From Tony Parker to Renaud Lavillenie, many sports stars have taken up horse racing. However, for footballer Antoine Griezmann, it is not a fad but a contagious passion that has led him to success.
Although the information may have gone unnoticed, it is not anecdotal: on 17 July 2022, Hooking won the Prix du Chateau Neuf at Chantilly. This was the second Quinté+ in the horse’s career. Its owner, Écurie Griezmann, was managed by the Atletico Madrid striker.
A family passion
The footballer owns around twenty horses, gallopers, and trotters which he has been acquiring since 2017. This passion was passed on to him by his father, Alain, who is also a horse racing enthusiast. Together, they set up this stable a few kilometers from their stronghold, Mâcon.
To succeed, Antoine has enlisted the services of two experienced trainers, Philippe Decouz and Mickaël Cormy. The pair are full of praise for the young man, praising his “extraordinary level of involvement” but, above all, his “eye and feeling” for the potential of a horse.
The Prix d’Amérique in his sights?
Even if he managed a nice capital gain by selling one of his Txope mares this summer for 1.2 million Euros, money is not the champion’s driving force. Horse racing is rarely a profitable investment, and, as a keen competitor, Griezmann has one and only one objective: victory. To add, perhaps, a Prix d’Amérique to his world champion star.
