New French stallion for Willowmere Stud

Press, 6 July 1983, Page 31

New French stallion for Willowmere Stud

By JEFF SCOTT Jet d’Emeraude, one of the best-performed trotters •in Europe over the last three years, has been secured for stud duties in New Zealand for the coming stud season. The fifth French-bred stallion to be imported to New Zealand, Jet d’Emeraude is to stand alongside fellow French-bred sires, Beau Nonantais and Gekoj, at Kevin and Doody Townley’s Willowmere Stud at Willowby. Jet d’Emeraude, which amassed the equivalent of ?NZ330,000 in stakes and took a Imin 59.2 s mile record trotting, is scheduled to arrive in New Zealand on October 1. A winner at three, he

gained prominence a year later when he became the fastest four-year-old in France with a mile rate of 2min 4s from a stand over 2250 m, a time he reduced in 1980 as a five-year-old to 2min 3.4 s against top class opposition. Jet d’Emeraude recorded his best win in the Prix de Reims over 2625 m at Vincennes in Paris, winning close to $30,000. After an invitation, he represented France in the Elitlopp at Solvalla in Sweden in 1981, where he took his Imin 59.2 s record.

He was just beaten in the Prix de Washington over 1600 m at Enghien and was third in the Prix de Stockholm over 2825 m, important international events, while

he was also runner-up at Vincennes in 1982 in France’s most prestigious race in saddle, earning him more than $16,000. Bred in St Potan, Cotes-du-Nord, France in 1975, Jet d’Emeraude’s dam, Troville Royal, carries some of France’s finest bloodlines. His sire, Seddouk, was the winner of 1 million francs, while his half-brother by the top sire, Carioca 11, is the greatest of all French sires, Kerjacques. Kerjacques figures as the sire of many French champions, including Une De Mai, Eleazar and Jorky, to name a few. Jet d’Emeraude will command a stud fee of $lOOO.