ENGLISH VERSION gallops.
G. Which aspect of his training methods surprised you most at first?
C. L. What surprised me a little at the start of our partnership was how much he analysed statistics: he wrote everything down! One day, he told me:“ If a jockey doesn’ t win 20 % of the races he rides for me, I consider we’ re not made to work together!” Jean-Claude is a very organised person who knows his horses very well. I loved working with him. He was intelligent in every aspect of his job: buying the horses, entering them, preparing them.
G. What was the“ Rouget” method?
C. L. We tried to make the horses progress from race to race. As a little anecdote, he changed his approach for our first year together. In March, he brought the horses to Paris a little less forward than usual, so that they would peak for the spring Classics. So in the first month we were beaten on favourites, notably with Literato in the Omnium at Saint-Cloud. The colt was still a bit round and was beaten by a fitter horse, Hurricane Fly, who later became a phenomenon in British NH racing.
G. Spring 2009 was exceptional in every respect, wasn’ t it?
C. L. It certainly was. I won the Prix du Jockey Club with Le Havre and the Prix de Diane with Stacelita a week later.
The Group 1 wins kept coming that year. Jean-Claude remained very professional but, inside, he had the satisfaction of having done what was needed to reach that level. There was mutual trust, not only with me but with his whole team as well. And it showed in the results. For my part, I was getting to know the horses better and better, and how they needed to be ridden.
G. What was that way of riding?
C. L. Early on, you had to try not to go to the front, so that the young horses didn’ t have too hard a time, with a view to bringing them on. The horses were very well drilled and well educated. They went in and out of the stalls perfectly. Most of them were relatively easy to ride. With the trust we had, I wasn’ t afraid, and Jean-Claude gave me the freedom to make decisions during the race, and more often than not it worked. Like any trainer who trusts his jockey, he didn’ t need to hand over a detailed recipe by way of instructions. That allowed me to ride as I felt, with a freedom to decide and take the initiative that suited me well. I like to have horses relaxed, whether in front or at the back. And when the horses were keen to go and we knew they had the ability, we let their class do the talking.
G. How did your partnership end?
C. L. When I got the contract to ride in the Aga Khan
Studs colours, and they had horses with Jean-Claude, he made other arrangements for the rest of his horses. Our partnership inevitably changed and we each went our own way. It ended well between us. Jean-Claude even brought me back from Japan to ride in the 2019 Prix de Diane, in which he had four runners!
ITW BERNARD BENAYCH
BY LOÏC STECHER CHOCRON
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“ GOING TO JEAN- CLAUDE’ S IN PAU WAS OUR DISNEYLAND”
He had been an owner with Jean-Claude Rouget – whom he describes as a character straight out of a novel – for almost two decades, with a fair amount of success. Bernard Benaych, co-owner of Port Guillaume, tells us about his special relationship with the master trainer. A relationship that is far from over, as he assures us:“ Jean-Claude will be stopping by my place in Nice during the next Cagnes-sur- Mer meeting.”
It all began between Bernard Benaych and Jean-Claude Rouget in 2007. The former works in commercial property and, through his work, met Bernard Weill, a
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