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anxiety and stress. But being grounded in the present.
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2. JOCKEYS’ AGENTS, THE ONLY GOOD EAR?
ANTHONY GRUEAU
� PAGE 77
By Mélodie Janvier
When asked about mental health among jockeys, the agent replies:“ For a jockey to perform, he has to feel good in his skin, in his head, and in his life.” And for him, it is also one of the many hats of an agent to support his riders on the mental side.“ The agent’ s job isn’ t just answering the phone and finding rides. It’ s studying the form, watching the races, managing the trainers, debriefing with the jockey. And then it’ s also being the big brother, the father, the psychologist. I’ d say I spend two-thirds of my time doing my agent’ s work and one-third coaching.” He explains this division as follows:“ Maybe it’ s also because they’ re friends before being professional relationships. They know my family and I know theirs. For this to work, you have to give 200 %, so if they weren’ t friends, it would be hard to invest yourself that much.
You put your life on hold, it has to be said.” Within Anthony’ s team, the jockeys’ profiles are quite varied:“ Each one has his own personality, some like to be challenged, others, on the contrary, need reassurance or encouragement. Some also need all the planets to be aligned in order to perform. There’ s also a difference between those who are already fathers, or about to become one and want to spend time with their families, and those who have their heads down trying to take the next step.” Anthony has his own way of getting them to talk, although he admits he doesn’ t always have the right tools and that proper training could help him provide better support:“ With experience, you learn how to approach them. I often try to get them to talk without them realizing it, probably because we exchange as friends and not as colleagues. In the end, they don’ t realize it’ s closer to coaching.” For him, this is not really a subject jockeys concern themselves with:“ I don’ t think they think about it, especially when they’ re on track. And then they don’ t really have time to do anything but race, nor do they take the time. I also think it’ s cultural, you mustn’ t admit you’ re not at your best. It’ s like saying people shouldn’ t call on you. It’ s a tough world. In football, for example, you face your opponents two or three times a year, whereas in our world, you face yours up to seven or eight times a day. And even if they’ re of- ten your friends, they’ re also your rivals, that’ s probably another reason they rarely admit when things aren’ t going well.”
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STEVE OBRY
� PAGE 78
By Cécile Adonias
Steve Obry has been a jockeys’ agent for more than fifteen years and currently manages four flat jockeys. He shares his views on the issue of jockeys’ mental health.
Galorama. In your opinion, what is the state of jockeys’ mental health?
Steve Obry. Jockeys are overworked. They ride a lot of races throughout the year, and inevitably, they go through slumps. The pace is intense, between morning gallops, travel and races, the time frame stretches from 10 a. m. to 10:30 p. m. In the past, Paris-based jockeys traveled less to the provinces; now, there are no more boundaries. Something broke a few years ago. Biologically, it’ s very tough. For jockeys who diet, managing such varied schedules is even harder.
G. What is the role of the agent in this context?
S. O. We are the jockeys’ sounding board. We have to listen to them, encour-
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