Bay Bridge and Vadeni beaten as Iresine lands Prix Ganay with last-to-first swoop
In a Prix Ganay of rare quality it took a decisive turn of foot to separate the winner from a host of talented rivals. And in a throwback to a completely different era, it was – the winner of the Prix Royal Oak over nearly two miles in testing ground – who produced that touch of extra class under an ice-cool ride from Marie Velon.
His thoughtful and talented trainer Jean-Pierre Gauvin stepped Iresine up to the marathon trip of the Royal Oak because it fitted the gelding's programme and because the son of Manduro is never happier than at Longchamp. And surely it could only have been the trainer of Saonois – a Jockey Club winner who graduated from a winter on the all-weather at Cagnes-sur-Mer – who then recognised he had a horse to take on the cream of Europe's middle-distance royalty in Vadeni and Bay Bridge.
"The great thing about him is he has speed and stamina, he has wonderful acceleration and he goes on most ground apart from when it’s really firm," said Gauvin, whose yard has recently been under a significant health cloud. "He can do anything and is still a fresh horse because we’ve looked after him."
Velon and Iresine are now two from two in Group 1 starts and Gauvin said of the rider: "I think Marie is important to him because she has never really got to the bottom of him in a way a really physical jockey might have done. She didn't pick up her stick in the prep race and you could see there, when he started to idle a bit in front, two flicks and it really woke him up. He is still a fresh horse and has never been better so we will do our best to make him last as long as possible."
As a gelding, the choices in France are limited and Gauvin will almost certainly have to overcome any reservations he has about travelling with his star.
"The objective now is the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud as long as it’s not really fast, although the Parisian tracks rarely are," said Gauvin. "We could go via the Grand Prix de Chantilly but I’d have no problem with going straight there now he’s shown he handles better ground. We’ll then put him away for the autumn when I’d like to travel him. There is Ascot – he clearly is effective at this trip and it's not so far to go – but I’m most tempted by Hong Kong, perhaps via the Prix du Conseil de Paris."
With a long season of top-class middle-distance prizes ahead, there was plenty of optimism among the connections of the beaten horses, and both Bay Bridge and Vadeni could be out again between now and Royal Ascot.
Even as Iresine loomed up on his outside, looked almost certain to be no worse than second until Simca Mille battled back past him late in the piece.
"He’s run a very good race and this ground probably just found him out a little bit at the finish," said co-owner James Wigan. "Ryan said he thought he was going to pick them up but, first race of the year, he just needed it. I would guess Ireland [for the Tattersalls Gold Cup] will be next."
Jean-Claude Rouget had made it clear he expected to need the run and his fourth-placed effort can be marked up, given he lost a shoe in the false straight.
"We’ll continue gently on our way," said Rouget. "Next up will be the Prix d’Ispahan, where he could be vulnerable to a true miler. But he has two major objectives, the Prince of Wales’s Stakes and the Arc. If he wins those, nobody will remember he was beaten here."
Stephane Wattel was full of pride after once again ran a huge race on ground that would have been slow enough for him.
"Let's be realistic, I think there was definitely a premium on having already had a race before today but I’m very proud of how he’s run and he certainly has the right to be in among the big boys now," said Wattel. "I don’t know exactly where we’ll go next but I’m tempted by Royal Ascot in either the Prince of Wales’s Stakes or the Hardwicke."
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