The story of Enjeu de Grisien by Adriana van Tilburg

The four-year partnership between Enjeu de Grisien and Ben Maher was crowned with an impressive victory in one of the world’s toughest Grands Prix: the CPKC ‘International’ Grand Prix, presented by Rolex, at the CSIO Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament in Calgary. We explore the story behind this exceptional horse.

Three breeders and eighty years of history

The foundations of this dam line were laid by the Dutch breeder Wim van Dam, who began with K. Torette, a mare born in 1946. Her grandson Grandioso (by Apalatin), born in 1965, gave Dutch rider Johan Heins his first Grand Prix victory in 1973. Another well-known stallion Van Dam bred from this family was Damiro B (by Ramiro), who competed at the highest level with Wout-Jan van der Schans.

Wim van Dam passed away in 2020 at the age of ninety-one. His daughter Ilze van Dam continues his life’s work. Reflecting on Enjeu de Grisien’s success, she says: “I hadn’t realised that this horse traced back to Vidorette. Whenever something like this happens, I always think: ‘Without our breeding programme, this horse would never have existed.’ So it is always wonderful to see. We sold Vidorette, who was in foal to Ramiro, to Aart Alberts. My father was ahead of his time in his approach to breeding. Our stables were full of Almé offspring, and nobody knew at that point how good they would become. Vidorette was a daughter of Almé, and it later became clear that she combined well with Ramiro.”

Vidorette’s sale to Aart Alberts marked the beginning of a new chapter for the dam line. Her daughter Bambola, by Ramiro, was born in 1983. She was the first of six generations that Aart Alberts would breed within Enjeu de Grisien’s maternal family.

Aart Alberts

Bambola (Ramiro x Almé), the dam of Jumpy des Fontaines, was the mare closest to Aart Albert’s heart and the one around whom his entire breeding programme was built. She was the foal Vidorette was carrying when Aart bought her from Wim van Dam.

Aart Alberts therefore bred six generations within Enjeu de Grisien’s dam line, including his dam, Nobless des Fontaines. Sadly, he passed away last year and did not live to see Enjeu de Grisien’s success. To learn more about his vision, it was important to speak to Gertjan van Olst and Bregje Weijkamp. This line has produced several top horses. Among them were Jumpy des Fontaines (Jus de Pomme x Ramiro), developed and competed by Patrice Delaveau and Dutch rider Harrie Smolders before taking part in the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong with China’s Li Zhenqiang; Oscar des Fontaines (Lando x Mr. Blue), who, after competing up to CSI5* level with Pénélope Leprevost and winning the Sires of the World Grand Prix in Lanaken, continued competing under Slovak colours until the age of twenty; and Jus des Fontaines (Jus de Pomme x Galoubet A), who competed up to CSI5*-W level with Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat.

The complete picture in breeding

Gertjan van Olst, the Dutch stallion owner and sport horse dealer, gained first-hand insight into Aart Alberts’ breeding programme through Jumpy des Fontaines (by Jus de Pomme out of Bambola by Ramiro). He already knew Alberts from his visits to France and meetings at gradings, but Jumpy des Fontaines was the first horse they worked with together. The stallion came to Van Olst at a young age and developed into a striking individual. “I think I got him as a foal. He grew into a beautiful, big, imposing stallion. He was a very complete horse to look at, a real stallion.”

His jumping ability also made an impression early on. Van Olst saw a horse with exceptional scope who primarily needed time to develop. “As a four-year-old, you could, figuratively speaking, already ride him at a 1.60m vertical. He could jump anything. But he was a big horse who needed to gain experience. I wanted to give him that time.”

His training therefore focused on a gradual progression and gaining mileage in the ring. “As a four- and five-year-old, and I think as a six-year-old too, we simply let him jump rounds. Invest first and reap the rewards later.” Jumpy des Fontaines eventually continued his career in France. Van Olst respected Alberts’ wish to have the stallion available for breeding there and sold him his share. Jumpy des Fontaines later reached the highest level and competed at the Olympic Games.

Van Olst’s appreciation is still evident when he speaks about him. “He was an exceptionally beautiful horse, with tremendous scope.” The combination of Ramiro and Almé in the dam line also particularly appealed to him.

Van Olst recognises that same complete picture in Alberts’ approach to breeding. He weighed up several qualities when making his choices. “I think he took a fairly broad view. He liked a beautiful horse, but he also looked at performance. For example, he bred quite a lot of mares to Lando. That was a beautiful horse who had also performed well.”

Alberts considered not only a horse’s presence and sporting achievements but also its pedigree. Jus de Pomme’s family and Wim van Dam’s dam line provided a strong foundation. “Jus de Pomme’s family and the horses Van Dam’s line has produced are impressive. Wim van Dam’s family was well known, of course. Aart built on that foundation and developed it further.”

According to Van Olst, Alberts was looking for a combination of qualities that complemented one another: an attractive, well-built horse with performance and a strong family behind it. “He looked at the background, wanted the horses to perform themselves and wanted them to be well put together. And he liked a beautiful horse too. For him, it was about the complete picture.”

Nobless des Fontaines

While the three-year-old Jumpy des Fontaines was with Gertjan van Olst, Aart Alberts chose another stallion standing at the same station: Andiamo. He bred his mare Koriano des Fontaines, a daughter of Jalienny AA, to him. In doing so, he built on the Anglo-Arabian blood in the dam line and added qualities that Van Olst still remembers clearly. “Andiamo brought fantastic jumping ability and a great deal of carefulness,” he says. “The sharpness that Jumpy des Fontaines might have benefited from a little more of, Andiamo had in abundance. Speed, blood and quality: that was Andiamo.”

This combination produced Nobless des Fontaines in 2001, the future dam of Enjeu de Grisien. The mare bred by Alberts reached Clémentine Wacquiez and her former husband, who would go on to breed Enjeu together, by an unexpected route.

“The story of Nobless des Fontaines is quite funny,” Clémentine recalls. “She was born at Aart Alberts’ stud and grew up in Normandy. Then she went to a riding school in Île-de-France, twenty kilometres from our stud. There, she sustained a tendon injury and ended up among a group of horses being sold by a dealer in southern France. That is where a friend of my former husband found her. We bought her there as a broodmare.”

Her jumping ability made a strong impression. “Nobless des Fontaines jumped incredibly well. When we put up a 1.20m or 1.30m fence in the lunging ring, it looked as though we had built 1.60m. Everyone stopped talking when she jumped.”

Yet, according to Clémentine, the mare also needed something: more power and scope. With that in mind, she and her former husband chose Toulon in 2013. “He may not be known for producing the easiest offspring, but he is a stallion who can improve a great deal. We were looking for scope, and that is what he brought.”

The result was Enjeu de Grisien, who already stood out as a young horse for his conformation, balance and movement. “Physically, he was perfect. You can see it in the photographs: even then, he was so well put together, had balance and everything he needed. He moved fantastically, had a remarkably ground-covering canter and flew over poles on the ground as though it were nothing.”

Next Major for both Ben Maher and Enjeu de Grisien will be CHI Geneva, were they will compete as the live contenders.