THE Haras de Colleville’s Goken is enjoying a fine year on the track heading up the country’s leading sires’ list by number of winners (41), by three-year-old winners and is currently in seventh place on the French sires’ table by prize-money earnings.

No other sire from his year of retirement to stud in 2017, and whose first crop were arguably worst affected by the ravages of the COVID years of 2020 and 2021, is in the French top 30 by earnings.

Now at a half-way point in the year, Goken has already sired more winners than in previous seasons and looks set for his best-ever result by progeny prize-money earnings. 

And with winners’ premiums having added over €700,000 to his total, and adding to the breeders’ pots too, race winners are such an important target for stallions in France. 

By the Pariente’s own sire Kendargent, who covered this spring as a fit and active 22-year-old, Goken was the winner of two Group 3 races, but, arguably, his career highlight came when taking third place in the 2016 King’s Stand Stakes (G1) behind Profitable and Cotai Glory.

His first fee was €5,000, but that was dropped for the two years before he had runners to the bargain basement price of €3,000 for 2019 and 2020.

Once his stock started racing as juveniles that all changed – the Mrs Camille Vitse and Mrs Valerie Decouz-bred Go Athletico won the Prix la Rochette (G3), took second in the Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte (G2) and ran in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). 

His filly Livachope won three on the bounce from May to July, including the Prix du Bois (G3) and finished sixth in the Prix Morny (G1), while Axdavali, runner-up behind his paternal sibling in the Bois, took fourth placings in the Prix Robert Papin (G2), the Prix de Cabourg (G3) and the Prix d’Arenberg
(G3).

The early progeny stakes successes and placings led to Goken given a price rise of €15,000, and receiving a good book in 2021, resulting
in 85 (as listed on the France Galop site), his biggest of any year to date, and the largest since the 60 foals produced from his first year at stud.

Those foals are three-year-olds now – he has 65 in training – and are responsible for pushing his sire to his leading position as top French sire of winners and the three-year-old winners, not such an easy thing to do in a nation which concentrates its racing on that generation.

Of course, Kendargent, the patriarch of Colleville, is still right at the helm of things and going strong – this spring he saw a good book of 40 mares, has 27 yearlings on the ground, 53 two-year-olds and 59 three-year-olds.

The farm’s busiest stallion in this year’s covering shed was again Galiway, who had a book of 140 mares. 

The success of his son Sealiway, winner of the 2021 Champion Stakes (G1) and 2020 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, helped push Galiway’s book numbers up in 2022 when he stood for a first year at €30,000, a price he has maintained.  

According to France Galop he has 112 three-year-olds of this year, 109 two-year-olds and 95 yearlings. 

Colleville Arqana draft

At the upcoming Arqana August Sale, Colleville has a good draft of eight lots catalogued.

Lot 142 is by Galiway and out of Goken’s early headliner Livachope,
Lot 241, also by Galiway, is a half-sister to the Group 3-placed Zarakchic, Lot 215 is a Baaeed filly out of the Group 2 winner and Group 1 Golden Jubilee runner-up Restiadargent (Kendargent), while the following lot is a State Of Rest filly out of Restiadargent’s unraced half-sister Restiamoon (Sea The Moon).

The farm has three listed in V2, including a Goken colt catalogued as Lot 358. ■