Macaire and Lageneste eye up French Gold Cup

By Liz Price

It’s not class but aptitude that could produce Guillaume Macaire’s eighth Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris winner, it would be his second in association with Hector de Lageneste, too.

After celebrating a record-breaking seventh success in the 2022 Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris thanks to an imperious performance of the five-year-old Sel Jem, his co-trainer Guillaume Macaire declared, “With seven Grand Steeple-Chase victories, I can die now. Not straight away I hope, but I can.”  

Four years on, the La Palmyre-based trainer is thankfully still with us and remains as driven as ever, his appetite for the race which has shaped and defined his career is completely undimmed. If anything, Guillaume Macaire, who has been training in partnership with Hector de Lageneste since 2021, returns with even greater determination, pinning his hopes once again on the now nine-year-old Sel Jem.

Yet, if Sel Jem’s triumph in 2022 appeared to signal the beginning of a new era of dominance, the years that followed proved anything but straightforward. 

After destroying his opposition in the 3m6f contest, winning by no less than eight lengths from Gex and the Willie Mullins-trained Franco de Port, injury struck and kept him away from the racecourse for nearly two years. 

When he finally returned in April 2024, another setback followed in the Prix Ingré, sidelining him once again for a further 12 months. It was only in 2025 that he made it back to the track for the main target, the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, where he eventually finished sixth behind Diamond Carl. 

This Sunday, he will line up at the start of this great race for the third time, and you would be forgiven for thinking that perhaps his moment has come and gone. Yet, both his trainers remain convinced that the now nine-year-old is returning to something close to his old self. 

“He has lost nothing of his old self,” confirms Hector de Lageneste. “In the morning, he is raring to go.” 

Following his sixth place behind Diamond Carl, Sel Jem went on to lift a Grade 3 chase at Auteuil last autumn, but his two starts this season have been far from convincing. However, Macaire explains: “Let’s not forget that we couldn’t do anything the way we wanted. He, just like Crown du Berlais (their other runner in the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris), had a virus in the winter and Sel Jem was one of the horses in the yard that was the most affected. He then suffered from myositis, which often comes after the flu. We lost a lot of time, so we ran him over hurdles first to see where he was at, because these older horses can trick you into thinking they are fine, but then they are not.” 

His second start this year was in the Prix Ingré, a recognised trial for the French Gold Cup. Sel Jem finished fifth behind Cheltenham Gold Cup seventh Gold Tweet, who caused something of a surprise that day. Again, it was not a performance fans would rave about, but it met with the trainer’s expectations. 

“Sel Jem ran in the Prix Ingré, just like our other runner Crown Du Berlais,” Hector de Lageneste takes over. “Both horses needed that run, both ran the way we expected, and both have come on from that race, as we thought they would. So, both are in form.” 

Should Sel Jem prevail on Sunday, it would surely rank among the finest training performances in the history of this great race. And if there is one trainer who knows what it takes to win the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, it is Guillaume Macaire, who has his own theory on how the race is won. 

“It’s very simple,” explains Macaire. "The horse that is the least tired will win.”

He continues: “I truly believe it is not class that allows a horse to win the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris, but aptitude. Of course, if you have both class and aptitude, you are king of the castle.

“Let me explain it like this - imagine three vehicles: a tractor, a 4x4 and a F1 car. If you want to harrow a field, only the tractor can do it. The F1 car would get stuck and the 4x4 would manage, but not as well as the tractor. Yet on the motorway to Paris, the F1 car would arrive in two hours, while the tractor would take two weeks, with the 4x4 somewhere in between. Then, take them all onto the beach and suddenly the 4x4 becomes the best of all.

“They all have the same engine, but different aptitudes. That is what matters most in this race. Some horses may not even be the best horses, but they lose less energy at their fences. They gain lengths every time they jump and when you have forty fences, that adds up.”

Of his seven winners, Macaire regards 2013 victor Bel La Vie as the classiest and admits: “When you have a horse with a strong pedigree, good Flat form and a true aptitude for jumping, you have a huge advantage.” He also concedes: “Most of my winners were five-year-olds. Horses must be young because they tire less easily.”

With that in mind, Crown du Berlais ought to command serious respect. The five-year-old is a son of Saint des Saints, sire of Guillaume Macaire’s third Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris winner Storm of Saintly. While his dam Royale Athenia, herself a Grade 1 winner, also produced the 2023 Cheltenham Stayers’ Hurdle hero Sire Du Berlais.

Crown du Berlais looked set to make a major impact when sent chasing in 2025. Successful in the provinces on his debut over fences, he quickly added both a Listed contest and a Group 3 over 2m6f at Auteuil to his résumé. However, he has not entirely fulfilled expectations this season, although Hector de Lageneste remains convinced there is plenty more to come.

“Crown du Berlais is not as experienced as Sel Jem, but he is very professional and he can go on for miles,” de Lageneste explains. 

“He makes absolutely no effort at his fences, which is a huge advantage. In many ways, he is still quite a new horse because he hasn’t run that much and he is in very good form. Until now, he has always produced his best performances during the second half of the season, especially in heavy ground. But at the moment he looks magnificent, he is thriving and we believe the race will suit him perfectly.”

The Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris is very much on everyone’s mind, but the Group 1 Prix Ferdinand Dufaure, a 2m6f chase for four-year-olds that features on the same card, promises to be just as exciting. 

A key player in the Prix Ferdinand Dufaure

Shannon Meastro, who is owned by Sofiane Benaroussi, looks a real threat in this small but select field and Guillaume Macaire explains: “He’s had the option to run over hurdles or go chasing. After all, he was third in the Group 1 Prix Cambaceres over hurdles, which is not bad. This year, he decisively won the Group 3 Prix Fleuret over fences and was then the runner-up in the Prix Jean Stern. 

"He doesn’t show much in the morning - when you press the button, he does what you ask him to do. He very much listens to his rider. He is very easy to train and has a lot of natural class. It’s difficult to tell in the morning if he has improved a lot. You would have to really push him to see it and it’s not the aim to have your horses run their races in the morning. But this has been his target, he looks good and is in great form for the race on Sunday.” 

Saturday's action could secure a strong start

The de Lageneste & Macaire duo will kick their weekend off early on Saturday, when Morvan will go to the start of the Prix Djarvis Chase (12.23), a 2m6f chase for four-year-olds. 

“He is in good form,” continues de Lageneste. “I think that 2m6f will be an advantage for him and we expect him to run well, he is very consistent. Unfortunately, he is always second and it would be better if he wins but, hopefully, that will be the case on Saturday.”

As for the three-year-old filly Nenette For Ever, who is stepping up in class in the Prix Sagan Hurdle - Grade 3 (12.58) after finishing down the field in a 1m7½f Listed hurdle at Auteuil, “This will be the first time that she will run over 2m1½f and that should suit her. Now, this is a quality field, so we shall see,” says de Lageneste. 

French Lover, on the other hand, will not be stepped up in class but will return to compete in another Listed race - this time, the Prix Le Guales De Mezaubran Listed Handicap Hurdle (2.15), over 2m1½f. 

“He is in great form. He hasn’t won a race yet, but we hope to change that on Saturday. He ran in a Listed handicap hurdle last time out and was a bit immature, he didn’t understand what we asked of him. But since then, he has improved a lot in his morning work and is going to run on the same track and over the same jumps as last time, which will be an advantage. I think he is going to be much sharper, which he wasn’t last time out.”