ENGLISH VERSION historic, but it should not be exceptional.
IRE
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FRANCE IS BEST KNOWN FOR WINE, CHEESE AND NA- TIONAL HUNT HORSES.
BY VICKI GIBBINS
Over the last few months, there has been a veritable spending spree in France by British and Irish trainers, attempting to find the next champion at the major jumps festivals. French-bred horses dominated this year’ s Cheltenham Festival, with Il Etait Temps, Heart Wood and Apolon De Charnie all achieving Grade 1 honours. Back in France, fledgling auction house AKTEM enjoyed a successful inaugural Grand Steeple Selection Sale which saw a full-sister to Champion Hurdle( Gr. 1) heroine Lossiemouth fetching 440,000 euros whilst promising individuals like Milord Roque, Nirvana Star and Interstellar have all been purchased privately from the track to bolster Irish firepower. One such rising track star was the four-yearold Moises Has A Boat, who impressed with an easy victory in the Prix Master Bob at Compiegne in late March and was subsequently bought by bloodstock agent Jerry McGrath, to be trained by
Nicky Henderson in the UK.“ We saw him in the yard last year, he was a big, backwards type that needed a bit of time and was by Moises Has, who has been doing good things,” said McGrath.“ We did a tour of France before he ran and liked him again. He’ s grown and developed on nicely, so I asked Noel [ George, trainer ] to tell me when he was likely to run. He was going to Compiegne on a Monday, we’ d been at Auteuil on the Sunday and decided to stay over to see him.“ It was one of those days where there wasn’ t many bloodstock agents and he produced a very impressive performance to win. The speed time was very good and the finishing speed from the back of the last to the line was very impressive – he won hardheld, really.“ We acted very quickly and had him bought within the day. He’ s a horse that we will be looking forward to.” Moises Has A Boat is one of many young horses to have been purchased out of France in recent months, and McGrath expands on why the Gallic National Hunt horses are making such appeal.“ People are having a lot of success buying horses from France, like Willie Mullins.“ From my point of view, we have to watch every single race, within reason. It doesn’ t matter whether it’ s Compiegne on a Tuesday or Fontainebleau on a Thursday. Although the Autueil horses are very obvious, it’ s good to look at the smaller meetings where some of the form-lines from these Auteuil races are on show.“ You’ re learning something every single day, we have to try and follow all of it – which is easier said than done!”
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OIL! OIL!
BY IGOR DE MAACK
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The blockade of the Strait In this comedy, the CEO of an oil company, played by Jean-Pierre Marielle, tries to negotiate down the price of a barrel with an emir who has decided to raise it. The Western world, currently trapped by the blockade / counter-blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, is also trying to shield itself from this new energy crisis. The profits recently published by TotalEnergies( Net Income of € 5.4bn and Cash Flow of € 8.6bn in the first quarter of 2026) are also allowing it to cap the price of unleaded gasoline at the pump(€ 1.99 / litre). In some other European countries, lower taxation levels make clearing the hurdle of rising energy prices less difficult. Contrary to popular belief, modern capitalism is rather accustomed to oil shocks. The OPEC embargo in 1973, the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and Iraq’ s first invasion of Kuwait all, indeed, led to recessions. Since then, however, developed economies have reduced their oil energy intensity
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