Very much the suavest of the French jockeys in that he is well groomed, good looking, lives in a very smart residence near Chantilly and has been retained by the top owner in the last 10 years, the Aga Khan.

Gerald was first apprenticed to Patrick Biancome with whom he became champion French apprentice.

From there he was retained by Francois Boutin to ride the Lagadere horses and he also rode regularily for Francois Doumen.

His first Group 1 success was aboard Double Bed in January 1988 at Hialeah Park in Florida.
His first major winner was aboard Saumarez in the 1990 Arc de Triomphe.

On April 13th, 1991, a fall whilst racing at San Siro, Milan, put him out of the saddle for two months.

However, payback came in the same year with five straight wins on champion 2 year old wonder horse, Arazi, who later went on to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in amazing fashion.
Included in that winning streak were the three Group 1s in France, the Prix Morny, Prix de la Salamandre and Grand Criterium.

Late in 1991, Gerald took up a tempting offer to ride for his original governor, Biancome, in Hong Kong, which produced 86 winners in two years

On his return to France in 1993, he was retained by HH Aga Khan to ride as his jockey, an agreement that lasted for 10 seasons and probably the most successful owner-jockey pairing in the last 10 years. However, as of 2002, the association will be no longer, Gerald deciding to dedicate more time to riding in Hong Kong.

This has meant that he has had the pick of the rides from trainer Alain de Royer-Dupre's stable.

In the last 10 years, riding at 54kgs has meant he has not ridden as much as his colleagues. However, the quality of his rides and the long string of big race victories have more than made up for this.

Technically, Gerald employs the old classical French style of seat, a-la-Saint Martin or Freddie Head. That is to say stirrups very short, knees above the withers with feet well into the inside of the irons.

With Gerald's height, the impression that he is balancing on a log is heightened. However, horses run very well for him and he is very strong in a finish.

Consider his win on Jim and Tonic in the 2001 Dubai Duty Free (£800,000 to the winner) when they pegged back Fairy King Prawn having looked held in the last 100 yards.

In the 2001 Dubai World Cup, Gerald was rowing away on Hightori from about 5 furlongs out and managed to snatch 3rd place and £400,000 right on the line. Just the sort of jockey an owner needs and £1.2 million in prize money does not sound like bad work to us !

From 1999, as with Olivier Peslier, Gerald has been very much in demand from English trainers to ride when available in the big races. This he has done to great effect with the help of top Newmarket agent, Shippy Ellis.

Gerald rode Daliapour to finish 2nd to Oath in the 1999 Derby at Epsom. The pair were again second to Montjeu at the Curragh in the Irish Derby.

From 1991 to 2001, Gerald's mounts in France have earned FRF 175 million in purses.

In 2003, he won the Group 1 Hong Kong Derby.

MAJOR RACES WON: