Simone Brogi (Fr)
Simone Brogi, is the former assistant to Jean-Claude Rouget and has now started training in his own right, close to his yard in Pau in south-west France.
“Simone is a very talented and professional young man from an excellent family of trainers in Italy. We had a good relationship from the very beginning and I am delighted that some of my clients have entrusted horses into his care. He is also an amazing cook, so I still enjoy spending an evening with him eating pasta and discussing horses.” says Jean-Claude.
Brogi’s father, Fabio, brought Simone with him when he moved to France to escape the financial crisis in Italy. “Unfortunately my father didn’t settle in France,” Brogi explained. “But I loved it here and decided to stay when he returned to Italy.” Brogi asked for advice from many different people and, as a result, went to work for Rouget in January 2011.
“I learnt a lot from him about dealing with owners and staff, and especially about the organisation of such a large yard. I was also lucky enough to spend six months in Newmarket with John Gosden, and it was fascinating to see a different way of training. He was very good to me, and I would have loved to have spent more time there.”
When Brogi decided to set up on his own, it was thanks to the support of Rouget and his owners that he was able to do so; he now has a barn of 50 boxes at Pau. He added: “I know the facilities in Pau and I wanted to stay close to my former boss so it was an obvious choice for me to set up here. The all-weather track means we can exercise the horses even in bad weather and, although the competition is tough in the south-west of France, there is also a lot of racing locally.
“Jean-Claude is always available to talk to if I have a question and I continue to work in the same way I always did with him, just separately from the main yard now.”
He has one overriding ambition. “My main aim is to win races,” he said. “That’s why we do this job.”
He has done a wonderful job with Mensen Ernst for us. 15 wins and then acheiving the accolade of winning most horse in France in 2022 was terrific!