Equestrian scandal: French Olympian sued for allegedly running a secret 'side hustle' involving a dead horse's semen

Simon Delestre climbed onto the podium at the Olympic Games in Paris. The French rider won bronze in the team show jumping competition. His record is embellished with podium finishes in major international competitions. RidingCouletto, he reached the final of the 2011 World Cup. This horse, who died in 2020, has been 'resurrected' in the media in recent months.

Delestre was accused of selling frozen semen from this horse behind the back of its owner, according to L'EquipeCoulettowas acquired by Daniel Pagès in 2008. He paid 800,000 euros not only for his competition skills but also for his condition as a stallion. The horse's owner points out that Delestre, currently eighth in the world rankings, allegedly sold doses of frozen semen "clandestinely and without authorisation", a genetic resource that can no longer be replenished as the horse in question has died.

In 2011, on Delestre's advice, Pages froze the semen of Couletto with a view to future artificial insemination. The two were partners, with the rider managing the entire sporting side of things.Pages, in 2020, learned that, without his knowledge, 'Couletto's' semen was being marketed on a Facebook page as there were samples stored in another laboratory."I felt the weight of betrayal. I helped him grow. And he cheated me for about 10 years. It's terrible. You can't bite the hand that feeds you. It goes beyond money. I'm not going to let this go unpunished," Pages told L'Equipe of Delestre.

In March 2023, Delestre, in an email, acknowledged that the agricultural company Ouchs, dedicated to horse breeding, had sold some breeding services "because otherwise the semen, for lack of payment, would have been destroyed" by the laboratory, whose invoices were no longer paid by Pages.

The owner took the case to court. Four days after Delestre was an Olympic medallist in Paris, the judge ordered him to provide all invoices, bank statements and emails relating to CoulettoDelestre's lawyer argued that Pagès had opted to store Couletto's frozen sperm in a laboratory, while Simon Delestre chose another, as both could market their own doses. A month ago the verdict was handed down. The agricultural company that coordinated the breeding was ordered to pay Pagès 18,200 euros and Delestre and his wife 27,300 euros. The parties have appealed.

"Given that the judicial process is ongoing, Simon will not comment on it. He wishes to focus entirely on his sporting career," Simon's wife Magali Delestre told L'Equipe.