THIS year was another successful year for the French racing industry, though perhaps not as successful on the track as the early part of the campaign had suggested it might be.
And, much like in so many of Europe’s other racing nations, the storm clouds are gathering, with the country’s turbulent political situation meaning that a prolonged period of prosperity and stability may be about to come to a close.
Analysis of the uncertain future of President Emmanuel Macron and the potential repercussions of his likely demise is way above my pay grade, but the one-day shutdown of both our sport and trotting to coincide with a central Paris demonstration by 10,000 racing professionals on November 7th may be sign of the things to come.
Initial government plans to impose a swingeing increase in betting tax have been dropped but this is no time to breathe easy, as that crushing blow may simply have been given a stay of execution.
Group 1 prizes
On the racecourse things were much simpler. Much like in 2023, France’s flat trainers started the season like a house on fire, safely defending 10 of their first 11 Group 1 prizes. The rest of the year was nowhere near as fruitful, and the final score in top level races was France 15, Ireland (or, more specifically, the O’Brien family) six and Britain six.
And, this time, there was no Ace Impact to leave everyone in awe and exclaiming ‘magnifique’ with his Prix de l’Arc de Tripmphe heroics.
Indeed, the Arc itself was something of a disappointment, more notable for its absentees rather than the quality of its participants and soon losing some of its lustre as its third, fifth and sixth were all defeated in lesser company a few weeks later.
No disrespect to its winner, Bluestocking, but the best horse involved was quite possibly the Japanese challenger, Shin Emperor, later a fine second in a high-class renewal of the Japan Cup, but palpably ill-at-ease on Longchamp’s soft ground when beating just three home in the Parisian showpiece.
Shock news
The year began with the shock news that two of the best older horses in the land, Blue Rose Cen and Big Rock, had been moved by owner Leopoldo Fernandez Pujals, to the Chantilly yard of the little-known Italian expat, Maurizio Guarnieri.
It proved to be a calamitous error, the pair between them managing zero top two finishes in eight starts while their former handler, young Christopher Head, continued to excel himself through the exploits of Ramatuelle, Ramadan and Topgear.
Instead, it was the Irish-bred Siyouni mare Mqse de Sevigne who was to prove herself the unofficial Horse Of The Year, plundering three straight Group 1s before she unsurprisingly failed to see out the mile and half of the Arc.
Among the three-year-olds, another Irish-bred female, the Sea The Stars progeny Aventure, was the pick of the bunch, finishing a close fourth over an inadequate trip in the Prix de Diane before chasing home Bluestocking in both the Prix Vermeille and the Arc.
Of the colts, Look De Vega prompted comparisons with Ace Impact when landing the Prix du Jockey Club in superb style but singularly failed to deliver on that promise in two subsequent appearances before being rushed off to Ballylinch Stud after just five lifetime starts.
Irish juveniles dominate
ONE department in which the domestic contingent continues to struggle is the juvenile division.
France’s five Group 1s for juniors witnessed four Irish victories (three for Aidan O’Brien and one for his son, Joseph), plus a baffling result in the Prix Marcel Boussac where the Francis Graffard-trained rank outsider, the Mehmas filly Vertical Blue, nosed out her supposedly invincible stablemate, Zarigana, with an unheralded member of the Ballydoyle battalion, Exactly, close behind in third.
Vertical Blue was to change hands for an eye-watering €4 million two months later but will remain in the Graffard yard next term.
Jump racing
In jump racing, the identity of the two top horses in the land brooked little argument.
The best chaser was Gran Diose, much the best offspring of his now British-based sire, Planteur, who backed up his thrilling Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris triumph in May with a much more clearcut victory in the Prix La Haye Jousselin in November, while the top hurdler was Losange Bleu, who broke through at Grade 1 level in late 2023 and went on to assert his dominance with a defeat of the Irish folk hero Hewick in the Grand Course de Haies d’Auteuil before following up in the Grand Prix d’Automne at the end of the season.
Carberry success
The achievements of Gran Diose were further proof of the training talents of Philp Carberry, part of the renowned Co Meath family of jockeys, and his British-born wife, Louisa.
The couple are only responsible for a small string at their base in Senonnes, in the rural west of France, but have enjoyed some spectacular results, having also completed the Grand Steep’/Jousselin double with Docteur du Ballon just four years ago.
AFTER a couple of years playing second fiddle to Jean-Claude Rouget, André Fabre returned to the head of the French Flat Trainers’ Championship table by a margin of well over €1 million to secure the title for a remarkable 32nd occasion at the age of 79.
Rouget struggled with his health and was largely absent from the track.
His wellbeing will not have been improved by the news that an intended partnership with the string of Jerome Reynier had been scuppered by the small print of French employment law.
Fabre’s season was built on the back of the superb campaigns of both Mqse de Sevigne and the three-year-old Sea The Stars colt, Sosie, who comfortably eclipsed his older stable companion in terms of earnings by backing up his Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel victories with a third in the Jockey Club and fourth in the Arc.
Fabre’s other top level scorer was Tribalist, who got loose on the lead to such an extent in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin that even Charyn couldn’t peg him back, while the Camelot colt Sevenna’s Knight enjoyed a hectic and lucrative season, winning three pattern events before finishing one place behind Sosie in the Arc.
Jump champions
Switching to jump racing, the six-year reign of Francois Nicolle came to an end as Arnaud Chaille-Chaille marked his recent 60th birthday by landing the Trainers’ Championship for the second time, fully 17 years on from his previous triumph.
He did so thank to an incredible autumn, when he enjoyed 13 graded or listed wins in a 10-week period, the majority with horses aged four or younger, pointing to his excellent prospects for defending his crown.
The other amazing thing about Chaille-Chaille’s year was that he did it without the help of his five-time Grade 1-winning hurdler, Theleme, who was on the sidelines with a fetlock injury, while his best horse over bigger obstacles, Grandeur Nature, did not win a graded race, though he did finish runner-up to Gran Diose in the two biggest chases on the calendar.
Nicolle’s loss of the title owed much to pure numbers – he had his name against a frankly absurd 303 different individual runners in 2020 but will have sent out well under two thirds of that number from his Royan yard by the end of the year.
Cravache d’Or
Riding-wise, there was a great finish to the battle for the Cravache d’Or (Golden Whip), awarded to the top flat jockey, with Maxime Guyon holding off a spirited challenge from Mickael Barzalona by a mere three wins, 192-189, to claim top dog status for the fourth time and the third in succession.
In jumping circles, a November shoulder injury for Clement Lefebvre looked like it might cost him a well-merited first Jockeys’ Championship, having already finished runner-up on no less than four occasions.
But he recovered quickly and holds a big enough lead that Lucas Zuliani, whose older brother Angelo was champion in 2020, seems likely to have to settle for a career best second place.
