ENGLISH TEXTS remain , on their own . No tune , no dance . Never mind . And after all , roll on tomorrow !
" A CAREER , LIKE A LIFE , IS A CURVE ." Pascal Bary
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HORSE
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GRAN DIOSE : ANOTHER MASTERCLASS FROM LOUISA CARBERRY
By Emmanuel Roussel
Four years after her other star chaser Docteur de Ballon , trainer Louisa Carberry strikes gold again with an 8-year-old in the Grand Steeplechase de Paris and the Prix La Haye Jousselin Chase . The British touch works at Auteuil !
The 8-year-old Gran Diose achieved the very difficult Grand Steeple-Chase - La Haye Jousselin Chase double this year . It has been achieved 27 times since La Vigne first accomplished it in 1887 , but only twelve times in the same year . His trainer , Louisa Carberry , has saddled the last two horses to win both races , Docteur de Ballon , in 2020 at the age of 8 , and Gran Diose .
With the latter , she has shown proverbial patience . Admittedly , at 17,3 hands , Gran Diose is an imposing sort , requiring his connections to be careful . However , the representative of Frédéric Hinderze and Luc Monnet , also his breeders , contested the 28 th race of his career on November 17 th , having started in May 2020 as a
4-year-old . Twelfth at Angers over hurdles , he was pulled up four months later for his debut at Auteuil .
Take a step back to jump higher .
" Philip Carberry had already told us that he was a top-class horse ," says Luc Monnet , who also chose the mating with Noanoa , the champion ' s dam , with whom the two breeders were already associated . Since then , the imposing bay has only raced four to five times a year . He won his first race at 5 years old , in a handicap hurdle at Auteuil in March 2021 . At 6 , again in March , he won his first Listed race , then the Romati Chase ( Gr . 2 ) at Compiègne in the autumn , before the Georges Courtois Chase ( Gr . 2 ) at Auteuil , therefore bypassing the obvious La Haye Jousselin Chase path , won that season by Figuero ahead of Grandeur Nature and Poly Grandchamp .
The method across the Channel .
The following spring , Louisa Carberry again bypassed the Grand Steeple- Chase to target the Prix des Drags Chase ( Gr . 2 ), where Gran Diose finished 3 rd after two previous placings . In the autumn , she decided to try a Gr . 1 , for a change . In the La Haye Jousselin Chase , he led all the way and could not counter Grandeur Nature in the final stages .
Nevertheless , it was now clear that Gran Diose was a champion French steeplechaser , which he demonstrated this season in five outings , two of them victorious , in his only two attempts at Gr . 1 level . And for good reason , there are only two Gr . 1s for the best French chasers in this country ! " I would have liked to see him at Cheltenham because I love that racecourse and its atmosphere , but my partner is more cautious ," jokes Luc Monnet . " Gran Diose has come back from his La Haye Jousselin win in great shape and the blood tests confirmed it . At the start , we were afraid that the heavy ground would bother him , but it didn ’ t . His dam Noanoa was good but a bit fragile . This happens with the descendants of Montjeu . Her filly Canichette is not easy either , and she might have won the Grand Steeple-Chase de Compiègne in October last year if she hadn ' t fallen at the end . She has entered stud and is due to visit No Risk At All , like her dam ."
Louisa Carberry , for her part , continues to exercise great caution , typical of the Anglo-Irish system where she was raised . Across the Channel , horses race late and , when they reach the top level , they race little . The eleven runners in the last Cheltenham Gold Cup , last March at Cheltenham , aged 7 to 10 , raced five times during their 23 / 24 campaign , and only once or twice before the Gold Cup , as they could then continue at Aintree and in Ireland , among other places .
The average age of this Gold Cup was 8.6 years compared to 6.6 years in the last Grand Steeplechase de Paris , dominated by the oldest horses .
Four 5-year-olds have won the Grand Steeplechase de Paris in the last ten years , while the last 5-years-old Gold Cup winner was Golden Miller , in 1932 . He also won the race four more times afterwards !
" GRAN DIOSE CAME BACK FROM HIS LA HAYE JOUSSELIN IN GREAT FORM ." Luc Monnet
An explosion of joy for Thomas Beaurain after his victory in the Prix La Haye Jousselin . © APRH
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