AS a young boy, Edouard de Rothschild recalls accompanying his parents to Longchamp in 1963 to watch their horse Exbury run in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Family and friends cheered ecstatically as the colt crossed the finishing line to win well ahead of his rivals.

Little did Guy and Marie Helene Rothschild realise then, that the young Edouard would eventually return in the millennium years as President of France Galop, the controlling body for the racing industry in France, and look after the interests of racecourses at Longchamp, Auteuil, Saint Cloud, Chantilly, Maisons Laffite and Deauville.