Analysis – Christopher Hector
Tenareze and Tom Carlile ([photo Eric Knoll)
Lion d’Angers has been very much the happy hunting ground for French event rider, Thomas Carlile.
(Photo – Roslyn Neave)
In 2013, he took out both Championships, with Tenareze (Jaguar Mail / Quatar de Plape / Jalienny) and Sirocco du Gers (Dorsay sf / Jalienny), and in 2014 came back to claim another championship with Teneraze. In 2015, he was second on a horse that was to play a very special part in Tom’s life – Upsilon.
Thomas Carlile and Upsilon, in 2015 (Photo – Dirk Caremans)
In 2017, he was third on the mare, Birmane by the Belgian sire, Vargas de ste Hermelle out of a Diamant de Sémilly mare), who went on to be the French reserve horse at the Tokyo Games. 2019 saw him winning another Reserve Championship, this time on Birman’s half brother, Dartagnan de Beliard (by Quite Easy out of Royce de Kreisker by Diamant de Sémilly).
Champions in 2022, Thomas and Golden de Beliard (Photo – Dirk Caremans)
This year, Thomas won the Six Year old Championship with the mare, Golden de Beliard aa (Upsilon / Jalienny).
Thomas and Upsilon shot to international fame in 2016 winning Blenheim CIC***, as well as the two stars Hartpury and Jardy,, third at Saumur and second at Gatcombe. The following year, they won Barbury Castle CIC***. Upsilon is by the Holsteiner, Canturo, but out of the Anglo Arab mare, Fusain du Defey, and he soon became most popular stallion with Anglo Arab breeders in France.
Thomas’ parents moved from Britain to Toulouse in France where he was born in 1987: “My parents used to have horses when they lived in the UK. I started being interested in horses when I was ten, and when I was eleven, Mum and Dad took me to see Burghley. The first out on the steeplechase was Mark Todd, and that is when I decided to be an event rider. He won the event, on Diamond Hall Red, that was in 1999, and since then I have always wanted to follow in his footsteps.”
“I went to work for Clayton and Lucinda Fredericks in 2006 – that was the year they really started to hit the scene with Clayton second at the World Games, and Lucinda won Burghley, that was a fantastic experience, I really learnt a lot from them. I spent a year with them before I came back to France and rented a few stables. I did my first 3 Star back in 2007, and I’ve bought and sold horses from then on.”
There’s another reason Upsilon is very close to Tom’s heart, but for his care and attention, the stallion might have died…
After he won the CIC3 at Wiltshire event in 2017 and the CIC3* Event Rider Masters section the following year, Upsilon became critically ill with a suspected mutation of the herpes virus.
Tom told British publication Horse & Hound, that the stallion came home from intensive care in July 2019, “in quite a bad state”, and that the vets still did not know the cause of his condition. Upsilon’s stable at the time was big, about 20 square metres, which allowed him room to move and be comfortable, but it was not until the end of August that year he was able to leave it.
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“We felt he was comfortable enough to start walking out in hand, but it wasn’t easy,” Tom said. “It took about four days just to get him to walk out of the stable on to the path.”
Throughout last autumn, the stallion was walked in hand. After a month, he was walking for about 10-15 minutes before he started to tire.
Gradually, his balance and perception improved, and he became fitter.
“He’d have a little jog, and then a longer one, then one day, he did a whole circle,” said Tom.
Eventually it was Tom’s girlfriend Camille, who had been lunging the stallion, decided that he looked bored, saddled him up and trotted him around the arena… the horse was on his way back. He will never event again but he is shaping as a serious sire of eventers…
Fly Up de Banuel and Lemoine Mathieu (Photo – Dirk Caremans)
In the Seven Year old championship, Upsilon was represented by three progeny, Fly Up de Banuel (Orlando), Fair Lady des Broucks (Chin Chin) and Filao de Perle (Ryon d’Anzex). In the six year olds there were two representatives, the champion Golden de Beliard and Gulliver des Lones (Hoggar Mail).
Julia Krajewski and Chintonic, by Contendro out of an Heraldik xx mare
(Photo – Dirk Caremans)
One of the endearing things about studying eventing bloodlines, is that ghosts of the great ones continue to flit about the stage. Thus in the starting lists we find golden oldies like Master Imp, the pair of Holstein imports who revolutionised Irish eventing breeding, Puissance and Courage II, Yarlands Summer Song and Obos Quality, but the ghost-with-the-most remains Heraldik xx, still an influence 17 years after his death, with two of the contestants out of Heraldik mares.
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Although Heralidik dominated eventing breeding for over a decade, he never produced a stallion son, which is why French stallion supremo, Arnaud Evain was so excited back in 2014 when he acquired Herald 3.
Herald
The Holsteiner stallion was born in 1998, and is out of a mare by the Landgraf son, Lorenz – which makes him 72.27% Thoroughbred.
Herald was started in young horse classes by Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum, who placed second with him in the 7-year-old class at San Gallo*****. Her husband Markus took over the ride, and his best result was a 5th in a 1.55m class at Donaueschingen. The horse was then ridden for three seasons (2008/9/10) by the Spanish rider, Pilar Lucretia Cordon Munro. The pair won the Grand Prix of Saint Lô and were in many Spanish nations cups teams, and took the Spanish rider to the WEG in Lexington. In his last couple of seasons, the stallion was ridden by Eric Lamaze (who took him to 3rd in a 1.60 class at Geneva) and young riders, Caitlen Ziegler and Yasmin Pinchen.
“I wanted an Heraldik stallion for a long time,” Arnaud told me, “We have a common friend with the owner of Herald, and that is how I heard the horse was on the market. Fortunately, we were there at the right time and we bought him half-and-half with the VDL stud.”
Mélody Johner and Captain Thin Lizzy (by Herald)
(Photo – Dirk Caremans)
And sure enough, Arnaud’s faith was vindicated this year, with three progeny by Herald in the field at Lion.
Champions two years running – Anna Lena Schaaf and Lagona OLD
(Photo – Dirk Caremans)
The Seven Year old Championship was won by last year’s six year old champions, Anna Lena Schaaf and Lagona OLD, the diminutive mare is by Lavagon (Lordanos / Acorado I) out of Ile de Cartina (Cartani / Ile de Bourbon). Lagona is three quarters Hanoverian, but branded OS (Oldenburg Jumping). As previously noted, Upsilon had four representatives in this class. Another from Arnaud Evain’s stable, Contendro (Contender / Reichsgraf) had two including Julia Krajewski’s sixth placed, Chintonic (out of an Heraldik mare) while the young Hanoverian stallion, Diacontinus (Diarado / Contendro) had one in the seven year old division to join his two in the six year olds.
Representing Diacontinus – Dia Davina FRH and Nadine Marzahl
(Photo – Dirk Caremans)
Frozen Semen from Diacontinus is available from International Horse Breeders
Diacontinus