Rouget's Incredible Run

There was no need to check. The tally stood at 6035.

Jean-Claude Rouget knew his exact number of winners after the victory of Almanzor (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) in the G1 Prix du Jockey-Club. A middle-distance runner in his youth, the trainer made a habit of keeping his eyes on the prize, constantly gauging progress and performance. He keeps tab on every success, dissects every defeat.

His statistics are compelling. He's won more races than any other Thoroughbred trainer in Europe, averaging just shy of 200 winners per season for more than 20 years. So far in 2016, France's leading trainer has raked in five Group 1 wins and almost €4 million in prize money.

Upon claiming his 6000th victory on Apr. 6, the conditioner was quick to deflect the praise and proceeded to reflect on the fact he only managed 14 wins in his first year training and 15 in the second: statistics he never forgot. His means were limited 37 years ago, so were most of his horses by his own recollection.

“We would pick up the horses wherever we could, we tried to build them up and help them improve, but there is only so much you can do if don't have the horse,” he says.

Two-thirds of Rouget's trainees were jumpers at the time. His first starter won over hurdles in Bordeaux on Feb. 8, 1978. “I was 25 and my head lad was my mother's age,” he recalls. “Luckily, I never lacked natural authority, and I probably owe that to my father.”

Jean-Claude Rouget grew up at the Haras de Saint Pair, the farm his father managed for Mrs. Stern, a demanding and passionate breeder. There, he saw the likes of Phaeton soar from the paddocks to Classic fame. When his father moved on to train in the west of France, he discovered other thrills of the game: speed and the spirit of competition. This was a dramatic change from what he remembers as the “dull life” on the farm, which, “outside of the foaling season, lacked excitement.” At the same time, Rouget started his own trackwork as a runner, becoming, at the age of 19, the 1500 metre champion of Brittany. If horses stayed in his rear-view mirror for five years, the skills he learned in this mode of competition strongly influenced his training methods. He explains, “Many times it's just a feeling: how the body feels after warm-ups, how not to overtrain in order to preserve the will to run. With Thoroughbreds, everything is based on their nervous impulse. We don't put enough emphasis on conditioning. Our horses don't warm up enough before the races, unlike trotters.”

Optimising the physical preparation and picking the best possible stock are two of the keys to Rouget's success. The latter is a luxury he couldn't afford at first. He chose to set up in Pau, at the foot of the Pyrenees. There was a stigma attached to training in the provinces at the time. The best prospects were invariably pointed towards Chantilly or Maisons-Laffitte.

“We'd mostly be trusted with 3-year-olds who just weren't good enough to win in Paris,” remembers Rouget, who never forgets that it took him 16 years to score his first group victory. “It took me a long time to burst on the Classic scene; modestly since 1994 and on a grander scale since 2009.”

Millkom (GB) (Cyrano de Bergerac {GB}) won the G1 Grand Prix de Paris in 1994 and remained undefeated in 10 starts until finishing ninth in the G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe later that year. Bought as yearling for 15,500 gns in Newmarket, Millkom also gave Rouget his first top-level victory abroad when winning the GI Man O'War S. at Belmont Park the following year.

Rouget's favorite horses are often associated with firsts. “Jaccoud (Fr) gave me my first Grand Prix de Pau,” says Rouget, who saddled three winners of the premier steeplechase in just six years. “Millkom, of course, my first Grand Prix de Paris. Literato (Fr), my first Group 1 in England [the 2007 Champion S.] and Ervedya (Fr) with whom I had the tremendous joy of a first success at Royal Ascot. ”

We can add to that list his first Classic win with Elusive Wave (Ire) (Elusive City {Ire}) in the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches, and an exceptional double in 2009: Martin Schwartz's Stacelita (Fr) (Monsun {Ger}) rallied home in the G1 Prix de Diane just a week after Le Havre (Ire) (Noverre) had captured the G1 Prix du Jockey Club.

Le Havre never ran again but is proving to be a first-class stallion, siring the dual Classic winner Avenir Certain in his first crop. “The Classics are what I live for,” explains Rouget. “Of course I wouldn't mind winning the Arc one day, but it's not an objective in itself. I am not a big fan of all-age races. I'll take 3-year-old Classics any day over the Arc. From a genetic point of view, I am more attracted to middle-distance races.”

Not long after he uttered these words, Qemah (Ire) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) contributed to the stable's back-to-back victories in the G1 Coronation S. at Royal Ascot. Meanwhile, in Deauville, three fillies were preparing for the G1 Prix de Diane Longines.

“I left a string in Deauville after the French Guineas Weekend,” says the trainer. “The all-weather track is very similar to the one we have in Pau. We've had great success there when we have brought strings in the summer.”

Deauville and the Rouget system carried Almanzor and Qemah to victory. The story came full circle with another Le Havre filly, La Cressonniere (Fr). The filly, who by Rouget's own admission could the very best of his 2016 crop, landed a double-double for the trainer and his owners by emulating Avenir Certain to win the Poule d'Essai des Pouliches and Prix de Diane in the same year.

“We have a big machine, it takes a lot of work from all the members in my team. I am very demanding but that's what it takes to reach excellence,” says Rouget, who has some 200 horses in training, with 50 riders aboard each set in Pau. He never turned his back on the south-west training centre and because of that helped to change the prejudice against training in the provinces.

As the record-holder for the number of wins in a season (242 in 1994), Rouget has steadily built a faithful team and a grateful circle of owners. He still loves training and shows no sign of slowing down but, above all, he loves to spot the right horse.

“It is double the satisfaction when you not only train them but know you were the one who found them,” he admits. “It's almost as if you bred them without having to deal with all the hassle and disappointments of actual breeding.”

Though he grew up on a stud farm and owns the odd share on a mare or two with friends, the statistician is more at ease in the sales ring. He knows what to look for and how much to pay for it. “Never more than a €100,000,” he states.

Ask Gerard Augustin-Normand and Antonio Caro. They have been on the receiving end of phone calls when Rouget bid over his self-imposed limit, and it is how they became involved with Almanzor. “Actually, this happened with Le Havre as well,” Rouget points out. Almanzor and Le Havre both cost their trainer €100,000 as yearlings.

Rouget said he had high expectations for his 3-year-olds of 2016. “I have said it since October, that this generation seemed outstanding, but you never know what other trainers have in the yards. I knew we were well-armed but never for a minute did I think we could fare so well. I would have settled for one or two of the great races; we've exceeded that. Next year, we might be looking in from the outside. You can't be this successful every year.”