ENGLISH VERSION
THE STABLE, A REAL- LIFE MANAGEMENT TRAINING GROUND The strength of the team:“ You learn to persuade, to trust and to listen, not just to give orders. You have to manage without hierarchical authority: in a restaurant, if I give an order, it’ s carried out – normally, at least. At the stable, there’ s a breeder, a trainer, a work rider and sometimes a vet, who often step in with differing opinions to take into account. In a way, they are all my partners in a horse’ s success.” The discipline of figures:“ We professionalise things by bringing in accounting where we would tend to put only heart and passion. Absolute rigour is applied to living creatures: when a horse costs several tens of thousands of euros a year, and there are bills to pay and a profit and loss account to keep, that calls for rigour.” The keys to success?“ In six modules, here is what racing has taught me and what I apply in managing my five restaurants.
MODULE 1: MANAGING UNCERTAINTY AND RESPONSIVENESS At the stable: you can have Bold Eagle, the best preparation, the best driver … and lose because of a bump on the first bend and end up disqualified. Applied to business: I’ ve stopped wanting the safe, perfect plan. I decide faster. I go for it. In business, whoever waits has already lost.
MODULE 2: PATIENCE AND VISION At the stable: with a young horse, you have to wait more than 3 years before getting the first results on the racecourse. With our broodmares and the foals we buy, we think in terms of“ generations” to build the future. Applied to business: I’ m about to hand over my five McDonald’ s restaurants to my son Hugo. Racing forces you out of short-termism, by investing in your tools, your people and quality. You have to think about the future, about succession.
MODULE 3: READING WEAK SIGNALS AND INTUITION At the stable: a horse doesn’ t send you reports. But if it eats less, if it has a sad look in its eye, there’ s probably a problem. You have to be able to spot it. Applied to business: I’ ve asked my managers to look a little less at Excel spreadsheets and to get back onto the restaurant floor, to be closer to the customers and observe them. A silent employee or a customer who never complains speaks volumes. My intuition has become my best indicator.
MODULE 4: RESILIENCE AND HANDLING PUBLIC FAILURE At the stable: losing a historic triple crown with Bold Eagle in front of 40,000 people and the cameras is sharp, clean, immediate and very unpleasant. But you have to remain dignified.
Applied to business: Failure makes you stronger; it builds muscle. You lose the fear of failing.
MODULE 5: EMPLOYER BRAND At the stable: The breeding and racing sectors bring together more than 10,000 business leaders. And we all share the same inexplicable passion. Applied to business: When Léopard du Berlais runs at Auteuil, he’ s the company horse that makes every employee proud, and that brings people together far more than any corporate seminar.
MODULE 6: ENERGY, CLEAR-HEADEDNESS AND DECISION-MAKING At the stable: this is the world of work – the real one. Fewer screens, physical work and good old country common sense: no question of depression or burnout. Applied to business: a business leader who dares to shake up his certainties by confronting this rural world and its common sense becomes, in my view, a much better decision-maker. Running a business is, above all, about managing figures. Managing in the horse world means managing living beings. And tomorrow’ s leaders need to be able to do both. Getting into this world isn’ t just an expense; it’ s an investment in training. The horse world is a fast track to humility, patience, resilience and intuition. I’ ve met men and women there who have
# 22 – Novembre 2026 200