ENGLISH TEXTS
I was young, I didn’ t have top horses. I was very lucky— especially with my health. Many of my friends are gone. It could happen to me tomorrow, who knows.
G. There’ s a legend that you harnessed your first horse at age five …
J-P. D. No … Riding solo at 7 or 8, that’ s already something. My first mare, I’ d tie her to the fence to bridle her. And because she was gentle, she wouldn’ t move. The roads weren’ t paved, we could ride freely.
G. Can you spot a champion early on?
J-P. D. No. Varenne, we almost put him down because he had a crack in one leg and limped on the other. But once we hitched him, we saw he wasn’ t like the others. I was lucky to have a guy with a good eye( Fabrice Simon). The horse stayed in a barn for six months. To think I used to say,“ Damn, that donkey’ s still here …”
G. You’ ve had plenty of highs— and the lows?
J-P. D. Often, if someone had wanted to buy my truck after a race, I’ d have sold it cheap. You’ ve got to believe. I kept my head down and had good friends who gave me a hand.
G. Do you remember the day you told your parents:“ I’ m leaving”?
J-P. D. I was 17, had a bad temper— maybe I still do. My dad said,“ It’ s better if you go find your own way.” But he was a great father because he gave me a shot. He accepted that I lost races. I took the train to Marseille, where friends gave me work. One day, the president of the racing club there said,“ I’ m selling everything— like any horse?” I found someone to buy one, and he gave me half. That’ s how it all began.
G. You know the little world, the big world …
J-P. D. Yes, mostly the little one( laughs).
G. Is there a place where you feel more at home than anywhere else?
J-P. D. Anywhere with horses and racing. Without horses, I don’ t know what I’ d have done. Maybe raised cattle or pigs.
G. No other passions besides horses?
J-P. D. No, it takes up so much time, I didn’ t need anything else. I’ m stopping now because I don’ t have the energy anymore. I’ ve been slowing down for fifteen years.
G. Is winning in your blood?
J-P. D. In this business, always being behind— it can’ t last.
G. First race at 13, best apprentice at 16— you started fast …
J-P. D. I arrived in Vincennes at 14. We had found a little underdog. A man used to break in all the wild horses in the area by tying them to his cart with a chain around the neck. One day, he prepared Faon Kairos for me. All winter, I rode him— even jumped logs in the woods. It did the horse good. He raced every week or five days. One day, I rode him poorly, and my father gave him to the top jockey then, Raoul Simonard. The horse stopped in the woods and came home on foot( laughs).
G. Why did you move to Échauffour?
J-P. D. My parents had an 8-hectare farm in Brittany. With my grandfather, they couldn’ t make a living anymore. They found the worst farm in the area. It was so wet, we’ d lose our boots in the fences. I was 4 or 5. It was the end of the war.
G. Later, you became quite the globetrotter.
J-P. D. I liked seeing what was going on elsewhere, understanding top stallions everywhere. I would’ ve stayed in Canada if they hadn’ t stopped racing in Quebec. I have great friends there. My son knows Australia better. In Italy, I was happy— surrounded by friends. I found simplicity there.
G. In the U. S., did you really go with an empty suitcase?
J-P. D. The first time, I worked 15 days for Stanley Dancer. A friend told me he always needed help. He was the top trainer then, a real workhorse. No one’ s done it better. Their horses were faster, more precocious than ours back then. Now, we’ re about equal. When we took three mares there, the system here was tough: you had to pay for the stud fee without
147 # 11