ENGLISH TEXTS dience. Today, everything happens on Instagram and smartphones. Technology and sports are both engaging subjects. It’ s up to the industry to create an explosive mix that draws people in. Virtual dog racing already exists in Australia— everything’ s moving fast. But I hope horses will remain the heart of it all. Data has already revolutionized rugby, but there are things it can’ t grasp, things machines can’ t analyze— like“ French calm”— and that’ s a good thing. That’ s the charm of sport.
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NICOLAS CLÉMENT
“ IT CONFIRMS THE EYE”
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By Serge Okey
A fan of trackers for the past three years, Chantilly-based trainer Nicolas Clément believes these new tools offer a“ solid support” for assessing the condition of his horses. While nothing, in his view, can replace the expert’ s eye, he even dreams of going further.
Galorama. What is your relationship with new technologies: statistics, data, AI?
Nicolas Clément. I’ ve been using them since 2022. My brother( Christophe) is a fan, like many trainers in the United
States. Over there, horses go full speed from the start, and it’ s the one that tires the least that wins. That’ s why data is more important. I use it in a sort of handcrafted way- my own little discoveries, my“ mini algorithms.” I have three trackers, which are expensive, but I enter the data into a small piece of software. Then I create my little leaderboard of strides and rhythms.
G. Does it help you a lot?
N. C. In a way, it’ s informative, a good support. Let’ s say it confirms the eye. If a stride is 6.5 meters, it’ s 6.5 meters. It’ s like what rugby players or footballers do when they measure how many kilometers they’ ve covered. When I was younger and a swimmer, we already added a bit of science to training, intervals, drills, repeated sprints.
G. What could these new technologies change, in your opinion?
N. C. I’ m in favor of putting gates on the tracks, like toll booths- every 200 meters would be ideal to measure speed. And it would also help verify that the right horses are on the track. I’ d love it if AI could give me my horses’ temperatures in the morning, check if they’ re unwell.
G. Are you satisfied with the technologies available today?
N. C. The sensors work 85 – 90 % of the time. It’ s more complicated on snowy or humid days. Sometimes the electrodes also shift around.
G. Do you process the data yourself?
N. C. Last year, I assigned that task to Morgane Molle, an engineer who rode for me. She introduced me to it a bit. Now I use my PC. I look at the graphs: speed, stride length, heart rate based on speed. I’ ve always used breathing as a benchmark.
G. Does digital data generally support your impressions?
N. C. I’ ve got 35 years of experience above all else. Often, it confirms my judgment. Occasionally, it makes me question myself. Very rarely, the“ machine” is right. AI is interesting when it comes to breeding combinations, and for bettors. But we still know that in June, a Fabre has a 25 % chance of winning, a Christopher Head has 24 %, a Rouget will do better over a distance than a sprint, and a son of Dubawi out of a Frankel mare has a 33 % chance of becoming a blacktype.
G. Do you use electronic monitoring tools?
N. C. No, otherwise I’ d never sleep at night. But I understand why breeders might be interested, especially around foaling time.
G. Are these new technologies a good thing overall?
N. C. You know, 25 – 30 years ago, there was a guy in the U. S. who measured horses from ear to withers, croup to tail, took thigh and heel
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