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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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.

Horses available

A 25% share is still available of our EXOSPHERE yearling out of Risque de Verlas, a stakes-winning Verglas mare. This gelding, eligible for French premiums, is from a winning family, and he’s a half-brother to our own Ray of Hope, who has won seven times with earnings of over 200,000 euros.

N Risque de Verglas

The price of the share is 10,500 euros, which includes his gelding and boarding costs through the end of December. We expect him to be ready to run around September 2020.

Contact us for further information.
grarick@gallopfrance.com

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.

QZ wins a Quinté

Quiet Zain easily taking the Prix d’Antibes Quinté handicap.

Quiet Zain (Youmzain) won the Prix d’Antibes Quinté handicap February 17, 2018, in Cagnes-sur-Mer. It was a first for him and for the yard.  Michael Forest placed him in perfect position behind the leaders and pulled out in the stretch with plenty of horse to leave the field behind.

QZ, as he’s known at the yard, had the perfect draw at 6 in the fifteen-horse field and was quickly placed behind the leaders, drafting number 13 – Fair Trade (Tertullian)  – who would end up with 5th place.

The race took place on the fibersand track over a distance of 2400 meters (1.5 miles). Time of the race was 2’29”58. Quiet Zain paid 8.40 euros to win.

Video replay of the race

 

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”

Worth the Trip

The night we were loading up to head south for our annual trek to Cagnes sur Mer in the depths of darkest January, I was thinking to myself, “I’m not doing this again. This is too hard on everyone.”

First came two stalls packed to the top with everything we need to train and race 10 horses for six weeks. Water buckets, feed buckets, saddles, bridles, rugs – oh, the rugs. Winter coats for cold nights, lighter polars for sunny days, exercise sheets, rain sheets, presentations sheets, saddle cloths…it was endless. And of course, the hay steamer had to go. And the wheelbarrow. Forks, brooms, bandages….and then, of course the horses. After nearly two hours of loading, we were exhausted and then we had to get US down. Two by train, one by car, baggage wherever it would fit.

But then Cagnes works its magic. We arrived to full sun, palm trees, an azure sea, mimosa about to bloom – a fabulous place to work. By the time the horses were tucked in their new boxes, our tack and feed rooms set up and we were installed in the sun at the cantine around a great lunch and a bottle of rosé any doubts about the trip were far behind us. The weather cooperated this year, unlike last year, when we were pelted with endless days of rain. The horses, for the most part, cooperated, too. They did what they were supposed to do. They soaked up the sun, ate like they were on vacation and worked like champions. We won three races and placed six times, for total earnings topping 65,000 euros and our best meeting so far in the five years I’ve been making the trek.

There were some disappointments, of course. Barbe a Box never ran a decent race and his owner got fed up and moved him to another trainer. Fair enough, but the horse needs gelding, and until that happens, I’m not looking for a miracle on the racetrack. We had to stop with Pahlavan because his wobbler’s syndrome made him too dangerous to continue. Gorki Park told us yet again that while he is fine with sun, he doesn’t like the sand. And Risk Well Taken is still fighting with us about whether she wants to be a racehorse. The jury’s still out on that one. But the others picked up the slack. Ray of Hope won his comeback race and then won again, just to make sure he’d keep his place in the first string. Not to be outdone, King Driver came up with the goods, and Moughjim, Eternal Gift and Impulsive American all took home checks.

When the season ended, we didn’t want to come home (not least because it meant packing up everything we’d brought down). But it wasn’t just the wonderful weather that was making us drag our heels. Last year, when we got home almost everybody got sick, horses and humans alike. It took us six months (and a hay steamer) to get the ship righted. Reality and the racing calendar meant that we had to go home, so we did. But what a difference a little sun makes. This year, everybody got home same and healthy, and we saw the proof yesterday at St. Cloud: we scored our first double when King Driver and Gorki Park both won their races, taking advantage of the fitness they build in Cagnes. Moughjim also was in the money again in Lyon. Only Ray of Hope told us he really didn’t want to leave Cagnes. He was never traveling when he ran in Deauville last week, but the fiber track there is a considerably harder surface than the track in Cagnes, and he never found his action. We’ll try him on a yielding turf course and he’ll find his winning form again.

We’ve had five winners so far this year, which puts us ahead of all of last year, and we’re just getting started. Spring is finally coming to Paris, and we’re ready for la vie en rose!