Onwards and upwards for the young pinhooker of admirable Irish Grand National hero Haiti Couleurs

Good Morning Bloodstock is an exclusive daily email sent by the Racing Post bloodstock team and published here as a free sample.

On this occasion, Martin Stevens speaks to Luke Cummins about sourcing Irish Grand National hero Haiti Couleurs – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

All you need do is click on the link above, sign up and then read at your leisure each weekday morning from 7am.

Budding pinhookers face a frustrating chicken-or-the-egg dilemma: they need to build a reputation for trading talented horses in order to achieve higher prices but, without having already made decent profits, they are unable to re-invest in better raw material.

One way they can break the cycle is by finding a diamond in the rough, proving to prospective customers that they have an expert eye that can see past ordinary pedigrees to identify future high-class performers on the strength of their physique, movement and temperament.

Luke Cummins, who operates the burgeoning Belleville Bloodstock pinhooking business with his wife Lucy, has done just that. He unearthed the likeable Haiti Couleurs, the decisive winner of the National Hunt Challenge Cup at Cheltenham last month and the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Monday, as a two-year-old at the Arqana Summer Sale of 2019 and paid small money for him.

“I try to go to France, in particular Arqana, as often as I can and on this occasion I went with my friend Amhairghean Kennedy to buy a few horses together,” says Cummins as he takes up the tale. “We didn’t get a whole lot at that sale, just because of the way things fell, but we did get him.

“We were probably a bit naive at the time, thinking that a son of Dragon Dancer and a mare by Argument who was 21 when she foaled him would be a viable pinhooking proposition, but it might have actually been to our benefit as we didn’t overthink all of that, and went for the physical model instead.

“We fell in love with him. He was a big, beautiful, scopey individual and he walked around the parade ring like he owned the place that day. We managed to get him for €7,000, and were over the moon. My sister Jordan came in on him too, so we ended up splitting him three ways.”

Haiti Couleurs formed part of the first Belleville Bloodstock store draft when he was offered at Tattersalls Ireland just over a year later, during the summer after the first wave of Covid. A market weakened by the pandemic and the horse’s somewhat esoteric page meant he was friendless, though, and he went unsold after bidding for him reached only €2,800.

“We were surprised we couldn’t get anyone at all to buy him,” says Cummins. “The video of him walking and being shown is still online somewhere, and if you watch it you’ll see he was as fine a horse then as he is today.

“He had a good attitude and was clean-winded. The only thing he could have been cribbed for was being a fraction light of bone, but that shouldn’t have been enough to stop people from taking a chance on him. It was probably the pedigree that put them off.”

Undeterred, Cummins brought Haiti Couleurs home to Belleville Bloodstock HQ in Waterford and broke him in, deciding that he and his partners needed to put form on the horse in order for him to realise his true value.

“Fortunately, Harley Dunne had recently become our neighbour; his yard is right beside us,” he continues. “People know him as a bit of a character, and maybe he is, but the more important thing is that nobody works harder than him, he knows his horses inside-out and he's always been very fair and straightforward with us.

“Haiti Couleurs ran fourth on debut at Turtulla at the end of his four-year-old season. We weren’t expecting all that much, but we thought he might do better than that and we were left scratching our heads a little bit.

Haiti Couleurs: "He really enjoyed himself out in front"Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

“He showed his true colours next time out at Boher, where he finished runner-up to Path D’Oroux, who’s no slouch for Gavin Cromwell now either. The two of them pulled well clear of the rest of the field.

“I’m delighted that Haiti Couleurs is doing well for Harley too, as he deserves a lot of credit for his training of him. He did a pretty good job of selling the horse when he and Jordan took him to the Tattersalls Cheltenham January Sale, too. We were over the moon when he sold to Rebecca Curtis for £68,000.”

It took another two years for Haiti Couleurs to make his debut for Curtis, but he didn’t waste much more time in proving that he is a top-notcher and that Belleville Bloodstock knows what a good horse looks like.

“I gather from talking to his owners at Fairyhouse on Monday that he struck into himself not long after arriving in his new home, which is why he didn’t run for such a long time,” says Cummins. 

“It might have actually stood him in good stead, though, as he was a bit of an anxious horse when he was younger, which is why he didn’t run in a point-to-point until he was almost five. The enforced break probably allowed him to grow up a bit.

“He was smashing in the Irish Grand National this week. He really enjoyed himself out in front, his ears were pricked and he jumped with enthusiasm. He’s a very honest horse, and must be a pleasure to own. 

“I shot up to Fairyhouse after work to see him and was there with Jordan and Amhairghean when he came into the winner's enclosure, so it was a special day.”

It should be no great surprise that Cummins has turned out to be a capable talent scout, as he had a good grounding in the art of pinhooking jumpers.

His family’s Rathturtin Stud in his native County Wexford, run by father Denis with the assistance of Luke's sisters, has traded lots of class acts over the years, including Grade 1 winners Fiddlerontheroof, First Flow, God’s Own and Tahmuras. Jubilee Alpha, who won a Listed mares’ novice hurdle at Cheltenham last Thursday for Paul Nicholls, could be the next one.

“I go home once a week or so to keep an eye in, and when we’re at the sales I’ll help out as we’re usually stabled right next to each other,” says Cummins.

He also worked for the late, legendary Gerry Dilger of Dromoland Farm in Kentucky and spent spells in Australia, New Zealand and France.

Closer to home he has done the sales for Eddie O’Leary’s Lynn Lodge Stud, Peter Vaughan’s Moanmore Stables and Luke Barry of Manister House Stud. 

He also currently works for Joseph O’Brien on Owning Hill, and helped break in recent stable stars Al Riffa, Cowardofthecounty and Scorthy Champ.

“I manage a barn of 40 horses here, and help break them in,” he says. “You certainly learn to do right by the horses working for Joseph, and get every chance working for him. It’s hard work, doing that and looking after the horses at home; it entails a lot of early mornings and travel between the two, but Lucy is a great help. 

“Lucy did the Godolphin Flying Start and the Irish National Stud breeding course, and used to be a little more hands-on with the horses, but she decided she wanted a more secure vocation and so became a solicitor instead. She still does all our paperwork – the imports, exports, VAT and other tax – which, as everyone knows, is a huge administrative burden.”

Cummins also dipped a toe into the stallion market when buying Boscaccio, a German Group 2 winner by Mount Nelson, to stand at Knockhouse Stud in 2022. The horse has since received a handy pedigree update in the shape of his half-brother Alcantor winning three Group 3s at two to four and finishing a close third in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains last year. Alcantor has been declared to run in the Bet365 Mile at Sandown on Friday.

“Boscaccio is getting fantastic early stock and I’m looking forward to seeing them run on the back of the success of Mount Nelson’s National Hunt-bred horses, as well as those by another son of Mount Nelson in Berkshire,” says Cummins. “He’s a great value option in the south-east.”

Next, though, will be this year’s drafts of stores from Belleville Bloodstock, which can now proudly proclaim itself the consignor of Haiti Couleurs on its stable doors and social media.

“Hopefully we’ve built up our reputation, and people will recognise that we rear and educate our stock well, and that we sell proper racehorses,” says Cummins. 

“To tell the truth, I was a bit disappointed last year as we had a gorgeous Shirocco colt out of a Flemensfirth mare, and we ended up selling him for only €25,000. He was Outofafrika, who won a point-to-point on debut for Tom Lacey last month and looks an exciting prospect.

“In fairness to Tom, he took our word for it when we told him he was a nice horse, and has been rewarded. We’d tried to tell a lot of other people too, but they made up their own minds.

"I suppose it’s going to take a while for people to learn to trust us, but hopefully that happens and we start getting better paid for all the nice horses we’re selling.”

Belleville Bloodstock's store prospects include a Walk In The Park gelding out of a sister to Kauto Star Novices’ Chase winner Slate HouseCredit: Edward Whitaker

Belleville Bloodstock should fare well at the store sales this year, as its lots have rather flashier pages thanks to a few pinhooks who have landed touches in recent years.

They include a Walk In The Park gelding out of Miss Buck’s, a Presenting full-sister to Kauto Star Novices’ Chase winner Slate House, and a filly by the reigning champion National Hunt sire out of Atomic Winner, the dam of Grade 3-placed hurdler Get A Tonic.

Some others have a splash of French glamour, including a Nirvana Du Berlais gelding out of a Spanish Moon full-sister to Grade 1 heroine Laurina; a Poet’s Word gelding out of the smart Discover D’Auteuil mare Toile D’Auteuil; a Cokoriko half-brother to Auteuil Grade 3 winner Raffles Face, and a For Fun half-sister to useful chaser Christmas In April.

There is also a Sholokhov gelding out of high-class handicap hurdler Mrs Mac Veale and a Vadamos half-brother to Listed-placed hurdler My Kiwi Girl to look forward to. 

“We had a bit more money in the kitty from some good sales, so we’ve been able to up our game when it comes to the pedigrees,” says Cummins. “We’ve always tried to get the best horses we could for the money we had to pay, but you need certain pages in a sire-driven market, and to afford those you need to have earned your reputation and achieved some good sales.

“Thankfully we’re now getting to the point where we’re able to match up the pedigrees with the sorts of physicals we’ve always bought, and had plenty of success with. I’m hopeful that this is our best draft yet.”

Now that Belleville Bloodstock has established itself as a rich source of good winners – some, like Haiti Couleurs, exceptionally good – it will likely be a case of onwards and upwards for the operation, making bigger profits that can be re-invested in even better foals.

Refer a friend!

If you have a friend who would like to receive Good Morning Bloodstock please send the following link where they can sign up.

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

Must-read story

“Another retrograde development is that backward two-year-olds can now make up for lost time on the all-weather through the winter, when attention is firmly focused on the jumpers,” writes Julian Muscat on the subject of the 2,000 Guineas ante-post market in his latest column.

Pedigree pick

Eleganz, who topped the BBAG Yearling Sale in Baden-Baden in 2023 when bought by Hugo Merry on behalf of Blue Diamond Stud for €300,000, makes her eagerly awaited debut for Andre Fabre in the 12-furlong maiden for three-year-old fillies at Saint-Cloud today (6.55 local time, 5.55 BST).

Eleganz owes her hefty price-tag to the fact that she hails from the final crop of German champion sire Adlerflug, source of stars like Alenquer, Goliath, In Swoop, Iquitos and Torquator Tasso, and was bred by Gestüt Röttgen from one of the Cologne nursery’s foremost families.

She is a half-sister to last year’s Preis der Diana heroine Erle out of Kizingo, a winning Oasis Dream half-sister to German champion two-year-old colt Erasmus. Kizingo and Erasmus are in turn out of another Preis der Diana victress in Enora, a Noverre half-sister to Grosser Preis von Baden and Preis von Europa runner-up Egerton. 

Don’t miss ANZ Bloodstock News

Subscribe for the latest bloodstock news from Australia, New Zealand and beyond.

Good Morning Bloodstock is our unmissable email newsletter. Leading bloodstock journalist Martin Stevens provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday