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The Classic Touch: Jean-Claude Rouget.
Jean-Claude Rouget famously completed a historic double in 2009 when Le Havre and Stacelita won the Prix du Jockey Club and Prix de Diane. Jean-Claude Rouget has won eight of the Classics with horses who are part of French racing history : Le Havre, Almanzor… This year, he has three chances to increase his tally : Makaloun, Saiydabad and Cheshire Academy.
Makaloun seems to have improved at 3 years old: what is your opinion of this Aga Khan representative who was third in the G1 Criterium of Saint-Cloud as 2 years old?
At 2 years old, he was really gangly. He has changed the most physically in the winter. We wanted to wait as long as possible and start his season in the Prix de Guiche because the Criterium had been a tough race in a bit too soft going. The horse won well in the Prix de Guiche. He is truly a class horse.
Since then, he has only done light work and he galloped over 1600m this morning with a leader. Makaloun is unaffected by the state of the going. Christophe Soumillon will ride, and we are optimistic. The only thing that scares us is, as usual, the visiting British horses. But Makaloun is a warrior who loves to race, who wants to race. He loves his job.
Cheshire Academy has a different profile with a first run at Pau and a victory in the Prix Noailles at 3 years old after an enquiry (Pretty Tiger demoted for interference with Cheshire Academy). He races for White Birch Farm, Sottsass's colors. What do you think of him?
He is very good, but he has a real problem getting out of the starting gates. In his first race, he was stuck in the gate, which makes his victory even more impressive as he was almost 100 meters behind. He is a late horse who will only improve. He has a lot of class. He needs a race with a strong pace to build up his formidable turn of foot. Cristian Demuro will be his jockey.
This morning, his work over 1600m was very good. I like to work them over shorter than the race distance. He is constantly improving and the fact that he has not run for two months is an advantage for him. He is light and can be ready to race very quickly. Cheshire Academy never ceases to amaze me.
Saiydabad has a different profile as he only started this year ?
For Saiydabad, I hesistate to say it but he was "chubby", you could feel he was a horse lacking maturity. He has less sparkle and natural speed than the other two. He is low key. He always wins by the minimum distance but he's not been beaten. I can't wait to see how far he can go: he has a lot of potential in my opinion and his real goal will be the Grand Prix de Paris where I will also run Cheshire Academy but not Makaloun. Jean-Bernard Eyquem will be his jockey in the Jockey Club. Saiydabad and Cheshire Academy work together but Saiydabad is never the one in the spotlight because he doesn't really need it.
What does the Prix du Jockey Club means to you?
Even after winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, I say it over and over again, the Jockey Club and the Prix de Diane are Classics and they are my favorite races. With the 3 years old races in England, these are the races that I love.
For the breeding too, we have seen that the shortening of the Jockey Club distance has been beneficial with outstanding stallions that have emerged in recent years such as Shamardal or Lope de Vega. They are milers that can go over 2100m. For me, if a horse can only win over 2400m, he should not be considered as a future good stallion but for horses with a jumps vocation. Or you need exceptional champions like Sea the Stars or Galileo who could win on the mile as well as the Epsom Derby over 2400m. We must welcome this option of a Jockey Club over 2100m because there has been so many good stallions from this race since this change.