Stand My Ground wasn't keen to let Cuban Cigar get past her in the last few strides of the Four Pillars - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Before asking Marc Chevalier about his exciting Four Pillars Midway win with Stand My Ground, there was one other matter I needed to clear up before we even got around to racing. As a lifetime movie buff, I simply had to know whether or not he’s even remotely related to old time actor, singer and entertainer Maurice Chevalier (1888 - 1972), famous for movies like Gigi and timeless songs like Louise, C’est Magnifique, and Thank Heaven For Little Girls. I was slightly disappointed to learn that Marc was unaware of any family connection to the legendary Parisian.
With that out of the way he proceeded to revisit Saturday’s thrilling win in the half million dollar Four Pillars Midway with the lightly raced four year old mare Stand My Ground. It wasn’t just the fact that he’d won a half million dollar race on one of Sydney’s showcase race days. He’d also been able to achieve a stunning result with a mare having only her fourth race start, and her first in six and a half months. It’s also a fact that his plan all along had been to tackle the Four Pillars first up after two soft barrier trials.
Stand My Ground (Tyler Schiller) wins the Super Maiden at Newcastle 12/03/2026. She scaled greater heights at Randwick on Saturday - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Nobody was concerned when she finished last of nine in a 1000m Hawkesbury trial won by celebrated sprinter Overpass at the end of September. Tyler Schiller let her do a little more in a 1250m trial on the same track three weeks later, and she scored a comfortable win over All Star and El Pablo. With the Four Pillars only eleven days away, Marc was fully satisfied that his long range plan was right on target. He was slightly taken aback in the middle of last week when Stand My Ground came up with a horror barrier draw. “It didn’t look good at first, but this mare is a huge strider who has to balance up before gathering momentum,” said the trainer. “She’s better off closer to the outside than she would have been in barrier one or two. I told Tyler Schiller to go back at the start and let her come into it gradually.”
At the 800m Stand My Ground was three deep and in front of only three horses in the eighteen horse field. Well supported Dusty Bay led from American State with Hellfire Express three wide outside them. Just In Time and Satness were prominent while Magical Moments was obliged to race three deep. Schiller allowed the long striding Stand My Ground to amble up in the three wide line but found himself pushed quite a bit wider from the 600m. Although right off the track on the corner the mare was beautifully balanced and full of running.
From the top of the rise to the 150m mark, she showed a turn of foot you wouldn’t expect from such a long striding horse. She quickly put a margin on the chasers, but Cuban Cigar suddenly dropped into another gear and rapidly took ground off the Hawkesbury mare. “She may have wanted to wait for them for a few strides,” said Tyler Schiller. “Once she knew the other horse was there she lifted, and did enough to scramble home.”
Having only her fifth race start Stand My Ground (Schiller) was tenacious in winning the Four Pillars from Nash Rawiller's mount Cuban Cigar. - Courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Like Tyler, Marc was also of the opinion Stand My Ground was going to win by a margin and got quite a start when Cuban Cigar suddenly charged out of the pack. “Right on the line I wasn’t sure, but the first replay looked to favour us by a whisker,” said the trainer. “By the same token I was relieved when our number went up. You could see her get going again in the last few strides. I have no doubt she’s going to stay next campaign, if ridden quietly.”
Despite bearing no relationship to the iconic Maurice Chevalier, it’s very clear that Marc is as French as the baguette or the croissant. He was born in the historically significant region of Normandy thirty eight years ago to Olivier and Helene Chevalier, neither of whom had the slightest interest in horses or horse racing. The same applied to older brother Luc. Marc has no real explanation for his obsession with horses, but says it was intense enough to have his school teachers arrange placement in a racing stable for his very first work experience stint. “A local beach trainer called Phillipe Chemin was kind enough to let me spend some time in the stable,” Marc recalled. “I loved stable life from the first day and the minute I sat on a thoroughbred I knew my fate was sealed.”
On leaving school the young Chevalier landed a job with small team trainer Gilles Pannier at the picturesque Deauville training precinct. His powers of observation enabled him to take in valuable snippets of information. A photographic memory enabled him to store it away for future reference. Keen to learn more about the breeding side of the business he sought and acquired a job with the British arm of Sheikh Hamdan’s famous Shadwell Stud operation. He spent a year working extensively with Hamdan’s classically bred mares and their valuable foals. He would have stayed longer but an opportunity to work on the Aga Khan’s famous Haras de Bonneval Stud in his native Normandy was too tempting to refuse. Here he worked almost exclusively in the breaking and education of some of the world’s best bred horses. He got to meet the late Aga Khan 1V on two occasions and could clearly see his great passion for thoroughbreds.
Marc was clearly elated with his biggest training win to date. He's come a long way from work experience in a Normandy racing stable to the winner's circle at Royal Randwick - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
A strong connection between Haras de Bonneval and Sydney’s John Messara led to a job becoming available for Marc at the famous Arrowfield Stud in the Hunter Valley. He was bowled over by the scale and professionalism of the operation when he arrived for a six month stint in 2011. Redoute’s Choice, Snitzel, Flying Spur and Not A Single Doubt were the headline acts in the breeding barn while Paul Messara was building his team of racehorses. Marc had a stud management involvement and a later role as Paul’s stable foreman. He was still the same Marc Chevalier, soaking up knowledge like a sponge.
With no serious intention of returning to Europe, the young horseman moved to Rosehill and the assistant trainer’s job with Gary Moore. He enjoyed his time with the experienced Moore, and an association with a giant sprinter called Takedown whose seven wins included the 2016 Winterbottom Stakes in Perth. “Takedown was the biggest horse I’ve seen in any part of the world,” recalled Marc. “You couldn’t believe a horse of his size could sprint well enough to win top grade stakes races.”
During Marc’s time in the Moore establishment his heart was pierced by Cupid’s arrow. A delightful young French girl called Charlotte called in one day in search of employment as a stablehand/work rider. To Marc’s delight Gary signed her up. Charlotte is now his wife and the mother of his two children, two year old daughter Margot and three year old son Owen. The kids didn’t make it to Randwick on Saturday, but Charlotte was there to help strengthen the cheer squad.
Marc and Tyler Schiller have forged a strong partnership in the last few years - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Long before Owen and Margot arrived Marc was lured back to Victoria by an opportunity to work at Lloyd Williams’ state of the art Macedon Lodge training centre. He spent most of his eighteen months there as Assistant Trainer, adding further credentials to his already impressive CV. In a freakish piece of timing Marc was offered another job at the precise time Lloyd Williams put the wheels in motion for the sale of Macedon Lodge. High profile Flemington trainer Danny O’Brien had been hearing good reports about the young Frenchman and wasted no time in signing him up as Assistant Trainer and trackwork rider. When Marc joined the team, Russian Camelot and Vow And Declare were the stable’s headline acts.
With a wealth of experience now under the belt and with the support of his charming French wife, Marc felt the time was right to launch his solo career. A daunting prospect no doubt, but one he simply had to put in motion. He was able to lease boxes on the eastern end of Rickaby St Clarendon, and Marc Chevalier Racing was open for business. As he predicted, getting started was a foreboding task. An unexpected setback further aggravated the situation. In his first year of operation, one of the infamous Hawkesbury floods came along to inundate his small stabling block. He, Charlotte and their handful of horses escaped an intimidating situation.
Reluctant to risk a similar nightmare in the future, Marc was able to come to an agreement with nearby trainers Tara and Phillipe Vigouroux to share a training property in a less hazardous part of Rickaby Street - an arrangement which continues to work harmoniously. You would have taken long odds about Marc forging a business agreement and subsequent friendship with fellow Frenchman Phillipe Vigouroux.
Marc’s important first win came along with Tri Nations in a BM58 at Bathurst in January 2022 with hard working Hawkesbury based Grant Buckley doing the honours. He had a stroke of good fortune in March 2022 when hardy stayer Torrens joined his stable. The stallion had already won nine races for two other trainers and would win only one for Chevalier but it was the right one - the black type Xmas Cup at Randwick. Torrens would place on three other occasions, two of them at stakes level.
Torrens (Josh Parr) gives Marc his first black type training success by winning the 2022 Christmas Cup at Randwick - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Marc got to know Dr. Ulysses Crosson when he purchased one of the enthusiastic owner’s tried horses on an Inglis Digital Sale in 2021. The Helmet mare was a four start maiden when she entered the Chevalier stable. Marc kept Ulysees informed about her progress and even emailed photos of her trackwork at Hawkesbury. Marc would go on to win races at Taree and Newcastle with Pitavago as well as posting seven placings. The trainer received a pleasant surprise some time later when Ulysees called him with the news that his trainer Jeff Englebrecht intended to quit the training ranks. Marc who had only a handful of horses at the time, was stunned when Ulysees offered him eight horses to train - a defining moment in his fledgling career.
One of the eight was a genuine mare called Everyone’s A Star, a daughter of Star turn with whom Marc has won six races including two on the Kensington track and Midways at Rosehill and Randwick - ridden in all city wins by Tyler Schiller. Ulysees’ keen eye for a horse was on display again at the HTBA Sale at Inglis Riverside in 2024, when he picked up the North Pacific - Only Mine filly for just $30,000. He liked her as a type and had been a fan of lightly raced North Pacific who’d won the Gr 3 Up And Coming Stakes and had beaten all but Ole Kirk in the Gr 1 Golden Rose. Saturday’s win was her second from just five starts, and she’s banked $351,000 - eleven times her purchase price.
Everyone's A Star (Tyler Schiller) launched the winning association between Marc and owner Ulysees Crosson. Here she is in one of four metro wins - a Randwick Midway 03/01/2026 - courtesy Bradley Photographers.
Stand My Ground showed a glimpse of black type ability earlier this year when she led before finishing a cracking fifth, less than a length from Belle Cheval in the Gr 1 Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill. Perhaps she’d come to the end of it before finishing well back behind Ohope Wins in the ATC Oaks at Randwick. As Marc turned her out for a very long spell, he was already planning his strategy to win the Four Pillars Midway first up in the Spring. Ask any horse trainer, and he or she will confirm that one of racing’s most satisfying achievements is to have a long range plan come off. There won’t be a better training performance this season than the one delivered by Marc Chevalier at Randwick on Golden Eagle day.