From SKYSPORTS Leading filly Beauty Parlour has left Elie Lellouche to join Sir Henry Cecil in Newmarket to restore an old association for the trainer. It was announced earlier in the day that Luca Cumani had been sent a dozen unraced juveniles by the Wildenstein family and now their most high-profile horse has joined Cecil, who enjoyed a successful time training for the late Daniel Wildenstein in the late 1970s/early 1980s. In 2001 Cecil trained the Wildenstein-owned Rolly Polly to win the Fred Darling Stakes at Newbury. Beauty Parlour has already won the French 1000 Guineas this season and gone down narrowly in the French Oaks. A statement released on Thursday said: "The Wildenstein Stable today made the decision to send 14 of its 85 horses to be trained in the United Kingdom of which two fillies will go to Sir Henry Cecil and 12 two-year-olds to Luca Cumani. "Considering its ambitions and following the example of other major French stables the Wildenstein stable in fact wanted to give itself a more international calibre. "Amongst the horses which represent the blue silks in the United Kingdom is Beauty Parlour who will be trained by Sir Henry Cecil because of the long history that unites this stable with this trainer. "The Wildenstein stable will keep its other horses in France where they will remain with their respective trainers." Other top-class horses trained by Cecil for the Wildensteins included All Along, Buckskin, Hello Gorgeous and Simply Great.
Charming people it would appear. Or perhaps not. http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2004/jul/21/horseracing.gregwood "When Peter Walwyn was asked to list the biggest mistake of his distinguished training career by the Racing Post a few years ago, he was in little doubt. "Training for the Wildenstein family," he wrote. "They had high-class horses and I suppose I was quite greedy ... [but] they were difficult to train for, as others were to find out." There was an interesting footnote, too. "Daniel Wildenstein was never a problem," Walwyn added of the Frenchman. "It was his son, Alec, who was the one who fired the bullets." It was a somewhat appropriate observation, too, though Walwyn may not have been privy to the more lurid details of Alec Wildenstein's recent divorce from Jocelyne, his wife of almost 20 years. One vivid scene described in the Manhattan Supreme Court during the proceedings involved Jocelyne (who was dubbed "the Bride of Wildenstein" by the American tabloids as a result of her obsession with plastic surgery), Alec, a teenage model and a Smith & Wesson .38. Wildenstein brandished the weapon, so the court was told, because his wife was "an hysterical individual standing there with a pair of scissors, ready to destroy me and my collection." All of which, of course, has little to do with horse racing, other than to emphasise that Alec Wildenstein, like his father before him, is a colourful character, to say the least. And there are many in the sport who would say rather more. Lester Piggott, for instance, who rode what Daniel Wildenstein believed to be an injudicious race on his colt Vacarme in the 1983 Richmond Stakes. "The Wildenstein family," he wrote in his autobiography, "are inveterate bad losers." Since Daniel Wildenstein died in October 2001, it has become clear that a $6bn (£3.5bn) art-dealing business and an hugely successful bloodstock operation were not the only things he passed on to his son. Only last month, after his four-year-old filly Vallee Enchantee had finished third to Warrsan in the Coronation Cup, Alec Wildenstein described Dominique Boeuf, his jockey, as an "asshole" and sacked him on the spot. That was as nothing, though, when set against Wildenstein's reaction to Papineau's defeat of Westerner in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot a couple of weeks later. "The dope-testing machine must be broken," he said, a comment that left even veteran Wildenstein-watchers mute with astonishment. His gracelessness was all the more extraordinary since Wildenstein had been warned before the race that on no account should the earplugs that Westerner wears to keep him calm in the preliminaries be removed during the race. Wildenstein ordered Gérald Mosse, Westerner's jockey, to remove the earplugs anyway, a clear and deliberate breach of the Rules of Racing. The plugs are used to block out crowd noise, but must stay in place so that finishing-straight cheers do not act as a sudden spur and give an unfair advantage. On Saturday, Wildenstein's famous blue colours will return to Ascot aboard Vallee Enchantee, the second- favourite for the King George. The silks have graced the course many times before, and were carried to victory in the King George by Pawneese in 1976. Should Vallee Enchantee succeed in beating Doyen, Warrsan and company in the summer middle-distance championship, however, the sporting instincts of the Ascot crowd will be stretched to snapping point. Ascot and the Wildensteins have a history. Though Alec's comments after the Gold Cup are still fresh and raw in the memory, many racegoers will also recall the bile that flowed after Pat Eddery, then Walwyn's stable jockey, rode Buckskin to finish fourth in the 1978 Gold Cup. Daniel Wildenstein was bitterly critical of Eddery's performance, describing him as a "mere boy", but Walwyn, to his credit, stood by his jockey. Within days, a fleet of horseboxes arrived to remove every Wildenstein-owned horse from Walwyn's yard. There could even be jeers from the terraces if Vallee Enchantee is led into the winners' enclosure on Saturday. At the very least, any applause will surely be muted. "It would be a shame if there was any booing," a senior executive at Ascot said, "but I'm not sure he's really all that well known outside the core racing audience. "He's a controversial figure, but he's an owner and he pays his entry fees like anyone else. His comments after the Gold Cup were widely reported, but that is something for Godolphin [the owners of Papineau] to take up if they wish, and he has never said anything that would give Ascot cause for concern." Godolphin, in fact, wisely refused to dignify Wildenstein's "dope-testing machine" outburst with a response, while the Jockey Club decided not to take any action on the comments, on the basis that Wildenstein had demeaned himself far more than he had demeaned racing. At the same time, Godolphin's Doyen, the favourite, would be a very popular winner. And if he should happen to beat Vallee Enchantee, no one at Ascot is likely to moan. Well, almost no one. Wildensteins on warpath June 17, 2004. Alec Wildenstein orders Gérald Mosse to remove earplugs from Westerner during the Ascot Gold Cup, despite having been warned that this is a breach of the rules. Then he repeatedly suggests that the Godolphin-trained Papineau, the winner, is running on stimulants. June 4, 2004: Alec Wildenstein blames Dominique Boeuf after Vallee Enchantee is beaten in the Coronation Cup. "We weren't unlucky, she was ridden by an asshole who didn't follow instructions," he says. Boeuf's contract was abruptly terminated. "Apparently," the jockey said, "we don't understand each other any more." October 1985: Sagace is disqualified from first place in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe after twice bumping Rainbow Quest, the runner-up, in the home straight. Daniel Wildenstein is furious, and never accepted that the Longchamp stewards' decision was justified. July 1983: Vacarme finished first in the Richmond Stakes, but was disqualified for causing interference. Daniel Wildenstein criticised Lester Piggott for his ride, and when the latter first accepted, then rejected the winning mount on All Along in the Arc later that year, Wildenstein vowed that he would never ride for him again. June 1978: Stable jockey Pat Eddery is dismissed as "a mere boy" after the hot favourite Buckskin is beaten in the Ascot Gold Cup. The Wildenstein horses move from Peter Walwyn to Henry Cecil soon afterwards, and from there to André Fabre, and finally to Elie Lellouche."
Really strange move. Where do they plan to campaign her, uK or France or internationally at that dreadful carnival in the Middle East? Henry's record with filly's really is top draw though so if there's a chance go getting her to progress then he is the man to do it. I think it's an interesting move and will spice up some group 1's later this season which is a good thing in my eyes.
Pardon the cynic in me for suggesting that this move by the Wildensteins is something to do with the new political and economic situation in France. You have probably already read that the sixth biggest city in France is London. That is because anybody with money who is not tied to France has come to London to avoid being taxed heavily by the loony left socialist that recently got the Presidency. It was hilarious to see the other day when Monsieur Hollande visited Call Me Dave he got to inspect the tallest Grenadier Guard regiment that could be mustered, towering above the latest French midget in their busbies. I do not think that Sir Henry Cecil will have any trouble with the Wildenstein family. One of the two parties is extremely well respected in this country and their advisors will surely tell them to keep it zipped and let the expert train their horses as he sees fit, importantly with the horses’ best interest the over-riding priority.
