3 minute read
Moment Of The Month: Paulin Blot.
Paulin Blot caused a social media sensation on 10th January at Pau, overcoming all odds to stay aboard his mount during a cross-country race. He jumped only one obstacle with his saddle in place…for the rest of the contest, Blot used his balance and ability to stay upright. We speak to the jockey about the race and subsequent reaction…
Cross-country races are usually a spectacle to view, but this year's renewal of the Prix Jean Granel 2022 at Pau will go down in history. Paulin Blot managed to jump 23 obstacles over 4700m bareback after his saddle-slipped shortly after the start.
After learning his craft at the racing school and an apprenticeship with Marcel Rolland, Blot worked for a few years with trainer Philippe Lefebvre in the east of France. Ten years at Pau followed before leaving for Pompadour where he works with Fabien Lagarde, the trainer of Frascati Lagarde, the horse at the centre of this incredible Pau race.
"At the fence known as the Irish bench, the horse in front of me braked hard to jump the obstacle. My horse who doesn't worry about anything, struggled to recover, and jumped to the left, unbalancing me on the right. The weight of my body made the saddle spin on the landing. A few days earlier I stupidly fell in the same place on this course. I didn't want that to happen again. That's why I didn't want to stop the horse.
I first tried to put the saddle back in place, without success. The horse jumped the fence while I was "fiddling around". I thought for a moment of retiring from the race but whilst jumping the bullfinch, I felt my horse almost say to me: "get over it" and he took a superb jumping line on his own, knowing the course by heart. That's when I said to myself, I will keep going, trust him and see where it takes me. Frascati Lagarde jumped everything perfectly. During the course, my task was to not disturb him. He overtook the others at the end of the race to finish second. It's crazy. But even with the saddle, I would not have beaten the winner.
When I passed the post, it was such a relief. My thighs were burning! It was when I came back from the track that I saw the whole grandstand applauding me, the excitement, people congratulating me at the scales, it was quite impressive. Even the stewards congratulated me.
There was a lot of excitement. The video had over 200,000 views on social media. I made the front page of the Racing Post website…but now everything is back to normal.
With what happened, I owe a lot to trainer Philippe Cottin with whom I also jumped a lot without stirrups: trunks, ditches, anything and everything. You learn to be in control of your horse and to be at one with it.
For my part, I do a lot of cycling. This obviously strengthens the thighs, but also the cardio, the physical condition, and the mindset. I must admit that when I left to do my 80 kilometers the next day following the race, I had to lay the bike down to be able to get on it.
What are your goals for 2022?
Winning with Frascati Lagarde… and with a saddle! And then win the national cross-country trophy which I narrowly missed in 2021.
