First foals from Blake's Bouttemont hit the Sales Kevin Blake’s well-publicised stallion recruit Bouttemont will have his first foals offered for sale at Goffs next month, with the television pundit and breeder hoping for good uptake from the ex-sprinter’s progeny. A Group 3-winner in France, Bouttemont was still racing when purchased by a partnership including Blake in 2023, with a flashy video promoting him as a stallion prospect later going viral on social media. Although Bouttemont’s career ended in disappointment in 2023, he had met significant in-running traffic in October’s Prix de l’Abbaye and then concluded with a second-placing in a Dundalk Group 3. Bouttemont stands for €5,000 at Rathbarry Stud and Blake reports “Bouttemont covered 81 mares in his first crop which are now his first foals. There are eight or 10 going to the November Foal Sale in Goffs and I have a bunch of my own. We like what we’ve seen, so we’re looking forward to showing them and I think we have given the stallion a good chance to prove himself.” “If you knew nothing about him and looked at his foals, you’d give him a great chance and (his sire) Acclamation couldn’t be more established as a sire-of-sires.” Recalling the forward advertising video, Blake explained “we knew a lot of people weren’t familiar with the horse so we had to market and promote him. As a racehorse he finished with a whimper but the Prix de l’Abbaye was really his day. “At Longchamp, he had his ground and his draw but luck completely deserted him. He finished on the bridle, beaten four lengths, so that was tough. We got a great uptake on the initial share-offering though, and it has been a fun adventure so far with the next stage being the Goffs Foal Sales in November.” He added “Rathbarry and Tinnakill Studs have gone in behind him and Tinnakill have a well-bred one going to Newmarket Sales. I have some well-bred ones at home and have a particularly nice one out of mare Angels Tale selling in Goffs. “At the end of the day, no one knows what the next big sire is, but you need soldiers on the ground to let them prove themselves.”
