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More than 23,000 runners in France More than 5,000 winners in France 31 times champion traîner .
THE GOLDEN AGE THE MATHET OF THE YEAR 2000 MASTER OF RIDERS HAPPY HORSES THE SILKS ROAD HE SAID IT ALL , ONCE AND FOR ALL WHATEVER COMES NEXT IS UP WITH THE WIND
Besides the already staggering figures of his forty-seven-year career , the stable ’ s consistent winning rate commands admiration . 22 %, from a population of nearly 23,000 flat runners in France , is a phenomenal result . And 19 % at the highest level !
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THE GOLDEN AGE
By dint of reading about this man and hearing him spoken of by those who have known him or still know him , beyond the repeated tributes to his mentors , to his wife Elisabeth and to his staff , one realises the recurrence of several themes . The first is that of « happy horses », which appear regularly , in the background , but insistently , as if it were an even more important objective than victory . The second is the almost nostalgic evocation of what we will call a « golden age », that of youth , speed and risk , where everything is possible , except regret . It is hard to imagine André Fabre being nostalgic . His success is colossal . He oozes confidence . In the world we are interested in , his power and notoriety have long allowed him to dispense with unwelcome intrusions ( an absolute luxury ), and to summon great minds at will , to choose precisely the path he wishes to take . The trainer is the sorcerer of the racing tribe , the one who knows , argues with the gods , masters the unpredictable , knows and can do everything . And Fabre is THE sorcerer of our little village . Yet there is abundant testimony from those who knew him then , in the days of André Adèle , the escapades and outings to Saumur , Waregem and Auteuil , the bon vivant who had not yet become a monk , a cyclist and a grumpy horseman . These former colleagues in the weiging rooms sometimes measured the world that separated their rough apprenticeships from the lecture halls of the rue d ’ Assas and the riding schools of Berlin , the gentleman-rider perceived as a dilettante from the hard-working jockey . But the esprit de corps prevailed . André Fabre readily welcomes those who have measured themselves against the rail-ditch and fences . He goes out of his way to reach out to them . This is not unlike brothers in arms who , united for the duration of a conflict , meet again years later with emotion , even though their destinies have irrevocably separated them . The sorcerer first lived his bohemian life , and he does not forget those who shared that time .
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• Louis de Bourgoing , whose father was one of André Fabre ’ s first owners when he started training .
« André Adèle , it was an old story with our family , going back several generations on both sides . When he died , the priority successor was Jack-Hubert Barbe . But André , who had already left , was approached by others and he got them back . There was Doctor David , Mr Thibault , and others including , indeed , my father . He already really liked André and Elizabeth at André Adèle ’ s . It turned out to be great for us and not bad for André because among the horses we entrusted to him in the first season , there were some very good ones , like Miss Tracy , winner of the Prix Maurice Gillois 80 ( and a flat race at Alençon on her second outing in May 79 ), Quid Novi , who took 2nd place in the Georges Courtois , and Petit Fontaine , who won two Murats . I can still see the 1980 Obstacle Golden Horse that my father received , when we had a
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