Macaire pragmatic about Cochet’s King George prospects
The French-trained star, who overturned the brilliant Best Mate at Huntingdon in last month’s Peterborough Chase, heads next for the Kempton showpiece, which Best Mate won last year.
With trainer Henrietta Knight still uncertain as to whether her charge will bid for a second success or travel to Ireland over the festive period, the chances of a rematch are uncertain.
If they do meet, Jair Du Cochet’s trainer Guillaume Macaire is not overconfident of repeating the result against a horse he describes as “the king”.
Speaking yesterday at his La Palmyre base, Macaire insisted that “a battle is not the war”.
“He won easily at Huntingdon, but whether we can beat him again I don’t know,” he said.
“Best Mate did not look happy in the race. His head was to one side and he did not get into his usual rhythm.
“I do not think it was the ground that beat him. He has won on that ground before. But he is still the king.
“My plan was to come second to him, but we won and now we must try to do it again.
“I still have a lot of respect for Best Mate. He is like a legend. When I came into the winner’s enclosure after the race at Huntingdon I had my eyes to the floor. It was difficult.
“If Jair Du Cochet is going to win a big race, it is probably going to be the King George.
“At Cheltenham, Best Mate is very hard to beat. We can dream a little bit and if we win at Kempton then of course we will go to Cheltenham, if we are able to.
“But at Kempton we know he runs well, and he has won on all types of ground, although I think he is best just on the soft side of good.”
Jair Du Cochet first confirmed his considerable potential over fences when winning the Feltham Novices’ Chase in a time just one second slower than Best Mate’s on the same card 12 months ago.
But Macaire, who nominated Golden Flight and Massac as potential novice stars for this season, felt the horse did not give his true running when second to One Knight under regular rider Jacques Ricou in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase later in the season.
“He wasn’t able to get into his rhythm and he didn’t like it,” said the trainer. “Jacques knows the horse and tried to listen to him, but he wasn’t happy.
“When he was three he was like a volcano and he still has a temper. But we know him well now and I think he has improved this season. His frame is stronger and he has a better locomotion.
“He is a very fluent mover now and you could see that at Huntingdon. He has very long fetlocks and he walks a bit like a camel, which I think is why he didn’t cost very much.
“But he has an excellent locomotion, which enables him to cover the ground.”
Bookmakers Coral make Jair Du Cochet as short as 2-1 joint favourite with Best Mate to win the King George, but if the laid-back Macaire is feeling any pressure, then it isn’t showing yet.
“All I have to do now is maintain him,” he explained. “He is fit already and although he has had a break since Huntingdon, he starts fast work again this week.
“I know Best Mate may or may not run. I think First Gold will be a difficult opponent. But all I can do is concentrate on my own horse and train him for the race.”
The subject of a well-publicised bid now known to have been 700,000 from new owner on the block Graham Wylie, Jair Du Cochet has subsequently attracted even higher bids in the last few days, according to Macaire.
But despite the understandable temptation to sell, as he does with some 10 to 15 horses who arrive in Britain each year, part-owner Macaire is not about to surrender the horse who gave him his first training success in Britain when winning at Chepstow three years ago.
“Of course it is a lot of money,” he said. “But this horse is opening doors for me. I have a few English owners already and he is helping me.
“In France he is a good horse, but in England he is famous.
“A couple of years ago, I was in a pub in England and a couple of guys came up to me and asked me about Jair Du Cochet and how he was doing. I was thinking ‘How do these people know who I am?’
“England is the mother country of horseracing and it is an honour to go there and win races.”
Among the British owners who have already put horses into training with Macaire are John Hales and Robert Waley-Cohen, who owns a two-year-old filly who is already fully schooled over hurdles, like all her stablemates, and is “a natural”, according to her trainer.
Macaire is of the opinion that intensive schooling at an early age is a key factor in the success of the stable, which leaves other trainers standing in France.
“You cannot build a big tower without deep foundations,” he said. “If you want a little cottage then that’s fine. But I want something more.
“It is important to make the right start with your horses. If the first print is a good print, then they will keep it for the rest of their lives.
“Jair Du Cochet has always been a very good horse. He won his first race by 10 lengths from Armaturk, and it was easy.
“But to compare him to other good horses is like comparing a four-wheel drive to a sports car.
“They have got the same engine, but they are not designed to do the same thing.
“The job of the trainer is to sort out the right conditions for each horse to show his best and to get him past the winning post in front.”
