Gerald Mosse knows well the thrill of Group 1 racing but the man with dozens of wins in the top grade as a jockey will see things from the ground at Munich on Sunday when Grand Stars contests the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis – Bayerisches Zuchtrennen to become his first elite runner as a trainer.
Mosse rode the great River Verdon to win the Hong Kong Invitation Cup – among a host of big race triumphs at Sha Tin – during his iconic career in Hong Kong and has taken well to training in his native France since Grand Stars became his first winner last November, in a Listed race at Saint-Cloud.
So far, he is enjoying it, although he admits the feelings he has now are different to being a jockey, winning this race in 2021 on Skalleti, and numerous majors all around the world, including the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Melbourne Cup and two Hong Kong Cups.
“It’s very strange because as a rider I was lucky to win quite a lot of big races, but as a trainer, when I win even a small race, I feel emotional,” Mosse tells Idol Horse. “It’s incredible, different feeling, totally.
“But I think it’s about the win, it’s not a question of a big or a small race: I say that because I didn’t win a big race yet,” he laughs, “but I think it will be the same story if I do.
“I start to understand now how difficult it is for the trainer to organise everything together, and when you succeed it makes you feel that you (accomplished) something you planned to do and that’s a huge satisfaction.”
Mosse has “around 50 horses” at Manoir des Sangliers, his Chantilly base, and has sent out 25 of those for 17 wins so far in his first full season. He has already gained satisfaction from Grand Stars’ progress and believes the four-year-old is ready for the Group 1 test he is setting her.
“She absolutely keeps improving every day,” he says. “I’m very pleased with her. She ran placed in the Group 2, then she was second in the Group 3, beaten by a top-quality horse, Goliath. So I decided to go to the Group 1 for the breeding side. It would be an ideal scenario for the owner if she was able to win a race like this.
“She loves the soft ground, so quicker ground would be against me, but I still feel the filly is well and she deserves to go there and try. I think she is a bit better than when she ran behind Goliath last time, I think she’s a good horse to try this race with; I don’t say she’s going to win, but at least she will run very well.
“She is a lovely filly to train: she has character and personality, nothing bad, but she’s madame-like, that’s why she’s pretty strong and she fights because she has a solid personality.”
That might be the foundation for an overseas campaign if she shows Group 1 merit in a field that could feature Facteur Cheval and Godolphin’s Tornado Alert.
“She has the ability to travel to big races worldwide,” Mosse says. “She’s better on ground on the softer side but she’d be able to go travelling to big races over a mile and a quarter, she’d be very solid.”
Mosse’s early days as a trainer have had him working to build a good team, but like most trainers, the “challenge” is in attracting owners and quality horses to the yard.
“But my father was a trainer so I know exactly how it is,” he says, “and I’ve been lucky to have been a rider worldwide for over 40 years so that has helped a bit.
“I always wanted to do this,” he adds. ∎
