The yard
Fabrice Chappet’s main yard is among the historical stables of Chantilly. It was built in 1899 by prominent racehorse owner Arthur Weisweiller, whose maroon and black colours are reflected in the architecture. It comprises 60 spacious boxes and offers direct access to the Chantilly forest. From there, the horses benefit from an ideal warm-up in the shape of a nice walk under the oak tree canopy. Depending on their assignment of the day, they will head to Les Lions, where the routine workout takes place, to Les Aigles, the majestic grass canter used for more serious work, or even to the racecourse, whose all-weather and grass tracks are open for pieces of work several days a week. All three venues are virtually equidistant from the yard and allow the horses to be out for over an hour without crossing any road.
The training centre
Chantilly
Located 35km North of Paris, Chantilly has long been known as “the capital of the horse”. The first races were held in front of the castle in 1833 and the whole town quickly became the headquarters of French racing. Nowadays, close to 2,500 racehorses call it home. The training centre expands over 1,900 hectares (almost 5,000 acres), making it the largest in the world. It comprises 140km of natural sand canters, 120ha (300 acres) of turf as well as four all-weather gallops for the winter months.
Les Lions
Les Lions is a 4km (2.5 miles) long canter made of natural sand.
It follows a steady uphill climb thanks to which the horses
can gain plenty of fitness without galloping too fast.
This, according to Fabrice Chappet, represents the ideal
combination of assets to keep horses sound both physically
and mentally while bringing them on to peak condition.
Nested in the forest, Les Lions is sheltered from the wind
and cold, meaning it can be used year-round.
Les Aigles
Les Aigles is the most famous part of the Chantilly training centre.
It revolves around a huge grass clearing where horses
can work right-handed, left-handed or on a straight course.
Being able to work on the grass on a weekly basis is
a fantastic asset to educate young horses.
The racecourse
The racecourse’s turf and all-weather tracks
are regularly available to locally-trained athletes,
providing extremely useful opportunities to give horses
a foretaste of racing
and work them in
selective conditions.
