ENGLISH TEXTS
and the action to handle soft ground.“ I wasn’ t leaving the sale without her.” Durcan’ s confidence was instantly rewarded, to the delight of the Sundowners Partnership. Sent into training with Gordon Elliott in Ireland, Wodhooh demonstrated an immediate proficiency for hurdles, recording seven straight wins, including a Cheltenham Festival success in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle.“ Gordon and the team have done a great job placing her and keeping her improving with each run.“ Winning at the Festival last year, it’ s the Holy Grail for any National Hunt owner. Every time she wins, everyone is a little taken aback and she keeps doing it.“ She’ s done a lot more than I ever expected. I knew we would get plenty of fun out of her, but did I know she’ d reaching the heights she is now? I wasn’ t able to see that.“ She has gone above and beyond all my expectations.” For Durcan and the owners, the journey has been just as joyous in defeat. After Cheltenham glory, Wodhooh headed to Aintree to take on proven Grade 1 performer Lossiemouth, finishing a close second in the Aintree Hurdle( Gr. 1).“ I think everyone was more proud of her at Aintree, when she forced Lossiemouth to pull out all the stops. Her owners really appreciate it – it’ s all about her and having fun, rather than the prize money.” While old adversary Lossiemouth sauntered to Grade 1 glory in the Morgiana Hurdle in Ireland on the same day, Wodhooh’ s comfortable winning performance in the Ascot Hurdle reminded everyone that the story isn’ t over yet.“ She’ s only a five-year-old, rising six,” reminds Durcan.“ I think she saves a little up her sleeve and only does what she has to do.“ Every time she races, she does something that people aren’ t expecting.”
ECO
JANUS AND PEGASUS
BY IGOR DE MAACK
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There is a god belonging specifically to Roman mythology, with no reference to Greek deities, in the figure of Janus. This Roman god is depicted with two faces, symbolizing one gaze turned toward the past and the other toward the future. A god of transition, even of ambiguity, he carries the attributes of a gatekeeper: a staff and a key. This is precisely what is at stake in our current geopolitical period, marked by a sort of low-intensity third world war( in Ukraine) combined with a post-globalization economy. It is moreover for this reason that risks to the macroeconomy weigh heavily today. The dizzying race of investments in artificial intelligence( AI), like Pegasus, the winged horse, is pushing stock markets to new heights. Despite this, tariff and non-tariff constraints on global trade have never been so strong. Financial conditions also remain fragile for some American households, and banks continue to fail( Zions Bancorp, Western Alliance) as do certain companies( Tricolor, First Brands). A glimmer of hope could, however, come from a de-escalation and / or a comprehensive agreement on economic relations between China and the United States. Janus is also the name of the U. S. Army’ s nuclearization program, which plans to install micro-nuclear reactors in American bases( a first installation is scheduled for September 2028). This race toward nuclear energy( civilian or military) is also evident in China. Indeed, China is currently building 33 reactors, as many as in the rest of the world combined( 58 plants currently in operation). American interventionism( most recently in Latin America, with Venezuela and Colombia as targets) requires, in fact, a gradual rearmament at an affordable energy cost. In France, the new Lecornu II government is attempting to find a narrow path between popular and costly measures( higher taxation of the wealthiest and suspension of pension reform) and the reality of a deficit still out of control and the weight of an abyssal debt. The latest figures published by Infogreffe also show a rise in business failures in 2025(+ 35.7 %, a record over the past ten years) as well as judicial reorganizations(+ 30.7 %). Never has the motto of the main character( the Minister) in Bertrand Tavernier’ s film Quai d’ Orsay—“ Responsibility, Unity, Efficiency”— been so meaningful. French politicians seem to have forgotten this triptych, which is essential to a political action that produces tangible results in terms of major balances and is audible to the people who elect them.
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