BALKO Des Flos was the French-bred winner of this year’s thetote.com Galway Plate and while at first glance his pedigree may seem unfamiliar to many, there is much more known about it that you might initially think.

The six-year-old is a son of Balko and he is the sixth offspring of Royale Marie, a winner over jumps at Marseille and a daughter of Garde Royale (Mill Reef). Sent to stud after her racing career, her second foal Salut Flo was a son of Saint Des Saints (Cadoudal), born in 2005. He won three times over jumps in France, including at Auteuil, for trainers Emmanuel Clayeux and Richard Chotard before transferring to England and the care of David Pipe.

Salut Flo only made five starts for Pipe, winning twice, and these included the Grade 3 Byrne Group Plate at the Cheltenham Festival, while he was runner-up to Prince De Beauchene on another occasion. Pulled up on his final start, he was never seen again on a racecourse.

Balko Des Flos is only the second winner for his dam and he has now gone one better than his half-brother, landing the hugely valuable Grade A chase (Grade 1 in sales catalogues) on Wednesday and his placed efforts include the Grade 1 Flogas Novice Chase at Leopardstown and the Grade A EMS Copiers Novice Chase at Punchestown. A two-time bumper winner and successful over hurdles for Willie Mullins, he has now added two chase wins for Henry de Bromhead.

Bred by Clovis and Florence Bardin, Balko Des Flos was offered for sale at Arqana as a two-year-old, failing to trade when the bidding reached €29,000. At the time his half-brother was a Cheltenham Festival winner and his young sire was just represented by a single graded chase winner. Michto.

Now his sire Balko has added the Grade 1 chase and Grade 3 hurdle winner Gitane Du Berlais, the recent Grade 2 Italian chase winner Defit D’Estruval, the listed French chase winners Balk Man and Walk Sibo, the Galway hero Balko Des Flos and the Grade 1 chase runner-up Fago to a growing list of smart runners.

This year Balko covered at a fee of €4,500 at Haras du Lion in Le Lion d’Angers, France. His fee has been steadily increasing each year as his success continues to grow. His offspring are heading towards 250 career wins and already have garnered more than €5.5 million in earnings. In his own racing career Balko was trained by Guillaume Macaire and won nine races and placed seven times from 19 starts.

He was one of the best young chasers in France and won both the Grade 2 Prix Congress and Prix Georges de Talhouet-Roy at Auteuil. Added to that were victories in the Grade 3 Prix Duc d’Anjou and the Listed Prix Dawn Run. He retired to stud in 2007 and is a son of Pistolet Bleu (Tip Ville) and from a sire line that has made a considerable impact on National Hunt racing.

Royale Marie, the dam of Balko Des Flos, is a daughter of Marie Des Epeires. The latter is by Rose Laurel (Klairon) and she was a useful racemare, winning at two and three years on the flat and doing even better over jumps where her four victories included the Listed Prix Gerald de Rochefort at Auteuil. At stud she bred five winners, the best of them being the listed-placed hurdler Dusky Royale (Double Bed). The latter, in turn, produced Polisky (Poliglote) and his is an interesting story.

Placed in France on his only start over hurdles, this was in the Listed Prix Finot Hurdle, Polisky moved to Paul Nicholls and on his first start was beaten seven lengths into second by Sprinter Sacre. Two starts later, and still without a win, he was ridden by Ruby Walsh to finish third behind Fingal Bay in the Grade 2 Neptune Investment Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. He never really fulfilled the promise of those early performances and won a hurdle race and two chases for Nicholls before leaving him and in April this year, at the age of 10, was third in a five-runner point-to-point on his debut between the flags!

Marie Des Epeires was one of five foals, runners and winners for Marie De Bethisy, a daughter of the sprinter Balidar (Will Somers). That sire won the 1970 Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp and at stud is best remembered for the 2000 Guineas, St James’s Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes winner Bolkonski, and the hugely influential broodmare Balidaress (dam of Group 1 winners Park Appeal, Desirable and Alydaress and grandam of Cape Cross and Shadayid).

Notable among Marie Des Epeires’s siblings was Marie De Beaujeu (Kenmare) and this listed-placed racemare bred a classic winner at stud, her son All My Dreams (Assert) winning the Group 1 German Derby in 1995. He stood in Ireland where the best of his offspring was the Grade 1 Ryanair Novice Chase at Punchestown winner Lucky William.