By Marc Verrier
Photography: Peter Llewellyn

Renamed Lady Lindenhof after passing to Luciana Diniz, the very small Nangaye de Kergane had already shone at the highest level with Kevin Staut. However, for Alexandra Rantet, her first rider, Nangaye remains the mare of her life. Several of her products have competed at a good leve, and her descendants have very promising elements.

It was at the yard of Louis Menier, in Morbihan, some 50 kilometers west of Rennes, that Nangaye de Kergane was born. For his mare Je Viens de Kergane (Type of Elle x Benroy xx), Louis Menier had chosen Grand Chef Bleus, a stallion he loved very much and used widely. This son of Quidam de Revel and Queen du Parc, by Lord Roussetière – who was none other than a son of the full sister of breed chief Almé – competed until the age of 18, often changing riders, recording an index of 136 thanks to rankings earned between 1m30 and 1m40. Grand Chef Bleus had a fairly discreet production with only 72 products registered with the SIRE, 44 of whom were recorded competitors. Among them, nine were indexed above 120 and only one above 140, Nangaye de Kergane, who obtained the very good index of 168, from six seasons between 157 and 168.

A serious strain

The maternal line of Nangaye de Kergane is not necessarily the most prestigious, since Nangaye is the only one of her family to have competed at the highest level. However, until the fifth dam, there are several winners between 1m20 and 1m40 in each generation, which is certainly a sign of a certain quality in the strain. Besides Nangaye, other horses from this family, all bred by Louis Menier, have also had good careers, such as Maeva de Kergane (Gold de Becourt x Arpege Pierreville) ISO 148 and classified over 1m50 with Swiss Nadine Traber, or his uterine brother Quasi de Kergane (Elan de la Cour) classified over the same heights with Poland’s Wojciech Wojcianiec, ISO 159. We should also mention the young Eothymm de Kergane (Quinoto Bois Margot x Campo Flamingo Z), from a uterine sister of Maeva and Quasi, ninth in the five-year-old final at Fontainebleau and CIR champion of Saint-Lô, and 16th as a six-year-old with Arthur Le Vot, earning him a very good index of 150 in 2020.
This strain began to show itself in sport from Javotte (Ulster x Neroli), born in 1953, the fifth dam of Nangaye de Kergane. Successive crosses with Obelisque II xx (Louqsor xx) then Nankin (Fra Diavolo xx) and the Thoroughbred Benroy xx (Double Jump xx) produced Smasch [SF], Nangaye’s grandmother, who arrives at the Meniers after a small competition career ( ISO 125) and a few foals for Odile Le Baron. According to Louis Menier, “It was my son Thibault who bought Smasch when she was 12. She gave us three offspring, including Natashquan au Galet (Elan de la Cour), indexed 123, and Je Viens de Kergane (Type d'Elle), the mother of Nangaye. Smasch died at the age of 19. As we often do, we bred Je Viens de Kergane before putting her into competition. We chose Grand Chef Bleus, a stallion that I liked very much, which resulted in Nangaye de Kergane. Then, Je Viens went into a competition and, since we already had a daughter, she was sold.” He continued by relating the story of Nangaye: “She was seriously injured in a posterior and was marked for the rest of her life. She was a mare with a lot of energy and had a first foal at age four by Elan de la Cour, but he died soon after birth. Then she had four foals with L’Arc de Triomphe. Scala de Kergane and Suhisa de Kergane, who remained as broodmares, Squad de Kergane, who competed up to 1m30 (ISO 127) and was sold to Mexico, but I don’t have more news. The best was Sangali de Kergane, classified in 1m50 Grand Prix classes with Marc Lucas (ISO 145).
“When she was five years old we sold half of Nangaye to Alexandra Rantet, then the second part a little later. Nangaye was not obvious; at first she would jump too hard and could scare herself a little. Later she had a very good career. I remember the La Baule Grand Prix where she was magnificent with Kevin Staut, with just one fault at the last obstacle.
“Nangaye’s daughters gave good products, including Arany de Kergane (Nervoso), who went to Switzerland (index 149), touring with Fiona Meier then Cameron Hanley, with whom he won international seven-year-old classes. [Author’s note: Then with Fiona Meyer, he moved up to 1m35.] From this strain I kept Ambryme de Kergane (Amadehus), a daughter of Scala.”.. To read the complete article you need to be a subscriber

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