Born 1946 by Foxlight and out of Rancune by Cavaliere d'Arpino, stood at Saint Lô from 1951-1971. He sired many successful show jumpers and stallion, the best in France being Kalmiste, Phoenix (1959), Quelqu'un (1960), Starter (1962) and Erioso (1970. Rantzau was a French-bred thoroughbred sire of international grand prix jumpers producing top international jumpers and dressage horses and 49 approved sons. Great-grandsire Foxlaw was an outstanding stayer, winner of the Ascot Gold Cup and Newmarket Jockey Club Stakes; grandsire Foxhunter also won the Ascot Gold Cup.
Rantzau came to Saint-Lô in 1952. For many years he suffered from the reputation that he produced difficult offspring, resulting in relatively few mares being covered by him. However, if properly handled, his sons and daughters were excellent jumpers, and by the late 1960s the better riders on the competition circuit were keen on his blood.
In 1971 the well-known Holsteiner breeder Maas Hell discovered one of Rantzau's sons in a field in Normandy, and bought him as a sire prospect for his native Holstein. This raw three-year-old happened to be Cor de la Bryère (1968), one of the most important sources of show jumping blood in the world today. In France, Rantzau's name lives on mainly through a number of his daughters, but also through his Anglo-Norman son Starter (1962). His most famous son, Cor de la Bryére (1968), was exported to Germany to become one of the Holstein's most important sires of modern times.
