ENGLISH VERSION knew when to stop, as well as when to push on. He was a highly professional buyer. Never static, always close to the horses, often standing near the entrance to watch them come into the ring. In the last ten years, he would visit a number of studs. Once again, his secret, the edge he had over others, is his knowledge of breeding. To be good, a trainer must have that sensitivity.
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THE CON- DUCTOR
ITW JEAN-RENÉ DUBOSC
BY CÉLINE GUALDE
“ JEAN-CLAUDE’ S HIGH STANDARDS DIDN’ T STOP AT THE WINNING POST”
On this October morning, just before answering our questions, Jean-René Dubosc had been out looking for ceps. He came back with a miraculous haul. The man now has time on his hands, and that is something very new!
For almost twenty years, Jean-René Dubosc was Jean-Claude Rouget’ s head assistant, watching over his huge string and criss-cross- ing the country with Pau and Deauville as his compass points. But before that, there had been a first chapter to the adventure, when Jean- René was a jockey. The first win of a career that would total 1,200, with Sir Banjer on 17 October 1982, was already for Jean-Claude Rouget! Some ten years later came Millkom, the stable’ s first star. The horse remained unbeaten in his first 10 races, and Jean-René Dubosc was in the saddle for 9 of those wins.“ These are the strongest memories of my career! With Millkom, we won two Group 1s, the Prix Jean Prat and then the Grand Prix de Paris, in 1994. Back then, Longchamp felt like the end of the earth to us – going up to Paris meant a whole day’ s travel: we drove from Pau to Bordeaux on the main road because the motorway didn’ t exist yet. They were the first successes at that level for a horse trained in the provinces.” As a jockey, until 2006, and then as an assistant, Jean- René Dubosc was a key figure in the irresistible rise of the Rouget stable.“ The boss and I were a team for 43 years. And that’ s precisely because I always said: he’ s not my friend, he’ s my boss! That’ s why it worked so well between us. He was extremely innovative, ahead of his time, like André Fabre. Those two knew things before everyone else. Jean- Claude was always incredibly meticulous. Winning a race wasn’ t enough – it had to be done the right way, with the rest of the horse’ s career in mind. If a jockey won by three lengths, which risked getting the horse penalised by the handicapper, he wasn’ t congratulated – quite the opposite! Jean-Claude Rouget’ s high standards didn’ t stop at the winning post.” Jean-René Dubosc is proud of these decades working together, during which he felt they made their horses better:“ Many of the thoroughbreds we claimed in the stable’ s early days went on to win at a good level. Jaccoud, for example, had cost 1,500 francs! Switched to jumping, he was an immediate success at Pau, where he won 11 races, including the Grand Prix in 1982 and the Grand Steeple d’ Automne, twice! The people who took over our own horses when they were claimed can’ t boast the same results. That’ s my greatest pride: knowing that we got the horses right, that we gave them the best possible career.” Besides Millkom, the star that made the biggest impression on Jean-René Dubosc was Ace Impact, winner of the 2023 Prix de l’ Arc de Triomphe.“ I compare him to Zarkava, because he retired to stud unbeaten, with six wins. He was in my string at Pau when he was a yearling. Then he made his racecourse debut at Cagnes, before going to Bordeaux – a perfect illustration of the Rouget method – and then joining our satellite yard in Deauville. Ace Impact is the best horse I’ ve ever known!” From one“ Arc” to another,
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