Meet the ambitious family reversing France's north-south racing divide

French racing’s Paris-centric leaning is not as pronounced as it once was, even if the majority of blue bloods are still sent to the historic yards outside the capital.

Pau-based Jean-Claude Rouget has managed to break Andre Fabre’s stranglehold on the championship, while the likes of Christophe Ferland have further proved that plenty of talent lies in the provinces.

One family from even further south have designs on maintaining a more recent presence at the top level, too. Kamel and Bouzid Chehboub, property moguls from Marseille, now have a large string of horses based mostly near their coastal city, breeding interests, and three likely contenders for Group 1 prizes this autumn.