ENGLISH VERSION others, beginning with three winners of the Prix du Jockey Club: Le Havre, Almanzor and Ace Impact. The first two were bought for € 100,000 at the August yearling sales in Deauville, and both belonged to Gérard Augustin-Normand. The second, co-owned with Antonio Caro, is a son of Wootton Bassett, the future cult stallion, from his first crop, in whom Jean-Claude Rouget believed straight away; drawn to young sires, he was rarely wrong in that respect. As for the third, by Cracksman, another first-season sire at the time, he was knocked down for € 75,000, again at the August sales; racing in the colours of Serge Stempniak, he retired unbeaten in six starts at three, having added the“ Arc” to the“ Jockey Club”.
ITW GÉRARD AUGUSTIN- NORMAND
BY EMMANUEL RIVRON
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“ I EXPERIENCED MY GREATEST EMO- TIONS THANKS TO JEAN-CLAUDE”
GALORAMA. How did you first meet Jean-Claude Rouget?
Gérard Augustin-Normand. My friends Daniel Treves and Bernard Weill, who had horses with him, introduced
me to Jean-Claude at the sales. We made our first purchases in 2007. I had asked him to buy me three or four horses. A colt by Noverre caught my eye in the parade ring before he went into the sales ring, but he wasn’ t on my list. The colt looked at me and I had the feeling he was almost winking at me. It was a sign of fate. When I saw that Jean-Claude had bought him, I thought about it all weekend. Back in Paris on the Monday, I called him to find out whether he had a buyer for the colt. Jean- Claude and I didn’ t know each other very well at the time, but when he called me back to say I could have him, I felt a rush of joy. Le Havre wasn’ t meant for me in the first place.
G. The fairy tale was only just beginning with Le Havre, wasn’ t it?
G. A-N. It was wonderful to win the Prix du Jockey Club barely two years after buying my first yearlings. I wasn’ t there at Chantilly, but it was a magnificent day, with Le Havre’ s victory under Christophe Lemaire, who came through on the rail to win. My grandfather, a small breeder who was no longer with us, would have been overjoyed. I went into breeding thanks to Le Havre, and because of him. He wasn’ t necessarily much sought after as a stallion. So we bought mares with Sylvain Vidal and Mathieu Alex to give him every chance. It was a bet made from the heart for this magnificent horse. In his first years, Le Havre sired Avenir Certain and La Cressonnière, who both completed the Poule d’ Essai des Pouliches- Prix de Diane double, trained by Jean-Claude. It was a great adventure, a wonderful time.
G. At the same time, Almanzor, bought for € 100,000 at the sales by Jean-Claude Rouget, was also shining at the highest level …
G. A-N. I shared the ownership of Almanzor with my friend Antonio Caro. Almanzor won the Prix du Jockey Club and both Champion Stakes. What the colt achieved at Leopardstown was magnificent. That year, I told Jean-Claude I would love to go for the Arc, but he didn’ t entirely agree. In the end he was quite right. Jean-Claude sees his ideas through, and that’ s what I like about him.
G. Olmedo, Almanzor and Avenir Certain are all horses Jean-Claude Rouget bought for you at the sales. How do you explain this success?
G. A-N. Jean-Claude has something extra when it comes to buying yearlings. He really has the eye. He knew how to buy top-class horses within fairly reasonable price ranges. Jean-Claude has a gift that not every trainer has. I lived through an extraordinary period with all the horses I’ ve just mentioned. I didn’ t realise it at the time, but I now see just how hard it is to have such racehorses.
G. After a period when you no longer had horses with Jean-
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