”
‘The trend is turning’
Jane Mangan, Nick’s guest on the programme, said the French jumps breeding boom of recent years was now slowing. “Since 2019, French National Hunt breeding has had an explosion in popularity and revenue,” she said. “Stallion fees have gone up exponentially, and it was once unthinkable in France that a stallion would cover over 200 mares. A lot of investment came from British and Irish pinhookers and fuelled a massive growth spurt.”
“There’s been a contraction in the last 12 months, and that was the first time in a while the French National Hunt scene has seen that,” she added. “That has been happening in Britain and Ireland for five or six years now. I think the trend is just turning to where we have been for the last number of years.”
