Tag: France

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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

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Guest author: Christopher Doussot

We know and love this small corner of France near Nice very well since Gina has been coming here for almost 10 years! While those up north are suffering in the cold, we are basking in the warm sun of the French Riviera, from mid-January through the end of February.

Our horses love it. They perform very well in this climate and at this track. Meanwhile, their owners are spending more and more time here, coming from various destinations, including Canada, the United States, England, and Germany.

Cagnes, the place to be

Alors que le Grand Vincennes vit au rythme des courses de prestige, Cagnes-sur-mer et son incontournable meeting hivernal rayonnent dans l’ombre de l’ogre et ses célèbres joutes parisiennes. Loin de se concurrencer, les deux tournois sont complémentaires. D’un côté les cracks et la fraîcheur de Grosbois. De l’autre le petit hippodrome azuréen avec son soleil et les cracks du turf français. De plus en plus beau avec des installations en perpétuelles améliorations, l’hippodrome provincial attire les plus grands. Soumillon, Boudot, Guyon et tous les autres ne se trompent pas. C’est bien à Cagnes qu’il faut être. La recette est simple mais efficace: soleil, pistes de qualité et un accueil chaleureux. La présence de nos meilleurs jockeys fait le bonheur des parieurs, petits entraîneurs et propriétaires. Et des commerces locaux. Evénement majeur de la vie cagnoise et de son économie, les courses et toute sa « caravane » ( professionnels, jockeys, parieurs…) occupent une place  répondérante dans la vie économique de Cagnes. Les meilleurs attirent et font jouer. Et de par leur présence permettent au meeting de rester ce qu’il a toujours: une éclaircie au beau milieu de l’hiver et un poumon essentiel pour l’activité des commerçants.

Les temps sont durs pour les courses françaises mais l’optimisme est de rigueur. Si les Grands jouent le jeu, on est forcé d’y croire. Leur présence est indispensable. Remercions les!

La course à la Cravache d’Or y est sûrement pour quelque chose. Nous ne pouvons que nous en réjouir. Encore plus si la finale se joue à Pornichet ou à Marseille. Pour le bonheur de tous.

Christopher Doussot  is the owner and manager of the Motel Ascot in Cagnes-sur-Mer and thoroughbred owner in France. We and several of our owners have enjoyed his hospitality and the comfort of his hotel for years.

This article appeared in the Paris Turf, dated February 1, 2019, in Le Point de Vue on page one.

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Labor pains

The pheasant that could have ended my life this morning chose not to, for which I was grateful. Far away into my own thoughts, I didn’t see him preening alongside the trail until the last second – Hard Way was nearly on top of him, bowling along toward home in a huge extended trot. Too late to stop, all I could do was crouch lower to the saddle and hope he didn’t choose that second to fly off, which would have resulted in me flying too, probably straight into a stone wall. The pheasant stayed put, and Hard Way coasted past – he probably didn’t see him, either.

Continue reading “Labor pains”

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Three to Deauville

George, Hi Shinko and Birs are heading to Deauville tomorrow to help close down the August meeting. George is running 2,400 meters in a handicap on the fibersand, Shinko goes 1,500 meters in a claimer for amateur riders and Birs stretches out to 1,900 meters in a claimer. George probably has the best chance of the three; Shinko was truly disappointing last time out and I don’t know where we are with him. He’ll have blinkers for the first time tomorrow, so I’m hoping he just decides to bolt and get on with it. Birs will get more distance, which he needs, but I would have preferred to get him on the turf instead of the fiber. In any case, he’s the last of the runners from the Irish contingent. They will head home Wednesday after running a good four-month season here.

Our numbers so far this year are pretty good: seven wins and 47 places from 120 starts, which puts us in the money 45 percent of the time. Things will slow down a bit now that the Irish are going home, but we still have a solid stable that should keep the percentages up. Meanwhile, it’s already time to start thinking about yearling sales and prospects for next year. The Deauville August sale is behind us, but other sales with more realistic prices are ahead, including the Osarus sale at La Teste on Sept. 15. The catalog is quite good and the prices are usually affordable. Anybody out there interested in yearlings should get in touch.

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Regrouping (Hangover 3?)

I’m finally finding time to catch up after coming back from our brief, but crammed, vacation. Vegas was fun, as always. You either love it or hate it, but I think it’s great. Everyone’s there for the same reason – a little gambling, a lot of eating, some shows…it’s refreshing to be in a place where you can chat with strangers sharing the craps table or lounging by the pool and not have to worry about the French formalities. But I digress. Back in the real world, or at least what passes for it for me, we are in mid-season in Deauville, and things are clicking along.

Strictly Rhythm seems to be back on track, running a very good fifth in a maiden on Friday. She had the far outside number 18 draw, which is no gift on the 1,900 meter course. From that spot, you either have to get out front or sit behind everyone. She got out nicely, showing much more spark than she had in her past two races. A better draw would have put her even closer to the win. Comment Dit ran a good third in her claimer. She has proven to be a tough filly who has taken her racing well. Hold That Emperor was a little more disappointing, running only 6th, but he is running like a horse that needs a break, and he’ll get one, finally.

On Tuesday, Justthewayyouare ran a good fifth, but it was his first blow on the fibersand and I think he’ll be better on the turf. He’ll get one more run out in the country before he goes back to Ireland to finish growing up.

Tomorrow, George makes his comeback in the last race of the day. He seems to be back on track, and the entry is good, so fingers crossed for him. He ran off with me twice this week, so I know he’s certainly got it in the tank. It also gives me a great excuse to be on hand for Goldikova and Galikova. Deauville is quite a bit of fun in August.

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Vive Las Vegas!

We had three more places from our runners this week, including a game third by Talawa in Dieppe yesterday. The yard continues to roll along, but I am rolling off to Vegas for a quick vacation. Slightly questionable timing in mid-season, but there are family obligations in Wisconsin involved first, so since we’re that far, we’re zipping away for a few days in the sun. We haven’t had much of that lately in France, but it’s 100 percent guaranteed in Las Vegas in August. I’ll be away just over a week, and the team here will have things well in hand. I’ll still be doing entries and monitoring the racing from across the pond. Next week will start with Comment Dit and Twilight Allure in Clairefontaine. Twilight is coming back from a wind operation, so this will be sort of a test drive. On Tuesday, Panisette and Golden Age have very good entries in claimers in Pornichet. I’m sorry I won’t be here for that, because I’ve heard the new fibertrack there is fantastic. I hope to see it first-hand soon. We’ll have a few more runners in Deauville on Thursday and Hi Shinko makes his comeback on Friday. Vive Las Vegas!

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Are we sure we’re still in France?

It’s been warm and dry in most of France for far too long; we’re in the middle of a drought that has turned most of the Ile de France into a dustbowl and the turf courses are turning hard as pavement despite watering. Consequently, tracks that can are watering aggressively – and that includes Lyon, France’s second city about six hours Southwest of us. So we thought we would have four runners there Wednesday and Thursday. When we left Paris it was warm and sunny. When we got to Lyon, it was cold and pouring rain. Con Marnane was sure we made a wrong turn and ended up back in Ireland. The rain on top of the watering turned the track into a heavy mess, and our two fillies struggled on it. Golden Age finished only fifth and Rajasthani Princess was right behind her (running better, actually, than I had expected).

Since the weather was not predicted to get any better, we decided to scratch Hold That Emperor for Thursday and go ahead with Talawa. We didn’t think she’d like the ground, either (and she didn’t), but she needed the run and we had no other good entries coming up for her. Hold That Emperor, on the other hand, is a very nice colt and we didn’t want to waste a race in Lyon. Unfortunately, by declaring him a non-starter, we have to wait eight days before he can race again, so he loses what would have been an excellent back-up entry in St. Cloud next week. But there will be other chances for him. Talawa, on the other hand, will go the claiming route. Hopefully she will run better on better ground, because she was extremely unbalanced in Lyon, and also managed to chuck Fabien off on the way to the start.

We have an easy weekend now, meaning I get to go to the French Derby on Sunday and actually just enjoy the day. We’ll pick up next week with runners in Angers, St. Cloud and Maisons-Laffitte.