Along for the Ride on a Medallion Trip to Deauville

[Wandering Eyes]

DEAUVILLE, FRANCE–Earlier this year, the TDN wrote a story about the launch of Medallion Racing's partner experiences to international locations, an important part of their racing partnerships program. They have just concluded their trip to the Arqana August Yearling sale in Deauville, where we were lucky enough to be invited along on parts of the trip.

Fourteen partners and family members traveled to Deauville from August 13 to 18, and took part in a series of events, from a bespoke D Day Tour, a day sampling local ciders at specialty producers in the region, a private dinner at the cultural museum Les Franciscaines, driving trotters with a sulky on Utah Beach, racing, sales, and more.
We talked to Medallion Racing Manager Phillip Shelton about the goals for the trips, and to some of the partners about their experience.

'Unbelievable experiences all over the world'
“One of our main goals with Medallion is to bring people to these unbelievable experiences all over the world, whether it's Group 1 races in Europe, Grade I races in America, or these really unique events that our partners really wouldn't be able to do on their own,” said Shelton, standing just outside the back ring at the Arqana sales complex. “So bringing them to Deauville for the Arqana sale and planning a plethora of activities around that as a base is really something we strive to do every year. We have done Royal Ascot, we've done Ireland. We have set our sights on a couple other international destinations for future years. But it's really a core part of what we feel like it is to serve our customers. It's to create these unbelievable experiences around our runners and then just around being together as partners.”

With the sale starting on Saturday, the group arrived on Wednesday and checked into the Normandy Barriere hotel, and then headed to a welcome dinner. The next day, a van picked them up to head to the D Day Beaches.

“It's a very, very sobering experience for the 12 hours,” said Shelton. “It was just absolutely unbelievable seeing the American Cemetery and a lot of the pill boxes and the different objectives. Friday, we had a group that went to Le Mont Saint-Michel. We had another group come and inspect yearlings at the sale.” Yet another group went to Cambremer to tour Calvados and cider-making farms, another group went to the races at Deauville-La Touque, and the adventurous Matt and December LeTextier drove sulkies on Utah Beach.

December also opted for the cider tour.

“Candidly, we did not anticipate the traveling element of this and that has just become the cherry on top,” she said, sitting in an apple grove at La Ferme du Bout du Chemin, an organic, fourth-generation family-run ciderie. “The experiences have been transformative. They really have been a key element; the exposure to the trainers, to the jockeys, to the people within the industry has become instrumental for us. Certainly we're interested in the horse racing side of it, but to have this wraparound experience beyond that really is the distinguishing characteristic for us with Medallion. This really has taken it to a new level for us.”

`Cameraderie'
For many of the partners, it was a first trip to Deauville.

“Deauville is an unbelievably beautiful place,” said Shelton. “We were blessed with outstanding weather. I think everybody's just really excited to be a part of a place maybe not a lot of them knew before.”

Client Relations Manager Molly Hyer was also onboard for the trip, continuing the planning she had started in Lexington. “One of the big perks for our Medallion partners is the extensive planning we do to make these international trips not just possible, but truly exceptional,” she said. “We take care of every detail, so all our partners have to do is book their flights and show up ready to enjoy an unforgettable experience.”

Europe as a destination is not only culturally rich, but rich with turf blood, said Shelton.

“One thing we talk about to all of our partners is that 42% of all stakes races in America are on grass,” said Shelton, who purchased two yearlings for the partnership from the Arqana sale; lot 76, a Starman-Estonia filly for €250,000, and lot 118, a Wootton Bassett-Just Beauty filly for €240,000. “And the reality is that I think the stats prove that the horses that are bred here are superior grass horses and we feel like even starting them here in Europe gives them a huge advantage over taking them straight back home. And so we really feel like that is a unique model. We've had over 300 starts at this point over eight racing seasons. Twenty-five percent of those races are in Grade Is, and 65% are in graded or group stakes. And I think that's almost an unmatched category of statistics.”

Wherever they head next, LeTexier said she's along for the ride.

“We'll be joining the team out at the Breeders' Cup in Del Mar and for us, a key part of our motivation is involving our family in these experiences,” she said. “They have been so welcoming when we've brought along our family members. Taylor Made's mantra is `with us, you're family.' And they really live it out in their work.”

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