16 May 2020
Photo scoopdyga.com
June, Chantilly
Prix Bertrand du Breuil Longines
(ex-Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord)
Groupe 3, 4ans et au-dessus, 1 600 mètres, 56 000 €
Créé en 1852 (dans sa forme actuelle depuis 1933)
Last winner: Pretreville (m5, FRA by Acclamation and Pegase Hurry, par Fusaichi Pegasus), owned by Gérard Augustin-Normand, bred by Serge Boucheron, trained by Pascal Bary, ridden by Cristian Demuro.
Record-time: 1'34''50 by Pretreville in 2020.
The race in its actual shape will be run for the 87th time in 2021
The 2020 edition
Monday, May 18, 2020, Chantilly. - Keen to take the lead early on, Pretreville (Acclamation) was never really challenged and won the Prix Bertrand du Breuil Longines (Gr3) by 3 1/2 lengths over Plumatic (Dubawi) and the favourite Skalleti (Kendargent). The first three home were away for 238, 205 and 197 days respectively ...
This season, this race is the first step to lead to the Prix d'Ispahan (Gr1), which takes place on July 19 in Chantilly and will be exceptionally open to 3-year-olds. Owned by Gérard Augustin-Normand, bred by Serge Boucheron, Pretreville was running for the first time for trainer Pascal Bary, and so was the 2nd-placed Plumatic, now handled by Francis-Henri Graffard.
Pretreville, a 5-year-old horse, had not run since winning the Point du Jour - Haras de Bouquetot (L) at Craon in September. Last season, he won five times and was second once in six outings but it was his first attempt at this level. Bought for € 100,000 at the Arqana yearling sales in October 2016 by his former trainer Jean-Claude Rouget, he was consigned by the Haras du Mézeray. Pretreville hails from a family that has done well in the United States. The next step for the French aged milers is the Prix du Muguet (Gr2), scheduled for June 28 (instead of May 1).
History
In 2013, the Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord was renamed to honour the last ever President of the Société d’Encouragement, the late Bertrand du Breuil. It was on 13th May 1852 that a 6-furlong race for 2-year-olds and over was first held at Chantilly, bearing the name Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord. Its 1,000 francs prize money was provided by the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Nord (Northern Railway Company), whose trains used to ferry Paris’s punters to Chantilly Racecourse at the time. For the following three years, with the same sponsor and still at the Conde family’s racecourse, the purse was increased to 1,500 francs and event’s configuration changed to a hurdles event over a mile and a half. In 1856, it reverted to the flat, as a 2-mile race for 3-year-olds and over. Increased to 2,000 francs in 1870 and to 5,000 F in 1906, the prize money continued to be offered entirely by the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Nord until 1910. In 1911, the winnings were hiked up to 8,000 F, with 5,000 F provided by the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Nord and the remainder by the Société d’Encouragement. A further rise in 1922 took it to 50,000 F, of which 20,000 F was supplied by the railroad. This prize money remained the same until 1937, after which the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer du Nord withdrew its sponsorship following its nationalisation as part of S.N.C.F. But the name of the race remained unchanged.
Held over various distances, the event’s aim was modified in 1933, when it was cut to 7 furlongs so as to test the speed of the participants rather than their staying power. This is still the case today, with only slight alterations in the distance occurring over the years: 7 furlongs from 1933 to 1949; 8 ½ furlongs from 1950 to 1954; 7 furlongs from 1955 to 1971; 1 mile since 1972.
Originally open to 3-year-olds and also their elders, the Prix du Chemin de Fer du Nord has been restricted to aged horses since 1967. For several years, it left Chantilly for Longchamp in 1941 and 1942 and from 1945 to 1954; for Maisons-Laffitte in 1943, 1997 and 1998. In 1940 and 1944, it was not held due to war.
In 2020, the race is run in May instead of its usual Prix de Diane-meeting setting, because of the program's alterations following the coronavirus outbreak. It is exceptionally held before the Prix du Muguet (Gr2) and the Prix d'Ispahan (Gr1).
Bertrand du Breuil (1926-2011)
At the end of the 20th century, Bertrand du Breuil was one of the equestrian world’s most influential characters. When the Société d’Encouragement committee met on 22nd March 1991 to appoint their new president, who would take over from Gérald de Geoffre after the latter turned down the chance to preside over a new term, they elected Baron Bertrand du Breuil, who amassed 19 votes compared with Paul de Moussac’s 14.
Aged sixty-four, Bertrand du Breuil had been a committed member of the Société d’Encouragement for twenty years, having been a member of the committee since 1972 and a commissioner since 1974. After a glittering career as a cavalry officer, punctuated with almost 150 victories in international showjumping events, Bertrand du Breuil left the army in 1956 to fulfil various management positions in the papermaking companies of the Béghin-Say group, whose president was du Breuil’s father-in-law, Ferdinand Béghin. There is a glowing description of du Breuil in the preface of the book “Album de Famille”, written by Académie Française writer and du Breuil's brother-in-law, Jean d’Ormesson:
“Bertrand du Breuil is loved and respected by his friends, which is nothing extraordinary. He is also loved and respected by his family, which is a lot less common. More than this, he is both gifted and talented, which is truly exceptional. He is one of France’s best horsemen and knows everything there is to know about the species. He has represented his country in numerous international competitions, often leading France to glory over the most difficult obstacles on the highest rung of the ladder. He not only adores, cares about and talks about the equine world: he also knows how to bring it to life on paper. This global champion is a peerless caricaturist.”
Bertrand du Breuil would pay careful attention during meetings, listening intently to what was being said but also observing, drawing sketches on scraps of paper. Put together, his drawings give an accurate representation of the Société d’Encouragement, and racing as a whole. His sketches were also used to illustrate Courses & Élevage magazine, and the book “Album de Famille”, which was published in 1985 with texts by Natalie Carter.
Bertrand du Breuil’s term as president would be the shortest in the history of the Société d’Encouragement: he would only chair five committees meetings – between 29th April and 15th November 1991. Events quickly took over, but throughout his brief presidency du Breuil maintained his sense of goodwill, a quality that was rarely seen in such difficult times. When du Breuil took the reins of the Société d’Encouragement, horse racing was in rather a sorry state.
Here is a quick recap of the situation at the time. Advocated in 1989 by Olivier Lecerf (then president of the French Federation), racing’s only society was struggling to deal with one problem after another while in serious financial dire straits. However, on 4th May 1990, the U.P.G. (Union Pour le Galop or Pro-Racing Union) was formed, which brought together the four Parisian societies: the two mother societies (Société d’Encouragement and Société des Steeples) and the two daughter societies (Société Sportive d’Encouragement and Société de Sport de France), who were fiercely independent and completely against the merger. One of the aims was to lower the running costs of racing in the greater Paris region. Bernard Le Gentil was elected president of the Union. In October, the administrative services of the Société d’Encouragement and the Société des Steeple moved into new shared headquarters in Boulogne. On 8th June 1991 at Évry, all of the runners in the race supported by combination bets went on strike, forcing the commissioners to cancel. The reason given by the presidents of the breeders’ and trainers’ syndicates, who had persuaded the owners not to run their horses despite having declared them as starters, was “so that for once, the only real winner of the races (the State) sees that they can lose.” The State lost out because it had intended to pocket all of the unpaid bets. As a result of the strike, the U.P.G. was called upon to lay the foundations for a new racing organisation – something the “union” would only manage to do on 3rd May 1995 when France Galop was created.
Following the strike at Évry, which was contested by numerous professionals shouting “Stop the massacre”, President du Breuil called the Société d’Encouragement committee together on 2nd July 1991. This crucial meeting would help solve this tricky situation, but not without collateral damage. After hearing various speeches, including one by François Clos, head of the national Stud Service, the society decided to carefully merge the two mother societies into one, a plan that had long been championed by the president. After reaching an agreement with the Société des Steeples and after getting the go-ahead from his Committee on 9th October, President du Breuil called a final meeting on 15th November 1991 in order to persuade the committee to agree to dissolve the Société d’Encouragement for the common good, one hundred and fifty-eight years after the Committee’s first-ever meeting on 11th November 1833, which was presided over by Lord Henry Seymour.
Here are some quotes from President du Breuil’s speech. “We must prove that we are able to take charge of racing’s future ourselves and that we do not want the authorities to decide our fate. Anyone on the outside would be astonished if we were to vote against this motion today, as the members of this Committee have both publicly and privately declared that they support the merger of the two mother societies. […] But, because one must work within our society’s services every day to notice it, you may not be aware that our staff, who have shown both dedication and professionalism, are both surprised and disapproving when they see our hesitation, our tergiversation and our ineptitude in working together to define a policy of solidarity and coherence. The staff’s feelings and concerns are completely understandable. I would like to add that for the last year they have been working with the staff of the Société des Steeple-chases, pooling their skills and abilities for the general good. It is time to put a stop to our disagreements, quarrels and ulterior motives, as the economic and financial situation of the horse racing field deserves a more constructive attitude and more responsible behaviour. This is exactly what we are proposing today, and we hope that each and every one of us, given the importance of this vote, which is taken anonymously, does the right thing to guarantee a better future for racing.”
After various speeches exhorting members to vote favourably made by vice-president Bertrand Bélinguier, by the honorary president Gérald de Geoffre, and by French Federation president Bernard Le Quellec, President Bertrand du Breuil asked the thirty-two assembled members of the Committee to take part in an anonymous vote on the following motion: “the dissolving of the Société d’Encouragement and the creation of the Société d’Encouragement et des Steeple-chases de France will take effect as of 1 st January 1992”, a motion which won 25 votes in favour and 7 against.
In order to remember this difficult time and the early history of racing’s mother society, Bertrand du Breuil asked Guy Thibault to write a book called “Les heures mouvementées de la Société d’Encouragement” (“The troubled times of the Société d’Encouragement”), which was published in August 1993 with a preface written by du Breuil himself.
Owners
- Khalid Abdullah (4 wins): Cacique (2005), Apsis (2006), Byword (2011), Mainsail (2013).
- Paul de Moussac (3 wins): Pampabird (1983), Mill Native (1988), French Stress (1989).
- Guy de Rothschild (3 wins): Rina (1960), Cassis (1962) for Mr, Hodell (1963) pour Mrs.
Trainers
- André Fabre (7 wins): Mill Native (1988), French Stress (1989), Kingsalsa (2000), Cacique (2005), Apsis (2006), Byword (2011), Fintry (2015).
- Pascal Bary (4 wins): Field of Hope (1999), Domedriver (2002), Mainsail (2013), Pretreville (2020).
- Alexandre Lieux (3 wins): Fine Art (1943), Fine Top (1954), Renard (1957).
- Geoffroy Watson (3 wins): Rina (1960), Cassis (1962), Hodell (1963).
- Christiane Head-Maarek (3 wins): Pluralisme (1984), Pink (1985), Fuissé (2010).
- Jean-Marie Béguigné (3 wins): My Risk (2004), Spirito del Vento (2007, 2008).
- Elie Lellouche (3 wins): As Que To (1992), Africanus (1993), Pinturicchio (2014).
Riders
- Freddy Head (7 wins): Apataki (1966), Regent Street (1969), My Friend Paul (1973), Rostov (1980), Big John (1982), Pluralisme (1984), Pink (1985).
- Cash Asmussen (4 wins): Mill Native (1988), French Stress (1989), Goofalik (1991), Kaldounevees (1995).
- Christophe Soumillon (4 wins): My Risk (2004), Cacique (2005), Apsis (2006), Mainsail (2013).
- William Johnstone (3 wins): Le Cyclone II (1936), République (1937), Eppi d’Or VIII (1950).
- Jean-Pierre Boullenger (3 wins): Rina (1960), Galant Gaditan (1961), Cassis (1962).
- William-B. Pyers (3 wins): Village Square (1967), Ace of Aces (1974), Full of Hope (1976).
- Gérald Mossé (3 wins): Mister Sicy (1990), Jim and Tonic (1998), Beacon Lodge (2009).