ENGLISH TEXTS greatest show of the season . And if there are too many contenders , then let the entire horses be given priority . 2 . The problem is not the programme , but the trainers . Where are the horses ? I agree that the 5-furlong races are not designed for our colts , but it seems that neither are the 2,000-metre trips , since there are four French-trained entries among the 43 entries for the Critérium de Saint-Cloud . 3 . An effort has been made and we can see it in particular at Auteuil . It ’ s still a red-herring , in my opinion . There are interesting bets on races with few runners and not enough effort is made to promote them and optimise their positioning by offering them on races with 9 or 10 runners . 4 . In the new Longchamp , on Arc Day , you have to choose : the ring or the track ! If you want , like me , to see the horses turn and see them enter the track from the stands , be prepared . And watch out for falls at the arrival of the escalators . So I ’ ll be on the track side so as not to miss the most interesting part of the show . And don ’ t forget to take your binoculars : it ’ s necessary , at Longchamp .
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Alain de Royer Dupré 1 . Personally , I understand that people might want it , but it seems to me that it would be heresy . It ’ s a race that has a selection , breeding value . A gelding has a huge advantage : he can race much longer , because he ’ s lighter , he takes on less character . When you have a good 3-year-old , to see him get beaten by a horse that had a fault and now has , dare I say , an edge , I find that a shame . Or we have to admit that the Arc is no longer a selection race . 2 . It ’ s not by increasing the prize money in 2-year-old races that we ’ ll make horses more precocious . It ’ s their breeding , the way they ’ ve been bred and trained that makes them precocious colts . If a precocious colt stays too long in pre-training , where he will lose time , it becomes impossible to make up for lost time . In short , it ’ s up to the breeders and owners to decide . If they send their colts into training before the cold weather , even if they leave them alone in winter , if they have already worked , if they have already accelerated , they will be ready faster a few months later . They will have a head start on the others . 3 . The obvious solution is to limit the number of horses per trainer , as in Asia , but that ’ s not our culture at all . But I don ’ t see how we can increase the number of runners without that . And then there ’ s the fear of the handicapper , which creates extravagant situations . It seems to me that it would be more effective to establish clear common rules to set ratings . On the other hand , the big stables don ’ t necessarily need to compete in handicaps , even small handicaps , to make their horses win and deprive more modest structures of success . You can understand why a trainer wants to look after his statistics , but you have to take a step back . 4 . I haven ’ t been a trainer for two years , but I ’ ve only seen one Arc in normal conditions because I was initially a consultant on Equidia . There are a lot of people and if you ’ re lucky enough to be welcomed into a box , which can happen to me , it ’ s still the best place you can find . But at Longchamp , there ’ s room , plenty of different places to get by , if you know the racecourse well . When we raced the Arc at Chantilly , it was a real problem , on the other hand ! We were on top of each other . But it ’ s a superb race , that ’ s why we mustn ’ t spoil it with geldings .
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