Day 1 Images by Brigette Huard |
Snips Images by Basil de Mulo |
With over 167 starters (some of the entrants had failed the initial vetting last night) and because of the indecently fast speeds last year, the powers-that-be (the SHF) decided on a staggered start which spread over 75 minutes with approximately 10 horses leaving every five minutes.
Easy enough if the numbers had been concurrant but the batch of ten were drawn like a bingo card with one horse from each decade (or two) in each pack. So the first group to leave - at 7.00 - were numbers 5, 16, 31, 45, 60 etc. and the next might have been 4, 22, 38, 56 etc. So - really really not an easy race to judge who was in the lead but this was exactly what the SHF had in mind when they decided to have an alternative to a mass start.
These four letters (actually a town in the heart of the Languedoc Roussilon area) are the culmination of a season of qualifying rides held by the Society Hippique Francais who are the body dedicated to nurturing, furthering and proving the quality of young French bred sports horses.
All over the country from March onwards, on the Saturday before the scheduled competitions which are held on the Sunday, the SHF run their set speed qualifying rides for four, five and six year old horses. The pulse and speed parameters are the same as for normal rides over those distances but, unlike the regular competitions there are no placings; you either pass or fail and, as a bonus, if you do pass, you get financially reimbursed.. If you wish your horse to enter the finals then it cannot have attempted the Uzes distance beforehand. So the 4yr olds may not have tried a 40k ride, the 5yr olds have to have only competed up to and including 40k and the six year olds can never have attempted more than a 60k set speed ride.
Every year since the ride's inception in 1992 the numbers have swelled and this year there were over 400 entries across the three classes. 41 four year olds doing their first ever 40kilometres consisting of two 20k loops to be completed between 10 and 12kph with an hour's rest in between, This took place today and was followed by a parade of those horses who had been entered in a 'friendly' sale (as opposed to an auction).
Tomorrow there will be 189 six year olds competing in their first ever 90k 'race'