LAST Saturday at Deauville was dedicated to the Au-Dela des Pistes, which is an organisation aiming to see that retired racehorses have a happy life after their racing days are over.

The Retrained Racehorse Day was enthusiastically greeted by the public who recognised horses which they had followed during their careers.

One of the stars was Cirrus Des Aigles and he appeared to love being ridden round the paddock by 10-year-old Charlie Soumillon.

Seven other famous race horses were present at the track and they had amassed a total of 48 graded/group races of which 17 were in the top category. Apart from Cirrus Des Aigles, enthusiasts were able to admire Pearl Flute, Prince Bishop, Papineau, Kasbah Bliss, African Story, Remember Rose and Saratan. The project is backed by France Galop, the Aga Khan and Godolphin.

Many of those involved are volunteers who will help steer retired racehorses into such equine sports as polo, dressage, show jumping, horse ball, endurance racing and riding schools etc.

There are many enthusiastic horse lovers giving their services and they include Godolphin’s French representative and Irish-born Lisa-Jane Graffard, and the Aga Khan’s assistant, Nemone Routh.