Perfect Start For New Chantilly Trainer

[Wandering Eyes]

As entrances go, training your first winner with your first runner in front of a stand packed with international owners and trainers in Deauville for the start of the yearling sales is a pretty good introduction. Step forward and take a bow, Gavin Hernon, the newest recruit to the training ranks in Chantilly and, at the age of 26, surely close to the youngest.

“It wasn’t the plan, despite what everyone says,” says Hernon with a laugh as he reflects on the maiden success of juvenile Icefinger (Ire) (Kodiac {GB}) during a break in yearling-viewing at the BBAG Sale in Germany. “And everyone was there, so it looks like it was a very well thought-out plan but, no, the horse was supposed to run at the end of July and he just simply wasn’t ready. I still wasn’t sure whether he was ready on the day that he won. He was very green, very babyish, so to do it the way he did against experienced horses was really special. It was nice to get that first winner on the board early,” he adds.

Hernon maintains that he felt no nerves as he saddled Icefinger for his debut on Aug. 18 and his approach to his new venture certainly belies his relatively tender age, but then he has laid plenty of groundwork over the last decade.

“At age 16, I thought I wanted to be a jump jockey,” he recalls. “I wanted to learn from the best so I went to Mr [Jim] Bolger in Coolcullen. I spent four years with him and during that time it quickly became apparent to everybody but myself that riding horses wasn’t what God wanted me to do.”

The second-youngest of four sons of Joe Hernon, manager of Coolmore’s Castlehyde Stud and current Chairman of the European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders’ Associations, Gavin then graduated from the stable of one master of his craft to another, leaving his native Ireland and Jim Bolger to gain his first taste of Chantilly as pupil assistant to Andre Fabre.

“I’d been learning French, and I was obviously already quite attracted to the prize-money and the premiums there. When I decided I wanted to train, I had that on the short list and thanks to Christy Grassick I got a position with Andre Fabre for two years,” he says.

“So I got to know Chantilly through M. Fabre, and kind of learned how he was using those gallops every day and then I wanted to see a bit more of the training centre so I went to Nicolas Clement for a year.”

During his initial stay in France, Hernon also indulged in some sales agency work and was appointed as French representative for Goffs, a role he retains. To round off his international experience, he then completed a stint in America with Graham Motion.

“We just got back from America back in March,” says Hernon, the ‘we’ referring to his girlfriend Alice Kenyon, who is also working with him in Chantilly and is a key work rider.

He adds, “I have to say I’m glad that was kind of my final step before setting up training, because in America, the trainers over there they really leave you to your own devices. You’re running a barn, you’re managing the horses, you’re training them, you’re managing the staff, the owners, when they ride. It was, for me, the best experience. You don’t get that experience as an assistant over here. It’s important to have it before you throw yourself in at the deep end.”

Now ensconced in the stable close to Chantilly’s famous Les Aigles gallops which was formerly inhabited by Francois Doumen, who retired last year, Hernon is in the process of augmenting his current string of three horses during the yearling and horses-in-training sales.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for young people in France right now,” he says. “I’m in probably the newest yard in Chantilly as Francois Doumen built it when his other yard burnt down. So it’s only about 10 years old, and what I love about it is that it’s very well constructed, with air circulation very much at the forefront. In short, we’ve got a nice yard with 27 boxes.”

With backing coming from Ireland, England, Scandinavia and China, it shouldn’t be long before more of those boxes are filled. On Hernon’s initial list of owners was his brother Paul, who runs the successful Seventh Lap Racing syndicate with Rob Jones, the men both based in London and using their business contacts in the city to encourage young like-minded investors and racehorse owners.

“They’ve had a good bit of success. They have a couple of nice horses to come out for Hugo Palmer as well. Hopefully their syndicate will continue to grow,” says Hernon, who took charge of Seventh Lap’s Repercussion (GB) (Manduro {Ger}) from Charlie Fellowes last month. The 101-rated (on BHA rankings) 5-year-old is entered for a conditions race at Chantilly on Saturday and has recently been sold to Tuan Jen Yap.

The trainer can also presumably rely on some backing from another family member. He says, “Dad has been very supportive. If I’m lucky there might be a higher reserve on one or two of his nice fillies this year, but you never know. He’s opened a lot of doors for me, but the important thing is to turn those opportunities into results.”

As for the neat grey Icefinger, owned by the Scandinavian-based BLC Horseracing and a €320,000 purchase by syndicate manager Morten Buskop at the Arqana Breeze-up Sale, he says, “I’m in no rush with him. He’s already shown a level of ability and we’ll just take our time with him for now.”

Whatever else the colt goes on to achieve, he’s already guaranteed himself a place in his trainer’s heart for delivering at Deauville the kind of advertisement that money just can’t buy.

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