ENGLISH TEXTS
BY EMMANUEL RIVRON
AKTEM
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“ GUY PETIT’ S NEW CHALLENGE”
A bloodstock agent for around forty years, Guy Petit has decided to take on a new challenge by becoming Bloodstock Director of the new sales agency, AKTEM.
GALORAMA. Had you considered taking on the role of Bloodstock Director before AKTEM approached you?
Guy Petit. Not really, since at 68 years old I was thinking more about living off my achievements with my good clients. I didn’ t plan on embarking on a new adventure, but the project of becoming a consultant for AKTEM is very interesting. I remain a bloodstock agent, but this new role has given me renewed momentum at a time when I was beginning to settle into a certain comfort.
G. What are your impressions a few weeks after taking up the position?
G. P. It is completely different and much more stressful because you control far fewer things. You have to keep your eyes everywhere and know who is going to buy what. There can be many interested parties before the sale, and everything can change during it. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a young team, Grégoire Leenders, Vincent Le Roy, Danny Cooper, Mégane Martins in communications and Mathilde XXX who all take their roles very seriously. I am a bit of the“ old man,” but this team of motivated young people has given me a real boost!
G. AKTEM’ s very first sale took place online on February 18. How did you assess it?
G. P. I had never seen such a dense online catalogue with lots of such quality. Not everything was sold, but every lot was solid. Succeeding with first sales in such a difficult market was not a given. We did not have much time to prepare it, but Grégoire, Vincent and Danny worked very well. On my side, I validated the horses. The confidence we generated through this sale is worth its weight in gold.
G. How do you position yourselves in this highly competitive sector?
G. P. We simply want to find our place. There is room to play alongside ARQANA, the cornerstone of the market, for whom I have no antipathy— quite the opposite. To do so, we must repeat successful sales and be present everywhere, particularly to assess horses accurately. Competition is healthy and benefits everyone, from breeders to owners.
G. How did you manage to attract Sevenna’ s Knight, a three-time Group winner, to AKTEM’ s first sale?
G. P. We really did not expect to have a horse of that calibre at this sale. I have a role to play in the NH sector, and since Sevenna’ s Knight is destined for a career over jumps, I was contacted. I appreciated that the connections followed us despite the fact that AKTEM is a new agency. It was not obvious beforehand. I would like to thank André Fabre, Emmanuel De Seroux and OTI Racing for playing the game. We are off to a good start in establishing our place, but we must not fall into euphoria.
G. In order to support NH breeding, the agency has introduced a bonus system. Can you tell us more?
G. P. In this unfavourable betting context, we must support the industry, especially the NH sector. A € 1 million bonus is therefore promised to a horse from the sale if it manages to win the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris( Gr. 1) and the Gold Cup( Gr. 1) in the same season for the same connections. In addition, export bonuses have been introduced. If a horse that has passed through the AKTEM sale wins a Group 3 in Britain, its connections will receive a € 10,000 bonus; € 20,000 for a Group 2 and € 30,000 for a Group 1. A breeder selling a mare in foal will also retain an interest in the produce, which will be eligible for the same bonuses, something I felt strongly about. In this
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