The days at Vincennes just get better and better! There is fabulous racing absolutely everyday!
Prix Paul Buquet
The Prix Paul Buquet had a dramatic arrival; Riglorieux Du Bois acutally won easily but was disqualified after inquiry. This international group two race over 2850m is a prep race for the Prix De Cornulier even though it was open for geldings and 10 year-olds. Geldings aren’t eligible to race the world’s biggest monté race and today’s 10 year-olds will be 11 in the beginning of 2012 and will be too old to keep on competing in France. 10 year-old mare, Nuit Torride made a come-back under saddle in this “semi-classic” but was disqualified from her 5th place after inquiry. The three first places went to monté champions: Roi Du Lupin, Risque Tout and Quemeu D’Ecublei.
Sadly, these three horses are geldings and won’t be seen in the big race!
Le Cannibale
Vincennes hosted another group two race last Saturday, the Prix Doynel De
Saint-Quentin over 2850m. Only eleven horses were entered in this European race.
Le Cannibale, named with the nick-name of his father Jag De Bellouet,
recently arrived in Fabrice Souloy’s training, from Stig H Johansson, made
a great impression. He won in 1’15’0, in front of Stefan Melander’s Oracle and Sancho Turgot. Three horses that were expected to race well did not manage to follow Le Cannibale. These are: Critérium des 5 ans winner: Scoop D’Yvel, Prix Jockey winner: Son alezan and the Swedish horse Caballion. Le Cannibale will probably have a successful winter.
Un Poco Loco and Yann Gérard win the Coupe Inter-Régionale Des 3 Ans.
Vincennes hosted a top-class meeting again on Sunday. The Coupe Inter-Régionale Des 3 Ans is a group three race over 2700m. Twelve horses were qualified to race the final. This race is the final of a tournament for three year-olds, the
qualifying races are regional and they take place on tracks all over France. The horses qualify to the final at Vincennes with a point system. Un Poco Loco is not crazy as his name could say! He waited patiently in fourth place and placed his sprint out of the final curve leaving no chance for his rivals to follow him. Unabella Perrine just did a winning come-back giving Charles-Antoine Mary his 100th win as a driver finished well to second place. Uranie Lorraine was the leader throughout the race, driven confidently by Jean-Michel Bazire didn’t manage to do the same performance as her last race. She won with about 10 lenghts but on Sunday she was third.
The Prix Philippe Du Rozier is a group two under saddle over 2175m. It has seen a lot of great winners such as: Queila Gédé, Vivier De Montfort, Kerido Du Donjon, Miss Castelle or more recently Singalo. Eric Raffin won the last three editions of the race but this year’s edition was won by Nathalie Henry and Trotting Race. Nathalie Henry hadn’t won a race at this level and hadn’t been riding much either since the birth of her first child, Chloé. It felt good to see Nathalie back at top level! Trotting Race is trained by Jean Baudron and owned by Ecurie D. She is by Goetmals Wood, the best stallion in France. Tigresse Du Vivier was second and Tango Quick third.
Quif De Villeneuve, brilliant in the GNT.
The whole day was prestigious but the final of the Grand National Du Trot was the day’s big event. The trotting “Tour de France” took 13 stops on the
best race tracks in France and the most successful horses came to Vincennes for the final. Quif De Villeneuve had already won the tournament, he had 73 point and the second horse, Riktigt Gentil had 38 points… No surprise in the final: Quif De Villeneuve made the whole tournament his! He won with a 55 point advance. Quif De Villeneuve is a son of Coktail Jet, he is bred by Michel Royer and Séverine Raimond. Quif De Villeneuve is owned by Ecurie Augustin-Normand (and Franck Amar, Antonio De Sousa and Franck Leblanc). He is trained by Franck Leblanc since april. Until then Quif De Villeneuve was trained by Séverine Raimond (he won 16 races with her) but in april he was sold at the Trotting Promotion auction for 145 000€. He has already paid himself off twice! Franck Leblanc said they won’t cut corners and aim the Prix D’Amérique but he will probably be entered in the Prix De Paris, which suits his capacities better.
The amateurs have their tournament too, the Grand National des Amateurs. Like Quif De Villeneuve, Reach De Vandel dominated his tour. Reach De Vandel was bought at the Prix D’Amérique sales 2011 for 65 000€ by Pascal Garreau, he has been paid off too. He has won 15 races this year!
The four year-old had their Coupe Inter-régionale aswell, Eric Raffin continued his winning spree, winning the race with Trésor Du Breil.