Stephane Pasquier
Stephane Pasquier was born on the 17th of January 1978 in Paris, France. In the 1990's, when Pasquier arrived at Moulin a Vent apprentice jockey school in Gouvieux, he came as a student who knew nothing about horse-riding, and certainly not much about being a jockey. But with sheer determination he rode his debut race at Saint-Cloud on the 6th of December 1994 on Robert Collet's Raspoutine and won his second ever race at Amiens in 1995 on Floris. After that year it took another three years before he won his next race.
With the help of Robert Collect and hard work Stephane again became one of the three best apprentices and soon he was being seen regularly at meetings from Deauville to Cagnes-sur-Mer. Stephane had a wonderful natural instinct for adapting to his different mounts and this helped him win time and time again. The first listed race he ever won was in 1999, at Frauenfeld on Bleu Nuit who was trained by Robert Collet. His first Group III win came two years later when he rode Valerie Dissaux’s Acceleration in the Prix Corrida at Saint-Cloud and then again in 2001 and 2004.
He first met his wife in Singapore during their winter in 2001-2002 while riding specifically for trainer Jean de Roualle. At the 2002 Prix Greffulhe (Group II) he came second on Caesarion and eighth when he rode his first Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe Lucien Barriere on Fair Mix. He continued to win and was soon contracted to Marquess de Moratalla as a stable rider where he came third at the Prix du Jockey Club and second in the Prix Noailles while riding Coroner.
Then mid way through the year 2004 he joined the Wildenstein stable as a second-string jockey, after Olivier Peslier, with immense success on the top-notch stayer, Westerner. The following year was equally successful, this time he guided Ostankino to victory at a number of events. Late 2005 Alec Wildenstein asked Stephane Pasquier to officially become his number one jockey. The following year Pasquier won numerous races for different trainers and steeds giving him the title as 2005’s French Jockey Champion.
