The questions are answered by dual Arc-winning trainer responsible for Horse of the Year All Along and a headline maker on both sides of the Atlantic and Hong Kong
In the 1980s Patrick Biancone trained one of the most powerful strings in Europe. As head trainer to leading owner Daniel Wildenstein he enjoyed multiple big- race successes, notably landing back-to-back editions of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Sagace and All Along in 1983 and 1984.
All Along became one of the best fillies of the late 20th century, travelling to North America after her Arc win to complete a hat-trick of victories in the Turf Classic, Rothmans International and Washington DC International, a feat which earned her Horse Of The Year honours.
Biancone also trained Triptych to win two G1s and Steinlen, who won the Arlington Million and Breeders’ Cup Mile in 1989. Still at his peak, the following year he relocated to Hong Kong, where he trained successfully for nine years – before his stay ended acrimoniously when he was issued with a ten-month ban for alleged drug offences.
Biancone resumed his career in the US, training a slew of graded stakes winners headed by dual G1 winner Lion Heart, runner-up in the 2004 Kentucky Derby. He was later involved in further controversy when suspended after the discovery of cobra venom in his Keeneland barn.
Now assisted by his daughter Andie, the TVG analyst, Biancone continues to train on a much smaller scale in Florida. In 2020 he had a kidney removed when cancer was diagnosed and was subsequently given the all clear.
Which racing figure, past or present, do you most admire?
When I was young in Europe, Vincent O’Brien was the best trainer and best buyer of horses, maybe in the world. I was impressed with the way he did that. He created Ballydoyle; he created an empire. There are not many trainers that can do that. He had better horses than us at that time but it was good to compete with him. His horses were always immaculately presented. He was one of the best trainers in the world that ever existed.
Which is your favourite venue and race anywhere in the world?
My favourite race is the last one I won! What I mean is that what is important for me is to train horses at any level and win because that’s what we are trained to do. We won the Champion Stakes three times, the Arc twice, plenty of good races in Europe and over here too like the Beverly D, the Haskell, but the most important is the last one, which was Infinite Diamond on New Year’s Day.
My favourite racecourse for the atmosphere would be Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby weekend and for the quality of the track I would say Longchamp. It’s a beautiful racetrack.
Who is your favourite racehorse and why?
My favourite racehorse was Sagace. He was the kind of horse where you could wake up in the morning and say: “Let’s win a Group 1. Let’s run Sagace.” From a mile to a mile and a half, it made no difference to him.
He was an unbelievable horse. He was very fragile – in fact, Flightline reminded me of him. He was similar, unmerciful speed, very fragile, difficult to train, got injuries, so we had to space the races but he was an amazing horse when he ran.
What is your fondest memory in racing?
When Lion Heart won the Haskell because all my family, all my kids, were there. The atmosphere at Monmouth Park that day was unbelievable. But I also have another, when All Along won the Arc. Those were my two most emotional races.
The year All Along won she had taken a long time to reach her form. I had to invent a few things to get her back in perfect condition and fortunately she hit her form three weeks before the Arc. That is the reason we kept her running with three races in North America, the Turf Classic, the Rothmans International and the Washington DC International.
There was a $1m bonus and I told Mr Wildenstein, who liked that sort of gamble, and he said if I was happy with her we should try but if she gets beat in the first one, we come home. She won the first, the second and the third. She won four G1s in 41 days in two continents and three countries. When she came back she slept for three days to recover. We fed her but she only got up to poop.
If you could change one thing in racing, what would it be?
Globally the way the world of racing is organised and how international it is, I don’t think there are any measurable changes to make. In America I would say there should be more unified rules. In Europe the basic rules are the same and I think the States should be like that.
Another thing, people say more money is bet in Japan and Hong Kong because they are Japanese or Chinese. It’s not true. They bet more because they have more information. If the horse gallops or is on the walker or stays in its stall, the information is available.
But here people bet on horses without knowing if they have trained every day or not. We need to inform people more. We have one person who does a morning line, which is very subjective. If they knew everything about racing they would be very rich and not a morning-line maker.
We have handicappers who go on TV, and they are good, but now with my daughter on TV there is a bit of change because she knows about horses, which is different from most of the handicappers. She can look at a horse and say she doesn’t think it can perform today because he looked better the last time it ran.
She talks about the athletes and that is a plus. In other sports everything is there, in racing there is nothing. You are asking people to gamble blindly.
Patrick Biancone was speaking to Jon Lees
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