It has been almost two decades since Jerome Reynier’s last trip to Australia and back then, becoming a horse trainer wasn’t at the top of his bucket list.
As a member of Godolphin’s highly respected Flying Start program, Reynier had designs on working in bloodstock and for a while, that was the path he pursued.
But his love of the animal eventually nudged him towards taking out his licence in France and from his first runner as a trainer in his own right in 2013, he has gone on to win more than 840 races, five at Group 1 level.
“Seventeen years ago, I wasn’t planning to be a trainer to be honest with you,” Reynier said.
“I thought it was a bit too hard to make it. I was more on the breeding side and after a few placements with some trainers, I lost a bit of contact with the horse himself being a bloodstock agent, so I really wanted to be back with the horse himself.
“I started to ask for a licence in France to be a trainer and I started really from scratch, training just a couple of horses.
“I have been very lucky to have a few good horses to win some nice races in the last few years.”
Among them is unbeaten gelding Lazzat, who will bid to become the first European-trained horse to win the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.
An on-speed runner, Lazzat kicked off his career with a maiden success in January and rose to the ranks of Group 1 winner when clearing out to claim the Prix Maurice de Gheest (1300m) by three lengths at Deauville in August.
The Golden Eagle has been on his radar for six months and Reynier can find no obvious chinks in Lazzat’s armour.
“He has done nothing wrong, he can cope with any kind of conditions. He has won on heavy ground, firm ground, left-handed, right-handed, straight courses, everything. He is a very nice horse,” he said.
“He has got a really high cruising speed, and I think he is ticking many boxes for Saturday’s race.”
While Lazzat is the first horse Reynier has travelled to Australia, he has enjoyed fruitful international raids elsewhere with the likes of Royal Julius, Marianafoot and Facteur Cheval all successful across the Middle East.
Reynier also revealed he had sought advice from none other than maestro William Haggas, who has Lake Forest in Saturday’s race, and boasts a tremendous record bringing horses such as Addeybb and Dubai Honour to Sydney.
“William Haggas has been very helpful to me,” Reynier said.
“We have been talking a lot together, planning this trip together with his horse. They have been working together on the turf back at Newmarket before flying down here.
“Obviously, he has plenty of experience travelling horses Down Under, and we have been very lucky travelling horses all over the world.
“We have been winning in Bahrain, in Qatar, in Dubai and obviously that was the first time with the switch in hemispheres so we will see how it comes on Saturday.”
Lazzat will be partnered by Sardinian-born jockey Antonio Orani, who has ridden him in all his starts to date, and while Reynier has faith in his horse, he also acknowledges the task ahead.
“It’s long travel, it’s a lot of changes and you never know what can happen,” he said.
“On what we have seen so far, he’s one of the best in Europe….and we’re happy to bring him down here and try to challenge an international field with the Japanese and the locals and even the William Haggas horse, who ran a great race in the Commonwealth (Cup) finishing second at Royal Ascot.
“It’s a very strong field and it looks to be a very interesting race.”