ENGLISH TEXTS
Christophe Soumillon to talk about mental health in horse racing, offering a fascinating athlete’ s perspective on a high-level sport. « Mental health isn’ t something we think about much. Since our job is fairly repetitive every day, even if we change places and horses, we tend to always strive for improvement and victory, which usually makes us feel good both mentally and physically. Unfortunately, when you go through periods where you’ re winning less, you’ re not as fit and it often starts to affect both body and mind. From that moment on, it’ s clear we realize we have weaknesses, but we don’ t really dare to talk about it, or even think about it too much, to avoid sinking.(…) I was fortunate at certain times in my career to have people who gave me advice, helping me learn how to manage areas where I was less stable than others, or moments when I struggled to handle my emotions. » « For me, it’ s clear that getting fresh air and enjoying nature does me the most good. Today, with the ponies and the academy, I’ ve found another side of life that helps me feel better mentally and physically. In the end, we’ re constantly discovering ourselves in life. »
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BERTRAND LESTRADE
� PAGE 51
By Serge Okey
“ Needing help is not a sign of weakness” Four-time Cravache d’ Or winner, triple winner of the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris( Gr. 1), with a record of over 1,300 victories, Bertrand Lestrade is a model figure in the world of NHracing. President of the Jockeys’ Association, he campaigns for mental health support at every stage of a jockey’ s career. Without delay.
Galorama. What comes first: talent or mindset?
Bertrand Lestrade. I agree with Teddy Riner when he says it’ s“ 50 / 50.” Personally, I realized it quite late. I hope that in five years’ time, we’ ll look back and say: how could we have prepared like that? Things are improving, but in France we’ re still far behind on this front. Here, all preparation is based on the physical, on weight. Mental preparation is almost nonexistent. There’ s work to be done!
G. What do you recommend?
B. L. First, a real awareness. In France, there’ s no sportsstudy program like in other disciplines. Paradoxically, we have the best jockeys. But they’ re often born into the profession. At 17 or 18, you can find yourself thrown in at the deep end without be- ing prepared, without any tools to manage the money suddenly coming in, or the ins and outs of communication.
G. Do jockeys talk about all this among themselves?
B. L. Not much. Before, it was more festive, brotherly, less professional. Today, the increase in race meetings means you don’ t really have close friends anymore. Rivalry prevails, respectful rivalry, of course. The positive side is that we’ re moving more toward elite sport, with better preparation. But the pressure has multiplied. Many owners are investors who want results quickly and naturally turn first to the top jockeys. That doesn’ t help bring less experienced riders into the saddle.
G. People say that in harness racing the stars are the horses, while in flat racing it’ s the jockeys. Do you agree?
B. L. The jockey is the last wheel of the cart. When a horse wins, it’ s thanks to him. When it loses, it’ s his fault. There are more jockeys than rides available. So you quickly get“ squeezed out.” And racing no longer has the monopoly on betting. Before, it was the only sport you could wager on. With Soumillon and Peslier, there was material to bring light to our profession. Rugby managed to do it with Dupont. Racing needs leaders, people the public can identify with.
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