ENGLISH TEXTS
prevailed in determined fashion. It was a gruelling contest, and while sympathy was due to the runner-up, the winner secured the most significant victory of his career. The Grand Prix de Pau delivered an even greater surprise. The recent Auteuil Gr. 2 winner Metasequoia had been aimed at the race, and much attention centred on him. If not him, many expected the contest to be fought out between Daniela Mélé’ s Kapaca de Thaix and Brexit. Instead, the eleven-year-old Exupéry produced the performance of his life. Already proven over extended distances— notably over 5,300 metres at Bordeaux— he confirmed his stamina once more with a career-best effort, winning by a length and a half. The final meeting of the Pau season held fewer surprises for Patrice Quinton. Saint Godefroy captured his second Grand Cross four years after his first triumph, a notable achievement. Hip Hop Conti’ s defeat could be attributed to ground conditions— and the reality that no horse remains unbeaten indefinitely. Emmanuel Clayeux also added another cross-country success, concluding the meeting with seven victories from nineteen runners— an impressive statistic given the demands of the discipline. Pau and Cagnes-sur-Mer remain two outstanding venues on the French National Hunt calendar. They offer drama, disappointment and joy in equal measure to participants and spectators alike. The winter meetings have concluded, but anticipation is already building for their return.
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PONEYS
PARENT OF PONEYS AU GALOP, A DIFFERENT BREED
BY BÉRENGÈRE ROSSIGNOL
The Poneys Au Galop parent is a breed apart, one that combines the speed of the thoroughbred, the stamina of the AQPS, the elegance of the Purebred Arabian and the hardiness of the draft horse!
Let’ s take a closer look at an anatomy like no other. The Poneys Au Galop parent is equipped with an agenda more efficient than any digital app, enabling them to juggle schooling, pony training and trips to racecourses. With more than 900 events per year, it is no easy task. The logistical gymnastics begin in January at the stallion show in Le Lion d’ Angers, where the famous calendar is handed out. The children grab a highlighter and start getting excited, imagining all the opportunities to have fun, gallop and meet up with friends. The parent swiftly seizes said highlighter to consider the practical possibilities, while also negotiating the proposals of the child( or children):“ Wait, but if you can’ t, maybe I can put the pony in Cécile’ s truck.”“ Oh, it’ s such a hassle to take us for the two-day training camp … but if we take the tent it would be fine, right?”“ Hang on, I think Florent has a runner and his truck drives right past the house— it might work.”“ Mom, if Solyne arrives on the Friday evening train, we’ ll take her, and if her pony can come in a truck from the north, are you okay to handle her?”“ The ones from the southwest aren’ t on holiday at the same time as us, so that weekend is super important so we can all meet up— you see what I mean, you were young once too( sic)?” It’ s true, young Poneys Au Galop riders are masters of the motorway network, emperors of shared horse trucks, princes of compromise, barons of the dormitory. Everything is possible, everything can be done, to brave parents, nothing is impossible! The Poneys Au Galop parent has a slim leg, a muscular thigh and a strong right arm. They drive the truck, towing a trailer, with ponies travelling head-to-tail— the more the merrier, as the number of children is proportional to the shared joy. They help saddle ponies all day long at Point-to-Points, their own and those of children temporarily“ adopted” for the occasion( see the organisation mentioned above)! All this amounts to about twenty kilometres walked for eight runners for a family of three children on a single Point-to- Point day; and yes, ladies and gentlemen, the numbers add
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