Printed in the Chronicle of the Horse  Friday, January 28,1983
 
Sire Lines Of International Jumpers The French Grey Line

by Dr Pete Birdsall DVM of Equine Bloodlines 

Third in a Series of Eight Articles 

The French Grey line is a very successful jumping line in both Europe and North America. The grey color so predominant in this family can be traced 250 years to two stallions, Brownlow Turk and Alcock's Arabian, both imported to England from the Orient.
About 3% of the modern Thoroughbred population is grey and is traceable to these two imported stallions and, according to Peter Willett, a well-known English bloodline authority, "What is true of a single, easily discernible character like color may be equally true of other characteristics that are less
apparent but more closely related to ability."  
If one considers the number of great grey jumpers throughout the world, it is evident that a very significant number of horses which make up 3% of the Thoroughbred population are very good jumpers.
The modern chapter of the French Grey line descends from the grey stallion Le Sancy, who stood at stud in France in the late nineteenth century, hence the name of the line. Le Sancy was a successful stallion, commanding a very high stud fee for the time, a fee of 500 guineas. The line descends through Le Sancy's beautifully bred grey son, Le Samaritain, who won the French St. Leger. Le Samaritain was not a great success at stud. He produced a son, Roi Herode, who was a useful staying handicapper, a type of horse who usually doesn't make a good sire. After breaking down in training, Roi Herode was retired to stud in Ireland where, bred to the mare Vahren, he produced an unusual horse called The Tetrarch.
The Tetrarch, known as, "the spotted wonder," was a stallion of lightning speed. In color, he was "elephant grey with white and lime patches of various sizes and shapes." As a two-year-old he was undefeated on the race track, but retired to stud because of an injury. His stud career was brilliant but limited;being of low fertility, he sired only 130 offspring.
Nevertheless, the influence of The Tetrarch has been strongly felt for many generations in such celebrities as *Mahmoud, *Nasrullah, *Royal Charger, and Abernant, all important names in both racing and jumping pedigrees.
The sire of The Tetrarch, Roi Herode, sired *Royal Canopy, who was the sire of Bonne Nuit, the founder of an incomparable dynasty of jumpers in North America.

In Europe, Rex the Robber, one of the most successful show jumpers in the world, descends from the French Grey line from which he inherited his grey color. Over the years. Rex the Robber won such events as the Grand Prix in Dublin, Rotterdam and London, the Grand Prix of Europe at Aachen, and the Masters Jumping Competition.

Iwan, a member of the Dutch Equestrian Team at the Montreal Olympics, is by the Thoroughbred stallion Eratosthenes, a successful jumping sire in Holland. Eratosthenes descends from The Tetrarch twice in four generations through The Tetrarch's sons, Tetratema and Ethnarch. The second dam of Eratosthenes is the mare Eclair, who is a daughter of Ethnarch. Eclair is also the second dam of the international jumper, Aberali, originally a member of the Italian Equestrian Team and later a member of the United States Equestrian Team.

Gran Geste was a descendant of *Mahmoud, a descendant of The Tetrarch. Ridden by Nelson Pessoa, Gran Geste was sired by a son of *Mahmoud and he was out of a native South American mare. He was the winner of the European title in 1966 and in 1967 was a member of the gold medal winning team at the Pan American Games in Winnipeg. Gran Geste won the German Jumping Derby in Hamburg in 1963, 1965 and 1968, and the British Jumping Derby in 1963 and 1965.

Ladykiller, a well-known and popular Thoroughbred stallion and jumping sire in Europe, also descends from The Tetrarch. The grandsire of Ladykiller is Blue Peter, a descendant of The Tetrarch.
Ladykiller is the sire of Boy, a Holsteiner who won the Hamburg Derby, ridden by Eddie Macken, and he is the grandsire of Livius, the gold medal team winner at the European Championships in Munich in 1981, ridden by Peter Lutter. Ladykiller also sired Landgrafin, a successful jumper ridden by Hugo Simon of Austria.

Blue Peter appears in the pedigree of the Thoroughbred stallion Go Tobann. Go Tobann sired the famous Irish jumper Kerrygold (also known as Pele), ridden by Eddie Macken. In 1974 they were runners-up in the World Championships in Hickstead. Other wins for Pele included the British Jumping Derby in 1975, the Dublin Puissance in 1977, and the 1979 Baton Relay in Calgary, Alberta.
Blue Peter also appears in the pedigrees of many well-known jumpers in North America, including Night Murmur (winner of the National Horse Show Grand Prix and later a member of the British Equestrian Team). Radnor II (American Gold Cup winner and member of the United States Equestrian Team), Rise and Rule (a puissance winner at the National Horse Show at 7'), Salem (a member of the United States Equestrian Team and on Nations Cup winning teams in New York and Toronto), and the jumper Tuscaloosa (winner of the Jacksonville and Palm Beach Grand Prix and a member of the United States Equestrian Team).

Through his daughter, Mumtaz Mahal, The Tetrarch appears in the pedigree of Pik As, a Thoroughbred stallion who stood in Germany and was a very successful jumping and dressage sire in that country. Pik As, a very influential stallion in the Hanoverian breed, is the sire of Porta Westfalica, an Olympic medalist under Hartwig Steenken, and he also sired the jumper Pesgo, a European champion, as well as the jumpers Pro Domo and Palmas.
Perser, a Thoroughbred stallion and brother of Pik As, sired the jumper Patras.

The maternal grandsire of Pik As is Mirza II, a son of Mumtaz Mahal, who was a daughter of The Tetrarch. Mirza II stood at stud in France, was taken by the Germans in World War II and then recovered after the war and returned to England. A half sister to Mirza II (out of Mumtaz Mahal and by Rustom Pasha) was Rustom Mahal, who was the dam of Abernant. Abernant went on to sire the great grey jumper Aberali, who was a member of the Italian Equestrian Team and later a member of the United States Equestrian Team, ridden to many international wins by Kathy Kusner. These wins included the 1967 Ladies European Championships in Fontainebleu, France.

Abernant also sired the Thoroughbred stallion Abgar, a successful steeplechaser who now stands in Holland. Abgar sired Humphrey (ridden by Hans Gunter Winkler on the German Equestrian Team), as well as Claus (a show jumper in Italy), the jumper Jabgar, and the event horse Baby Face. Abgar, a grey Thoroughbred stallion, also descends from the French Grey line on his dam's side. his dam being a descendant of Le Sancy.

As well as Mirza II and Rustom Mahal, Mumtaz Mahal by The Tetrarch was the dam of two mares, Mah Mahal and Mumtaz Begum. Mah Mahal was the dam of  *Mahmoud, and Mumtaz Begum went on to become the dam of *Nasrullah. Both stallions are heavyweights in the pedigrees of modern-day race horses and jumpers.
Mumtaz Begum was also the dam of Sun Princess, who was the dam of *Royal Charger. *Royal Charger is also an important individual in the pedigrees of jumpers. *Mahmoud was sired by *Blenheim II, while *Nasrullah and *Royal Charger were sired by Nearco.
These sires will be discussed under the Blenheim II and Nearco lines.
The list of jumpers descending from the French Grey line in America is endless, and in fact includes many non-grey horses as well as many grey jumpers.

The Bonne Nuit dynasty of jumpers demands special consideration:
Roi Herode was the sire of *Royal Canopy, who was imported to the United States. *Royal Canopy went on to sire Bonne Nuit, who was a member of the famous grey hunter team of stallions shown by Mrs. Liz Whitney (now Mrs M. E. Tippett) of Virginia. This team included Bonne Nuit, his son Night Lark, and a grey son of Man o' War called Great War.
Bonne Nuit sired more than a dozen international jumpers, including the United States Equestrian Team members Riviera Wonder (a winner of numerous international classes including the International Championship of Germany), Night Owl (winner of the Grand Prix of Aachen and the Irish Trophy in Dublin, and member of the United States Equestrian Team Olympic squad in Stockholm), and Hollandia (member of United States Equestrian Team at the Olympics in Helsinki). Other descendants include Night Spree, Out Late (both winners with the United States Equestrian Team and both by Bonne Nuit's son, Night Lark), Night Murmur, and Bonte II (a member of many Nations Cup winning teams with the United States Equestrian Team). A grandson, Good Twist, won over 21 international classes with the United States Equestrian Team at home and abroad.

Great War, a member of the previously mentioned hunter team, was out of a granddaughter of The Tetrarch. Great War was the sire of Miss Budweiser (also known as Circus Rose), a United States Equestrian Team Olympic mount.

Bold Minstrel, the United States Equestrian Team horse who won a gold medal in three-day eventing and later a silver medal in jumping at the Pan American Games, descends from The Tetrarch. *Royal Minstrel, the sire of Bold Minstrel's dam, was a grandson of The Tetrarch.
Rome Dome, a winner in all AHSA divisions and a member of the United States Equestrian Team, descends from The Tetrarch four times: once through his son *Stefan the Great, once through each of two grandsons, Pilate and *Royal Minstrel, and once through *Mahmoud.

Sudden Death, a member of the United States Equestrian Team on the 1977 Fall Circuit, descends from The Tetrarch three times: once from *Mahmoud, once from Tetratema, and once from Pilate.
Also descending from the French Grey line through *Mahmoud was Rosie Report, winner of the Cleveland Grand Prix. Trick Track, winner of the President's Cup in Washington and on Nations Cup winning teams in Toronto and Harrisburg, descends from the French Grey line. Hard Lot, the third dam of Trick Track, was by *Royal Canopy, by Roi Herode. It is also interesting to note that Hard Lot was out of *Bone Cause, making her a full sister to the great jumping sire, Bonne Nuit.

Interpretation, the sire of San Lucas, is out of a granddaughter of Roi Herode. San Lucas was the winner of over three dozen international classes. a member of 43 Nations Cup teams, and a gold medal winner at the Pan American Games for the Untied States Equestrian Team.
Many more jumping descendants of the French Grey line will be mentioned later when examining the *Blenheim II and Nearco Lines.