The official website of the Irish Harness Racing Association

Trotteur Francais Breeding Program closes Friday 18th March…..

Friday 18th March is closing date for booking your purchase contact details at the bottom of this notice.

Trotteur-Français Breeding Program

We feel now is the best time to introduce a breeding program for Trotteur-Français horses that will further underpin the future development of our industry. The aim is to make it affordable with good, realistic returns for breeders.

What are the advantages of breeding Trotteur-Français Horses?

Le-Trot has one of the best breeding rewards schemes globally to breed Trotteur-Français horses. Ireland has signed a Breeding agreement with Le-Trot and this allows for Trotteur-Français horses to be bred in Ireland and provides the opportunity to receive breeding premiums.

What this means is that all earnings of any Trotteur-Français horse bred in Ireland will receive a 12.5% breeding premium of the purse earned by that horse if that horse races in France. It also not only means they can race in Ireland, but will also have the opportunity to race in France where prize money totals in excess of €225 million annually.

Also some of the Mares that are offered for sale come with a Premium Selection, which means after the first foal you get a premium of €700 to put the mare back in foal which continues until the mare is finished breeding.

This programme will be subsided by Le-Trot and will include (but not limited to):

  • All cost of sales covered by Le-Trot (ie: travel within France, accommodation)
  • 37% of the purchase cost of the mare will be paid for by Le-Trot
  • A significant percentage of the €125,000 total prize money for the resulting foal to race in 2020 will be paid for by Le-Trot
  • Additional subsidies for prize money throughout the horses’ career
  • 5% breeder’s premium on total Trotteur-Français earnings in France paid to the breeder irrespective of the owner throughout the horses racing career.

What are the costs and the process involved?

A tender document will be prepared by Le-Trot and circulated to breeders within France.  A selection committee appointed by IHRA will travel to France to select suitable mares. This will be with the help of our breeding expert in France. When mares are selected they will enter a draw similar to the one currently used for the race horses. All prospective owners will select their mare in order of draw rules. Nobody will be able to select a mare directly and it will only be by open draw.

Mares

  • Cost of Mare €3,500
  • Le-Trot Subsidy €1,300
  • Net Cost of Mare €2,200

Boarding and Vet Expenses whilst in France

  • The mares will be held in farms belonging to IHRA Breeding partners in France. From there, the mares will be handled by a vet pre and post insemination. They will also be transported from our partner’s farm to the place of the selected suitable stallion. Cost of boarding is included from time of its arrival until the mare leaves the farm which can be from one month or for up to four months. All vet bills for the mare will be covered, even on repeated coverings. Mares will be scanned as to being in foal before departure.

Total Cost Per Mare is €850

Stallion Selection and Cost

  • A selection of 8 stallions has been selected by the IHRA selection committee and resident French expert. The mare will be mated with the best potential match from the selected stallions.

 

Costs of Stallion will be between €1,000-€1,800

  • We feel the fairest way to cost the stallions is to add all the cost of the matings together and divide by the number of matings. This way everybody pays the same. Don’t forget the Mare you purchase might be a Premium Selection mare which means you will have €700 per time you put the mare in foal.

Transport of Mares from France to Ireland

  • When ten mares are confirmed in foal they will be transported to Ireland by our transport partner.

The total cost will be €200

Payment Terms

  • March 11th 2016 50% of cost of Mare is due – €1,100
  • March 11th 2016 €850 boarding and vet bills due
  • Transport cost on collection of Mare €200
  • 2017 Stallion fee due 30 days after foal is born
  • 1st July 2017 remaining 50% of cost of Mares due €1,100

What is the stakes program for the resulting foals?

There will a total of €125,000 for three year-old stakes races in 2020 based on 50 Mares. These will be:

  • Twenty qualifying races which will have a total (minimum) purse per race of €2,750
  • A Gold Final which will have a total purse of €40,000
  • A Silver Final which will have a total purse of €20,000
  • A Bronze Final that will have a total purse of €10,000
  • No entry fee for any of the above races

There will be a total of €600 stakes payment made up as follows:

  • September 1st 2017 €200
  • May 1st 2018 €100
  • September 1st 2018 €100
  • May 1st 2019 €100
  • September 1st 2019 €100

What about Mares already in Ireland?

All Mares currently in Ireland and bought through the Le-Trot program are eligible. We have negotiated a fee of €200 each way for the mare to travel to France and avail of the Stallions we have chosen.

Building an Industry Together

The IHRA Board of Directors regards this initiative as imperative to underpinning our future Racing Industry. This is just one of the major initiatives the Board is currently working toward and with the help of the people involved in the sport we plan to build an industry that is financially sustainable and rewards those who have invested in it.

Together we can build an industry we are proud of

 

Interested parties or for more information contact

Mark Flanagan 0862698399

James O’Sullivan 0872571330

[email protected]