Friday, December 13, 2024

Laffitte and Longchamp

New contributor trainer Victoria Haigh reports from Longchamp

 

I am going to be writing for The Steeple Times on French racing and begin by reporting on a great day out at Longchamp. I am a trainer in Maisons-Laffitte, half an hour’s drive away from the track, and it was a big day’s racing on Sunday. Group 3 races included the Prix Saint-Alary for fillies and the Group 1 Prix D’Isphan.

 

Laffitte and Longchamp
Solow with jockey Maxime Guyon in the parade ring
Laffitte and Longchamp
Victoria Haigh with her daughter Sapphire and Cirrus Des Aigles trainer Corine Barande-Barbe

 

Freddy Head had a very profitable day as he won them both with €142,850 to the winner plus the very lucrative premiums that are on offer in France for the French bred horses. The other Group Race was won by Pia Brandt a Swedish trainer who is doing exceptionally well over here in Chantilly.

 

After having a chat to Mrs Doumin, the wife of the legend trainer François, I also caught up with the trainer of the phenomenal multiple Group winning horse, Cirrus Des Aigles, He was taking on the incredible Solow in the Group 1 but trailed in last after snapping a front plate in half. Solow, the grey who won, has an incredible engine and it will be interesting to see what his target will be now.

 

Longchamp has a fantastic area for owners and trainers, with a restaurant with tables outside and in. There is also an outside bar and it is never really packed so one cannot move apart from the Arc meeting in October. The parade ring is opposite and one can drink and eat watching the runners parade without having to move far at all.

 

Olivier Peslier came and had a chat with me as we have known each other since from long ago when I was a trainer in the UK and he would come over for the big meetings. I rate him as a jockey and hope he will be on one of mine soon.

 

After living and training in the UK, I have to say I am adapting very well to the French way of life going racing around Paris and not having to trek for hours on end to go to decent race meetings. I was at Auteuil a couple of weeks ago for the Grand Steeplechase De Paris and again it was a 30-minute drive. Driving around Paris can be a little daunting for some, but I don’t mind it at all.

 

Victoria Haigh is a former jockey who is now a racehorse trainer based in France. She is the first British racehorse trainer to hold a French training license in Maisons-Laffitte, Paris for fifty years. Follow her on Twitter at @HaighVictoria.

 

 

Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:

     

    The Steeple Times
    The Steeple Times
    We research and background check our articles. If you believe we have made and error in some detail please get in touch, we seek always to write the truth and stand against a press owned by a self selected few. Please help us, we will accept all your likes, subscriptions and anonymous suport. The Editor and his team at the Steeple Times.

    7 COMMENTS

    1. Le bonheur est dans les champs, cours-y vite, cours-y vite! Delighted to see you’ve hit the right milieu for you and S (tamed at last?!). Hugs Belinda xx

    Comments are closed.

    BOOK BELOW
    3,573FansLike
    2,068FollowersFollow
    16,731FollowersFollow
    4,962SubscribersSubscribe

    £1 per week Supports The Steeple Times

    Help journalism to remain honest & independent. You can make a difference to the world today.

    Subscribe For DAILY NEWS

    Please subscribe, like and share this unique site, it helps us tremendously. The Steeple Times in return will send you an email at noon each and everyday, that we sincerely hope you will enjoy & look forward to seeing in your inbox.

    Trending Now

    Most Popular Articles

    The Phil & Matt Show

    Phillip Schofield filmed smoking shisha with his alleged ex-lover Matt McGreevy (and pictured in bed thereafter); another image shows the pair together in photograph...

    Was Mucky Minx Meghan Markle A ‘Yacht Girl’ For ‘Randy Andy’?

    As author Kirby Sommers suggests that the then Meghan Markle likely spent time with Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein before she met Prince Harry, we again highlight the mucky, murkiness and mendacious manner of this alleged “yacht girl.”

    SchofieldLite

    ‘Politicalite’ suggest Phillip Schofield orchestrated his ‘mass coming out’ after a former ‘This Morning’ runner had gone to the press about a supposed relationship...

    Meddling Meghan Markle Expose – Attwood, Hopkins & Steeples

    Expose interview with Matthew Steeples by Shaun Attwood and Jennifer Hopkins about the former Meghan Markle watched over 73,000 times in 16 hours since it aired; Steeples condemns hapless Prince Harry and his meddling menace wife.