With a quick nod while driving past the entrance to the Chantilly training center (Oise), we could see
Al Capone's box
and luckily the tip of his nose.
A reflex that many had adopted by going to the Cantilian racecourse a few cables away.
But now, this stealth meeting with the legend of Auteuil, retired for twenty years, will no longer take place.
Al Capone II
died this Wednesday morning in his box.
"An old friend is leaving us"
“Yesterday, he was still in great shape,” says Matthieu Vincent, “he only saw the vet once a year.
»
Al Capone
was 32, a hundred years old for a human.
"He died peacefully," continues the director of the Cantilian site.
For two decades, this resident unlike any other, had become its mascot and this Wednesday, his disappearance saddens all those who crossed his path.
“It's a loss for us,” says the manager, “he was a nice, intelligent horse.
He was just costing us a little dear in carrots, he was a big eater, ”but that horse was not refused anything.
For his thirtieth birthday, about fifty people gathered to celebrate his birthday.
“He will have spent more time with us than on the slopes since his career was stopped at the age of twelve.
There are still five years, he went up every day for a little walk, ”says the manager.
“An old friend is leaving us,” says Corine Barbe, “but he had a good life in Chantilly with a lot of hugs and sweets,” adds the woman coach.
"It's a pillar that has just left"
All this tenderness, this horse born in the Nièvre on March 20, 1988, did not steal it, contrary to the reputation of its namesake, the head of the Chicago mafia.
Among these 25 victories and 32 place in 65 races, comes an unprecedented feat.
Bernard Sécly's protégé, his trainer, did not cede first place to any of his rivals for seven years in the Prix de La Haye Jousselin.
Pompon, as his entourage affectionately called him, captured from 1993 to 1999 the main obstacle course, taking down the other highlight of the program, the Grand Steeple Chase in Paris in 1997. “It was even declared horse of the century by Hermès, ”announces with pride Dany Sécly, the wife of the late developer.
In career exit his bank account showed more than 2.6 million earnings.
A stele on the Eagles
Jacques Cyprès saw the birth of
Al Capone
.
"It was I who named him so because of his nasty temperament and leader of the troop, from a very young age", says the breeder.
“He's the horse of my life.
The one that every breeder dreams of owning.
For nine years,
Al Capone
pranced at the highest level.
It's a pillar that has just left, ”adds the professional with emotion and respect towards his protégé.
A nugget of which he has preciously managed to keep the strain for almost fifty years.
“We have always been careful to keep this line from the crossing of
Italic
, the sire and
Oranaise
, the dam.
We resisted the tempting offers of the English.
"
During his lifetime, the genius of obstacles already had his statue in the Auteuil racetrack, but to honor his memory, a stele must be erected near the track of the Eagles.
“We are going to have him cremated,” explains Mathieu Vincent, “then his ashes will be placed in this place where we have not yet defined the precise location.
“Inevitably, a place of choice.
