Longines VP Capelli Discusses Pharoah, World’s Best Racehorse Awards

The Longines World's Best Racehorse winning connections of American Pharoah with Juan-Carlos Capelli (third from left) and Louis Romanet (fourth from left). (Photos courtesy of Longines)
Juan-Carlos Capelli serves as the vice president and head of international marketing for Longines, a luxury watch company based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, that prides itself on elegance and precision. Longines served as the presenting sponsor of the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities’ Longines World’s Best Racehorse Awards on Jan. 19. Longines also sponsors the Longines Breeders’ Cup Distaff and the Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf as well as numerous other races across the globe.
CAPELLI (LEFT) WITH FRANCE GALOP PRESIDENT EDOUARD DE ROTHSCHILD

Capelli took a few minutes out of his schedule to chat with America’s Best Racing writer Dave Hill at the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Awards. 
Longines is involved in horse racing as a partner and sponsor all over the world. How do you think the sport in America compares to the sport in other countries?
I compare horse racing with tennis. At the French Open, it is a very glamorous event —very formal. Men have to wear a jacket and hat. At the Royal Ascot, the men have to wear a jacket and a hat. Ladies have strict rules about what to wear. At Wimbledon, players have to wear white. People are very respectful of their traditions. In the U.S., when you go to the U.S. Open, it’s a big show. People are enjoying it. The sport is only one part of the day. It isn’t the only thing people are doing. When the players take a two-minute pause to rest, people are dancing, people are eating! For us, in France it would be unbelievable to see people eating during the match. But in the U.S., it wasn’t a bad experience. It’s just two different ways to look at sports.
Do you think that American Pharoah winning the World’s Best Racehorse Award will grow the interest in horse racing in the United States?
In the U.S., racing is very big. Which other event in the U.S. has in one day 120,000 people watching [in person]? No American sporting event has so many people — not football, basketball, baseball. And the audience on TV is one of the best all year in the U.S. Racing is very popular. In two days, there are 200,000 people watching the races. Two weeks later, during the Preakness Stakes, again 120,000 people! And two weeks later, the Belmont Stakes, 100,000 people! Every year for a hundred years! I don’t see racing as decreasing in the U.S. It’s one of the biggest sports. It’s just a different kind of sport. When people go to watch football, you go to watch football or you watch it on TV. It’s just about the watching the sport. With horse racing, it is all about elegance, tradition … the experience. You go for the experience.
TROPHIES AT THE LONGINES AWARDS

How has the rest of the world felt about American Pharoah’s Triple Crown?
I was on French TV last December on a sports program. They asked me what was your most emotional moment in sports? I said the Belmont Stakes and the victory of American Pharoah. He didn’t know what I was talking about. He was a traditionalist! A sports journalist! And he wasn’t aware of who was American Pharoah. That’s exactly why we’re doing what we did today [at the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Awards]. We want a worldwide recognition of the sport. The Triple Crown is well known in the U.S. The Prix de Diane Longines (French Oaks) is known in France. There is Hong Kong Racing in Asia. But we don’t have a true global tour of horse racing. With cooperation of the IFHA, we created this award to recognize that it is a worldwide sport. We want the best of the horses and jockeys recognized worldwide by the whole industry. All of the industry worldwide is here. The chairman of the Japanese Racing Association was there, and there was no horse this year from Japan. Everybody was there today from the horse racing world. That’s a big sign that horse racing is getting worldwide recognition and a worldwide culture.