Former Darley Flying Start Graduate Jerome Reynier has been training for the public since 2013 and has developed a phenomenal record both on the racecourse and recruiting new owners to his Marseille base.

Best known at the moment as the trainer of 2020 Qipco Champion Stakes runner-up Skalleti, Reynier has plenty of other firepower in his stable and finished ninth in the trainers’ table last year.

Having made a bright start to the season with 16 winners already, Jerome spoke exclusively to Race Sharp this week to run through some of his top chances for the weeks to come.

 

Skalleti (6yo gelding)

See the Race Sharp feature on Skalleti here.

 

Marianafoot (6yo colt)

Marianafoot has French premiums and the owner loves to race in France so I’m not sure we’ll take him abroad. He has a fantastic seven-furlong program in France. His next start in the Prix Servanne will dictate plans for the next months.

I can’t still be sure about his liking for a straight six furlongs at Chantilly, as he is not a pure sprinter, but if he does come through that well then I may aim him for the Prix Maurice de Gheest as he is still an entire and he would deserve to be a stallion.

Otherwise there are three Group Threes downhill at Longchamp’s ‘toboggan’ course. Those lead to the Prix de la Forêt. He was 5th, 2nd and 4th in those last year. The 2nd was a fantastic run when he split Polydream and Spinning Memories.

He deserves to win a Group Three in France and it might help that Duhail is targeting the Group Two at Goodwood over seven furlongs this July.

 

Monty (6yo gelding)

He is a six-year-old but has only raced 14 times. He loves racing right-handed so we’ll certainly stick to the Defi du Galop program which takes us to Toulouse and then Bordeaux these next couple of months.

The owner would like to travel him and there is an interesting Group Two in Milan for him. Later his aim could be for the Bahrain International Trophy which I won with Royal Julius. The money is fantastic there and Gérald Mossé would be a big asset for travelling him there.

 

Royal Julius (8yo colt)

There is a Group Three in Milan in May for him which is where he may make his reappearance.

 

Thunder Drum (3yo filly)

The first aim was to win a race, which we achieved at Cagnes-sur-Mer. We got her super-fit for the Listed at Saint-Cloud, where she came third by a length to George Boughey’s Mystery Angel.

Now I am looking to a Listed race at Toulouse, the Prix Caravelle – Haras des Granges, to try to win a stakes race. She is so well bred and after I might look at the Oaks d’Italia over 11 furlongs, which is a Group Two.

 

Aclou (3yo colt)

Theo Bachelot thinks he has plenty of speed so he will stay in the seven-furlong division [Theo told Race Sharp readers he liked Aclou back in February – here]. He has a few options to win his maiden this month, one at Compiegne and another over a touch further at Tarbes.

Our aim is to win a maiden first, then he will hopefully run in a Quinte over six and a half furlongs at Longchamp in May. I think he might be quite competitive in that off a mark of 36.

 

Dar Toungi (3yo colt)

I think he will be much better than a handicapper. He will go next for a Class 2 at Marseille-Borély on April 17, which is perfect as there is no travel for us from Calas. Then three weeks later there is a Class 1 for him over a mile, also at Marseille-Borély, which looks another winnable opportunity for him against similar horses to the Class 2.

I know that the owner would love to us mould him into the ‘second Skalleti’, but as an entire Kendargent, we need to build his confidence and experience on the racecourse.

It’s far too early to be thinking about it, but in June there is the Group Three Prix Paul de Moussac over one mile for three-year-olds. If we want to try him at a higher level before the peak of the summer, maybe we might shoot for that, before waiting for the autumn.

Mentally he is going the right way, physically he will need more racing to build up fitness.

We really like him at home and he loves his job.

I don’t think he has Skalleti’s turn of foot, he is much more powerful and we will race him just behind the leaders in his races. He is quite straightforward.

 

Elusive Foot (4yo colt)

Elusive Foot was second to Marianafoot and both Stéphane Pasquier and I think he is better than his 38.5 rating. He has two handicap options in May in Quinte company, one in Lyon at the start of May or at Longchamp at the end of May, both over 6.5 furlongs.

 

Reynier on his selection of jockeys

For local and provincial tracks I use Guillaume Millet and Antonio Orani. I also have my apprentice jockey Grégoire Legras, who claims 3.5kg.

Antonio was only an apprentice a year ago and is getting better every month in my view. He won his first Listed in September and also took part in two Italian Group Twos for me, finishing second in one on Spirit of Nelson and fourth in the other on Royal Julius. He is riding better horses against better opposition, so he is improving a lot, and it is a bonus that he can ride any weight from 51kg to 60kg. He has his feet on the ground and is very modest.

In Paris, it depends who is available on the day.

Cristian Demuro was riding and winning with Olympie last year and was free last week to retain the partnership. Pierre-Charles Boudot has been riding Skalleti. When he is not available, Maxime Guyon also knows the horse well, but if there happened to be a Wertheimer-owned horse in opposition, I would need to look again!

The top 20 jockeys in Paris are all great and good to use. I like to match and adapt different riding styles to my horses for example if you need a cold horse to be shaken up or if you need calm hands on a keen horse.

I’m using Gérard Mossé more this season and he has made a huge difference on Padron. In the Prix Altipan, you can see the difference there – Mossé says go and the horse responds immediately. He has so much experience and is very strong.

I quite like Mickael Barzalona on straight courses, which is why he is on Marianafoot.