Esmet Ali: A Rebuttal
I am writing in response to Edouard’s article on Esmet Ali. I have photos of him as a foal at his mother’s side, as well as documents about his debut at the Tunisian racetrack of Kasr Said. I can garantee you this is the same horse as the later Esmet Ali. All you have to do is take a look at his rather uncommon blaze, the shape of his leg stockings, and his relatively plainer head, which he already had from early on, etc.
All the archives I am attaching below were graciously given to me by his breeder and one-time owner Mrs. Chantal De Moussac, who was at the time (mid to late 1950s) the “right arm” of Admiral Cordonnier. Esmet Ali was Cordonnier’s pride.
This lady, Mrs. De Moussac was the owner of Esmet Ali’s dam Ambria (by Nasr, Original Arab), which she had bought from Tunisia’s government stud of Sidi Thabet as a foal; of Ambria’s daughter Arabelle, and of Salome (by Bango, Original Arab), bought from Algeria’s government stud of Tiaret as a foal. She had to leave Tunisia well before Admiral Cordonnier, so she gave him her mares. Mrs. De Moussac has witnessed the birth and raising of several of Tunisia’s great stallions such as Oramino (Masbout Or. Ar x Ramie by El Managhi Or. Ar.); Aissaoui (Beyrouth x Cherbia by Nasr Or. Ar.); David (Hazil x Salome by Bango Or. Ar.) and Ras (Kriss II x Ambria by Nasr Or. Ar.), etc…
Below are some of the documents I have about Esmet Ali (copyright Adrien Deblaise, 2010):
First: a photo of Esmet Ali’s dam Arabelle:
Second: Esmet Ali as a foal, by his dam:
Third: Esmet Ali as a foal, on his own:
Fourth: Esmet Ali winning a race, notice the blaze:
Fifth: Newspaper article about Esmet Ali winning a major race, ridden by jockey Wojtowiez:
Sixth: Another article about the same race on May 12, 1958, with his photo at the bottom:
Lebanese link with Esmet Ali
Esmet Ali’s Jockey Wojtowiejz was the first mount of the famous “de Freige” stables of the Marquis Moussa de Freige (Edouard’s father great friend) from 1962 to 1974.
His was known in Lebanon as “Roger”
Is Roger still alive? Maybe you can interview him and he can tell us about this horse and others?
In regards to Chantal de Moussac, please find herewith inclosed, her philosophy of breeding and some tunisian horses. http://www.etalon-arabe.com/retrempe/
I am now fully convinced this is one and the same horse. The peculiar white markings are so clear.
That is a very interesting web site. (www.etalon-arabe.com/) Appreciate you sharing…
Where can one find an extended pedigree for the horse above? He is very racy looking. Built like a greyhound to my eyes! He could breed my mares! :~)
try this Robin:
http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/esmet+ali
Unfortunately Roger passed away, while at the service of the late Mahmud Fustock,brother in law of King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia,whose father Mohamed owned the very famous Iraqi horse “Hisham”.
I would be very interested to see if anyone has any pictures or names of Esmet Ali’s offspring. I owned one of his grandsons by the name of Kalef (1979), whose sire was Oubied and dam Ifrane and both were by Estmet Ali. Would be happy to talk to anyone with more information. Thanks for sharing these pictures, happy to see Khalef’s grandsire. Would love to see his parents.
Slt
Est ce que vous avez des photos pour les chevaux arabe en Tunisie a l’époque ???
Merci d’avance