On Sunday, Alicja Karkosa, 47, self-employed since 2020, will saddle her first starter in a group I. What a long way since her discovery of horse racing in Poland. “I discovered racing quite young, in Warsaw, where I was able to ride in training, then a little in races, remembers the most French of Polish women. It was there that I met the man who would become my future husband, Robert, who was a jockey. Twenty years ago, we decided to change our lives and come and settle in France. We were employed by different coaches. Me with Fabrice Chappet and Jean de Roualle, Robert with Elie Lellouche and André Fabre. Then I decided to get my coaching license in 2019.” It took him more than a year to achieve his first success, in Deauville, with Mang’Seko.
Then, little by little, the results arrived and the workforce evolved, both in quantity and quality. A quinté success in 2022 with Miss Take made her known to the general public, but this season, it is a young recruit who pushes the team to the top: Imposing. Impeccable since his beginnings, the son of Showcasing climb the ladder one by one. “He quickly showed great things in training, immediately showing himself to be very serious, comments Alice. But I would never have said before he started that he would be a Group I horse. He shows us today that he can appear there thanks to his results, which is why he was supplemented. He has gradually progressed through the ranks and this time we are approaching an even higher level. Recently, in the Prix La Rochette (Gr.III)I was both delighted with his race but also disappointed to be second, because I think he could have won… He could have run the Prix Thomas Bryon (Gr.III) in Saint-Cloud on Friday but, given what the colt had shown us at Longchamp, in agreement with his owner, we decided to supplement him on Sunday. This will allow us to see where Heybtli stands in comparison to the best of his generation. The terrain will not be a problem. I hope he can still place his great acceleration… If he manages to place himself, I would already be very happy. What I want is for the foal to do its part, without traffic problems. We will see next year if it can be extended, if it changes a lot during the winter. Currently, for me, it’s a colt of 1,400 – 1,600 meters.”
A hard and passionate worker, Alicja Karkosa knows that the job is difficult, but she remains calm and optimistic: “It’s obviously nice to win races because it’s the fruit of all our work and success is a source of motivation. But whether you win a group or a claimer, the next morning, you wake up the same way to go take care of the horses. If you don’t like horses, it’s difficult to last over time. It’s a routine job, which in fact is not a routine… because with horses, there is always something that will be different from one day to the next. I always say that a horse is like a child… A child learns every day and gives us something new every day; with horses, it’s the same… “ And the one who works hand in hand with her husband, now hopes for one thing, to achieve the trust of French owners: “Of course, I have Polish owners, including Mr. Zielinski, who have trusted me from the beginning, but I would also like the French owners to come to me. I am Polish, but I have been in France for 20 years now! I hope that Imposing will be a good engine for this…”
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