Michel Aladenise struggles to achieve the new feat of Hooker Berry, winner of the Albert Demarcq Prize (Group II), yesterday on the racecourse at Paris-Vincennes. As the post passed, the owner held his head in his hands. “I’ve never had a horse like him,” he marvels, adorned with a pink and black scarf in the colors of his coat. For me, Hohneck is superior to us but, with Jean-Michel (Bazire) in the sulky, we can beat him. The “little horse”, as his driver nicknamed him, signs the third success of his career at Group II level.
An automatic Peugeot 405 against a mare
At the head of the Berry breeding after a career as a judoka and car dealer, Michel Aladenise, 65, had great moments with Quokine Berry, winner of the Prix des Centaures (Group I) in 2008. Fourteen years later , Hooker Berry seems to be in a position to succeed him at the top level following an unusual history. At the end of the 1990s, Michel Aladenise acquired a mare named Idée du Corta in an original way. “I exchanged it for a Peugeot 405 automatic,” he recalls. Without knowing it, he has a future great breeder. “She was not qualified and I had to wait until she was five years old to be able to mate her,” he continues. With the current rules, she couldn’t even reproduce. His first foal will be Osaka Berry, the dam of his champion.
“The Critérium des 5 ans (September 18) will be the logical next step,” says JMB. Until then, he will participate in another Group II for the generation before taking a few holidays and taking part in a stage of the Grand National du Trot at 50m. “Despite the defeat, François Lagadeuc was himself satisfied with the behavior of his partner, Hohneck. “We didn’t run like a back-to-school race, we tried to win, he confides. He runs very well because he stood up to Hooker Berry until 150 m from the goal. »
