SIRE LINE–LATIF DB A FRENCH-RUSSIAN DYNASTY
In 1909, a commission from France traveled to Egypt and purchased 24 desertbred Arabian stallions at the racetrack in Alexandria. 17 of these stallions were sent to the French-run stud farms in Algeria; the remaining seven were taken to France and used in the state studs.
One of those seven horses was the bay stallion Latif, bred by the Fedaan Anazeh from two Hamdani Simri parents. He was the only stallion of the 1909 importation to establish a hugely successful sire line that is still going strong today.
Latif also had an early significance for Arabian breeding in the U.S. through his daughter *Kola (x Destinee). After having produced several Anglo-Arabian foals in France, *Kola was imported to the U.S. in 1922 by W. R. Brown and became an important foundation mare for his Maynesboro Stud. She is still found in modern pedigrees through her son Kolastra and several daughters.
The only photo we have of Latif shows a stallion that does not look very typey, with a long, but heavy and underslung neck, a big shoulder, a slightly dipped back, a long, sloping croup, and straight hocks. Some of these features still characterize French racing Arabians today.
Latif’s sire line was established by his 1921 son Denouste (x Djaima). There seems to be some uncertainty if his name is Denouste, Dénouste or Denousté, as it varies according to different sources; but whichever way you pronounce him, he was arguably the most influential sire in French Arabian breeding.
Denouste was a chestnut like his dam Djaima, from whom he inherited more than just the color. Thanks to her, he had a better neck – Denouste’s neck was as long as his sire’s, but less heavy – but she may also have been at least partly responsible for his rather plain head. Djaima’s head appears to have been very plain indeed, even slightly Roman-nosed, which was not all that unusual in those days. Latif was no beauty himself, so it would have been
