ENGLISH TEXTS health . That ’ s always the first thing . I really want them to be in their element , to be doing well , and not to be pushed too hard . I prefer them to be at 100 %, physically and mentally , to feel good with us . Thanks to Philippe , who explains things very well , the approach seemed very easy to me . I quickly realised that the horse was an athlete , with preparation needs in the first races , lack of experience to manage , the postrace to follow . There are a lot of similarities with me . It ’ s something I love talking to Philippe about .” “ Antoine immediately had a feel for the horse ,” confirms Philippe Decouz . “ He understands the physical hazards , the course of a career , a campaign , all the things that young owners can miss . As a top-level sportsman , he immediately understood all that . He ’ s also good at reading the behaviour of horses in races .”
Love at first sight The Griezmann silks have been rather fortunate in their choices . With Tornibush ( bought as a yearling for € 22,000 ) then Hooking (€ 97,000 ) and Knock On , the goal scorer quickly found success on the track , and at the highest level . While the first is now a stallion in Saône-et-Loire , the second is still racing and the third , a Listed winner , turned 4 and has returned to stud . Hooking is undoubtedly the most famous because he is 9 years old and has distinguished himself every winter . He won the polytrack challenge for the second time in January . He now has around € 585,000 in earnings , plus € 60,000 in bonuses for his two victorious challenges . He is due to return to Newcastle in mid-April to take part in the big all-weather meeting at that racecourse , where he finished 3 rd last year in a race worth more than € 100,000 to the winner . Hooking therefore still seems to be a force to be reckoned with , even if he had to settle for 3 rd place in the Prix Saônois ( L ) recently at Cagnes , just behind Fast Raaj , whom he had beaten in the same race last year : “ Last year , there was no No Lunch , who was far superior to us this time , and the race went differently , which is why the order is reversed with Fast Raaj ,” explains Philippe Decouz . Hooking is also his owner ’ s favourite ... “ For me , it ’ s Hooking ,” admits Antoine Griezmann . “ I immediately had a little something extra with him , I don ’ t know why . It was love at first sight . And in the end , in his character , he ’ s a bit like me , a bit of a tease , playful , but then , when it ’ s time to work , he ’ s there , he does the job . And the results follow . I saw myself in him . When it ’ s time to get down to business , he goes for it , no problem .”
Starting from scratch “ Hooking has a rather unusual trajectory ,” adds Philippe Decouz . “ He was good right away , so much so that even though he wasn ’ t mature yet , he started at 2 years old over 1,200 meters at Parilly , in June , and he won very easily . Shortly afterwards , he went lame , and we had to have an MRI at CIRALE to find out what his problem was . What we discovered forced us to rest him , and so he missed the first half of his 3-year-old year . In retrospect , it was perhaps a good thing because he developed further . Then , Antoine didn ’ t want us to geld him , but it was becoming a real problem , and he finally gave the go-ahead . After that , we started from scratch in the spring of his 4-year-old year , in 2020 . You know the rest . He ’ s 9 years old , and he ’ s still very competitive . It ’ s not so much the all-weather that he likes as the consistent surfaces . His morning rider at Cagnes , Thomas Gillet , who rides jump races , knows him well , and that ’ s preferable because Hooking is a bit of a handful in training among the trotters there . But he ’ s a good racehorse , and above all a really genuine horse . He always gives his best .” There is definitely something of Hooking in “ Grizou ”, top scorer for the Colchoneros , 2018 world champion , record holder for consecutive caps for the French national team ( 84 ), and all that on grass !
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