ENGLISH TEXTS of competition was not the same. We trained at Täby racecourse in Stockholm, in a somewhat American style, and we were looking for a better way to train. I asked my main owner if he was interested in an international experience. Eight months later, he came back to me saying he was very interested and had even asked his trainers to go abroad. One of his three trainers had gone to England but quickly returned. It’ s hard to make a living there. We chose Chantilly.
G. More than twenty years later, the bet has clearly paid off, but it was still a bold move, wasn’ t it?
P. B. It wasn’ t guaranteed, that’ s true. I had left my 15-year-old son in Sweden at boarding school, while his father stayed there. Joakim also had a younger son who remained in Sweden. It wasn’ t easy living apart, even though my son— whom my mother helped care for— would sometimes come to Chantilly. Despite this, we had neither doubts nor regrets when arriving in France. We simply put our heads down and worked hard. We were lucky to meet Mr. Augustin Normand early in our career, thanks to Sylvain Vidal, with whom we had placed broodmares. That’ s how we gained French owners.
G. What was your relationship with the French language before moving?
P. B. I had studied French as a third language at school, and my son’ s father is French. I spoke a little. Joakim, on the other hand, didn’ t know a word when he arrived, but he took lessons and now speaks much better French than I do! As for me, I mostly learned by ear( laughs).
G. What is your training philosophy?
P. B. The horse is THE priority— I never look at the clock. Each horse needs time and, above all, love. They must feel good in order to give their best when they leave their boxes. Since we don’ t have paddocks, we need to spend more time with them. We have a good team that has adapted well to our way of working.
G. Were you able to work this way when you had around a hundred horses?
P. B. Yes, because it was easier to find staff at that time. We are now down to about fifty horses. You need success to keep clients; otherwise, they go elsewhere. And for two years, trainers— who are no longer active— were winning many races because they were doping their horses and were later sanctioned for it. Against them, with our clean horses, we couldn’ t win! It cost us victories and harmed both us and honest trainers. Our statistics, closely monitored by owners, were worse at that time, which led to losing horses. We now have many Scandinavian owners. Mr. Blichfeldt convinced
Mr. Jordanger, the leading owner in Sweden over the past twenty years, to invest in France and in our stable. Every year, they partner on good yearlings. They are patient and know horses well.
G. How do you divide the work between you and Joakim?
P. B. Joakim enjoys going to the races more than I do and spends a lot of time riding. I prefer staying at home and handling entries. When one of us is tired, the other steps in and works even harder. For short breaks, we can use a house in Sweden. Personally, I try to go there for three or four days every six weeks. It allows me to spend time with my 22-month-old grandson, whom I miss— I don’ t want to miss anything!
G. What are Joakim’ s main qualities?
P. B. Very hardworking, Joakim is the first to arrive at the stable in the morning and the last to leave. He rides all the lots. On this race day at Fontainebleau, he got up at 4 a. m. and will be back at the stable around 8 p. m. He is stubborn, but in a good way— he knows where he is going. He loves and understands his profession. I also find him very strong in his communication with the media, which I have let him handle in recent years. People talk more about me because I trained longer under my sole name, but we have always worked together. Without him, I would not
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