OpinionAnother View
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Sir Mark Prescott and Jean-Claude Rouget have helped the new Longchamp find its voice and its soul
Scott BurtonFrance correspondent
Sir Mark Prescott stands in Longchamp's winner's circle following Alpinista's Arc triumphCredit: Edward Whitaker
My first inkling Alpinista and her connections might be on the way to making an unusual mark on the stubborn public consciousness came in the Saint-Cloud racecourse stables last July.
I had walked up to the top yard where the foreign-trained horses were holed up in search of Charlie Appleby, to get some reaction to Hurricane Lane's below-par performance in the Grand Prix.
Few trainers welcome the furtive approach of a journalist in the wake of such a reverse and, while Appleby is more helpful than many, on this occasion he was nowhere to be seen.
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more inAnother View
- It's clear mainstream coverage of the Derby is lost at the weekend - so perhaps it's time to move it back to Wednesday
- Never mind the price of the beer - kids go racing for nothing and that's worth a lot
- Bank holidays are in sad decline - why not let unloved Brigadier Gerard march to the rescue
- Is there a cure for the Derby? A dose of Epsom salts might get it moving again
- British Flat raiders restore a little sporting pride. It may be far-fetched, but can our jumpers do the same?