La Belle France, and the perfect wedding

Once again, I've got rather behind in posting my musings. This is particularly bad as a lot has been happening, although in my defence I can add that I haven't had much opportunity to log it: we have two computers, only one of which (ie this one, which is the one which Emma usually uses) seems able to make the connection to blogger, and for most of last week the other one was the only one in the house, because Emma had various jobs to do at Tattersalls which required her taking this machine up there with her. So, what's been happening?

Well, most recently we've been in Ireland for a very happy event, the wedding of Aisling and Charlie which took place in St. John's Cathedral in Limerick and was followed by a very memorable reception at Glin Castle, about 35 miles away along the south bank of the Shannon Estuary. This is a wonderful place which we enjoyed in glorious spring-like weather and which proved the perfect setting for a lovely reception, made all the more special by the belief of all present that the happy couple are perfectly matched - how often can one say that with confidence? - and it was just a joy and privilege to be part of it. As we'd flown over on Friday afternoon and stayed with John and Terre McNamara at Golden Vale Stud that night, before staying in Glin Castle after (although 'during' would be a more appropriate word) the reception, that has to count as an excellent outing.

And the previous weekend we'd enjoyed another one as we went to Longchamp on Arc Day and didn't come home until the following day, enjoying the hospitality of Alix Choppin in Paris. But I have to go back a further couple of days to find the start of the French chapter, because two days before the Arc I'd had the pleasure of enjoying a very tenuous connection to Natagora's Cheveley Park success. Our friend Alan Taylor, who rode out here during the summer, has asked whether I took the opportunity on Jill for a post-stalls test flying dismount - well, I found myself well placed the following day for a flying dismount, had I chosen to do one, as I rode past the Rowley Mile winners' enclosure on Pantomime Prince, acting as companion for Natagora on a Cheveley Park morning stroll. Camilla Millbank had been the intermediary, putting us in touch with Pascal Bary and Patrick and Helen Barbe (agents for the filly's owners, as well as for the owners of her Japanese sire Divine Light) when she knew that they were seeking a companion for the filly.

The upshot was that I rode up to the racecourse stables at the Links on Panto to meet Natagora, ridden by her attendant Jildrs (who doesn't normally ride the filly, but was on this occasion because her usual lad also rides Zambezi Sun, so he was staying at home to maintain that partnership in the run-up to the Arc) and accompanied by Pascal and his travelling head lad (also called Pascal) at 8.30 on a perfect autumnal Cheveley Park Day morning. We rode over to the Rowley Mile, walked around the parade ring a couple of times to let the filly stretch her legs and get used to her new surroundings, and then rode back to the stables. The perfect post-script, of course, was the filly's tremendous win later that day, and it was a real thrill to go up to the course that afternoon and cheer her home.

That set us up perfectly for our trip to France two days later, which saw us having an early start to the Sunday to catch the 7.50am Eurotunnel motorail from Folkestone. Ken Gibbs, who has attended the last 20 Arcs, tells me it was the best weather for an Arc he's known, and it could well have been the best ever. It probably wasn't the best Arc ever, but still, as a long-standing admirer of Dylan Thomas, I was delighted to cheer him home from an excellent vantage point high in Longchamp's superb stand. By my calculations, no horse has ever won the four biggest races in Europe (Derby, Irish Derby, King George, Arc), but he has now come the closest, having now won three and been beaten inches in the fourth (last year's Derby). That's a wonderful record, especially as it has two Irish Champion Stakes thrown in too. If he could add a Breeders' Cup Turf success to it too, as seems likely, that would be the icing on the cake. Of the other horses in the race, Authorized was clearly well below his best, while Soldier Of Fortune didn't look nearly as mighty as he did on the soft ground in the Irish Derby - but he'll have other days. Mandesha is a shadow of the mare who broke the 2000m track record in the Prix de l'Opera last year, while Zambezi Sun isn't yet up to races that competitive. Of the other races that day, the best memories seem to be Rio De La Plata winning an extremely weak Prix Jean-Luc Lagadere extremely easily; Zarkava sprinting away from her rivals in the final stages of the Prix Marcel Boussac before jumping a shadow on the ground just after the post; and lovely Le Miracle slogging home for a well-deserved Prix du Cadran success under his usual partner Dominique Boeuf.

Olly Marsh accompanied Emma and I to France, and the three of us have Alix and her parents to thank for putting us up in their splendid apartment in the centre of Paris, after Alix had taken us (after a really good dinner, which we enjoyed with her FRBC colleague Marilyn Charlton) on a spell-binding tour of Paris by night, which has only fuelled my desire to see more of such a beautiful city. And then the treats just kept coming, because we drove out to a foggy Chantilly in the morning. Alix was so kind and had arranged the best weekend possible for us, and in Chantilly she took us to the stable of the trainer Jean de Roualle (pictured with Olly and Alix), for whom she used to ride out.

He kindly made us very welcome, taking us out into the forest with him to watch his string exercise. This was great, and particularly well-timed because we were able to offer our congratulations to him, to his staff - and to the mare herself - following the victory of his stable star Satwa Queen (seen here having a quiet stroll around the yard) in the Group One Prix de l'Opera at Longchamp the previous day. There was racing at Chantilly that afternoon, but sadly trains wait for no man, so regretfully we had time, after a bit more sight-seeing and a good lunch, to watch only one race before hitting the road to Calais for the return journey home. But all in all, our cup overfloweth in terms of treats, as they might say on television, so many thanks are due to all who have contributed to two very special weekends away - and to all who have kept things going here, particularly Hugh who has looked after Stan and Sebastian (an even more weighty responsibility than looking after the horses!).