The man is as discreet as he is cheerful. He doesn’t run after microphones, cameras and other spotlights. However, the success of Hubert Mauillon and his horses during the 48 hours of the obstacle in Auteuil encouraged the manager of a Hypermarket in Gaillac (Tarn) to reveal himself more.
Hubert Mauillon is part of the closed circle of friends of Charente coach Arnaud Chaillé-Chaillé. “My relationship with Arnaud is strong. We have known each other and worked together for around twenty years. I give him all my confidence. It’s difficult to find the words, but I like to say that Arnaud speaks to the horses. He is a man who has this ability to detect the slightest problem. The animal obviously does not have the ability to speak, but Arnaud understands things very well. And from the moment he understands them, he then manages to sublimate the horse and take him where he wants. He’s an extraordinary talent,” explains the administrator of the Hub de Montmirail stable.
In the spotlight in 2019 thanks to the success of Nirvana du Berlais in the Prix Cambacérès, the associated owner of Kaadam looks back on his protégé’s triumph in the 4-year-old Grand Steeple-Chase and his desire to share the emotions that only competition provides. “Andrew Peake and Simon MacAuley are great connoisseurs and I share with them, almost daily, our common adventures on horses. My philosophy is as follows: to keep the pot boiling, we need to cede a certain number of horses abroad. However, regarding KaadamI wanted to keep it in France because I predict a great future for it. In passing, I would like to thank his breeder Richard Corveller who, with so few broodmares, does an incredible job in terms of quality.”
Opening up to the outside for better exposure of French races
“I had asked Bertrand Le Métayer, my agent, to kindly find partners likely to invest in Kaadamwhile retaining half. This turns out to be an extraordinary deal. I have fun sharing great moments with them. Above all, they are horsemen and everyone has to gain. This makes it possible to bring foreign owners to France, and more precisely to Auteuil for these wonderful meetings. Our races obviously need to extend beyond our regions and quite simply beyond our borders. It will now be the opportunity for me to go to England, to Cheltenham, to experience other moments together and why not other associations. These are perspectives that I really like.”
The meaning of the third half
President of the Gaillac rugby club, in Tarn (Occitanie), for several years, Hubert Mauillon actually has a sense of the 3rd half: “It’s an opportunity to replay the match over a drink with real horse enthusiasts.” However, he is aware of the difficulty of the job. “The horse world is a difficult world and I’m not teaching you that. It’s an accident-prone environment and nothing is ever written in advance. Last weekend in Auteuil, I had two of my horses which were favorites, Hacker from Berlais et Kaadam. They won, but you are never safe from a setback, a bad reception, a jockey ejected due to a mistake, or even a competitor who hits you during the race. This was particularly the case with Leon du Berlaisat the end of April, which fell because of this. This is also why emotions are strong, before, during, and after.”
A few days before the last group I of Auteuil and in which he will be able to vibrate thanks to the presence of Leon du Berlaisthe man from Tarn holds “to salute the incredible efficiency of Arnaud’s team, of which François Pamart is a part. I often go to the stable to follow training and I can assure you that they do a lot of work. It’s hard, sometimes thankless, but they reap the rewards as the results show. Hats off to everyone!”
Bertrand Le Métayer, manager of the Hub de Montmirail stable (Hubert Mauillon): “We are going there as a conqueror”
His performance lived up to what was expected of him, knowing that the idea was to give him confidence after his mishap in the Prix Amadou (he was hit by an opponent before falling at the reception of ‘an obstacle). We were afraid of his reaction to his return to competition, because he is a whole horse, and they are generally more sensitive than geldings. Everything went well for Sunday’s goal. He’s a cold horse, good in his head, and the conditions should go his way. It won’t be easy to find Kingland (impressive winner of the last prep race), but races are made to be run. This is the objective of Leon du Berlais and we go there as conquerors.
His entry into the stud farm has not yet been confirmed. This is a horse with exceptional genetics. He is tall, handsome, good, ticking all the boxes to become a great stud. The matron Chica du Berlais releases incredible products. In the past, we had the opportunity to have Bonito du Berlais in our squad, for James-Douglas Gordon.
