ENGLISH VERSION horse won his Group 1 there( Almanzor in the QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes( Gr. 1) in 2016, Ed.). Speaking of experiences abroad, I went to Royal Ascot thanks to Jean- Claude. You should have seen us in top hats and tailcoats. It was great fun, especially as Ervedya won that day. Little by little, Jean-Claude showed the Parisians that they didn’ t rule the world and that the provinces existed too. There was a real divide between Paris and the provinces before Jean-Claude shook everyone up. What he has done is magnificent!
G. You are both keen golfers, aren’ t you?
F. N. We have indeed played a few rounds together. He calls me“ the lumberjack”… which is kind of him. I have a rather unusual swing, to be honest. I remember a holiday in Marrakech when we were betting dirhams. In one round where he was ahead, I pipped him at the post with a final 15-metre putt. The banknote is framed in his living room, that’ s how rarely I beat him. I can’ t wait for him to get better so that we can play golf again and he can see how much I’ ve improved( laughs). He is as good at golf as he is an excellent cook. He loves entertaining, having people round and making people happy. And as I love to make the most of things and sit down to a good meal, we get on extremely well!“ Above all, don’ t touch anything,” he has told me several times, and that suits me perfectly! When we go down to
Pau, we take langoustines and have a great time, without necessarily talking about horses. He is very cultured, loves music, especially jazz, and has an impressive collection of vinyl records.
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FRANÇOIS ROHAUT
BY CÉCILE ADONIAS
JEAN-CLAUDE ROUGET: A LOVE OF CELEBRA- TION, A GIFT FOR FRIENDSHIP AND GEN- UINE KNOW-HOW!
“ Jean-Claude has known me since I was born” – a sentence that speaks volumes about the working relationship and friendship between Jean-Claude Rouget and François Rohaut.
Claude Rouget, Jean- Claude’ s father, managed the Stern stable in the 1950s and 1960s and, as a result, also looked after the stallions. These stood at the stud run by François Rohaut’ s grandparents. That is how the two men met. François would do a first placement with Claude Rouget in Senonnes, then go to Jean-Claude Rouget in Pau on two occasions before setting up on his own in 1984. The first lesson François would take away from his time with Jean-Claude was his sense of organisation!“ In fact, I struggled to adapt at first,” he recalls with a laugh.“ I learned how to run a provincial yard there, with all the travelling in France and abroad that it involves.” At the time, Jean-Claude Rouget had around thirty horses in training, mainly jumpers, and he was already extremely organised!“ His great strength was the way he managed entries,” explains François Rohaut. Jean-Claude already knew exactly how to make the most of the programme. He always had his nose in the programme books. He knew how to bring a horse on from the bottom and take it to the very top of its ability, while allowing it to win several races along the way.“ That isn’ t possible anymore,” comments François Rohaut.“ When a horse wins a maiden, it then moves on to a Class 2, and then either it is good enough to progress and run in black-type races, or it is sent down the handicap route. He was really very good at mapping out a programme and winning several races. Back then, his clientele was mostly local and very friendly, with a few Parisians. They worked within their means, and Jean-Claude knew how to get the best out of his horses. The main goal was for the clients to enjoy themselves and have fun”. Jean-Claude Rouget enjoys an international reputation for buying yearlings, and François Rohaut can only vouch for it. He points out that he was willing to take risks by buying on spec, and that his clients trusted him
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