THE JP McManus owned Defi Du Seuil, a three-year-old French-bred son of Voix Du Nord, has firmly established his claim to be one of the leading fancies for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham in March after his facile victory in the Grade 1 Future Champions Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow.

Runner-up on his debut and winner next time out in France earlier this year, the gelding is now unbeaten in his four starts in Britain and he comes from a very typical French jumping family. While doing so, it is interesting that each of the three stakes performers in the first three generations of the family have earned their blacktype outside of France.

Defi Du Soleil is the best of these and he is the first winner for his Lavirco dam Quarvine Du Soleil, twice a winner and placed five times in just eight starts herself. She is one of a trio of winners to date out of the Video Rock mare Fleur Du Tennis who won six times on the flat and is an own-sister to Jimmy Tennis, winner of the Grade 2 Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase when trained by Venetia Williams.

The other blacktype runner in the immediate family is a distant cousin of Defi Du Soleil. This is the year older Coo Star Sivola, a son of Assessor and he was coincidentally placed in the same race that the Hobbs runner won this week.

Coo Star Sivola was also runner-up in the Grade 2 Persian War Novices; Hurdle, the Grade 2 Prestbury Juvenile Hurdle and third in the Grade 3 Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle in March and he has done all of this without winning a race to date.

Defi Du Soleil is another Grade 1 winner for his sire Voix Du Nord. What a loss to the world of National Hunt breeding his death was in 2013 at the age of just 12 years.

A Group 1 winner at two and three, including the Prix Lupin, the son of Valanour is also responsible for Vroum Vroum Mag, Tarquin Du Soleil and Vibrato Valtat.