ENGLISH TEXTS
horses, especially for curing diseases. They feed on past data to predict the future. While cloning is banned in racing, it already exists for riding horses. In racing, we can’ t really say AI is widely used yet. But some countries are more advanced than others.
G. Which countries are, in your opinion, the most advanced?
M. M. I just spent five months in Australia and Hong Kong, notably for Lazzat, Jérôme Reynier’ s champion. Over there, some trainers have dedicated science teams working on these technologies, whether it’ s about sensors or genetics. It’ s a different mindset. Same in South Africa— I was surprised to see how much the use of trackers is growing. Trainers are very well equipped.
G. Is Hong Kong still ahead of the curve?
M. M. Trackers are widely used there, and timing data is huge. The advantage is that all this data is public. Morning workouts are timed, and bettors love that data and ask for it. It’ s nothing like France. In a maiden race, you know nothing besides breeding and gossip.
G. Does technology make the atmosphere feel different elsewhere?
M. M. Japan has also developed a strong marketing offer to attract bettors. It creates a virtuous circle. Everything is recorded. The racetracks
are festive, though not quite futuristic yet. The screens aren’ t bigger than ours, but everything is focused on the customer— giving them maximum data and making race days a show. On a Wednesday night at Happy Valley, the venue is packed and the evening ends with fireworks— horses included.
G. Do you feel a shift toward these technologies in France?
M. M. For a long time, I felt kind of alone. It’ s starting to catch on with companies like Arioneo, but we can’ t talk about real enthusiasm yet. In stables, someone has to take the lead on the topic. It’ s still outside the core business of a trainer. But when it comes to heart rate or speed curves, I believe it’ s useful— whether people like it or not.
G. Is it a matter of finding the right balance?
M. M. Of course. It’ s a complementary tool. You still need to see the horse, understand the context— you can’ t just be glued to your computer. You can’ t see heart rate or detect that stride length has decreased by 20 cm over two weeks just by eye. It helps confirm what you’ re feeling. Personally, I need to be out on the field every morning. I love comparing my data with the riders’ impressions. I think my horse is ready to race? I sense it, the data confirms it— it’ s all good.
G. Are these new tools accessible to everyone?
M. M. Putting on sensors— yes. Understanding the data— yes, that too. But digging into the data, analyzing stride length, takes time. It’ s good to have someone on the team to handle that. Data analysis can easily be a 1-2 hour a day job.
G. What advancements can we expect?
M. M. In cardio, lots of things. In imaging, infrared is already amazing— you can detect temperature, and thermal cameras can pinpoint exactly where inflammation is happening. As for genetics, it’ s a complex subject. But reading the genome promises a huge step for future breeding. For health, too— we know there are genetic predispositions for certain injuries. Some sires produce horses more prone to injuries. These are empirical observations that DNA reading could validate as predispositions.
G. Strangely, not many digital tools have tackled genetics yet...
M. M. No, it’ s crazy! Probably because it’ s a sacred topic. And we lack the tools compared to other animal studies, like in cattle. In this area, even riding horses are ahead of thoroughbreds.
G. How connected will racing be in 15 or 30 years?
M. M. I hope we’ ll be able to use these advancements to attract a new, younger au-
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