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Remember Ben with a gift to Thoroughbred aftercare Subscribe for FREE to the Daily PDF or the News Alerts Home » Archive » Shared News Europe » Dabirsim And Shamalgan To Sell At Arqana December Stallions Dabirsim (Fr) and Shamalgan (Fr) will be sold by owner-breeder Simon Springer of Ecurie Normandie Pur Sang during Arqana's December Breeding Stock Sale Springer is changing his bloodstock approach to concentrate his efforts on his other businesses Springer's representative Daniel Haeser told the JDG “The horses will go to Arqana in December Springer has bred more than 150 horses in France But he now wants to buy yearlings on the public market Breeding is a very time-consuming activity and Simon Springer lacks the time to run his professional business at the same time…His involvement in horse racing remains very strong a dual Group 1-winning juvenile by Hat Trick (Jpn) has seven stakes winners to his name and 24 black-type horses He stood at Haras de Montaigu for €4,000 this year who stood at Haras des Granges in 2024 will also be sold He was purchased for €135,000 by Springer at Arqana December in 2017 The sire of G1 Preis der Diana heroine Toskana Belle (Fr) as well as group winner Gloomy Sunday (Fr) (Singspiel {Ire}) Other Springer mares set to pass through the ring include Celesteville (Ire) (Elusive City) the dam of stakes winner Celestin (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) and black-type mares Bavaria Baby (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) and Bavaria Express (Fr) (Dabirsim {Fr}) with the latter pair followed by foals by Torquator Tasso (Ger) Not a subscriber? 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Copy Article Link Editor / News Stories:editor@thetdn.com Advertising:advertising@thetdn.com Customer Service:customerservice@thetdn.com Click Here to sign up for a free subscription High-class proven stallions Dabirsim and Shamalgan will be sold by owner-breeder Simon Springer at Arqana's Breeding Stock Sale in December told Jour de Galop: "They will be selling at Arqana in December Mr Springer has bred over 150 horses in France and had a lot of success But he now wants to buy yearlings on the public market instead "Breeding is a very time-consuming activity and he doesn't have the time to run his professional business at the same time it must be said he is at the head of a very large company His involvement in horse racing remains very strong the best two-year-old of his generation in Europe after victories in the Prix Morny and the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere as well as fellow black-type performers Not Mine an unbeaten top-class two-year-old by Hat Trick Prix Eugene Adam and Prix du Prince d'Orange as well as placing in the Prix d'Ispahan Champion Stakes and Prince of Wales's Stakes Another notable performer is Different League a winner of the Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot who placed in the Cheveley Park Stakes and Prix Morny He stood at Haras de Montaigu for €4,000 in 2024 a Group 1-winning son of Footstepsinthesand He stood at Haras des Granges for €2,000 this year The broodmares set to go under the hammer at Arqana include Tristane Other mares include Prix Lydia Tesio runner-up Moonoon; Celestville the dam of dual stakes winner Celestin; plus black-type performers Bavaria Baby and Bavaria Express the latter two with foals by Torquator Tasso 'We're always trying to get better, to improve so that each time a visitor arrives here they see something new, something different from their previous visit'  Published on 19 September 2024inNews Copyright © 2025 Spotlight Sports Group Limited or its licensors who is poised to cruise to victory in Kazakhstan’s presidential election on April 3 has resided at the pinnacle of the Central Asian nation’s political system for more than two decades But his roots stretch back to a village standing in the shadows of the snow-capped Tian Shan Mountains Nazarbayev was born in the village of Shamalgan -- reached in an hour by car from Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Although not highlighted on any tourist maps the two-story school on the main road bisecting the village hosts a modest museum dedicated to the school’s star pupil Dozens of photos document Nazarbayev’s childhood early Soviet-era political career and presidential successes One wall depicts his family tree – tracing his lineage back to ancient Central Asian royalty there was little that set Shamalgan apart from neighboring rural and relatively poor villages But Shamalgan now boasts a variety of palatial homes – some rumored to belong to the president’s brother and other members of Nazarbayev's extended clan which are ringed by 10-foot walls and monitored by closed-circuit cameras There’s no question how villagers are going to vote on April 3 Residents speak of Nazarbayev with evident pride questioning why the country would ever want anyone else to lead the former Soviet republic and the wealthiest Central Asian state he is with us,” Shamalgan resident Olya Nurmanova said Joanna Lillis is a freelance writer who specializes in Central Asia Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter. Support Eurasianet: Help keep our journalism open to all Anger over corruption and economic inequality is largely directed at Nursultan Nazarbayev and family the former Kazakhstan president who built a personality cult around his rule there are few signs of the anger that swept across the central Asian country earlier this month Visitors to the imposing three-storey building in Shamalgan are treated to a maquette of the house where the young Nazarbayev grew up a Mercedes that was part of his presidential motorcade in a glass box in the museum’s grounds and family artefacts including a suit worn by his brother View image in fullscreenA Mercedes that was part of Nursultan Nazarbayev’s motorcade in the grounds of the museum where Nazarbayev was born in 1940 and grew up in the shadows of the snow-capped Tian Shan mountains is an hour’s drive from Kazakhstan’s biggest city and at first sight not much sets Shamalgan apart from the other poor villages in the area where much of the young people have left to find work But turn a corner and there are a stretch of luxurious mansions and the other family members of a president who was in office from 1990 and 2019 and who retained influence Hi-tech cameras and security guards give the street the feel of a high-end gated community “This town is a living reminder of how his family has robbed the country,” said Erbol Murzulayev “He doesn’t even care about the place he was born How can we still trust him with the rest of the country?” View image in fullscreenErbol Murzulayev, a mechanic in Shamalgan. Photograph: Pjotr SauerThe museum opened in 2017, two years before Nazarbayev handed the presidency to his successor, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, widely seen as a move to safeguard Nazarbayev’s legacy and keep him close to power. But outside the museum’s walls, after a wave of protests, Nazarbayev’s future looks uncertain. The capital – Nur-Sultan, renamed after Nursultan Nazarbayev – may even be returned to its original Astana. the largest and deadliest in Kazakhstan’s history broke out on 2 January in the western oil city of Zhanaozen over a rise in fuel prices but quickly turned into wider unrest over corruption and economic inequality More than 200 people reportedly died and at the height of the protests the interior ministry said 10,000 people had been detained a senior aide to Kazakhstan’s prosecutor general said that 3,337 offenders were released after receiving a cautioning while over 1,000 people were currently under arrest Much of the anger was directed at Nazarbayev and his family with protesters chanting “old man out!” in reference to the 81-year-old former leader Protesters also toppled and smashed a monument to Nazarbayev in Almaty Nazarbayev disappeared from view during the unrest, only reappearing in a video address on Tuesday, in which he described himself as a “pensioner” and said Tokayev now held full power View image in fullscreenThe mayor’s office in Almaty was damaged in the protests Photograph: Gavriil Grigorov/TassAfter the protests Tokayev looked to have tightened his grip on power by arresting Nazarbayev’s key allies and voicing rare criticism of his former mentor Few places seem to encompass better the current economic grievances many Kazakhs have with the old regime than Nazarbayev’s home town. “We don’t really have a future here. Our country has been stuck in time,” said, Amina, 27, an English-language teacher at the local school in Shamalgan. Read moreShe said she did not join the protests in Almaty but was sympathetic to those that protested peacefully For a leader who has carefully developed his personality cult for decades and even the country’s capital after himself the sudden downfall most likely came as a surprise said the Central Asia specialist Alexander Cooley “Nazarbayev really started to believe in his own cult that he created That is what 30 years of isolation from the public can do to you,” Cooley said “[He] completely misjudged the mood in the country which is ironic for someone who cares so much about his public image.”Now Nazarbayev cuts an entirely different figure from the image-conscious leader and his video address will only further de-mystify him in the eyes of the Kazakh population View image in fullscreenA large banner in Aktau depicting Nazarbayev Photograph: Isa Tazhenbayev/Tass“In the video Kazakhs have never seen him like this before,” said Satpayev adding it will now be important to watch how far Tokayev is willing to go in his effort to distinguish himself from Nazarbayev a lot of negotiating and bargaining is being done between Tokayev and Nazarbayev’s group about his resources about the legacy of Nazarbayev,” Satpayev said Nazarbayev’s three sons-in-law have already stepped down from influential positions while on Wednesday Tokayev removed the rights of a private recycling monopoly linked to Nazarbayev’s daughter Aliya the very fact that Nazarbayev appeared in the video in the first place appears to hint at the route of compromise between the two men rather than a direct confrontation Tokayev will need to distance himself from Nazarbayev in order to appeal to the wider public who will be expecting tangible reforms “We might soon see our own version of the 20th Party Congress,” Satpayev said, a reference to the 1957 speech given by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denouncing Stalin’s cult of personality which sent shock waves across the Soviet Union museums like the one found in Shamalgan look like a product of a former era “It is clear his legacy left behind will not be the one Nazarbayev had in mind.” been a little stumped to know that much about Shamalgan Group 1 Preis der Diana-German Oaks winner Toskana Belle it would almost take a book to tell his story in detail and it might require being translated into a number of languages too The son of Footstepsinthesand (Giant’s Causeway) stands at Haras de Grandchamp and Toskana Belle is from his first crop conceived since he moved to that farm in Les Vignons The then 10-year-old Shamalgan had been purchased by Simon Springer at the 2017 December Sale in Deauville for just €135,000 Springer bred Toskana Belle from the Teofilo (Galileo) mare Tristane carried Springer’s colours to victory at Toulouse as a three-year-old before heading to the breeding shed where her first covering was by another stallion owned by him Dabirsim (Hat Trick) who was the European champion two-year-old in 2011 Toskana Belle is the second offspring from Tristane though she was to end up racing in France for Stall Picadilly Profft who enjoys a close connection to Springer as his racing manager He was gifted the filly who has only raced five times and she followed a promising debut at Saint-Cloud with a victory in May at Évreux Less than a fortnight later Toskana Belle was sent by trainer Marian Falk Weissmeier to Düsseldorf where she won the Listed Henkel-Stutenpreis prompting her sale to Australian Bloodstock and her move to join Andreas Wöhler a race that Wöhler had won on five occasions That dream might have been dented a little when Toskana Belle was only third in the Group 3 Diana Trial but she made amends on the day that mattered most Her new owners might attempt to add to that success in Europe but they now have a new dream – that of winning in the USA and with Toskana Belle’s two-year-old half-brother He cost William Huntingdon and Liam Norris €50,000 at the Arqana October Yearling Sale last year and it is to that sale that Simon Springer is consigning his yearling half-brother by Dabirsim where Springer has a broodmare band of more than 20 he started as the unfancied 100/1 outsider for the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas and was a fine third to Group 1 winners Lope De Vega and Dick Turpin beaten half a length and a length and a half Siyouni and Rajsaman in arrears in the 15-runner field Shamalgan started his racing career in the Czech Republic where he was to be crowned champion on a couple of occasions his connections held a high opinion of him and sent him to contest a group race in Baden-Baden returned to win the Cena Favorita Expa-Nails over a mile at home turning the tables on Ramble On who had beaten him on his second start and he was then sent to France where he completed his first season with a third-place finish in the Group 3 Prix de Conde at Longchamp Seven starts at three in France failed to yield a win but he was just beaten a neck in the Group 2 Prix Eugene Adam twice successful back in the Czech Republic before landing a big one the Group 2 Oettingen-Rennen at Baden-Baden At five Shamalgan faced the white flag eight times and was not disgraced in a number of group starts and in the care of the third of four trainers who would shape his racing career a listed race in France and the Group 1 Premio Vittorio di Capua in Milan He attempted to double up in the Group 1 Premio Roma but found one too good for him After 34 starts it was decided to try him at stud Shamalgan went to Haras du Lion at a small fee and covered a decent-sized book of 45 mares in his first season but that fell to about a quarter of that number in year two It was then decided to return him to the track at the age of nine and Shamalgan won one of his seven starts that year He went back to stand in the Czech Republic at Strelice Stud before he was sent to Arqana to be sold again This decision was taken as his first crop of two-year-old had hit the ground running later to become a local Group 3 winner in Doha and was the most prolific of the nine winners on the flat from that first crop All but two of the nine were multiple winners also Shamalgan’s first year at Haras de Grandchamp saw him cover about 75 mares but that peak has been in steep decline since the France-Galop website lists a total of 32 progeny Simon Springer has indicated that the stallion’s fee is likely to increase next year by up to 50% Well known at Arqana where he has been sold five times from six visits Shamalgan’s story has all the ingredients of a fairytale being a French-bred racing legend in the Czech Republic and whose dam is a sibling to two high-class winners in the USA Shamalgan’s daughter Toskana Belle was ridden to her classic success by the Australian Kerrin McEvoy The connection between Andreas Wöhler and Australian Bloodstock’s Luke Murrell and Jamie Lovett goes back to enjoying success in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup with Protectionist The owners have a great record in the German Oaks and this was their third win after Salomina a decade ago and Turfdonna It took the payment of a €50,000 supplementary fee to put Toskana Belle into the weekends’ classic but the outcome will have added some multiples of that to her value – and she collected €300,000 in winnings for good measure About us Contact us Advertise with us Company information Careers Privacy statement Terms of service Commenting policy Change cookies settings Rights activists warn conditions will worsen as control of prisons reverts to interior ministry Kazakstan’s decision to hand control of the penal system back to the interior ministry is a sign the authorities are taking a harder line in response to widespread prison riots They say the move is major a setback for efforts to reform Kazakstan’s penal system The change reverses a major reform carried out in 2002 when Kazakstan became the first Central Asian state to stop the interior ministry running the prisons – a legacy of the Soviet era – and assign the task instead to the ministry of justice as part of moves towards a fairer more humane system that is open to greater scrutiny Penal reform advocates argue that since the interior ministry’s primary function is to control the police force which makes arrests this conflicts with the very different role of overseeing penitentiaries especially if the aim is to rehabilitate convicts as well as punish them The change is being pushed through with unusual haste just four days after President Nursultan Nazarbaev signed a decree mandating it and is expected to be completed by mid-September The move comes in the wake of a series of prison disturbances across Kazakstan. (IWPR reported on them in New Wave of Prison Rebellions in Kazakstan.) The authorities accuse inmates of stirring up trouble to force concessions from the prisons agency Human rights activists argue that the unrest reflects the brutality of prison conditions the authorities prosecuted several warders for torture But activists say there is still much work to be done to root out systemic abuses in the penal system – and putting the police ministry back in charge is unlikely to help head of a public commission that monitors prisons in and around the city of Almaty interior ministry control the penitentiary system is mainly used in undemocratic countries” While Nazarbaev’s decree refers only to attempts to improve prison management and KUIS spokesman Galymjan Khasenov assured the public that everything was under control the recent unrest has clearly rattled the authorities.A senior official from KUIS who asked to remain anonymous told IWPR that the transfer was a direct response to the riots “At times [the situation] was getting out of control The government therefore decided to take radical measures to restore stability in the prisons The interior ministry has experience of dealing with such conflicts,” he said which includes groups like the Kazakstan Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law the Committee for Monitoring Criminal Law Reform and Human Rights and others has expressed serious concern about the changeover to interior ministry control and have urged the authorities to reconsider their decision In a statement released at an August 9 press conference the coalition said the move would not contribute either “to addressing problems in the penal system in an effective way or to ensuring the protection of basic human rights” the Central Asian head of the London-based Penal Reform International said the running of prisons had to be kept separate from policing.“Prison management needs to involve psychologists and social workers – it’s different from the work of the police,” she said acting head of the Kazakstan Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law said the government’s decision was at odds with its own penal reform agenda and also its stated policy position on consulting the public before changing the legal system everyone had been caught unawares by the presidential decree and it was unlikely Nazarbaev’s decree could be reversed The most human rights groups could aim for was to minimise the damage through a dialogue with government officials “Duties could possibly be moved around so that facilities that need to be guarded would be under interior ministry control whereas correctional work – dealing with inmates including those in temporary detention – should be assigned to a civilian institution.” The KUIS official interviewed by IWPR insisted maintaining order was paramount We don’t need to think about making things more humane for the moment.” who heads a commission monitoring prisons in North Kazakstan province jailbreaks and violence in the prisons is a crisis of management so the authorities have decided on this reorganisation Of course it’s a retrograde step; there’s nothing about making the system more humane here The authorities have decided to deal with the troublesome convicts by radical – for which read tough – methods.” Prisoners’ rights activist Vadim Kuramshin warned that the treatment of inmates was likely to deteriorate significantly “The use of torture won’t stop; on the contrary You can forget about making the penal system more humane This decision means that Kazakstan has finally become a police state.”Artur Nigmetov is a reporter for the Kazak service of RFE/RL Journalists need training and support to properly cover war crimes trials Activists warn that vulnerable domestic workers risk abuse often returning with serious health conditions sacrifice and luck secured a vital early win in the south-eastern campaign Some women face Adana's male-dominated traffic chaos for a living Recent murder highlights widespread discrimination and violence against LGBTI people Open source intelligence (OSINT) can provide facts – but impatient Tel +44 (0)20 7831 1030 Tel +1 202 393 5641 IWPR is registered as a charity in the United Kingdom (charity reg no: 2744185); in the United States as a not-for-profit organisation with tax-exempt status under IRS section 501(c)(3); and as a charitable foundation in The Netherlands The opinions expressed on iwpr.net are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Institute for War & Peace Reporting Site design by IWPR. Developed by AG Prime The first President of Kazakhstan arrived in the village of Shamalgan where he visited the historical and cultural center "Atameken" and met with the residents of the village I always remember my childhood with warmth worked hard for the sake of progress and prosperity of the state I remembered the streets of Shamalgan and the foot of our picturesque mountains And all the fatigue went on for a moment," said the First President of Kazakhstan The first President of Kazakhstan noted that thanks to the policy our country was recognized in the international arena Kazakhstan became recognizable all over the world Kazakhstanis have had the opportunity to visit various countries and receive education in the best educational institutions in the world," said Nursultan Nazarbayev Nursultan Nazarbayev also spoke about plans for further activities I believe that President Qasym-Jomart Tokayev will live up to my hopes," said the First President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev stressed that all measures taken to modernize the country are primarily aimed at supporting and developing young people - I am convinced that Kazakhstan has a bright future ahead All the conditions have been created for this Those who want to start a business are given loans We also carry out a lot of programs for the development of villages Nursultan Nazarbayev also noted that unprecedented social measures are being taken in the country this year Various programs are being implemented in the republic to improve the quality of life of citizens the First President of Kazakhstan pointed out the importance of avoiding paternalistic moods in the society should provide parents with jobs so that they can support their children," said the First President of Kazakhstan wishing the participants of the meeting success and new achievements urged everyone to work for the benefit of the Motherland Akorda.kz