François Dupré

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François Dupré (1888 - June 26, 1966) was a French, hotelier, art collector, and owner of the Thoroughbred horse breeding and racing farm, Haras d'Ouilly.

Dupré served in the French Army during World War I. Seriously wounded during battle, he was hospitalized for a considerable length of time. He went on to a career in business that saw him become the owner of two luxury hotels in Paris, the prestigious Hotel George V, Paris and the Hotel Plaza Athenée. In addition, during the 1930s Dupré would acquire the Hotel Ritz in Montreal, Canada. In 1937, while traveling by passenger liner across the Atlantic, Dupré met twenty-five-year-old Anna Stefanna Nagy who would become his second wife.

[edit] Thoroughbred horse racing

Dupré was friends with Louis Jean Decazes, a Thoroughbred racehorse enthusiast who owned the Haras d'Ouilly stud farm in Pont-d'Ouilly, Calvados. Beginning in 1921, the two partnered in several racehorses and in 1930 Dupré purchased the Haras d'Ouilly property. He became one of Europe's leading breeders and owners, winning numerous important conditions races in France and England. His horse Tantième had back-to-back wins in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1950 and '51, and in 1963 Relko won the Epsom Derby.

[edit] Major horse races won:

Races in France:

Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe
- Tantième

Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp
- Texana (1957)
- Fortino (1962)
- Texanita (1963 & 1964)

Grand Prix de Paris
- Danseur (1966)

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches
- Virgule (1954)
- Solitude (1961)
- La Sega (1962)
- Bella Paola (1968) raced by Madame Dupré
- Koblenza (1969) raced by Madame Dupré

Poule d'Essai des Poulains
- Relko (1963)

Prix Noailles
- Tanerko (1956)
- Match (1961)

Races in England:

One Thousand Guineas (Newmarket Racecourse)
- Bella Paola (1968) raced by Madame Dupré

Epsom Derby
- Relko (1963)

Coronation Cup
- Relko (1964)

François Dupré died in 1966. His widow Anna ran the racing operation until 1977 when she sold the entire bloodstock for £1.3 million to the Aga Khan IV. The Dupré's famous colors of gray with a pink cap were taken over by Jean-Luc Lagardère who would buy Haras d'Ouilly in 1981.