At 7 he was still a highly average trotter, clearly below the best in France. However, a Dutch trainer thought he saw something...
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He was the undisputed French emperor for several years, and only illness prevented him from winning an unprecedented five Prix...
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He may just be the American horse imported to Europe who has left the biggest and most impressive stamp on trotting history. He...
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A supremely fast trotter, he is most famous for stumbling shortly ahead of the wire in the Hambletonian with victory within reach...
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When the French studbook was briefly opened between 1987 and 1992, conservative French breeders generally nixed the opportunity...
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He was one of the thousands of Orlov trotters exported from Russia in the golden age of the breed. Kozyr found a new home in...
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He was a nasty colt, and the only – to date – Elitlopp-winner to be led to the winners’ circle by two grooms holding a chain. The blue-blooded trotter Jorky was no treat to be around, and he was a handful for his opponents as well. The only horse to win all four group I-Criteriums in France, Jorky was a mean superstar.
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French trotters that visited Sweden in the 50s tended to dominate and the desire to bring in French bloodlines were very strong. When the French-born Tibur was brought to Scandinavia, however, the colt was rejected by the Swedish breeding commission. However, following the old adage that “cream always rises to the top”, Tibur proved himself a true elite stallion but only got his chance because of a loophole in the rules.
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The New England-star was sold to Europe and impressed the French so much he was purchased by their national stud. Despite all the high hopes, though, Net Worth turned out to be highly average as a stallion. There was nothing average about his performances on the track, however, as illustrated by him humiliating the French elite at Vincennes when he was 11.
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Some horses just make everybody, their owners, trainer, driver as well as the racing fans, go through the full spectrum of emotions. Few horses have done this more so than the French tank, Rapide Lebel. The gelding would occasionally trot away like his opponents weren’t there and was simply unstoppable at his best. However, on occasion the trotting public got to see the nutty side of the star.
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It wasn’t just a win, it was humilating demonstration of supremacy. It was unthinkable really, that an – in North America – unknown French mare could not only defeat, but humiliate the trotter that according to the US fans was undoubtedly the best trotter in the world. However, Une de Mai at her best was nothing short of spectacular. The French queen could be fickle, however, and also lacked luck at times. This caused her to be the only French queen without a crown.
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She was the undisputed queen, not only of France but the whole world trotting. In fact, she was so superior that she was excluded from the betting in her 1967 Elitlopp elimination! Roquepine won races all over the world, at every track, distance and position. To top it off, she then gave birth to possibly the most influential stallion in French trotting history, Florestan.
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To many he appears to be an average American trotter bred to the first French trotting queen. However, the story of Great McKinney is that of a good horse who just needed a bit of time and then flourished in the US before he was sold to France. Together with French trotting queen Uranie he produced two talented trotters who turned out to be excellent stallions with a big legacy.
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The number of US-born stallions exported to Europe is staggering high, with very few horses going the other way for stallion duty. While some think European-born stallions in the US is a very recent thing, history shows that is not the case. In fact, the first European trotting stallion in the US arrived just a few years after the second World War. The story of Quel Veinard is both strange and fascinating, but more than anything also the story about an almost forgotten horse.
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The Franco-American cross is more popular than ever, and many in the US have also recognized the benefits of such a breeding. It’s often said the cross created a new breed (figuratively, not literally) in the 80s and 90s. Though there is some truth to that, the Franco-American cross was very popular much earlier than that. In fact, more than 100 years ago the French trotter (Trotteur Francais) could not compete with neither the American standardbreds nor the Russian orlov trotters. Then came a French-American cross to establish himself as the first French international star.
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