By Katherine Ford

The French racing industry has always attracted an international profile of professionals and continues more than ever to do so in the 21st century. The Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was once again crowned Longines World’s Best Horse Race for its most recent edition, and the very sport of horse racing as we know it was brought to the country by an English lord two centuries ago.

Indeed Chantilly’s destiny as the headquarters of French racing was shaped in the 1800s by the arrival of British training families such as the Carter’s, Cunnington’s and Jennings’. Brothers Tom and Henry Jennings still hold the record for the number of wins in the Chantilly Classics with respectively 10 Jockey-Club successes for the former and nine Diane victories for the latter, whose family tree descends directly to Alec Head and his offspring Criquette and Freddy.

While the Head family is now firmly “tricolore”, British influences continued until recently in Chantilly with Gp. 1 trainers such as Jonathan Pease, Richard Gibson and John Hammond. It is interesting to note that the only British-born trainer currently active in Chantilly is Andrew Hollinshead, although top jumps jockey James Reveley has purchased a yard in the town and declared his intention to train there once he retires from riding.

Today, with the best prize money in Europe and top-class facilities, France has become a destination for trainers from all corners of the globe; and in Chantilly alone, the profession’s ranks span five continents and fifteen nationalities.

Close neighbours Spain, Italy, Germany and Belgium are represented by a number of professionals such as Carlos Laffon-Parias, Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez, former professional footballer Markus Munch and Andreas Schutz who chose the location at the end of his stint in Hong Kong. Other Europeans include recent Greek arrivals Giorgios Alimpinisis and Attilio Giorgi, and Scandinavian couple Pia and Joakim Brandt. The young and ambitious Irish pair Gavin Hernon and Tim Donworth have both chosen Chantilly to launch their respective careers, and the American continents are represented by former International Herald Tribune journalist-turned-trainer Gina Rarick and young Argentine handler Sebastian Caceres. Add to the mix Japanese duo Satoshi Kobayashi and Hiroo Shimizu, plus Tunisian Hedi Ghabri, and it must be near impossible to find a more cosmopolitan racing centre.

Expat experiences

After generations of domination in Italy, the Botti dynasty spread to Newmarket with Marco in 2006, and two years later his cousin Alessandro set out in Chantilly, initially as assistant, then in a joint licence with father Guiseppe.

The popular Italian was all smiles after saddling a quickfire double in the opening two contests on a Chantilly all-weather card in February, in the process pocketing €32,720 in prize money and owners’ premiums. He remembers, “I spent time with my cousin in Newmarket before deciding to come here. I didn’t speak a word of French, but we thought it would be a good idea to have a Botti presence in France! To start with, everything was complicated. We were a Classic stable in Italy, but it wasn’t easy to adapt to the right level of horses, the organisation and of course the language. One of our staff members spoke French, so in the early stages he helped a lot with translating; but I had to learn French to take my trainers exams. I’m perfectly at home here now and after all, France is quite similar to Italy!”

From a racing point of view, the prize money and prestige are in contrast to the current situation in Italy and crucial for attracting owners, which for Botti include some of football’s biggest stars such as Champions League winning manager Carlo Ancelotti and top striker Javier Pastore. “I’ve had connections with the football world for a long time as the racehorse training centre at Milan is next to the stadium, but it’s much easier to attract footballers to racing in France where they find the whole package more exciting. Carlo Ancelotti has been an owner with us for 10 years, and now the challenge is to find him a horse to be as successful in racing as he has been in football!”

Parlez-vous anglais?

Joint license holders Pia & Joakim Brandt’s Chantilly Stables

Another well-established European in Chantilly is Pia Brandt, who now operates as a joint licence holder with husband Joakim. Pia, who has won a pair of Gp. 1 victories in her adopted homeland (Grand Prix de Paris with Mont Ormel and Criterium de Saint Cloud with Mkfancy), remembers, “I came here at the end of 2005 because I wanted the best. An owner was supporting my move, and I could have picked any location in Europe. I chose Chantilly for the quality of the training facilities, the proximity to the airport, and of course the French prize money. I already spoke some French as I had spent time riding out here when I was younger, and the father of my son is French.” Pia says. “However my French wasn’t very academic, and I remember that utilities companies would often hang up on me when I asked if it was possible to speak in English! I think that things have improved in that aspect since then, and English is spoken more here now. At the time, the rules were that if you had had a licence for five years in another country in Europe, you didn’t have to take the trainers exam here, so I just had to follow a few modules at the racing school.”

One unexpected complication for Pia Brandt was a succession of moves before taking the plunge to buy her own establishment with husband Joakim. “During the first 10 years, I was renting and moving stables seven times! At Chantilly, unlike at Maisons-Laffitte, all the stables are privately owned, so with changing requirements as my number of horses varied and owners selling the stables I was occupying, it was an unsettled time. We’re settled now since buying our yard, and although I have no regrets about coming to Chantilly, I am not sure that I would make the same decision if I had a second chance. It’s the most competitive and most expensive place in France to train. In a parallel world, if I had my chance again, maybe I would choose the French provinces or Deauville!”

The place to be

A recent addition to the Chantilly trainers’ ranks, Tim Donworth saddled his first runners last September and ended the year with impressive statistics of five winners plus five placed horses for fifteen outings.

The Godolphin Flying Start graduate and former assistant to Nicolas Clement and Jean-Claude Rouget is adamant that Chantilly is the best choice. “I have an international clientele, and this is where they want to be in France”, Tim says. However just a few years ago, the ambitious young Irishman had not even considered France, nevermind Chantilly. “It was all a bit of a mistake, or an accident in any case… I had spent time with Tom Morley in America during the Flying Start and loved it over there, so my aim was to go back. Christophe Clement offered me a role but he didn’t need me until six months later. He arranged for me to work for his brother Nicolas in the meantime, and that’s how I ended up in Chantilly.” Tim goes on to say, “The timing worked out well as while I was there, his assistant Laura Vänskä left [the Finnish national and Flying Start graduate is set to add another nationality to the Chantilly roster when she sets up in the town this spring], so Nicolas asked me to stay on. Wonderment had won a Gp. 1 in the same week, so he managed to twist my arm!

“After a couple of years I decided to take the trainers course, although in all honesty I didn’t expect to pass. I tell people that it’s a fluke that I did pass, but to be honest I worked flat out for two months to prepare. The exams are definitely harder here in France than in Britain and Ireland; although I haven’t been through the process there, I have plenty of friends who have done. The language barrier is huge, but even for a fluent French speaker, the exam is hard. There are various subjects including the rules of racing, a big part on equine health, and then business planning which requires reams of Excel documents. The business plan is presented to a panel of assessors selected by France Galop stewards, including retired and active racing professionals, stewards etc.; and they give you a good grilling!”
Tim Donworth admits his French was “really shockingly bad” on arrival with Nicolas Clement, and although he progressed enough to pass the France Galop exams, he hit a real learning curve when deciding to further his racing education with Jean-Claude Rouget. “I thought that if I was going to train here, I should get more experience and see more of the country. I was in at the deep end as Rouget didn’t speak a word of English to me”, Tim says. “But I loved it at his yard in Pau—at the Cagnes sur Mer meeting and at Deauville—and got on really well with the boss as well as his assistants Jean-René Dubosc and Jean-Bernard Roth who I regularly ring for advice. I also met my partner Lavinia Brogi in Pau. She’s Italian, the sister of trainer Simone Brogi, and is a great help riding most of my gallops.”

Despite enjoying this period in three of the four corners of France, Chantilly was where Donworth wanted to be, and he now rents part of Nicolas Clement’s yard plus boxes for his juvenile fillies in Pia and Joakim Brandt’s stable. “I’m really fortunate to have my horses stabled in two Gp. 1 yards. Nicolas is like family to me and is a great help. For instance, his head lad François works for me for an hour a day and is fantastic for keeping things in order. I did the trainers course with Joakim Brandt and was delighted when he and Pia offered me the space in their yard, which is just across the street and very convenient.”

Tim Donworth is well on his way to becoming an adopted Frenchman, and his only reserve concerning his situation is opportunities for certain categories of horse. “The programme kills me for older horses, which have arrived from abroad. Those which aren’t up to stakes level are really difficult to place as you have to almost have a Listed horse to be competitive in Class 1 and 2 races. It’s tricky, but knowing the programme book is key to having winners.”

Results so far bode well, and Donworth has high hopes for the future. “I’m really pleased with my two-year-olds and I intend to run them early. They’ve been rocking and rolling for a while now, and I bought precocious ones as I haven’t many older horses and need to get the results to get noticed.”

Chantilly’s rising sun

One Chantilly trainer who has been noticed on the international stage already in 2022 is Hiroo Shimizu, whose Pevensey Bay came with a sweeping run to lift the Gp. 2 Cape Verdi Stakes at Meydan in January. The mare was one of a handful that the unconventional Japanese trainer inherited from the recently retired John Hammond, whose stable he now occupies. “I was present for the win in Dubai, but I don’t get excited or emotional. I soon move on to think about the next challenge.”

Shimizu doesn’t fit the mould of your regular trainer. Dressed in scruffy, baggy trousers and sporting a thick woolly hat with earflaps, which looks more appropriate for Arctic exploration than nurturing blue-blooded thoroughbreds, he quietly indicates some of his Classic hopes turned out in the stable paddocks.

When he arrived in France in 2008 to work as a stable lad for Pascal Bary and then Fabrice Chappet, making race entries—nevermind Classic entries—was far from his mind. “I knew [fellow Chantilly trainer] Satoshi Kobayashi and [Japanese specialist bloodstock agent] Patrick Barbe, which is why I chose to come to France; but I hadn’t considered training.”

It was discussions with francophile Japanese training legend Katsuhiko Sumii—a regular in Chantilly whether with Arc runners or for a busman’s holiday which encouraged him to take the plunge, and contrary to many of his colleagues—he found the France Galop exams a mere formality. “They were very easy!” Shimizu admits. “I went to one of the best schools in Japan and so I am used to learning. I finished the exams with plenty of time to spare! When I first came to this country, I didn’t speak any French but now I can manage well with a Japanese accent. I think it’s a question of respect for the local population that expatriates should learn the language.”

In addition to the language, Shimizu has plunged into the programme book and specificities of the French racetracks. “In Japan all racecourses have similar ground conditions, whereas here, there is more diversity in the surface and track profiles. As for the programme, in Japan there are 2000m races for two-year-olds in June; but here you have to wait with longer distance types. In Japan people tend to be very disciplined and can sometimes lack initiative. I like the outlook here where you can do whatever you want!”

Back to school

Whatever you want… within reason and within a strict framework as far as the obtention of the official licence is concerned. France Galop delegates the organisation of the trainers’ course and exams to their educational arm, the AFASEC, and training coordinator Pierre-Henri Bas explains, “There are two sessions each year for applicants to obtain a professional licence. The training takes place during a five-week residential course, which includes 175 hours of lessons and terminates with three written exams and an oral and written presentation of the candidates’ business plan. The business module is a major part of the course and covers subjects such as management, accountancy and social legislation. We also study the rules and regulations of racing, matters concerning horses’ health, feeding and sporting performance and finally communication.”

With some general knowledge and English language thrown in for good measure, the procedure represents a real “back to school” experience for aspiring trainers who are expected to study hard. “Over recent years the success rate has been around 80%”, continues Bas. “Our aim is to evaluate the competences of individuals for the challenges involved in being a professional trainer. We have no interest in handing out licences for the trainer to fail just weeks or months later. Indeed we have a follow-up scheme whereby two of our representatives provide advice and guidance to newly qualified trainers, and they must complete an assessment after two years of activity.”

As for trainers who hold a licence in another country and wish to transfer to France, Darius Zawiejski who is responsible for France Galop’s licensing department confirms, “These requests are examined on a case-by-case basis. We look at the professional’s CV and experience in his or her home country and some may be exempt from passing certain modules or parts of the exams. Derogations do occur, but they are quite rare; and foreign applicants, from whichever country, are treated in exactly the same way as French applicants.” So any trainers hoping to take advantage of France’s enviable prize money and excellent facilities should be warned: They will need to be willing to put their heads down and study, en français!

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