CALIFET has seven foals catalogued for the upcoming Goffs December National Hunt Sale. The Boardsmill Stud resident is following in a great tradition of successful stallions that have put the name of the farm and the Flood family to the forefront of Irish breeding and racing.

Next year the farm will be standing a fourth sire, Mount Nelson, and he joins Court Cave, Kalanisi and Califet, all well-established stallions with long lists of high-class winners to their credit. Today we will have a look at Califet whose leading son Blue Dragon captured another graded hurdle race last weekend. Quite simply, he is one of the best hurdlers in France and he is still only five. More of him later.

Califet himself was a smart racehorse, winning the Group 2 Prix Jean de Chaudenay and he was beaten less than two lengths when fourth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe behind Marienbard, Sulamani and High Chaparral. He won nine times in all and was precocious enough to be listed-placed at two years.

Since retiring to stud he has sired a growing list of blacktype winners over jumps in France, while his runners have also been making their mark in Ireland and Britain. Blue Dragon is certainly a standout performer, while Adrien Du Pont is a Grade 1 juvenile hurdle winner for Paul Nicholls, Clarcam is a dual Grade 1 winner over fences with Gordon Elliott, and Carriacou is the latest to join that illustrious group. With young stock in the care of Nicholls, Henderson, Mullins and more, the future looks even brighter for Califet.

Blue Dragon has been an exceptionally consistent performer for the last two years in France and his victories include the Grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil d’Ete 4yo Hurdle and the Grade 1 Prix Renaud du Vivier 4yo Hurdle, both at Auteuil. He is also the winner of a pair of Grade 2 hurdles and three Grade 3 hurdle races. This year he was placed in the Grade 1 Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil Hurdle. He has winnings of some £550,000.

Blue Dragon is the best of three winners for his dam Nathalie Blue, a daughter of Epervier Bleu, and she won on the flat and a couple of times over jumps. In turn she was one of four winners produced by the unraced Cadoudal mare Grace De Vonnas, and all four were mares. One of the others was Orphee De Vonnas, a daughter of Jimble who stood for a number of years in Ireland, and that four-time winner over jumps bred Ballotin, a five-year-old with Guillaume Macaire and who to date is winner of 11 races and been placed in graded hurdle races.

Grace De Vonnas was one of just two of the six foals produced by Montrifaut that did not race. The other was Diana De Vonnas and she bred eight winners including Ivan De Vonnas who raced with success in Ireland. She is also the grandam of a couple of blacktype winners over jumps.

The four offspring of Montrifaut that raced all won, headed by Vicq II, winner of a pair of flat races and 10 over jumps, the most significant being the Grand Steeplechase de Nantes.