Bitless!

I have to say I’m not ready yet to go galloping off on a racehorse with a bitless bridle just yet, but William Micklem did inspire me to take a (calm!) test ride with one a couple of weeks ago.

I’m still a fan of a simple snaffle to do what we need to do, but I can see why this might be an option for a horse with a sore mouth or a tooth issue.

Have a look and tell me what you think!

Read more about William MICKLEM at his website: https://www.williammicklem.com/home.html

Thanks for watching! Please subscribe 👍

Something new under the sun?

There is no end to the messing around people have tried to do with horseshoes, always trying to come up with something nobody’s though of yet that helps improve absorbing shock and improving foot comfort. Most of these efforts don’t amount to much, mostly because horses have been galloping around on their feet forever and anything we try to do just seems to screw things up.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not a barefoot advocate by any means, but we do need to be very careful when choosing shoes for our athletes. So I was quite skeptical when all of England seemed abuzz about the new Equishox shoe, a rubber-coated aluminum racing plate.

My first impression was a big “no,” because it appeared to me that the tread on the shoe would stop the natural slide of the foot, which is necessary to avoid injuries. Nothing is worse for horses’ legs than toe-grabs or crampons, and neither of those things are allowed in racing in France, thankfully. But my ears perked up when the inventors claimed these shoes could minimize injuries in horses who tend to knock into their own legs galloping.

We have a specialist at that, so I decided the shoe might be worth a try. So we are trying them. Jury’s out, but this could be interesting!

Jack O’Boy wins again!

Jack O’Boy(Anodin) comes up with the goods at Longchamp – again! Drawn in gate 15, he did what he does: Ran the race he wanted to run. They went off a little too quick for him, so he relaxed an waited for a chance in the stretch. He was second the last two times over this same course, so it’s nice to see him get the win today. Thank you to his owners, our team, and our farrier, who has done wonders for this horse!

It was a good day at the office

Today in Compiegne we came away with excellent results. Six-year-old Crisalsa showed that he could still do it taking the win in his mile handicap for horses four-years-old and older.

Running on holding turf, the gelding came out on top of the 14 runner field. Stephane Pasquier, his long-time jockey came out ahead of the field in the stretch perfectly.

Cruella de Vil was not to be out done, as she came second in her race, The five-year-old mare handled all but one of the field of 18 runners in this mile handicap.

Although he didn’t take a check this day, Ak Ishan(Recorder) continued to show his improvement finishing sixth in his mile-and-a-half handicap for four-year-old horses. We’re looking for good things from him this year.

First winner of the year is Magic!

It’s Magic (Morandi) bested a 15-runner field handicap in Chantilly to win his comeback race after a winter break from a grueling 2022 schedule. This marks his first win on his 20th career start, his 16th start for our yard.

Jockey Pierre Bazire gave Magic a perfect ride in the 1900 meter race on the synthetic track. The gate position of 14 was one of the worst in the race, but Magic broke well and was quickly out in front. Pierre then settled him behind the front runners, one off of the rail, in a perfect position in the peloton.

In the home stretch, Pierre moved to an opening on the rail and with 150 meters left took the lead, fighting off a late challenge by Salies to win by a half a length.

The scene of the crime

Quiet Zain returned to ParisLongchamp where he slipped and fell and injured himself in September 2018. He was scratched from the Quinte handicap that day. Those injuries kept him out of racing for more than a month. During the months that followed, he showed his early 2018 form only once, in Cagnes-sur-Mer.

Today was his second visit back to Longchamp since that fateful day. In May, he ran in a second division handicap here, only to place third as the top-weighted horse. This time, however, everything lined up perfectly in the first division, the Quinte. He had the same jockey as the previous outing, but a lower weight at 55 kg and a good draw in the 15 horse field (there was one non-runner).

With all that in place, Mickael Barzalona took him straight out of his number 9 gate position, and watched things unfold ahead of him. We thought that maybe he may have been too far back in the pack, but Barza didn’t. In the false stretch run at Longchamp, most horses take a breath. The riskier move is to make a break for it. Mickael did just that. He knew that his horse had what it takes to go to the end. Once in the stretch, he took a convincing lead and never looked back.

Prix Palais du Tokyo Quinte Handicap at ParisLongchamp.

The View number 14: Milestones

We’ve had a great occasion to celebrate this week as Jack O’ Boy won his second handicap in a row, and in so doing pushed my career earnings as a trainer over the three-million-euro mark. This is my thirteen year as a public trainer, and I’m determined to make this the yard’s lucky number.


From the left: Glorious Emaraty with his owners after his win in Cagnes-sur-Mer; the familiar company of Mickael Forest wearing the silks of Bryan Gusdal (Posing for a win by Ray of Hope) and members of High Street Racing at enjoying a day at Longchamp.


We’re settling in well to the fantastic facilities in Chantilly, and we have a top-class team that includes two former jockeys and one active jockey. The quality of the riders and the rest of the staff is really starting to show through in the horses and we are looking forward to a very exciting year. We are putting in grass paddocks for summer turnout, and other facilities are being added.

The only thing we’re missing is the ability to throw a huge party to officially open our stable, which is obviously on hold because of Covid. Luckily racing wasn’t canceled this year so we’re able to continue to work. Hopefully with vaccinations rolling out (a process that has been painfully slow in France, but we live in hope), we can soon start to see each other again.

Me and my entire team extend a huge thank you to our owners, past and present. We could not have built this business without every one of you. Nothing makes us happier than putting all of you in the winner’s circle!

JACK THE STAR!

Owner Susanne Born bought Jack O’ Boy when he finished 2nd in a claimer in Cagnes sur Mer. He’s a small horse but nicely bred, with two black-type brothers, so while he didn’t have a stellar form so far, he seemed worth the risk. He clearly enjoyed the change from the huge yard of Henri-Alex Pantall to a small stable with plenty of attention. We also decided pretty quickly that his best distance might be shorter than the 2000 meters he was currently running, and that fibersand might not be his preference.

Jack O'Boy
Jack O’Boy

When we switched to 1600 meters on the turf at St. Cloud, he rewarded us with an easy win at odds of 70-1! Those odds dropped to 9-1 on his outing on Friday in Compiegne, but no matter, Jack won anyway. We’ll be taking a hit in the handicap ratings for those back-to-back performances, but we’ll see how far Jack can go before we have to worry about that. He’s come out of his race well and we’ll see where he takes us next.

A CAGNES MEETING UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Cagnes sur Mer this year was certainly a different experience than we’re used to, with no public allowed on the track and even owners restricted to one per horse. Despite that, though, the sun was still shining and our horses were in form.

We left Cagnes with two wins and 26 places for just under 100,000 euros in earnings. Most of our new team had never done the meeting before, and I can tell you they’re all counting the days already until next year!

Quiet Zain was the star of the meeting, with a win and two seconds for his three starts there. We’ve always been lucky enough to have one or two horses that absolutely love this track and keep coming up with the goods year after year. He’s one of them. Four of his five wins have been in Cagnes.

My Sweet Boy finally got his nose in front, too; unfortunately, so did a competitor and we had to settle for a dead heat victory. Next time he won’t share!

LOOKING AHEAD

March and April are always challenging months for us, because we have the after-Cagnes lull when those horses who worked hard leading up to and through the meeting need a break, and we’re still bringing on the horses for the summer.

Obviously, the next meeting in our sights is Vichy, which is set for mid-July, and this year we hope to have a stronger showing this August in Deauville than we’ve had in previous years.

France Galop has raised the owners’ premiums for two-year-olds to 70 percent this year, and those premiums will carry over to the three-year-old season for these horses. We are working on putting together some partnerships on two-year-olds to take advantage of these premiums, so if you’d like to be involved, please let us know!

STATUS REPORT

Here’s where our current string are in their training and plans:

Actively racing:

  • El Viso
  • Folle Passion
  • Junvieve
  • Jack O’Boy
  • Lover Mimi

Coming off layoffs and racing soon:

  • Nile Paris
  • Aborigene
  • King Siyouni

Unraced three-year-olds in training:

  • Addiction
  • Loup Royans
  • Francoise

On vacation at Horsefield Aquacenter and Spa:

  • My Sweet Boy
  • Quiet Zain
  • Space Ace
  • L’Aida
  • Gratiane
  • Lightning War

In foal (we hope!) and returning to race soon:

  • Pantomime

Prix de la Place Wagram

MISTER MARIO (Kheleyf out of a Country Reel mare) took third place in the 2000 meter (11/4 mile) Prix de la Place Wagram handicap on the good going in St Cloud July 13, 2020. Jockey Coralie PACAUT managed the far outside draw to ensure the place for owner Marie-Carmel NAIM.