Brits abroad galloping to French glory
Champion jockey Reveley leads expats who made jump to Paris
ON A SUNNY spring afternoon at Auteuil racecourse in the heart of Paris, the Eiffel Tower looming large over the back straight and chic cafes less than a furlong away, it is easy to understand why jump jockey James Reveley says moving to France was the best decision he ever made.
The only thing that surprises him is that others have not taken the same path. British jump racing may currently be in an unequal struggle with its Irish counterpart but it has successfully exported talent across the Channel.
Reveley, 33, was crowned France’s champion jump jockey for the second time last year and leads the 2022 title race.
Among those pursuing him are fellow Brit Felix de Giles, 33, who missed out on third in the 2021 title race by one winner, and 26-year-old Charlotte Pritchard, an amateur jockey mainly riding for her father in Welsh point-to-point races over here but who was France’s champion female jump jockey in 2020.
Reveley, whose grandmother Mary was Britain’s most successful female jumps trainer with more than 2,000 winners and who rode for his trainer father Keith before taking the Gallic plunge, said: ‘It has become a bit more difficult since Brexit to come and work here but I am definitely surprised more don’t come, especially when you are young and ambitious.
‘There are a lot of positives. I now prefer watching and riding races over here. There are a lot more tactics unlike British racing which can just be who can go the fastest for longest. It is more interesting. I plan to stay in France and train when I finish riding and am currently applying for French nationality.’
Then there is the prizemoney — £230 million across French racing in 2022 plus a plethora of bonuses and incentives financed by a Tote-style betting system which British racing can only eye enviously. Reveley, who rides as a freelance and is married with two young children, added: ‘Over here jockeys get all their transport costs paid but we only get €50 (£41) per ride so you need to be finishing in the money.’
That has not been a problem for Reveley, who first came to France in 2008 for a two-week summer work-experience job riding for champion trainer Guillaume Macaire. The rider, who made the move to France permanent six years ago, won almost £3.3m in prizemoney in 2021, with his cut being about 10 per cent of that.
Two jockeys who did ask Reveley about moving to France were De Giles, a Cheltenham Festivalwinning jockey when based with trainer Nicky Henderson in Lambourn, and his friend Nico de Boinville.
De Boinville’s career suddenly took off in Britain but for De Giles going continental has paid dividends.
He said: ‘I am certainly a better jockey for being out here and have learned a lot. I was a little bit fed up in England and looking for
somethingelse.OnceIgotouthereIlovedit.
‘I’d had around 250 winners inEnglandbutwhenyouarriveherenobodycaresuntilyoushowyourworth.TheFrenchprobablyhaveanopinionofEnglishjockeysthattheyaretooaggressive,toohardontheirhorsesanddon’tsitstillinthe
samewaytheEnglishhaveabadopinion of French jockeys in thatthey don’t move enough, are tooquietanddon’tknowhowtopush.
‘I have been here seven years.WhenIarrivedIhadthebasicGCSE
French,soIcouldaskhowtogettothelibraryandtellpeopleIownedagoldfish!
‘Inowrideatgoodracecoursesforgood money. When I first came toFranceI’dhad30winsintheBritishseasonbuttheywerebadwinners.Itisanicelifestylebutyoucomeout here and see the differenceespecially with prizemoney. Itchangeseverything.’
ForbothReveleyandDeGiles,thepressingpriorityissecuringarideinnext month’s Grand SteeplechasedeParis—theFrenchequivalentof
the Cheltenham Gold Cup — atAuteuilonMay22.Reveleyhaswontheracethreetimes.
Onlytwojockeys—JeanDaumas(five wins) and Max Bonaventure(fourwins)—haveabetterrecord.
Perhaps the best chance of aBritish win in this particular prizemayhavealreadygone.
Docteur de Ballon, trained byfellow Brit Louisa Carberry withformer jockey husband Philip innorth-westFrance,haswonthelasttworunningsbutisoutoftherace
injured.