The Sumbe three

The Sumbe team would like to press “fast forward” to 2027 when its trio of first-crop sires are due to have their first runners, such is the anticipation currently being generated by the progeny of the Group 1 winners Mishriff, Belbek and Angel Bleu.

“We are still in the middle of 2026, but we cannot wait to see 2027 and what it brings to Sumbe and the Sumbe stallions,” says Mario Gussago, racing and nominations manager at Sumbe.

“It is going to be a major year for Sumbe and Mr Bizakov, for all the investment he has made. We just want to skip forward to see what the future brings!”

It wasn’t planned this way. Mishriff was scheduled to begin his stud career in 2023 at the Haras de Montfort et Preaux farm, one of three historically successful studs owned by Nurlan Bizakov and the location of the stallion branch of Sumbe, named for his home village in Kazakhstan, but injury to his pedal bone after kicking a wall forced the postponement of Mishriff’s stallion career by a year.

When the spring came around again, he had been joined by two debut stallions, the juvenile Group 1 winners Angel Bleu and Belbek, and the Sumbe team has embraced the challenge with enthusiasm and passion.

“We are living in a moment where the sky is the limit,” laughs Gussago, who first encountered Nurlan Bizakov when working as an assistant to Roger Varian, trainer of Group winners including Charyn, Altyn Orda and Tomyris for the businessman. “That is the great thing about racing – you are living the dream and you hope. Every single day everyone is trying to do their best to make that a reality.”

Gussago credits the owner and Sumbe general manager Tony Fry, whom Bizakov describes as his “long-time trusted adviser,” with securing the highly sought after Prix du Jockey-Club, Juddmonte International and Dubai Sheema Classic winner for the farm.

Gussago adds: “Mr Bizakov and Tony did a great job to get Mishriff to France. He was a horse whom everyone around the world wanted, he was an unbelievable racehorse - he won on Turf and Dirt, top races Group 1s in the same year [the Saudi Cup, the Sheema Classic (G1) and the International (G1)] and was a Classic winner in France. It is a privilege to be associated with a horse such as him.

“It is full credit to Mr Bizakov to strike a deal with his owner-breeder Prince Faisal for Sumbe.”

Sumbe's Nurlan Bizakov (right) with general manager Tony Fry (right)

Sumbe's Nurlan Bizakov (right) with general manager Tony Fry (right)

After a small drop in support from outside breeders in 2025, Mishriff returned to popularity this spring and covered 96 mares. Both Sumbe and Prince Faisal have patronised him heavily, and the great-grandson of Dubawi received six mares from his breeder this spring.

“His foals were well received at Arqana and I think that is what gave faith to a lot of breeders to come to him in year three,” says Gussago, when explaining the upturn in numbers.

“He stamps his stock, they are like him with a nice walk and good balance, so hopefully this is a positive sign.”

Mishriff

Mishriff: well-represented at the sales

Eleven foals by Mishriff were sold last year and achieved an average of 24,759gns.

From the yearling catalogues (published as we went to press) Mishriff will have seven representatives at Arqana’s August Sale, one each in the Arqana V2, the Goffs UK Premier and Osarus September sales, and a further three at the BBAG September Sale.

Haras du Cadran has a particularly strong heading to Arqana, including a colt out of a three-parts sister to the Group 1 2,000 Guineas and Futurity Trophy victor and sire Kameko (Lot 54), as well as a colt (Lot 147) whose pedigree received a Classic boost this year as his dam is a Sea The Stars three-parts sister to Rayif, successful in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (G1).

“Pierre Talvard [leading breeder and owner of Cadran] has been a massive supporter of Sumbe in the last few years and believes strongly in Mishriff and Charyn,” adds Gussago.

“He is going to sell three yearlings at Arqana by Mishriff, including the half-sister to Daylight [a Group winner and Group 1-placed daughter of Earthlight], he is a very vocal supporter and really bullish about the trio. We are very happy for that and it is a good position to be in at the moment.”

Of the three stallions at Sumbe, Mishriff’s career trajectory is different from that of Angel Bleu and Belbek, both Group 1-winning juveniles, and that has allowed Sumbe to present breeders with different choices.

Gussago says: “I think that of the three,
he is the one who is less expected to have runners over 5f or 6f.

“Of course, we want to see them running and winning at two, but he is going to be one of those stallions whose progeny, hopefully, will do their best at three and four, which is when he flourished and showed to the world what he was.”

The special one: Belbeck

Mishriff’s grandsire Makfi is also the broodmare sire of Belbek, a young stallion who occupies a special position in the heart of Nurlan Bizakov and in the history of Sumbe.

“Belbek is very special for Mr Bizakov as
not only was he one of the first foals bred by
Mr Bizakov in France, he was also being his first homebred Group 1 winner,” Gussago explains. “He believes in Belbek and gave him a lot of good broodmares and keeps supporting him.

“Belbek was a Group 1 winner in the Prix du Lagardère, the race that everybody wants to win at two, and he won the Prix du Bois in one of the quickest times in the last 40 runnings of the race. He was a proper machine at two, but he still won a Group 3 as a three-year-old so he wasn’t a fluke at two.”

Bizakov is heavily involved in the running of Sumbe which has farms at three locations –
his first purchase Hesmonds Stud is in England, while in France he owns Haras de Montfort et Preaux and Haras du Mezeray, the historic stud farm his most recent acquisition.

Haras de Montfort et Preaux was bought by Bizakov in 2019 and Belbek’s dam Bee Queen relocated there ahead of the 2020 breeding season when she foaled her triple Group winner.

“Belbek was a very precocious horse, he was one of the first runners in 2022 for his trainer
Mr Fabre and his pedigree is unbelievable –
he is a regally bred horse,” adds Gussago.

The bay’s third dam is the champion Banks Hill, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, the Prix Jacques le Marois and Coronation Stakes for her owner-breeder Juddmonte. Dam of the Group 1 winner Romantica (Galileo),
Banks Hill is a Danehill full-sister to the Grade 1 winner Intercontinental, the Group 1 winners and sires Champs Elysees and Cacique, as well as the Group 2 winner and influential stallion Dansili. She is also a half-sister to the Grade 1 winner Heat Haze by Green Desert.

There is deliberate and careful criteria for standing stallions at Sumbe and one that insists upon pedigree and performance in the one package.

“The others are regally-bred, too,” confirms Gussago. “Mishriff is straight from the line of Kodiac and Invincible Spirit [second dam is a half-sister to the pair]. It is a proper Prince Faisal family and a stallion’s family too, so hopefully he is going to add to that.”

Although both Mishriff and Belbek are Group 1 winners from families that have produced hugely successful stallions in the past two decades, they are starting their stallion careers from different positions in the market.

“Of course, Belbek’s profile is a bit different from Mishriff so the market took a bit of a stand back this year,” says Gussago.

“The medium to low market is a difficult place to be in so he had a bit of a setback in numbers, but the horses are good and look strong individuals with a lovely top, real two-year-old type of horses.”

Belbek: will be supported at the sales

Belbek stood this year for €5,000 having been introduced to breeders at €7,000 in 2024. The Sumbe team is firmly behind Belbek, as are French breeders with the horse himself giving positive indications through the quality of his stock.

“From what we have seen and from what we have at the stud, Belbek is producing very well. They look like racehorses and breeders are happy with them. There are three in Arqana V2 and hopefully we will see them welcomed.”

The Sumbe team will inspect the progeny of all three horses and consider purchasing should they find suitable candidates.

“Mr Bizakov supports all of his stallions with his mares, as well as at the sales. We look at all the horses produced by our stallions and if
Mr Bizakov thinks there something we don’t have at the stud, he will try to support the stallion – that will be the plan with the yearlings just as he did with the foals and broodmares.

“If he thinks there is a potential for Sumbe to run a horse or as a future broodmare, he is very active.”

Gussago continues: “It is important that the breeders see a stud owner actively bidding as it gives a lot of confidence.”

And there are financial rewards for breeders, too, with Sumbe offering €10,000 to the breeder of Belbek’s first maiden winner and €50,000 will be given to the breeder of his first Group winner. The incentive will be in place until the end of the 2028 racing season.

Angel Bleu: performance and pedigree

Belbek was preceded as winner of the Group 1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère by Angel Bleu, who was acquired at the third attempt by Bizakov and the dual Group 1-winning juvenile offers a big pedigree to back up his champion status on the track.

“Again, that is the policy of Mr Bizakov,
he stands champions but they are champions with pedigrees,” assures Gussago. “He is not standing only a good horse; he is standing good horses with good families.”

Angel Bleu’s dam is a Galileo full-sister to the Group 1 winners Highland Reel and Cape Of Good Hope, the Group 2 winner and Derby third Idaho and the Group 3 winner Nobel Prize.

She is also a half-sister to the Group 1-placed Valdemoro and out of Hveger, twice placed in Group 2 contests and a Danehill full-sister to the champion, the Dubai Duty Free (G1) and the Caulfield Cup (G1) winner Elvstroem.

Their half-brother is the Australian champion and the Group 1 Queen Anne Stakes winner Haradasun by Fusaichi Pegasus.

Angel Bleu’s third dam won the Group 1 Australian Oaks and is a half-sister to the second dam of Starspangledbanner (Choisir), who has emerged as an international force.

The race record matches up with the family.

“Angel Bleu is another cracking horse who has the profile to go to any stud in the world. He was a double Group 1 winner at two, unfortunately he had a setback at three so had to miss half the season, but he returned at four and won a Group 2 over a mile that season.

“He had a massive campaign at two. He ran first time out over 1,000m in April and then he came back and forward in 20 days to win two Group 1 races in France, travelling from England where he was in training with Ralph Beckett. What he achieved is special,” adds Gussago.

The stud executive knows the value of sound mind and Angel Bleu demonstrated he is in possession of that quality, time and time again.

He says, “He is a great horse with a great temperament who won from 5f up to a mile.
He won the Lagardère over 7f and came back
and to win the Critierium International at
Saint-Cloud over a mile.

“After his injury, he won a Group 2 over a mile at Goodwood. What he achieved was outstanding and shows his mentality; his focus was on racing. It looks as though he has passed
a ‘good heads’ on to his progeny, and they look precocious, too.”

Prior to taking up his role with Sumbe, Gussago worked with Arqana and his experience and knowledge from his time at the auction house means he has greeted the sight of nine yearlings by Angel Bleu featuring in the V2 catalogue with enthusiasm.

“I worked four years in Arqana so I know the company wouldn’t put them in the V2 Sale if they don’t believe they look as though they are going to be two-year-olds,” he confirms.

“So to see nine of them coming from all different breeding operations and half-siblings to two-year-old winners is very good to see – it is very, very exciting.”

He adds: “Hopefully, the excitement is going to be even better next season when we see them running.”

There is international representation too for Angel Bleu, who has a first-crop colt in the Tattersalls Somerville Sale. Sarah Fanning consigns a half-brother (Lot 191) to the Listed-placed juvenile Maroon Six (Johnny Barnes) and it pleases the Sumbe team to see their stallions’ progeny with international representation.

As we chatted, Gussago is keenly studying yearling catalogues and during the conversation provides an update from Osarus where Belbek is strongest of the Sumbe trio numerically with six yearlings, followed by Angel Bleu who has three and a sole entrant by Mishriff.

It is not just about the sales.

Owner Marc Chan, who raced Angel Bleu to win his brace of Group 1s at two, is retaining a yearling and will put him into training, while over half the yearlings on the Sumbe farms are homebred by the three stallions and will carry the Kazakh blue and yellow in their racing careers.

“It gives the stallion a nice boost and is good for breeders to see that the owner is supporting his former racehorse by racing his offspring,” says Gussago.

“We have 43 yearlings, with roughly ten by Mishriff, ten by Belbek and five or six
by Angel Bleu so Mr Bizakov has supported his stallions in a big way.

“It’s enormous investment for him, but Mr Bizakov is always striving to do better.

“He doesn’t ever think that he has arrived,
he wants to keep improving and proposing the best stallions and broodmares. He wants to improve his thoroughbred racing.”

One way to achieve his goals is through his judicious acquisition of stallions and a breeding programme designed around using high-class race mates and blue-blooded fillies. This is exactly what Sumbe has employed and this year produced a Charyn half-brother to Belbek.

Gussago understands the importance of this for an owner and it is something of a circular moment in his career, too.

“For an owner to be able to breed a horse like that is amazing. It is massive to see what has been achieved. The mares are producing runners and it is amazing to see. It is a privilege to be a part of this operation and I really trust in the process.

“Everything from the day you send the broodmares to the covering shed and her progeny to the races, it is unbelievable and I am very lucky to be a part of this.”

Discussion leads to Charyn, whose first crop are foals. The son of Dark Angel was in quarantine in Newmarket ahead of his journey to New Zealand and Cambridge Stud where he will spend the southern hemisphere season.

The Queen Anne, Prix Jacques le Marois and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes winner was the busiest Flat stallion in France last year covering 177 mares. Gussago’s appointment to his position at Sumbe came in late spring of 2025 and he points out that he had very little to do with building that important first book of mares, but he has been impressed with the foals.

He remarks: “It is easy to say but they are beautiful, and he is stamping them a lot. They have good tempers, good bone, good walks and are strong individuals. We are very pleased to see what he is throwing.”

“I cannot wait to see them at the sales and there will be plenty of foals going to Goffs and Tattersalls, I am expecting good things and hopefully we keep the ball rolling in year three.”

Nurlan Bizakov, Tony Fry and Gussago are all striving for the Sumbe operation to be the very best it can be. The trio are aware of the stakes, the difficulties to be overcome, but also know that just one horse can change the course of tides.

“Hopefully, the stallions will become champions in the covering shed, pass on their abilities to thier progeny, and we can keep dreaming,” smiles Gussago.

Life with stallions always demands to be lived in the future. ■