Montjeu
Coolmore announced the death of one of their leading sires, Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells – Floripedes). He was 16 years old, and died following complications of septicaemia.
A Racehorse Of Rare Ability
Montjeu was one of the greatest racehorses of the past 20 years. He received a Timeform rating of 137 at both three and four. He won 11 of 16 races, and scored six Gr1 victories. He defeated some of the finest champions of his era, including such stars as Sendawar (French 2000 Guineas), Slickly (Grand Prix de Paris), Fantastic Light (Horse of the Year), Daylami (Horse of the Year), Borgia (German Derby) and El Condor Pasa (Horse of the Year).
Montjeu is just one of a handful of horses great enough to both the King George and Arc (he subsequently sired another to complete the double in Hurricane Run).
Montjeu possessed a turn of foot second to none, and few who witnessed it, will ever forget his sparkling win in the 2000 King George and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Stakes where Montjeu simply sauntered past champion Fantastic Light in a matter of strides to win hard held! Many feel that his win in the King George was the most impressive since the great Nijinsky II played with his field back in 1970.
Well known for being a temperamental sort (something he passed on to a number of his progeny), Montjeu was described as an “eccentric genius” by his former trainer, John Hammond.
Classic Sire
While a great racehorse, and a son of superb stallion Sadler’s Wells, Montjeu was not everyone’s cup of tea when he first retired to stud. His temperament issues, lack of precocity and unfashionable female line (his dam was a dour stayer who was second in the French St Leger) made a number of people suspect his ability to become a top-class stallion. The fact that Montjeu was at his best over 2400 metres, and revelled in soft to heavy going also failed to attract admirers.
Nonetheless, his superb race record ensured that he was always going to receive a high-level of support. Montjeu retired to Coolmore for the 2001 breeding season, at a then fee of 30,000 euros. His fee climbed to 175,000 at one stage. His fee was private for his final season.
Montjeu’s first Northern Hemisphere crop of foals were born in 2002. From this initial crop, Montjeu produced 16 stakes winners, 7 group winners, and six G1 winners.
Montjeu colts, Motivator and Walk In The Park, ran 1-2 in the 2005 Epsom Derby, and other G1 winners from that crop included Horse of the Year Hurricane Run and St Leger hero Scorpion.
This staggering start turned the collective eyes of the bloodstock world on to this sensational young stallion, and there would be no looking back for Montjeu.
His second crop was relatively quiet in comparison to his first, but it did include the smart filly Mont Etoile and the quirky colt Papal Bull.
If there were any doubts about Montjeu’s first crop being something of a fluke, they were proved wrong with the arrival of the third crop. It included six group winners, which included, the brilliant Authorized. The latter gave Montjeu his second Epsom Derby winner- an impressive feat for a young sire with just three crops at the races. This crop also the wonderful hurdler, Hurricane Fly, winner of the 2011 Champion Hurdle.
A plethora of group winners and high-class stakes winners emerged from Montjeu’s following crops. Among the smart horses in Montjeu’s progeny born in 2005 were such stars as Frozen Fire (Irish Derby), Montmartre (Grand Prix de Paris) and other group winners such as King of Rome, Albisola and Alessandro Volta.
The wonderful Fame And Glory (a G1 winner at 2,3,4, and 5) was a member of the 2006 crop, as was Jukebox Jury (Irish St Leger) and Miss Keller (E P Taylor S).
The very next crop produced St Nicholas Abbey, one of Montjeu’s most talented sons. A champion at two, St Nicholas Abbey missed his 3yo season, but rebounded at four to win both the G1 Coronation Cup and G1 Breeders Cup Turf (a race in which his sire was a beaten favourite).
Subsequent Northern Hemisphere G1 winners produced by Montjeu include Jan Vermeer, Joshua Tree and Pour Moi. The latter gave his sire a remarkable third Epsom Derby winner and is now standing at Coolmore alongside Montjeu’s Arc winner, Hurricane Run.
Remarkably, Montjeu is poised to possibly to get a fourth Derby winner, as his unbeaten son, Camelot, is current favourite for the 2012 Investec Derby. Montjeu’s daughter, Wading, is favourite for the Investec Oaks – and it would be a fitting tribute for their sire should either Wading or Camelot lift their respective classic.
Should Camelot win the English classic, Montjeu will be the first stallion since Blandford (in the 1930’s) to sire English Derby winners. If Wading wins the Oaks, she will become Montjeu’s first daughter to win an English classic.
To date, Montjeu is the sire of over 100 stakes winners, of which 25 are winners at the highest level. He is the sire of 11 official champions throughout the world.
Montjeu only shuttled a couple of seasons to New Zealand, but he left behind a goodly number of high-class racehorses. Included in that tally are four G1 winners: Wall Street, Tavistock, Roman Emperor and Nom du Jeu.
Montjeu also left his mark on South Africa through the deeds of such smart stayers as Golden Parachute, Gorongosa and Wise Son (Gold Vase).
Sire of Sires?
It is early days yet to gauge Montjeu as a sire of sires, and it is a bit alarming to note that neither Hurricane Run or Motivator (both of whom have enjoyed plenty of support at stud) have yet been represented by a winner at the highest level.
Having said that, Hurricane Run enjoyed a fine spell last year when represented by ten individual stakes winners, including group winners Ballybacka Lady (1000 Guineas Trial), Kreem (Prix du Lys), Freedom (Diamond S), Future Generation (Desmond S) and Don’t Hurry Me (Prix Penelope).
Another Montjeu son, Authorized, made a fairly quiet start to his stud career when his first crop debuted last year. He is, however, a sire whose stock can only be judged at the end of their 3yo season, and it is early days yet for Authorized.
Montjeu is already the damsire of a Group One winner in Parish Hall, winner of last year’s G1 Dewhurst Stakes and a leading classic contender for 2012.
A superstar on the track and at stud, Montjeu’s legacy looks set to continue for the foreseeable future.
