ON Monday, France became the second major European country after Germany to resume racing behind closed doors. For Georges Rimaud, the manager of the French studs for HH Aga Khan, the return of the sport that has played a pivotal role in his life since he graduated from the Irish National Stud Thoroughbred Breeding course in 1980, couldn’t have come soon enough.

“With no racing our horses have no value,” he said from his home at Haras de Bonneval in Normandy, where he has been looking after the breeding interests of HH Aga Khan, one of racing’s most enthusiastic and supportive stakeholders, for the last 20 years. “Racing is where it all starts, where the money comes from. At least in France. Horses need to win races and not just that, they must win valuable races so that they in turn can be valued. If there is no racing, then why breed?

“The current breeding season is in full swing, mares are getting covered, and foals are being born. In fact, it has pretty much been business as usual, but the next question is what are we breeding for? Thankfully, racing has now resumed in France and while we can’t expect things to go back to normal immediately, there is some cautious optimism in the air. Hopefully the other countries will be able to follow suit shortly.”

A Grenoble native, Rimaud was not born into a racing family, but he was quickly drawn into the thoroughbred breeding industry and learnt his trade not just in Europe, but also in Australia and then in America where he was based for 11 years. Yet despite being accompanied on his travels by his Irish-born wife Alison, the daughter of Jim Marsh who had managed the Curragh and held the position of Stipendiary Steward in Hong Kong, his accent is undeniably British.

“I don’t think I spent enough time in Ireland, and nor in fact has Alison” he laughs. “After deciding that I wanted to be involved in horses, I actually went to England first where I worked in some hunting yards and on some other farms. And even though I later then worked in America, where I spent time at Spendthrift Farm in Kentucky and Audley Farm in Virginia, I guess I somehow must have kept the accent from the time when I first learnt English.”

Aga Khan Studs

It was in 1991 that Rimaud returned to France to take up the position as stud manager at Haras d’Etreham, where he remained for nine years before joining the Aga Khan Studs in 2000. Working in the thoroughbred breeding industry has been extremely rewarding and he cites the 2009 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend as one of the highlights of his career, when HH Aga Khan-owned horses, including Siyouni, the hugely successful Bonneval sire, lifted an incredible five Group 1 races over the course of the two days.

“Racing is a great sport,” he continues. “And even though we are currently in a crisis the likes of which our world has not seen before, we must take advantage from the fact that we are the only game in town right now. It goes without saying that the health of our industry goes hand in hand with the health of the general economy.

“Some countries will be affected more than others, and we will have to change things in the future when this is all over. Right now, though, we must come together and support each other. The racing organisation in France has not always escaped criticism, but in this instance it has done a good job.

“The French racing industry relies on the revenues generated by betting on the PMU, and it was vital for the industry to be pragmatic and to make quick decisions. I know Olivier Delloye, the general manager of France Galop, and I know he and his team will have worked day and night.”

Before taking up his position as the head of France Galop, Olivier Delloye had been the managing director of the French sales company Arqana, which is chaired by Georges Rimaud.

In an example of solidarity in this global health crisis, Arqana has joined forces with Goffs UK to stage a combined breeze-up sale at Goffs’ Kildare Paddocks on June 29th and 30th, a date which will obviously depend on the resumption of racing and lockdown measures in the countries concerned.

HH Aga Khan pictured at the opening of the Curragh Racecourse and The Aga Khan Stand by Taoiseach Leo Varadakar \ Healy Racing

Mutual partnership

The idea of forming a partnership was apparently mutual, as Rimaud explains: “It was a joint initiative; I think it really was a case of both picking up the telephone at the same time with the same idea. Obviously, it will not be without challenges, but there is a real will to serve the breeders of our industry, the pinhookers who have bought yearlings and need to sell them, and everyone else who is involved in the sale.

“In fact, it is the responsibility of the sales companies to work together and to work in the interest of the breeder, and not in the interest of the sales company. Fortunately, if I can use the word, a lot of the breeze-up horses were being prepared in Ireland or were based there, so it was an obvious place to have that sale in Ireland. It is a perfect example on how we can work together.”

The breeders certainly have come together in these unprecedented times and Rimaud continues: “I think breeders are a resilient bunch. Without wanting to tread on anyone’s toes, breeders are often farmers and, in fact, to be at home during the breeding season is nothing new. Most of us won’t see much of the outside world anyway, as you are confined to your stud where you spend your days foaling and then taking mares to the stallion shed. We have actually seen very little disruption.

“The authorities quickly understood that the breeding season had to continue, and while we are obviously working under a very specific health protocol, which includes social distancing, the wearing of masks and all the other sanitary rules, we have been able to move horses between France, Ireland and England without many complications. There were a few scary periods at the beginning of the lockdown in Ireland and France when people thought that’s it, we will not be able to move mares, but it hasn’t affected us much.

“Yes, we missed a couple of mares in our books coming from England and Ireland, as in the beginning people were making quick decisions, but that is it. What we are missing now though is information on when racing will resume in Ireland and how the racing programme will look like for the rest of the year.”

Prize money hit

While racing restarted in France this week, the revised French racing programme for the rest of the 2020 season has come with a sharp drop in prizemoney, particularly in pattern races, with Group 1 races hit hardest. In order to protect the prize money of the lower tier races, which include handicaps, claiming races and races restricted to on-course betting, Group 1 races have seen a reduction of 40% in prizemoney.

A necessary measure, it is nevertheless controversial and Rimaud is cautious when he says: “I think this is a subject for the future that needs to be addressed. It is important that racing continues, that it is properly financed, and the right balance of prize money is maintained, but it seems the very good horses are carrying a lot of the weight right now.

“I think in 2021, when we hopefully go back to a normal situation and that is not saying we will, for the sake of the industry, the prestige of racing and the reputation of French racing and breeding, the prize money issue will have to be discussed in earnest. Because if we are not serious about giving the right amount of prize money to the right races, in other words the pattern races that help us in the selection process, then it can hurt the whole industry very quickly. I can only repeat, this is not the time to discuss it; this is the time to get the industry going again.”

He pauses, and then adds with Gallic humour: “You know, we in France are not very well known for queuing, but we managed it and so it should be very easy for England and Ireland. In fact, when Ireland was racing behind closed doors it was very well organised; at least it looked organised on television and there is no reason why it can’t happen again. Obviously, we will have to respect the Government guidelines, and the health of the people in this world has to take precedence, but I think we have shown that we can operate race meetings safely.”

Some optimism

He insists once more: “We need to race to get people’s hopes up, to give them some optimism. As I said, we are the only game in town and we have to make the most of it. It is an opportunity to reinvent ourselves. Turnover at the PMU, which created a new app that was launched on the first day of racing, is up and we must capitalise on that.

“Sure, in the future it is more than likely that people will be poorer, that less money will be coming into the game, but if that is the case, so be it. We will just operate in a different way. We will adapt, but the main thing is that we continue operating.”

The first Group 1 races of the French season will take place on Monday, June 1st at ParisLongchamp with the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Poulains and the Emirates Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, the French 2000 and 1000 Guineas. The main trials for these races took place last Monday, the very first day of racing behind closed doors, but it was the victory of the filly Simeen in the one-mile Prix de la Pistole at Chantilly on Wednesday that has given Rimaud the boost he was looking for in these testing times. A daughter of Lope De Vega and Samadrisa, who is a half-sister to Prix de Diane winner Sarafina, the Jean-Claude Rouget trained Simeen had to come from a long way back to win this race, but her eye-catching performance did not go unnoticed and bookmaker Paddy Power immediately promoted her to second favourite at odds of 5/1 for the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches.

“This is what I mean,” Rimaud said happily. “It’s racing that we need. Racing makes you feel good and it gives us something to look forward to. Her trainer told me that he didn’t want her to have a tough race on her first start of the season, and that is why he put her in this race. She did it really well and we are obviously very happy with the result. She comes from a nice family. This is the first foal of Samadrisa who also has a two-year-old filly by Teofilo, who is in training with Francis Graffard. And now she is going to be covered by Siyouni.”

Siyouni at Haras de Bonneval \ Zuzanna Lupa

Memorable weekend

Siyouni, who was one of the five Group 1 winners on that memorable 2009 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe weekend when he captured the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère, has become the flagship stallion of the HH Aga Khan breeding operation. As always, he has a full book of mares and Rimaud says: “Racing is our world and while things are changing, we will also be able to adapt. Yes, we might have to analyse the performances of this year’s three-year-olds in a different way than before, but that should be no problem.”

And he concludes: “We have been in touch with His Highness and his daughter Zahra, who are obviously very busy with the humanitarian crisis we are facing, throughout the pandemic and they remain just as passionate about racing and breeding as they were when I started with them 20 years ago. People in racing are resilient and, together, we will get over this.”