Today, those who have a passable knowledge of the European pattern (the classics & Group 1s) will envisage that next year that Coolmore will probably have a set of winners, that Juddmonte will likely win a few and that a resurgent Hamdan may take his share. Of course the Aga Khan will likely throw up a horse or two to be considered. All these names are the owner-breeders of our age and we’d probably wager that it won’t be significantly different in 5 or 10 years time.
Go back 75 years and the same kind of person would be thinking the same kind of thing. Except he would be thinking of different owner-breeders (an Aga Khan is the exception and of whom I’ll say more in a possible future thread), and his thoughts would have at the top of his list the name Boussac. Marcel Boussac, a dapper 61 year old had just won the last three English classics of the 1950 season, in addition to the French 1000G and Oaks. It wasn’t a surprise, he was a formidable owner breeder. In fact the talk was that Boussac had created a ‘breed within the breed’. Today the name Marcel Boussac means little to most people interested in racing other than it is the name of a Group 1 2yo race on Arc day.
Boussac had begun to amass the fortune which underpinned his horseracing ambitions (which in turn underpinned his breeding operation) before the 1st World War when he set up a number of textile factories. The war turned out to be to his advantage when his factories supplied the French army. At the end of the war he had a further dividend when he bought up the army surplus fabrics such as silk.. By then he’d set up his own stud at Fresnay le Buffard in Normandy. It became the byword for class, eventually a byword for style rather like the other house he helped set up, Dior.
By then he’d cleverly purchased a set of mares from breeders struggling nearby or breeders who were selling up. He enrolled the help of a gentleman called Rene Romanet who helped him and advised him to purchase more mares and rigorously weed out the weaker ones of those he had. The purchases were not generally expensive but always into families that had classic connections. He came to England and attended sales buying yearlings and mares: again not expensive but from good families. This foundation was to eventually give him 12 French Derby winners, 5 French Oaks winners, 6 Arc winners and 9 Grand Criterium (then the supreme French 2yo race) winners in addition to his English classics.
Fresney le Buffard bloomed and by the mid-20s he had a band of about 55 broodmares and both Romanet and he seemed set to maintain numbers at that level. After that he rarely brought any mare from outside unless a special situation presented itself. At the same time he culled mares unlikely to add to his idea of the breed to keep numbers fairly constant. He also started standing his own-bred stallions and a yearling colt he bought called Asterus, who won the French 2000G, the Royal Hunt Cup and the Champion Stakes, became his first important stallion.. He was a leading sire of racehorses but it was as a broodmare sire he excelled being the French leading broodmare sire 6 years in succession from 1943 to 1948.
Most people agree the best horse Boussache bred was the unbeaten Pharis II, a colt by Nearco’s sire Pharos, who won both the Grand Prix de Paris (then the most important 3yo race in France) and the French Derby of 1939 in a dramatic fashion. It was the year of Blue Peter, who had won the first two English Classics and was set on claiming the Triple Crown at Doncaster. Standing in his way was Pharis II but a bigger obstacle was the Fuehrer and the match of the century did not take place as the St Leger that year was cancelled. A year later Pharis was requisitioned by the Germans and sent to stand at their National Stud. He returned to France in 1945 and went on to be leading French sire 4 times.
By then Boussac had won 5 of his 12 French Derbies. The second of his winners of that race was a colt called Tourbillon who won the Prix Greffulhe, Prix Lupin, Prix Hocquart and French Derby in quick succession as a 3yo. He never won again but still started favourite for the Arc in which he broke down. Boussac sent him to stud and he was to be champion sire 4 times. From 1940 to 1955 a 'Boussac 'sire was French leading sire 11 times.
A year younger than Pharis was Djebel who won the 1939 Middle Park Stakes, the French 2000G and the English 2000G. Later he also won the Arc. Djebel was by Tourbillon and became nearly as important a sire as his sire was. In 1949 Boussac won the Arc with a filly called Coronation V. This filly had announced her class with a victory in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. She followed that up by winning the Prix Robert Papin against the colts and as a 3yo won the French 1000G. She was by his Djebel (by Tourbillon) out of his mare Esmeralda (by Tourbillon) who herself was out of a Boussac mare by Boussac’s sire Asterus. She was beaten narrowly by Musidora in the Oaks but rounded things off when she won the Arc. A worrying feature was that she was barren for her whole breeding career.
The war was not particularly hard on the breeding aspirations of Boussac despite losing Pharis to the Germans for 4 years. Racing continued in France at a practical level unlike the skeleton programme that continued in England, much to the detriment of English breeding. Perhaps we never factor that in, but English racing was hugely affected by the war and though all the classics were run there was little else. The Germans encouraged racing to continue in France to the benefit of French owner-breeders. Boussac even purchased a few mares post-war from hard-up British breeders.
When the war ended Boussac was able to show his strength. The real glory years for French racing were from 1945-1955 and Boussac was at the forefront of this assault on European Racing. Even a 2nd tier horse from his stable, Priam, was sent over to be Boussac’s first English runner after the end of the War in the Champion Stakes. He was not considered to have a chance against the ‘unbeatable’ Court Martial (at 8-10f). As it was Priam couldn’t handle the open spaces of Newmarket and instead of testing Court Martial’s stamina (he’d not lasted home in the Derby against Dante) as he was meant to do and only started to run properly in the final quarter of the race. He then gave Court Martial the shock of his life and was only beaten a nose by the British champion. English racing enthusiasts knew their horses were up against it and soon they saw the onslaught. One comment made about Boussac horses was that they were sleek, well-made athletic individuals, not the muscled giants you sometimes get today.
So where did it all go wrong? There is the famous saying that those the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. A number of things came together to destroy this monolith of excellence. One thing was the death of Romanet in 1945 which reduced the rigour in selection. But at the heart of it was the belief that in-breeding could only benefit the breed: we hadn’t he proved that? And yes it can, but it cannot be taken to the extremes that Boussac took it.
A number of other things happened. His businesses began to struggle (It was the start of clothing being made in the Far-East) and Boussac, being a proud and principled man, used his own fortune to keep his factories running as margins slipped. He also became a bit precious about the health of his mares and was wary of allowing outside mares onto his studs. This upset other owner-breeders who kept stallions, as they reacted by not allowing Boussac nominations to their stallions. This in turn meant he used his own stallions even more. Numbers of his mares increased to 105 at the end of the war and to 150 by 1955, and increasingly they were bred and in-bred to the same stallions. When Asterus died instead of getting in a sire from a fresh line he used his best son, which he’d bred anyway!
All this was self-reinforcing and as the quality needle dropped so did the quality of the sires he kept and used. The first sign that all was not well was the 1957 season. Boussac had finished 1956 as leading French owner but there was the disturbing statistic of no 2yo winners that season. In 1957 he barely got into the top 10 of French owners: he would never scale the previous heights again. It happened that quickly. His French Oaks winner of 1956 illustrates what 'Boussac-bred' meant. Apollonia was by Djebel (by Tourbillon) out of a mare by Pharis II out of a mare by Tourbillon out of a mare by Asterus. This potent mix had sent Boussac to the heights but his breed had been crying out for out-crosses and he was too late in applying them. He still had the odd success in the next 20 years (Crepellana and Dankaro may be remembered) and many may recall his last French Derby winner Acamas, coming 2nd to Ile de Bourbon at Ascot in 1978. But by then all his horses were sold, even Acamas, and he only raced in Boussac-colours that day out of respect for this once great but now broken man. The method he'd used to develop his equine super athletes eventually became the method that destroyed their potency.
Other articles in the Bustino Collection
Go back 75 years and the same kind of person would be thinking the same kind of thing. Except he would be thinking of different owner-breeders (an Aga Khan is the exception and of whom I’ll say more in a possible future thread), and his thoughts would have at the top of his list the name Boussac. Marcel Boussac, a dapper 61 year old had just won the last three English classics of the 1950 season, in addition to the French 1000G and Oaks. It wasn’t a surprise, he was a formidable owner breeder. In fact the talk was that Boussac had created a ‘breed within the breed’. Today the name Marcel Boussac means little to most people interested in racing other than it is the name of a Group 1 2yo race on Arc day.
Boussac had begun to amass the fortune which underpinned his horseracing ambitions (which in turn underpinned his breeding operation) before the 1st World War when he set up a number of textile factories. The war turned out to be to his advantage when his factories supplied the French army. At the end of the war he had a further dividend when he bought up the army surplus fabrics such as silk.. By then he’d set up his own stud at Fresnay le Buffard in Normandy. It became the byword for class, eventually a byword for style rather like the other house he helped set up, Dior.
By then he’d cleverly purchased a set of mares from breeders struggling nearby or breeders who were selling up. He enrolled the help of a gentleman called Rene Romanet who helped him and advised him to purchase more mares and rigorously weed out the weaker ones of those he had. The purchases were not generally expensive but always into families that had classic connections. He came to England and attended sales buying yearlings and mares: again not expensive but from good families. This foundation was to eventually give him 12 French Derby winners, 5 French Oaks winners, 6 Arc winners and 9 Grand Criterium (then the supreme French 2yo race) winners in addition to his English classics.
Fresney le Buffard bloomed and by the mid-20s he had a band of about 55 broodmares and both Romanet and he seemed set to maintain numbers at that level. After that he rarely brought any mare from outside unless a special situation presented itself. At the same time he culled mares unlikely to add to his idea of the breed to keep numbers fairly constant. He also started standing his own-bred stallions and a yearling colt he bought called Asterus, who won the French 2000G, the Royal Hunt Cup and the Champion Stakes, became his first important stallion.. He was a leading sire of racehorses but it was as a broodmare sire he excelled being the French leading broodmare sire 6 years in succession from 1943 to 1948.
Most people agree the best horse Boussache bred was the unbeaten Pharis II, a colt by Nearco’s sire Pharos, who won both the Grand Prix de Paris (then the most important 3yo race in France) and the French Derby of 1939 in a dramatic fashion. It was the year of Blue Peter, who had won the first two English Classics and was set on claiming the Triple Crown at Doncaster. Standing in his way was Pharis II but a bigger obstacle was the Fuehrer and the match of the century did not take place as the St Leger that year was cancelled. A year later Pharis was requisitioned by the Germans and sent to stand at their National Stud. He returned to France in 1945 and went on to be leading French sire 4 times.
By then Boussac had won 5 of his 12 French Derbies. The second of his winners of that race was a colt called Tourbillon who won the Prix Greffulhe, Prix Lupin, Prix Hocquart and French Derby in quick succession as a 3yo. He never won again but still started favourite for the Arc in which he broke down. Boussac sent him to stud and he was to be champion sire 4 times. From 1940 to 1955 a 'Boussac 'sire was French leading sire 11 times.
A year younger than Pharis was Djebel who won the 1939 Middle Park Stakes, the French 2000G and the English 2000G. Later he also won the Arc. Djebel was by Tourbillon and became nearly as important a sire as his sire was. In 1949 Boussac won the Arc with a filly called Coronation V. This filly had announced her class with a victory in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot. She followed that up by winning the Prix Robert Papin against the colts and as a 3yo won the French 1000G. She was by his Djebel (by Tourbillon) out of his mare Esmeralda (by Tourbillon) who herself was out of a Boussac mare by Boussac’s sire Asterus. She was beaten narrowly by Musidora in the Oaks but rounded things off when she won the Arc. A worrying feature was that she was barren for her whole breeding career.
The war was not particularly hard on the breeding aspirations of Boussac despite losing Pharis to the Germans for 4 years. Racing continued in France at a practical level unlike the skeleton programme that continued in England, much to the detriment of English breeding. Perhaps we never factor that in, but English racing was hugely affected by the war and though all the classics were run there was little else. The Germans encouraged racing to continue in France to the benefit of French owner-breeders. Boussac even purchased a few mares post-war from hard-up British breeders.
When the war ended Boussac was able to show his strength. The real glory years for French racing were from 1945-1955 and Boussac was at the forefront of this assault on European Racing. Even a 2nd tier horse from his stable, Priam, was sent over to be Boussac’s first English runner after the end of the War in the Champion Stakes. He was not considered to have a chance against the ‘unbeatable’ Court Martial (at 8-10f). As it was Priam couldn’t handle the open spaces of Newmarket and instead of testing Court Martial’s stamina (he’d not lasted home in the Derby against Dante) as he was meant to do and only started to run properly in the final quarter of the race. He then gave Court Martial the shock of his life and was only beaten a nose by the British champion. English racing enthusiasts knew their horses were up against it and soon they saw the onslaught. One comment made about Boussac horses was that they were sleek, well-made athletic individuals, not the muscled giants you sometimes get today.
So where did it all go wrong? There is the famous saying that those the gods wish to destroy they first make mad. A number of things came together to destroy this monolith of excellence. One thing was the death of Romanet in 1945 which reduced the rigour in selection. But at the heart of it was the belief that in-breeding could only benefit the breed: we hadn’t he proved that? And yes it can, but it cannot be taken to the extremes that Boussac took it.
A number of other things happened. His businesses began to struggle (It was the start of clothing being made in the Far-East) and Boussac, being a proud and principled man, used his own fortune to keep his factories running as margins slipped. He also became a bit precious about the health of his mares and was wary of allowing outside mares onto his studs. This upset other owner-breeders who kept stallions, as they reacted by not allowing Boussac nominations to their stallions. This in turn meant he used his own stallions even more. Numbers of his mares increased to 105 at the end of the war and to 150 by 1955, and increasingly they were bred and in-bred to the same stallions. When Asterus died instead of getting in a sire from a fresh line he used his best son, which he’d bred anyway!
All this was self-reinforcing and as the quality needle dropped so did the quality of the sires he kept and used. The first sign that all was not well was the 1957 season. Boussac had finished 1956 as leading French owner but there was the disturbing statistic of no 2yo winners that season. In 1957 he barely got into the top 10 of French owners: he would never scale the previous heights again. It happened that quickly. His French Oaks winner of 1956 illustrates what 'Boussac-bred' meant. Apollonia was by Djebel (by Tourbillon) out of a mare by Pharis II out of a mare by Tourbillon out of a mare by Asterus. This potent mix had sent Boussac to the heights but his breed had been crying out for out-crosses and he was too late in applying them. He still had the odd success in the next 20 years (Crepellana and Dankaro may be remembered) and many may recall his last French Derby winner Acamas, coming 2nd to Ile de Bourbon at Ascot in 1978. But by then all his horses were sold, even Acamas, and he only raced in Boussac-colours that day out of respect for this once great but now broken man. The method he'd used to develop his equine super athletes eventually became the method that destroyed their potency.
Other articles in the Bustino Collection
Last edited by a moderator:
