ENGLISH TEXTS
HUSBAND THAT IF HE DIDN ’ T DO EVERYTHING TO SAVE THE MARE , SHE WOULD DIVORCE HIM .”
Jean-Paul Gallorini
NÉOMÉNIE , A SPECIAL MARE
Among the great mares trained by Jean-Paul Gallorini , there is one that seems to hold a special place in his heart , and that is Néoménie . She was born in Ireland in 1978 and bred by the Wildensteins . According to Jean-Paul Gallorini , her first trainer initially decided to discard her from his string . Her fate was hanging by a thread when Jean-Paul Gallorini , who was then training the Wildensteins ’ jumpers , took her over . “ She was very ugly ,“ he sums up . “ A draft horse ’ s head , huge ears , a big belly , hooves that made the ground shake ... But she had heart . I warned Mr Wildenstein , who had preferred to give her to his wife Sylvia , that she was going to make her debut , but as I didn ’ t want to risk embarrassing him , we went to Dieppe for a hurdle race , and she finished 9th . But very well . I ran her at Enghien and she finished 2nd , then at Auteuil , she won by six lengths ! Two weeks later , she did it again . My eminent colleagues were shouting scandal , shouting doper , she was so ugly . Two weeks later , I was told that I had seven horses that had tested positive , that they were being disqualified , including Néoménie , and that my licence was being withdrawn for life ... I lived for many years as an outcast before getting my licence back , but Néoménie won three more times the following season ( trained by Patrick Rago , editor ’ s note ).“
Injured in her tendons in the summer of 1982 at Auteuil , Néoménie seemed doomed , but Sylvia Wildenstein wanted to save “ her “ mare at all costs . “ In the middle of the panoramic restaurant at Auteuil , she had shouted at her husband that if he didn ’ t do everything to save her , she would divorce him ,“ recounts Jean-Paul Gallorini . The surgery was a success , and the mare retired to stud . “ For her second year at stud , I insisted that she should go to Crystal Palace . He too had been saved from the worst by François Mathet , when he had recovered horses from Guy de Rothschild , including this future Prix du Jockey Club winner who had already been written off ! It ’ s written in black and white in the book dedicated to him , La Course Parfaite .“ From this union came Nile Palace , the second dam of the champion chaser Docteur de Ballon , and Scarlet Row , who produced Politologue and Starlet du Mesnil ... All five of Néoménie ’ s foals won , with Nil Bleu winning the Prix de Pépinvast 4yo Hurdle ( Gr . 3 ). After Nile Palace , she produced an even more prolific dam , Newness . She is responsible for N ’ Avoue Jamais ( 1 st in the Prix Alain du Breil 4yo Hurdle- Gr . 1 , dam of Nickelle ), Nom d ’ Une Pipe , Nickname ( sire , a Gr . 1 winner in Ireland ), New Saga , all of whom were Group class , but also one of the best French jumps sires , No Risk At All , also trained by Jean-Paul Gallorini and a dual Group 3 winner on the Flat . Néoménie , in addition to that hidden beauty of ugly things that Serge Gainsbourg sang about , also had heart , because she healed the heart of her banished trainer : “ For someone who was supposed to be doping his horses , I still produced quite a few extraordinary broodmares and stallions ...“
PAGE 19 Cokoriko with Sarah . © Zuzanna Lupa for Haras de Cercy
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BREEDING
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By Céline Gualde
AT HARAS DE CERCY , STRENGTH IN UNITY !
Created in 2012 to compensate for the withdrawal of the National Studs , the cooperative of Cercy-la- Tour , in the Nièvre Département , is the French heavyweight of jumps stallion provision . Nearly a thousand mares were covered there in 2024 , with profits approaching € 1,300,000 . Major expansion projects are underway …
Tradition is well established : every first Saturday in January , the stallions of Cercy-la-Tour are on show . The public , made up of hundreds of breeders from the Centre region and beyond , is more demanding in this cradle of the AQPS than fashion critics at a Chanel show ! In front of the expert crowd , Prince Gibraltar struts his stuff , Karaktar shows off his stance , and Cokoriko closes the show with panache as the leading French jumps sire . Everyone then gathers for a gargantuan aperitif followed by a lively lunch . This unmissable
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