François Louis Jules Dupré (; 3 December 1888 – 26 June 1966) was a French,

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a re ...

ier, art collector, and owner of the

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a list of horse breeds, horse breed developed for Thoroughbred racing, horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thorough ...

horse breeding Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given Horse breed, breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired chara ...

and

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

farm, Haras d'Ouilly in Pont-d'Ouilly. He was a grandson of the painter

Jules Dupré Jules Louis Dupré (; April 5, 1811 – October 6, 1889) was a French painter, one of the chief members of the Barbizon school of landscape painters. If Corot stands for the lyric and Rousseau for the epic aspect of the poetry of nature, Dupré ...

. Dupré served in the

French Army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. 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 Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, the prestigious Hotel George V, Paris and the Hotel Plaza Athenée. In addition, in 1947, Dupré acquired the Hotel Ritz in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, 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.

Thoroughbred horse racing

Dupré was friends with Duke Louis Decazes, a

racehorse enthusiast who owned the Haras d'Ouilly

stud Stud may refer to: Animals * Stud (animal), an animal retained for breeding ** Stud farm, a property where livestock are bred Arts and entertainment * Stud (band), a British progressive rock group * The Stud (bar), a gay bar in San Francisco * ...

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 The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe () is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris over a distance ...

in 1950 and '51, and in 1963

Relko Relko (1960–1982) was a French Thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse and sire (horse), sire. In a racing career which lasted from 1962 until 1964 he ran thirteen times and won nine races. His most notable win came in the 1963 Epsom Derby, De ...

won The Derby.

Major horse races won

Races in France: *

** Tantième * Prix de l'Abbaye de Longchamp **Texana (1957) **Fortino (1962) **Texanita (1963 & 1964) * Grand Prix de Paris **Danseur (1966) *

Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to thoroughbreds aged four years or older. It is run at Saint-Cloud over a distance of 2,400 metres (about 1½ miles), and it is ...

** Match (1962) *

Poule d'Essai des Pouliches The Poule d'Essai des Pouliches is a Group 1 flat horse race in France open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run over a distance of 1,600 metres (about 1 mile) ...

**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 Molof (Ampas, Poule, Powle-Ma) is a poorly documented Papuan languages, Papuan language spoken by about 200 people in :id:Molof, Senggi, Keerom, Molof village, Senggi District, Keerom Regency. Classification Stephen Wurm, Wurm (1975) placed it a ...

(1963) * Prix du Jockey Club ** Reliance (1965) ** Rheffic (1971) raced by Madame Dupré * Prix Noailles ** Tanerko (1956) **

Match A match is a tool for starting a fire. Typically, matches are made of small wooden sticks or stiff paper. One end is coated with a material that can be ignited by friction generated by striking the match against a suitable surface. Wooden matc ...

(1961) * Prix Royal-Oak ** Match (1961) Races in England: * 1,000 Guineas (

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

) ** Bella Paola (1968) raced by Madame Dupré *

Epsom Derby The Derby Stakes, more commonly known as the Derby and sometimes referred to as the Epsom Derby, is a Group races, Group 1 flat Horse racing, horse race in England open to three-year-old Colt (horse), colts and Filly, fillies. It is run at Ep ...

(1963) * Coronation Cup **

(1964) * King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes ** Match (1962) Races in the United States: * Washington, D.C. International Stakes ** Match (1962)

Death

François Dupré died in 1966 at his estate in

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. His widow Anna ran the racing operation until 1977 when she sold the entire bloodstock for £1.3 million to the

Aga Khan IV Prince Karim al-Husseini (13 December 1936 – 4 February 2025), known as the Aga Khan IV, was the 49th Imamah, imam of Imamate in Nizari doctrine, Nizari Isma'ilism from 1957 until his death in 2025. He inherited the Imamate in Nizari doctrine ...

. The Dupré's famous colors of gray with a pink cap were taken over by

Jean-Luc Lagardère Jean-Luc Lagardère (; 10 February 1928 – 14 March 2003) was a major French businessman, CEO of the Lagardère Group, one of the largest French conglomerates. Career Jean-Luc Lagardère was a '' Supélec'' engineer. He began his career in ...

who would buy Haras d'Ouilly in 1981.

References

Pont-d'Ouilly municipal website with the history of Haras d'Ouilly

''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. 23 November 1962. About Dupré winning the Washington D.C. International. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupre 1888 births 1966 deaths Businesspeople from Paris French military personnel of World War I French hoteliers French racehorse owners and breeders Owners of Epsom Derby winners Art collectors from Paris Owners of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners