Chantilly lucky again for freshman sire Le Havre
Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget - like her sire - the filly is bred by owner Gerard Augustin-Normand, in whose colours the Haras de la Cauviniere resident also ran.
Purchased as a yearling at Arqana for €100,000 by Rouget, Le Havre took in two campaigns which yielded four wins from six starts. A late starter, making his debut in August, the son of Noverre duly hit the mark first time out, repeating that effort with a two-length victory later that year.
Although beaten two and three quarter lengths in the Group 1 Criterium International, Le Havre bounced back at three to land the Listed Prix Djebel.
Lining up for the Poule d'Essai des Poulains, Rouget's charge claimed a fast-finishing second, later turning the tables on his conqueror Silver Frost when earning a Classic title the following month in Chantilly's Prix du Jockey Club - rather aptly the venue for his first win as a sire.
However, that victory cost Le Havre his career after suffering a tendon injury during the race, and he was immediately retired.
Standing his first season at Sylvain and Elisabeth Vidal's Haras de la Cauviniere in 2010 - as the stud's first stallion - Le Havre covered 146 mares, one of whom was Isanous, the dam of La Hoguette.
Keen to support Le Havre, Augustin-Normand bought the Listed-winning daughter of Zamindar through Sylvain Vidal from Arqana for €100,000. After the arrival of La Hoguette in 2011 she returned to Le Havre that season, producing a colt, Longray, in 2012.
Available during his fourth season for a fee of €5,000, Le Havre stands alongside Aidan O'Brien's Group 3 winner Air Chief Marshal, who Augustin-Normand owns in partnership with Cauviniere, and the Linamix stallion Rajsaman.
