Category: Racing

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It was a very good year

Winners for Gina Rarick from the 2018 season.

Looking back

Time flies, and so it is the moment for a quick look back at the year that was 2018. We had 151 runners this past year, and 80 of them came home earning some money; Twelve of them won, and our total yard earnings topped 400,000 euros for the first time, finishing at 410,258. We never have more than 18 horses in training at any one time and started a total of 31 different horses. That makes those numbers something our team can be proud of. We had some sales-ring thrills this year, too, watching Ardara Belle top 200,000 euros in the Arc sale.

Looking ahead

In the 10 years that I’ve been a public trainer, the numbers have improved every year. We have every expectation that the trend will continue in 2019. We have some very interesting horses in the yard at the moment, and the search for even better performers never stops. But nothing can happen without our owners, and this is the moment to say a huge thank you for coming aboard and having the faith to stay aboard!

We are going to put every effort into making 2019 a truly spectacular year for our yard and our owners. As you all know, French racing is struggling and after next year there will be some serious questions about prize money and the situation going forward. So over the next year, let’s take all the money we can, and hope that France Galop can sort itself out so that next year when I’m writing my annual wrap, it won’t be an obituary for racing.

Heading south

We’re off to Cagnes-sur-Mer in two weeks to start the year with a bang, and after that, we have some very specific goals to reach. We need more winners and more black type next year. Stay tuned to see if we can make it happen!

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July racing update

July was a very busy month at the yard. Avenue du Monde (Champs-Elysees) ran her final race, we attended the Tattersalls Horses in Training sales in Newmarket, two new horses entered the yard from claiming races – Never Compromise (Astronomer Royal) and Surewecan (Royal Applause) – and we ran the racing festival in Vichy.

Avenue du Monde’s last race

Avenue du Monde’s last race before becoming a broodmare was in Vichy on the 20th of the month, the last day of the festival. We were hoping that she would drop to the third division of the handicap that day but ended up in the second with Grey Sensation (Aussie Rules) and Gascon (Heliostatic).  Gascon proved to be the best of the three on the day finishing a good second while Grey picked up fourth and Avenue was just out of the money at sixth.  By then, we were running on a turf that was well worn from the week of racing and the heavy rain that fell the Monday before and again that day.

Ray Of Hope finds his form

Earlier in the month, we took Ray of Hope (Layman) back to Deauville and the fibersand and he ran much better than his previous outing at Longchamp. This time picking up second place, one of two that he would run this month.

Ray of Hope earing the yard its 19th second-place finish of the year in Deauville, the 31 July 2018.

Further notable runs included Gascon again, finishing fifth at Compiegne, Never Compromise was seventh in a Quinte handicap and Mr. Chuckles (Arcano) adding a seventh in the second division of that same Quinte handicap.

The Mickaëls – Forest, and Barzalona – did most of the riding except for Mr. Chuckles who was ridden by Delphine Santiago and Maxime Guyon who rode Gascon in Compiegne.

The best paying horse in July was Ray of Hope with his second place on 4 July, paying €9,90 for a one euro place bet.

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The week that was…

We entered last week optimistic. We had some good chances at the track, the horses in the yard are in form, and Gina had just returned from a successful trip to Royal Ascot.

Things, however, started to unravel mid-week. Mr Chuckles – Arcano and Caribbean Escape (Pivotal) – who is in peak form, was entered in a handicap in Maisons-Laffitte, only to be eliminated from that race. A new entry was found for the following week, but that one started to look complicated for him, so he will have to wait a few more weeks before running again.

Gina, hesitant to run at Longchamp for what are known problems with the track (unevenness of the ground that was not properly maintained during construction the last two years), decided to forge ahead there and so we went to France Galop’s Thursday night after-work meeting, Jeuxdi,  a nice play on French words and marketing effort that did actually succeed in getting a younger public to the racetrack, albeit most of them were nowhere near the racing and unaware that it was taking place.

Ray of Hope – Layman and Risque de Verglas (Verglas) – ran that night, his second race after more than a year off to repair a hind-leg fracture. The jockey who was supposed to ride, Mickael Forest, couldn’t make it because his flight was canceled. With much deliberation on the way to Longchamp, Gina reflected on her options of available jockeys. We weren’t sure that the rules of racing would allow the one she chose to ride, Mickaelle Michel, to take the ride. In the end, the stewards deliberated and she saddled up and did a fine job on such short notice.

Ray looked perfect, and seemed ready to race, but didn’t fire in the stretch. He will try again next week in Deauville on the surface that he prefers, fibersand.

Saturday we headed back to Longchamp to try and get our first results at the new ParisLongchamp, which reopened in April after two years of work to install new grandstands. This day we arrived with Eternal Gift – Layman and Get The Ring (Linamix) – who has won at Longchamp and Grey Sensation – Aussie Rules and Sensasse (Imperial Ballet). Eternal Gift was not the horse that we saw a couple of times earlier this year.  Gina had this to say the following day:

Eternal Gift has earned his retirement. I’ll never forget pulling him out of the box in Newmarket all those years ago (2012!) and what a stunning horse he was. He still is, but it’s now time for a second career. He’s won four races and placed 27 times in 65 races, and given many good memories to four different owners, particularly to Clément Rollin who has looked after him for nearly five years now. Ponito, as he’s known around here, will give someone many years of enjoyment to come. He retires with no health issues, four good legs and a kind heart. We’re looking for his next home, but we will take as much time as we need to find the right one!

Eternal Gift is available to a new home. You can see some photos of him in this gallery. Contact us for more information.

The second runner Saturday was the standard-bearer of the High Street Racing syndicate, Grey Sensation. Like Ray earlier in the week, we went into the race expecting good results, but this time with a cheering block as several High Street members showed up for the event.  

Grey looked every bit the part, but like Ray of Hope on Monday, simply didn’t fire in the stretch. Mickael Forest felt that the unevenness of the surface didn’t help so we’ll send him out again on a track that we know will suit him better.

We hope that we’ll have a winner at ParisLongchamp soon, but we’ll wait a while for the surface to get sorted out before returning to this track. We have other options.

So, what was supposed to be a good week for Ecurie Rarick, didn’t quite end up that way. But as the old saying goes, “That’s racing”.

 

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Annex has the perfect answer

Réponse Exacte taking the Prix Mesnil le Roi in Maisons-Laffitte, June 16 2018.

Réponse Exacte was the first winner for the new Avenue Marengo annex of Ecurie Rarick. The Rajsaman filly won from gate to post moving away from the field in the last hundred meters of the race.

The Prix du Mesnil-le-Roi – Prix Rose Royal was run on the day of the Fete des Courses in Maisons-Laffitte. Several hundred people were on hand to watch the French national soccer team beat the Australians in World Cup play on jumbo screens.  But all eyes were on the racing after the match was over.

Michael Barzalona kept his filly away from the rail with his outside draw in this 1100m  (5½ furlong) race but eased toward the rail in the later stages, pulling away from the others.

Réponse Exacte went off as an outsider paying 13,10 for a one euro bet at the track and 16,30 online. Place bets were 3,50.  The going was considered good to soft at 3.4. The time of the race was 1’05”79.

Réponse Exacte is one of 8 two-year-old horses in the Ecurie Rarick annex from Ireland, managed by Lisa Gautier,  running under the colors of Mme Catherine Hassett.

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Avenue du Monde wins by a nose!

Avenue du Monde won the Prix Wemyss Bight at the wire in St Cloud the 15 June, 2018 (Scoopdyga)

Avenue du Monde (Champs Eysees and Marla out of Pentire) won the Prix Wemyss Bight, a second division 2100m turf handicap, at the St Cloud racetrack today in the west suburbs of Paris today.  She caught the favorite, Santorina (Trajano and Madinella out of Anabaa) at the wire, winning by a nose.

Avenue’s jockey, Michael Barzalona, led her out of the gate easily and placed her comfortably at the back of the field just to the outside of Santorina who was at the rail on the backstretch.  The two competitors ran comfortably with the pace, a few lengths behind the leaders.

As they came out of the final turn, the two were side-by-side. Santorina’s jockey, Alexis Badel, went to the rail in the stretch while Barzalona went wide around the field. As they both cleared the other horses, they came together with Santorina in front. However, Michael didn’t stop riding, both he and the horse fought to the end taking the race by a nose in a photo finish.

Avenue du Monde went off as second favorite paying 6,90 for a euro bet and 7,70 online. Place bets were 2,20 and 2,10 respectively.  The going was considered soft at 3.6. Time of the race was 2’12”80.

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Grey wins the Prix de Pont Vivaux

Grey Sensation easily took control in the stretch, with plenty to run on, of the Prix de Pont Vivaux in Lyon today. After placing seven times this year, Grey was finally able to get across the finish line first. After his 13th run this year, he solidified himself as the prize money leader at the stable of Gina Rarick and places himself well for the winter meeting coming up in Cagnes-sur-mer.

Relive the race through the YouTube video below.

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Grey Sensation comes through

25/01/2016 - Cagnes-sur-Mer - Prix du Roussillon : Arrivée

Grey Sensation (number 16 pictured above) earned his High Street Racing shareholders their first check at Cagnes-sur-Mer on Monday when he finished encouragingly to get up for fifth place in the 26,000-euro Prix de Roussillon, a 2000-meter (1 1/4 mile) handicap on the fibersand course.

Fifth place in the race was worth 1,300 euros, but more importantly was the style with which the 4-year-old son of Aussie Rules did it. Towards the rear for most of the way,the 12-1 Grey Sensation was short of room entering the 3-furlong straight. Gradually angled out by Alexei Badel, he was finishing fastest of all at the end, where he was just 1 1/4 lengths behind the winning favorite, Polkarena.

This was a performance that hearkened back to Grey’s third-place effort going 100 meters shorter at Deauville on Dec. 11, and had trainer Gina Rarick singing his praises.

“He’s a really consistent horse, a really nice horse,” she said., “and he loves this distance. My only regret is that he got stuck as the bottom weight (53.5 kilos, or 118 lbs.) in the second division of this handicap. But for one pound in the weights he would have been in the much easier third division, which he would have won.”

So there are a number of positives to take from Grey Sensation’s second outing for High Street Racing. Moreover, his handicap mark will remain the same after today, offering even greater encouragement for his next outing at the Hippodrome de la Cote d’Azur.

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Bleu Astral’s run Saturday in Cagnes

Bleu Astral disappointed his High Street Racing backers on Saturday as he faded to finish last of eight in the 17,000-euro Prix de General Saint Didier, a 1600-meter (one-mile) claiming race on the Cagnes-sur-Mer fibersand track.

Sent off at an unpromising 35-1 but away alertly under Guilain Bertrand in the amateur riders race, Bleu was soon tracking the leaders in third place, less than two lengths off a strong pace. After three furlongs he took the lead, but hopes were short lived as he fell back into third midway around the turn. Entering the straight he had nothing left, ultimately finishing 10 1/2 lengths behind the victorious Sterling Run.

“This was an extremely disappointing effort,” said trainer Gina Rarick. “He never took a breath during the race and he never relaxed. We’ll have to drop him into the lower claiming ranks now.”

A 2000-meter (1 1/4-mile) race fibersand later in the meeting could be Bleu Astral’s next start, although a return to soft or heavy turf, a surface over which he won twice last summer in Britain, might yet throw some light on the subject. For the moment, there is no turf race in the program for him.

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Grey Sensation to run the Prix du Roussillon

High Street Racing’s Grey Sensation makes his second start of the Cagnes-sur-Mer winter meeting on Monday when he squares off against 15 rivals in the 26,000-euro Prix du Roussillon, a 2000-meter (1 1/4-mile) handicap on Fibresand.

Both trainer Gina Rarick and rider Alexei Badel were agreed that Grey was in need of a longer distance after his sixth-place finish last Saturday in a one-mile handicap. In his previous start at 1900 meters (1 3/16 miles), he had run what was probably his best race to date when finishing strongly to be third in a 1900-meter (1 3/16-mile) handicap.

So a return to about 10 furlongs should prove beneficial.

Badel will be back in the saddle again on Monday when Grey Sensation will carry lightweight of 53.5 kilos (118 lbs.) and break from post 11 in the 16-runner field. Post time for the Roussillon, the third race on he card, will be 2:50 pm (CET); 1:50 pm (GMT); 8:50 am (EST).

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Bleu Astral set for Saturday

Bleu Astral makes his third start for High Street Racing at Cagnes-sur-Mer on Saturday, but his first in the syndicate’s yellow and green colors, when he goes in a 1600-meter (one-mile) claiming event worth 17,000 euros on the Hippodrome de la Cote d’Azur’s fibersand track.

Entered for a claiming price of 20,000 euros, the Astronomer Royal 4-year-old will be making his third start for trainer Gina Rarick. An improved effort last time in a similar event over an inadequate 1300 meters (6 1/2 furlongs) saw him finish ninth of 15, beaten by just 6 lengths. Further improvement is expected on Saturday when he returns to his favorite distance of a mile, over which he won his last two races in Great Britain in August.

Following a 14-hour van ride accompanied by his High Street Racing stablemate Grey Sensation and four other Gina Rarick trainees, Bleu Astral arrived in Cagnes last Friday morning and has settled in well. A sharp Wednesday morning workout on the main track with Ray of Hope, a two-time winner at Cagnes-sur-Mer last winter, sets him up well for this contest.

Bleu Astral will carry the the number three saddlecloth and break from post 2 in the race for amateur riders. Mr. Guilan Bertrand will be in the saddle for the first race on the card with post time scheduled for 12:45pm (11:45 am GMT); 7:45 am (EST).

Bleu Astral ridden by trainer Gina Rarick, 21 January 2015.
Bleu Astral ridden by trainer Gina Rarick, 21 January 2015.