 He was auctioned as a weanling at November's Keeneland Sales to Tim Rogers, a horseman from Ireland, who then put him up for sale at Newmarket in England.There, renowned French trainer and breeder Alec Head purchased him on behalf of Madame Germaine Wertheimer, widow of the prominent French horseman and owner of the famous House of Chanel, Pierre Wertheimer.Germaine Wertheimer gave Lyphard his name in honor of the Ukrainian-born French ballet dancer and choreographer Serge Lifar.