One Night In Vichy: It's Right Up Our Allier 

“Come to Vichy,” they said. “We'll stop in Deauville on the way, it'll be fun.”

So began a 60-hour pilgrimage to one of the five days of racing that comprise the biggest week of the year at the Hippodrome Vichy Bellerive, a charming course with delicate touches of Art Nouveau glamour set on the banks of the Allier river. 

TDN readers of a National Hunt persuasion (there may be some!) might have felt their interest piqued at the mention of the Allier region, deep in central France and famed for its AQPS graduates, such as the Bruno Vagne-bred Envoi Allen (Fr) and Haras de Saint Voir's Gauloise (Fr). But Vichy in the sweltering heat of July is all about the Flat, with the racecourse's most prestigious race, the G3 Grand Prix de Vichy, being the highlight of the Festival du Galop, which this year celebrated its 25th anniversary. 

The history of Vichy Bellerive stretches back much farther than that, almost 150 years in fact. In 1875, the grand old Duc de Morny, largely remembered as the architect of the rather more celebrated racing resort of Deauville, persuaded his great friend Baron de Veauce to set up a riverside racecourse in the spa town. Vichy, referred to by one pithy bloodstock agent as “the capital of the collaborators”, was of course later more readily known for its status during the war, but it is a place well worth visiting even if horses aren't your thing. There certainly aren't any TDN readers of whom we can say that, but some of us do occasionally look up from our pedigree pages and poultices to enjoy the odd pursuit unconnected to equines, and if you have even a passing interest in architecture and Art Deco style, then hotfoot it to Vichy at once and walk around looking up. You won't be disappointed.

Our own rather more jolly collaboration for a road trip, which began in 40-degree Suffolk heat, comprised of three co-owners of a horse we visited briefly in Deauville, with the expedition being led by the sole owner-breeder of the rather aptly-named Duc De Morny (Fr) (Cityscape {GB}). The latter was set to run in the mouthful of a race that is Vichy's Listed Prix des Jouvenceaux et des Jouvencelles Bernard Ferrand. The Prix Morny would have been much more straightforward.

The owner-breeder in question is Jocelyn Targett, a man never knowingly under-enthused about life in general, and about horseracing in particular. Hopes were high en route, and deservedly so, because the equine Duc had won his first two starts for Christophe Ferland and had mercifully arrived in Vichy from La Teste de Buch ahead of the forest fire that forced the evacuation of his stable-mates to Bordeaux last Tuesday. 

It is a safe bet that not many breeders compose songs in their heads about their horses, but then Targett is rather extraordinary in a number of ways. So as the 400 miles between Deauville and Vichy were whiled away we joined him in several choruses of 'Duc, Duc, Duc, Duc de Morny, Morny, Morny' to the tune of Gene Chandler's Duke of Earl, and arrived eventually, in the highest of spirits. 

The heatwave had abated sufficiently to provide perfect conditions for a turf meeting en lumiere, and Vichy Bellerive was awash with families enjoying an agreeable evening at the races. Not all of them were necessarily there to witness the European debut of the surprise Saudi Cup winner Emblem Road (Quality Road), whose connections sprang even more of a surprise by deciding to run him a) on turf, and b) in the Grand Prix de Vichy.

His new trainer, Alessandro Botti, was playing a rather straight bat, if one can use a cricketing analogy for a French-based Italian, when it came to discussing Emblem Road's chances on his first run for 144 days and since moving from Riyadh to Chantilly. Following his fifth-place finish in a Grand Prix field of six, narrowly behind a horse who had been claimed for €18,111 after his previous run, the Botti bat was straighter still as his poker face made it impossible to discern to what, if any, extent he was surprised by the horse's lacklustre performance.

It has been a strange week for Saudi Cup winners. The 2021 winner Mishriff (Ire) plainly wasn't right in February when never travelling in this year's race on a dirt track which appeared to have been prepared with a deeper, more attritional surface than had been the case 12 months earlier. Mishriff bounced back to finish only a neck behind Vadeni (Fr) in the Coral-Eclipse, but he was almost 11 lengths behind Pyledriver (GB) when third in Saturday's King George, and he has dwelt in the stalls on both his last two starts.

Emblem Road's disappointing comeback was of little concern to the many racing fans who swamped the winner's rostrum after the 6-year-old Riocorvo (Ger) (Pastorius {Ger}) was led back in as the Grand Prix winner under Gerald Mosse.

As giant sparklers were let off around the podium, the evergreen jockey, who won the G1 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches in May on Mangoustine (Fr), was enjoying the delights of Vichy every bit as much, if not more than, ParisLongchamp. And who can blame him? With 'Miss Allier' on one arm and her similarly sashed deputy on the other, and laden with bottles of champagne and a giant box of chocolates, Mosse certainly appeared to be, as the youngsters say, living his best life. 

A bit like on Grand National day, the race immediately after the main event was restricted to amateurs and apprentices, which was just as well for Mosse, as there followed the longest presentation ceremony known to man. Speeches, more sparklers, some more speeches, and yet more champagne thrust into the jockey's welcoming arms ensued. By now, with darkness properly descended and just the final race set to go off at 10.45pm, one might have expected the family-heavy crowd to start dissipating. But the many miniature ponies scattered about the racecourse were still doing sterling service transporting young children about by saddle or by cart, the restaurants and bars were swinging, and it was clear that there would be no leavers until the last banger had gone up in the post-race firework display.

Duc De Morny had silenced us only temporarily with his performance on the night which, though creditable, saw him finish in the position all breeders with a black-type runner dread: fourth. As a young colt who has already shown much promise, he'll be back, for sure, and by then we may have learned the lines to the second verse of Duke of Earl.