USA: French Derby-winning jockey Vincent Cheminaud has quit France on a one-way trip to the United States where he hopes to build the next phase of his career in the manner of Florent Geroux, Flavien Prat and Julien Leparoux.
Cheminaud, 28, arrived in New Orleans last Thursday and spent the weekend watching the action at Fair Grounds where French expat Geroux secured his latest big-race victory on Turnerloose for trainer Brad Cox in the G2 Rachel Alexandra Stakes.
“I have always liked this country and, when I won here on Flintshire [2015 Sword Dancer Invitational], which was a very good moment for me, I decided I would one day try a new adventure,” he said.
Cheminaud has packed a lot into a relatively short career. He started out over jumps, becoming French champion at the age of 20 and his successes included victory in the famed Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris in 2014, France’s biggest jumps race.
By the end of that year he decided to switch codes to the Flat and the following season captured the Prix du Jockey Club on New Bay while still an Andre Fabre apprentice.
That success earned him a role as retained jockey to Juddmonte Farms in France, for whom he not only won the Sword Dancer at Saratoga but also the 2017 Prix Royal-Oak on Ice Breeze.
Out of Cheminaud’s 665 wins, nearly 100 have been for 24-time French champion Flat trainer Fabre while over 150 were gained over obstacles for legendary jumps trainer Guillaume Macaire.
He is starting out in New Orleans not because of the ‘Big Easy’s’ historic French links but because it is the base of his agent Tim Hanisch. His wife and three young children will join Cheminaud at the end of the French school year.
“My agent lives in New Orleans and Kentucky,” he explained. “It’s not easy to take an agent in the USA because they can’t have more than two jockeys at one time. I will start here and be in Kentucky from April.”
He added: “Many jockeys want to win big races in the USA and a lot of French jockeys have done that here. I don’t have a problem with riding on the dirt because I have done it in Japan and I enjoyed it.
“I like a challenge and I think riding in the USA will be a good challenge for me. I’ve been taking English lessons but in the US it is not the same. The people speak very fast! I can get by for the moment. I want to stay and continue my career here for the next years.”
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