French Racing / La Casaque Noire / 24 September 2007 /

Le Casaque Noire looks at the issue of over-watering that has taken French Racing by storm

Following two recent cases in England concerning false ground and over watering...

British punters must wonder how come the ground in France always seems so must softer than in England. Does it really rain so much more there? Is the grass different...or?
The simple answer is "watering, watering and more watering".

A theory for Manduro's injury in the Arc trials was put forward by the Aga Khan's racing manager Georges Rimaud, who suggested that the ground, which was officially good (3.1 on the penetrometer), was too slick.

Rimaud said: "The ground was very fast, and I'm not sure how the horses will come out of the races. I expect the horses will suffer from it. It was very, very fast."

Another unhappy with the Longchamp ground was Alain de Royer-Dupre, whose Mandesha chased home Manduro.

"Everything is OK with the filly, but I thought the ground at Longchamp was excessively fast," he said.

Even Manduro's trainer, Andre Fabre, pitched-in: "I have no idea at what point the injury happened but the ground was pretty fast. But I have not heard of any other horse being injured."

Defending the ground, Longchamp's clerk of the course, Christian Delporte, said: "It was good in the morning but it was a very hot day, so it dried further before racing got under way.

I put between six and seven millimeters on the track early on Friday morning and on Saturday morning the going was 3.3 (good to soft)."

So here we have a guy getting slammed for putting half-an-inch of water on a racetrack when there was the possibility of showers!

At the behest of trainers, via France Galop, racecourses are being told to make the ground safe.

Whereas in Britain this might mean the clerk aiming for firm ground with a good covering of grass, in France it as good as means "if the ground rides firm you're fired". Even in the summer months, firm ground just isn't in the racing vocabulary-even good to firm is virtually non-existant.

Back in 2005 the August Deauville meeting got a slating (mainly from the British trainers) for patchy, worn ground, which resembled a ploughed field rather than the expected bowling green. This was due to over-watering followed by summer showers. Since then around half the races have been moved onto the all-weather to "protect the ground". Watering less was not even considered.

Last year, trainers Marc Rolland and Jehan Bertran de Balanda withdraw jumpers in protest at Auteuil's watering policy, claiming the ground wasn't soft enough. This was despite liberal watering that left the ground riding very soft (3.7 on the penetrometer). Could you imagine that at Cheltenham?

Such a policy is short-sighted and very detrimental to the long-term viability of the French breeding industry. The thoroughbred is a fast-ground beast, designed to run on sun-baked deserts and not on ploughed fields!

This year there was a crisis meeting of the French Breeders Association (Syndicat d'Eleveurs) after the flagship August sales consisted of yearlings of which more than 50% were conceived by international, as opposed to home-based, stallions. When putting the catalogue together, the bottom line was that no foreign agent worth his salt was going to buy a French-bred "mudder".

The mooted solution from the Breeders Association? More subsidies and more state aid.
My solution? Turn off the taps!

I should end by stating that the one time a more judicious watering policy is directed, is during the first week of October - France Galop is so concerned about the international image of their flagship race, that the clerk is loathe to (read told not to) pull the hoses out unless absolutely necessary.

Unless we get prolonged rain in the days leading up to the big race, expect good, fast ground on Arc day.

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