HOW SEA BIRD WAS BRED

Massine (Consols) won the 1924 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr1) in the colours of Henri Ternynck. He also won the Ascot Gold Cup (Gr1), thus achieving a double that only three horses have accomplished in a century. An exceptional racehorse – 12 wins including nine Group races – Massine was crowned leading sire in France in 1932 and 1936 on the flat, but also in 1935 over jumps. But Henri Ternynck had not bred Massine. And it was his nephew, Jean Ternynck, who became the family’s great breeder!

Jean Ternynck, the breeder of Sea Bird (Dan Cupid), loved to ride horses. And he was in the saddle every morning in Roubaix before starting his working day. An industrialist from the north of France, he regularly went to the races in Paris in his youth. It was there that he saw Maurepas (Aethelstan) in action in the colours of Jean Prat. Philippe Ternynck explains: « It must be acknowledged that my father was a very good judge. Like Étienne Pollet, he had an eye. And when he saw Maurepas run, he said to himself that he would like to have offspring from this future stallion… if one day he had racehorses. That’s how it started. » The future great breeder was impressed by the fact that Maurepas was able to win over 1,100m at 2 years old and over 4,000m at 4 years old! Maurepas was indeed the winner of the Grand Prix de Paris (then over 3,000m), the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (then over 2,500m) and the Prix de Chantilly (now Prix Niel). This Maurepas will have a capital importance for his breeding, as we will see later in this story.

Around the time Maurepas was shining in racing, in 1938, Jean Ternynck bought a property by chance in a loop of the Seine, at Notre-Dame-de-l’Isle. His son explains: « It was a small breeding operation from the start. After wanting to have horses, my father thought he could buy a small stud farm. But there was the war in between. His professional life, in textiles, was in Roubaix. Horses were a passion. We were very far from the big stud farms with people working full time. And then luck came along with Sanctus, then Sea Bird. Not wanting to have too many horses, my father made a severe selection of his broodmares. He never had more than seven or eight broodmares. » 100km north-west of Paris, we are still very far from the traditional breeding grounds, such as Orne or Calvados. But it must be said that the era was much less « Normandy-centric » and, until the 1970s, flat horses were successfully bred over a much wider area. Épinard (Badajoz), certainly the best horse in the history of the Wertheimer colours, was bred in the Bordeaux region. Similarly, Edmond Blanc and Marcel Boussac bred at the Haras de Jardy, i.e. almost in Paris! At Notre-Dame-de-l’Isle, gallopers are no longer bred, and Jean Ternynck’s stud farm was sold several decades ago to Hervé Godignon, a great show jumping rider.

In 1943, he bought his first horse in Deauville, but in the 1950s and 1960s, Jean Ternynck was going to raise his hand a lot at the sales in Newmarket. At Tattersalls, he was going to find some of his foundation mares, but also foals that were going to become Sine Die (Sing Sing), second in the Morny, and Mare Nostrum (Mossborough), third in the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches. Much later, Sine Die was going to give Jean Ternynck the good Strategist (Sanctus), winner of the Prix de la Forêt (Gr1) in his colours. Mare Nostrum is the second dam of Sea Bird Park (Silver Shark), winner of the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (now Gr1) at Nakayama. Later, Ternynck also found in England Bernicia (Native Prince), who gave him Bernica (Caro), winner of the Prix du Calvados and Prix Vanteaux (Grs3)… before becoming a broodmare for the Niarchos family.

However, the mare that changed his story is of much more modest extraction. Couleur (Biribi) lacked class on the flat. But she had stamina, which allowed her to win a hurdle race in Nice. But Jean Ternynck absolutely wanted a mare in foal to Maurepas – an infertile stallion who only had 18 foals – and that was the case with this famous Couleur! Philippe Ternynck analyses: « It was the trainer Alexandre Lieux who had phoned him to tell him that he had found a mare in foal to Maurepas. It was Couleur, small, badly made and not a winner on the flat. It is also incredible that this mare managed to give three foals from a stallion as unproductive as Maurepas!« . The first foal, Camargue II (Maurepas), was very good, and she won the Prix de Malleret (now Gr2) in 1949. The second, Camarée (Maurepas), did even better by winning the Prix Vanteaux (now Gr3), then the 1,000 Guineas (now Gr1) in record time under the training of Alexandre Lieux (who had recommended the dam). You can hardly do better than that as a debut as a breeder!

After the war, French horses enjoyed insolent success in England. In 1950, the French won four of the five English classics (Derby, Oaks, St Leger and 1,000 Guineas). That year, Marcel Boussac finished leading owner on both sides of the Channel, and Jean Ternynck achieved his first major success in the 1,000 Guineas (Gr1). This period of super-performance of French breeding continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s, culminating in the victory of Sea Bird (Dan Cupid) in the 1965 Derby in the colours of his breeder, Jean Ternynck. Such a period of form is necessarily multi-factorial. Certainly, French breeding and training were then in a form unequalled in their history and which was not limited to Europe. But it should also be pointed out that, in the post-war period, England had exported an exceptionally high number of horses to the United States and Australia, while experiencing major staffing problems in racing stables, as the press of the time recalls. Yesterday, as today, it is always difficult to explain periods of good and bad form!

However, difficulties were not long in coming for Jean Ternynck. His son, Philippe Ternynck, remembers: « An epidemic of colibacillus spread through the stud farm, and the foals were dying. My father had to empty the place of all his horses, and it was a rather discouraging period. And then Sanctus (Fine Top) arrived, two years before Sea Bird (Dan Cupid)… and the latter gave him back the sacred fire! » After achieving the Jockey Club & Grand Prix de Paris double, Sanctus became a successful stallion, even being crowned leading sire in France in the 1972 season. He was a grandson of Satanella (Mahmoud), a « Strassburger » of great birth that Jean Ternynck had bought in Newmarket. Daughter of Satanella, Sanelta (Tourment) had shown quality in racing, and it was she who gave Sanctus to Jean Ternynck. Before being sold to the United States, Satanella proved herself in Europe, and is also the ancestress of Le Marmot (Amarko), best French 3-year-old of the 1979 season, of Dead Certain (Absalom), winner of the Cheveley Park Stakes (Gr1), or, closer to home, of Mohaather (Showcasing), who is making a good start at stud for Shadwell.

As seen earlier in this article, Couleur gave Jean Ternynck a first classic winner with Camarée. Several daughters of Couleur have been very successful at stud, and this mare is also the ancestress of many good horses, such as Dragon (Phaeton), the best French 2-year-old of the 1979 season. But other daughters, as is often the case, have been less prolific. This is the case of Marmelade (Maurepas), unable to shine in one outing at 3 years old on the flat, who did not succeed at stud (even if she is the grandmother of Koku (Touragua), classic winner in Spain – at a time when Spanish racing was far superior to what it is today). This Marmelade only had three live foals, the best of which shone mainly over jumps. She is the second dam of Sea Bird.

Jean Ternynck did not give up, and he kept this Marmelade, then her daughter Sicalade (Sicambre), whose peak form was a second place in a maiden at Maisons-Laffitte. At this point, the strain was clearly tipping over to jumps. As surprising as it may seem, breeders and buyers who are open-minded – and do not rule out jumps winners – have sometimes performed miracles. Alec Head bought Lyphard (Northern Dancer) in the United States, and he remembered then having run his grandmother over jumps! Closer to home, Skysweeper (Hurricane Run) achieved her best performance over hurdles… and she is becoming the best broodmare at Haras du Cadran!

To return to the breeding of Sea Bird, on the advice of Étienne Pollet, Jean Ternynck decided to change blood by using his former boarder Dan Cupid (Native Dancer). Without being a champion, this American horse had the advantage of being a total outcross and having a lot of speed. Winner of the Prix du Bois (Gr3), he was also on the podium of the Middle Park Stakes and the Prix Morny (Grs1). At 3 years old, he was still able to finish second in the Prix du Jockey Club (then over 2,400m) to the good Herbager (Vandale). The result was the champion Sea Bird (Dan Cupid), whom Philippe Ternynck describes as « a small genealogical miracle! He didn’t have a great pedigree. People in the profession were flabbergasted that we could produce such a horse with such a weak pedigree. » With hindsight, we can see how successful this cross – Dan Cupid on the daughters of Sicambre – was, with three black types out of eight starters. Sicalade, who had a lot of stamina in her pedigree, only had two live foals before getting lymphangitis. In addition to Sea Bird, she produced the good jumper Syncom (Beau Prince II), third in the Grande Course de Haies d’Enghien (later labelled Gr2).

A man of great distinction, Jean Ternynck cherished discretion above all else. He did not want to be the subject of articles or to answer interviews. To the point of cutting short those of English television after Sea Bird’s victory in the Derby. Among the few journalists who wrote about his breeding, it is certainly the late Guy Thibault who showed the greatest competence. Here is an extract from an article published under his pen in 1967: « M. Ternynck has no special theory with regard to breeding, apart from his constant search for horses possessing speed, for he believes that the intrinsic value of a horse may be measured by his speed. However, he does not confine himself to speed alone, preferring to use sires capable of winning over both 1,600m and 2,000m. We have seen that Maurepas, the sire of Camaree, won races over distances between 1,100m and 4,000m. Fine Top, the sire of Sanctus, won 16 races from 800m to 2,000m. Tourment, the maternal grand-sire of Sanctus, whom M. Tertynck used many times, won both the Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2.000 Guineas) and the Prix Royal Oak (French St. Leger), whilst Don Cupid, the sire of Sea Bird, was far more than for miler for he finished second in the Prix du Jockey Club, beaten only a neck by that good horse. M. Ternynck has followed his practice of sing sires that have shown ability over not less than 1,600m and up to at least 2,000m, in selecting during the current year as a mate for two of his mares Baldric II, winner of both the 2,000 Guineas and the Champion Stakes. This recipe might well provide a good example to many breeders on both sides of the Channel… » A few decades later, Philippe Ternynck recalls: « My father wanted to bring speed back into his breeding. In terms of selection, for him, the real distance was 2,000m, because it requires a bit of stamina and a certain speed. » It was only much later that the Jockey Club went from 2,400m to 2,100m!

A distant cousin of the legendary trainer Étienne Pollet – whose importance in the choice of Dan Cupid for Sea Bird’s dam we have seen –, Jean Ternynck offered the Chantilly master to come and choose a foal a year from his stud farm. Philippe Ternynck recalls: « My father and Étienne Pollet were both from Roubaix, but he didn’t know him in the north of France. For Eugène Constant, Pollet had trained Pan (Atys), winner of the Gold Cup at Ascot. And it was Eugène Constant who introduced Étienne Pollet to my father, suggesting that he entrust him with horses. But he had little space, as he did not want to have more than 50 horses in training. He was a great perfectionist. Every year, in September, it was an honour to receive Étienne Pollet at the stud farm. He would choose the yearling, from among the seven or eight of the year, that he would accept into his stable. And he was not mistaken in choosing Sanctus and Sea Bird. » A few years later, in a television interview, Etienne Pollet confided: « When he was a yearling, Sea Bird didn’t gallop like the others… He had an ease. I didn’t yet know the value of each of my yearlings, but I always said to myself: it’s incredible to see him gallop like that. Already, a yearling! It was extraordinary, the way he galloped. So afterwards, I didn’t try to understand, and then finally, he was the good horse. But my best memory was the way he moved, the movement he had when he was a yearling. I go through them one by one, the horses, maybe twenty or twenty-five, following, and he was much easier.« 

Everything has been said about the career of Sea Bird, considered by many to be the horse of the century, winning the Derby and the Arc with insane class. Timeform gave the colt an unprecedented rating of 145. Only Frankel (Galileo) has done better, but over shorter distances. Sea Bird therefore remains the best 2,400m horse of the modern racing era, if not the history of horse racing. Jean Ternynck was a pragmatic man. Although passionate, he had his feet on the ground. Thus, he sold his classic winner Camarée, but also the dam of Sanctus. And he leased Sea Bird to John W. Galbreath to stand at Darby Dan Farm, Kentucky, which was such an event that Le Monde published an article. Louis Deniel, the daily’s horse racing columnist, later explained in the same columns: « At the time, people were still reluctant to sell what they held most precious, and Jean Ternynck had only agreed to lease his horse for five years, the rent being 7.5 million francs. » A considerable sum for a lease. In 1962, the purchase of Herbager had cost « only » one and a half million.

In the United States, Sea Bird produced little by our modern standards – 154 starters out of 175 foals – and he died quickly after his arrival in France, leaving only a handful of foals in Normandy. He nevertheless produced a champion on the flat (Allez France) and a champion over jumps (Sea Pigeon), as well as a solid series of Gr1 winners (Arctic Tern, Dubassoff, Gyr, Little Current, Sea Saga…).

Tony Morris, our master of all (specialist breeding journalists), described his success at stud in these words in his remarkable book In Our Times: « Sea-Bird’s stud record was remarkable, most particularly his exceptional ratio of 18.5 per cent stakes-winners to foals, but he died at the age of eleven… » There is not a current stallion in the world that can boast such a statistical success. And to talk about Sea Bird’s contemporaries, we can take as a reference the greatest stallion in modern history, Northern Dancer (Nearctic), who was at 23%. Sea Bird was a top stallion, who can stand comparison with Riverman (13%), Lyphard (13%) or Luthier (15%), to name but three sires who officiated part of their career in France. A beautiful chestnut of medium size, without being splendid, Sea Bird was a legend when he returned to France. Patrick Chedeville still remembers his arrival at Haras du Petit Tellier: « When he returned, Sea Bird was still in everyone’s memory. On a daily basis, he was not particularly complicated. Before he died, he only had time to cover a few mares in Normandy. So it is impossible to judge his French production.« 

Jean Ternynck « produced » other good horses after Sea Bird, and his record as a breeder is exceptional if we remember that he never exceeded ten broodmares. But on Saturday, December 4, 1982, Deauville hosted the total dispersal of his stock. And his son told us: « As he approached 80 years of age, my father made the decision to sell the horses in Deauville. As his children had other occupations, he did not wish to leave this burden to us. And we later sold the property. Even though we enjoyed going to the races, none of us were really interested in horses, much to my father’s dismay.«