France's loss looks to be Turkey's gain. The sale of the promising sires Divine Light and Okawango, while of potential huge benefit to Turkey, will not help France's ever decreasing band of top-class stallions.

Divine Light, who from a small first crop sired champion filly Natagora, and Okawango, a superbly bred son of Kingmambo, were two of the up and coming sires in France. In the past Turkey has purchased mainly stallions regarded as cast offs by the major European and US stud farms, and this is could well be a turn for the better for Turkey.

France recently lost leading sire Kendor, whilst Bering is ageing.
While the return of Anabaa to French soil will help their cause, the list of proven French based sires is a short one. It seems like a long time ago, when French breeding rivaled Britain as the most powerful in the world, where stallions like Brantome, Tourbillon and Rabelais changed the shape of the breed.