With the likes of Mishriff, Stradivarius and new world #1 Palace Pier already in position and a host of other high-class runners ready to back them up, the Newmarket yard of John and Thady Gosden could hardly be much stronger. However, another exciting recruit was recently welcomed at their Clarehaven stables in the shape of Plainchant, France’s highest-rated 2-year-old filly last season.
The daughter of Gosden’s high-class miler Gregorian has yet to run this year but is entered in the 6-furlong G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot and could become a significant force later in the year.
But spare a thought for the trainer who was responsible for Plainchant in 2020, Italian Maurizio Guarnieri (pictured left), who trains at La Teste in South West France.
Plainchant caught the eye of Peter Brandt’s White Birch Farm over the winter, and owner Alain Jathière sold them a 50 percent share for an undisclosed price. The fact that the 3-year-old-and-over racing programme for top races under a mile offers more opportunities in England than in France would appear to be a main reason.
“It’s unfortunate, after selling the second part of the filly to White Birch Farm, the owners decided to transfer Plainchant to be trained in England,” says Guarnieri. “However, I will continue to watch out for her because she will always remain my champion.”
Plainchant was bought initially after the Arqana October 2019 yearling sales for just €4,000 from Haras des Logis by bloodstock agent Frederico Barberini.
Guarnieri says, “The filly was bred at the Elevage des Loges in Normandy by Ian Hanaway and Katherine Aalen, for whom I have a relationship of mutual esteem and collaboration. Plainchant was a small but strong filly who always gave me positive vibes on the gallops, and I never had a day when I doubted her potential. She is surely my champion of the heart, after giving me my first Group wins in France.”
Plainchant, who won four of her six races, including two at Group level, ended the season with a rating of 110, sealed by her courageous final victory over 1,200 metres on heavy ground in the G2 Criterium de Maisons Laffitte at Chantilly in October. She was ridden by regular jockey Valentin Seguy when beating the colt Go Athletico by just under a length. No mean performance as Go Athletico had previously beaten Sealiway, the subsequent G1 Prix Jean Luc Lagardere winner.
So it’s hardly surprising that her Reliable Man half-sister, Alice Blue, presented by Haras des Loges at the Deauville October 2020 yearling sales, was a fair bit more expensive to buy as a yearling, going to bloodstock agent Paul Nataf for €77,000.
‘The start of everything’
Guarnieri had his best season last year since arriving from Italy in June 2016, with his 34 horses providing 18 winners for €580,611 total win and place prize money, plus premiums.
“I previously trained in Italy for 30 years at the racetracks of Pisa and Milano,” he says. “I won more than 1,600 races, including two Group 1s, Shibuni’s Falcon [Premio Roma] and Aoife Alainn [Premio Lidya Tesio], and about 20 Group 2 and 3s.”
Despite not having any family background in the sport, Guarnieri was always keen on racing. “I was born in Siena, the city of Palio, and, ever since I was little, I dreamed of horses. At 20, I trained my first horse for the Palio de Siena. His name was Miura and he won. That was the start of everything.”
Guarnieri had a successful training career spanning 30 years in Italy but the difficulties Italian racing faced during these past 20 years - linked to badly managing the sport and falling betting revenue to fund it - finally made him leave and start training in France.
“The Italian bureaucratic body, the Ministero per le Politiche Agricole, runs the sport and does not accept any advice from those with experience of how a horseracing industry should be run,” says Guarnieri. “The result is the absence of programming for the races and the abysmal delays in the payment of the purses.”
He adds, “A radical change is necessary, but for the moment I do not see anything happening. Horseracing in Italy is in the hands of politicians, not knowledgeable people in the sport. It’s the reason why in 2016 I decided to come to France and train at La Teste, where the training centre is very similar to that at Pisa. I think Italy should follow the example of how French racecourses operate, where everything works perfectly."
In any business, moving to another country always offers new challenges. Training racehorses is no different.
“I arrived in June 2016 with 15 horses from the 50 that I had been training in Italy. I offered the stable staff the opportunity to come with me, but only a few initially accepted the challenge,” he says. “The quality overall was rather lower compared to the French racehorses, but still in the first year we managed to be placed several times in listed class with Endless Summer and win some races at the smaller provincial tracks.
“I didn't have any problems adapting. The training centre of La Teste is not big, but it is well maintained, offering the opportunity to train any type of horse.”
He adds, “Step by step we began to gain the confidence of French breeders and owners like Haras de Granges and Grandcamp. In the second year, with the first pack of 2-year-olds, the colt Anima Rock with a win and a second in a listed race put the stable on the map. He had been sold at the Arc sales for €210,000. The horse was bought as a yearling for €15,000 at the Osarus 2016 September sales.”
Full yard
After just under five years in France, Guarnieri is well established with a full yard and a wide variety of owners from around the globe.
“Thanks to my results and good staff - 50 percent Italian and 50 percent French - I now have 50 racehorses in my stable, with a mixture of Italian, English, French, Irish and Arab owners.
“I have 20 2-year-olds - ten males and ten females - this season, all with good conformation and pedigree, which I personally choose at the Arqana or Osarus yearling sales. I prefer to buy offspring from stallions at the beginning of their careers, mated with young mares and having a nice conformation, no matter whether they are bred for speed or distance.”
Guarnieri will be hoping this year’s crop of juveniles will produce another as good as Plainchant. “It’s too early to figure out if there is another Plainchant,” he says. “But I am happy with their development. I live this profession with passion and devotion towards these splendid animals that always manage to make you dream.”