ENGLISH TEXTS gan modestly with 10 fixtures. Today it consists of 87 race days, featuring 733 races, of which 179 are mounted races and 17 Group 1 events. Nearly € 42 million in prize money will be distributed over these four months. The highlights are the two“ world championships”: the Prix de Cornulier for mounted trotters on 18 January, and the Prix d’ Amérique Legend Race on the 25 th. One of the charms of the Paris-Vincennes meeting is its night racing on Tuesdays and Fridays— a brilliant idea by René Ballière, launched in 1952 and made possible in winter by the floodlit track. A very special misty atmosphere descends on the stables during those race nights. The wind blows hard, turtlenecks are essential, but you can feel the heartbeat of trotting!
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THE LATE BLOOMING
BY EMMANUEL RIVRON
Johnny Charron may be the veteran of the weighing room, but that didn’ t stop him from landing a double in Group 1 races during the 48H de l’ Obstacle. After struggling for years and even considering quitting the profession multiple times, the rider who spent the early part of his career traveling around racetracks in Western France is now experiencing his best sporting years. Very popular among racing fans for his sharp eye and straightforward manner, Johnny Charron savors these privileged moments intensely, as he confided to us.
Johnny Charron is not one of those prodigies, those early-blooming jockeys, far from it! The former apprentice of Étienne Leenders actually had to wait until the age of 35 to win his first Group race. Standing 1.76 meters tall, the two-time winner of the Grand Steeplechase de Paris( Gr. 1) fights a daily battle with his weight, the price of endless sacrifices. And it was after his daily workout, eight kilometers of running that day, that the jockey from Angers looked back on his 48 heures de l’ Obstacle, which allowed him to secure two more Group 1 victories, in just five rides, over that prestigious weekend:“ I turned down some mounts,” he tells us.“ When I’ m booked on horses that don’ t have a real chance, I’ ve noticed I can end up disappointed, which isn’ t ideal when approaching Group 1 races. This weekend, though, I had a lot of fun during the 48H de l’ Obstacle.” And with good reason. The 45-year-old jockey notably kept his title in the Prix Serge Landon – Grand Prix d’ Automne aboard Losange Bleu, who collected on that occasion his eleventh Group win, his eighth with Johnny Charron:“ When I learned I’ d be riding Losange Bleu in 2023, I had just taken a fall with one of Mr. Papot’ s horses and suffered a severe concussion. When he came to check on me, Mr. Papot asked whether I wanted to ride Losange. It was an honor to be associated with such a horse! For my first ride on him, things went terribly. I rode him too much by the book that day. Since then, we’ ve set things straight. I rarely work him in the mornings because he’ s perfectly prepared by his morning rider, Florent Neveu, a former jockey who knows him inside out. From what I remember from horsecare classes, a horse can grow until age seven. Losange Bleu is therefore in the prime of his life right now!” More than ever, horse racing needs long-lasting stars. After Al Capone II, Katko, and Galop Marin, Auteuil certainly has a new king in Losange Bleu. Only three years old, Léopard du Berlais has not yet joined that illustrious list, but he has already left his mark on racing history with three Group wins from as many starts, all entrusted to the jockey from Angers, who has been based in Les Mathes since 2020:“ I first discovered Léopard during a gallop at Compiègne,” his regular rider tells us.“ David( Cottin) asked me that day to put him in difficulty, without telling me much more. The colt followed his three leaders, jumped like an old horse, and accelerated intelligently when I asked. He was calm and serene after the work. David told me he would debut him directly in the Prix Aguado. So I saved myself for that Group 3, determined not to ride him like a trainee. What this colt has done since his debut is unique, under such a storied set of silks, those of Mr. Pilarski, who is a great man to me. After all, he owned the phenomenal Bold Eagle, who carried French colors to great heights. I could have had a poster of Bold Eagle in my bedroom!” History does not tell us whether Fanny, Laëticia, Séverine, and Dylan have a poster of their brother Johnny in
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