ENGLISH TEXTS
luminous moments, sometimes painful ones. The youngest of three children, she recalls with emotion that her early love of horses remains the only legacy left by her adored— and adoring— father, who passed away too soon.“ My father was full of life, outgoing. He loved cars and horses, passions he could afford thanks to his work. I was his favorite,” she confides.“ He was the one who took me to the racecourse, the one who shared racing with me. Neither my mother nor my brothers were interested in that world: I was his accomplice.” At twelve, Barbara was already riding Thoroughbreds. In Switzerland, she met Martina, destined to become not only her best friend but also her future partner. Family life, however, was far from simple. Her parents’ separation hit her hard, and her mother tried to distance her from both her father and the horses.
Opalus, the Legendary Nose“ I will never forget the story of Opalus,” she says.“ My father had bought the horse at the Maisons-Laffitte sales. Raw talent, but untamable. His trainer, Ernest Bauer, would lunge him to get him back under control when he had unseated everyone— him included! He decided to enter him in the Austrian Derby. No jockey wanted to ride him, such was his reputation. Until one day an older jockey, alcoholic, with a battered life and no rides booked, accepted
the challenge.” It was June 6, 1976. Sent off at 99-1, Opalus pulled clear in the straight and won by a nose. A legendary triumph.“ My mother had locked me in the house to stop me from going racing with my father. I couldn’ t live that moment at his side. I will never forget the moment I saw the images of Opalus in the winner’ s enclosure, the garland of flowers around his neck.”
The“ French Transfer” A proposal from a very close friend of her father marked the beginning of her life in France.“ He suggested I go and look after a horse owner’ s runners in Maisons-Laffitte. In the end, I accepted.” An exercise rider in France, she later returned to Switzerland to work in a restaurant.“ I worked hard to support my family and my two children, but also because I never stopped dreaming of one day becoming an owner again,” she tells me.“ Being alongside horses is a way of bringing my father back to life, within me and through me.”
Chantilly, Sparkling Star and Mr. Béguigné Today, Barbara is part of the Chantilly landscape. Every morning, she attends her horses’ gallops alongside her trainer, Jean-Marie Béguigné, with whom she shares an absolute commitment to care, respect, and listening to the horse.“ The ideal trainer came after many attempts. At the beginning of my partnership with Martina, our horses were spread across several yards. My father used to say,‘ Don’ t put all your eggs in one basket.’ But over time, our shared values led us to bring everything together with Mr. Béguigné. He handles my regular presence very well. We discuss entries and targets together. I’ m not sure many trainers would accept such closeness with so much openness! For him, the horse’ s health, recovery, and mental well-being come before any sporting ambition— sometimes even a little too much!” Barbara laughs as she recalls the time she had to insist on running Opalus Road again just ten days after a third-place finish in a Class 3: the horse went on to win a Quinté on the same track, at Chantilly.
Horses of the Heart and Second Chances Among her memories as an owner, she also mentions Brouillard, a son of Dark Angel claimed out of a selling race, who gave Sparkling Star a memorable Quinté victory at Compiègne, ridden by a delighted Théo Bachelot as he crossed the line, happy to reunite with his partner. And then Zenbati, also homebred. When I ask her what moves her most— the serenity of morning training or the adrenaline of race days— her answer is immediate:“ Both are perfectly complementary. I don’ t want to sound presumptuous, but I think I have a good eye. Combined with the trainer’ s experience and the feel of the work rider, these are the keys to accu-
# 17 162