None of the three classic big races held Saturday afternoon at Vincennes were won by the favorite.
The smallest surprise came in the Criterium des 3 Ans, where third favorite Lovino Bello (sired by Village Mystic) won for Eric Raffin ahead of the big favorite, Lombok Jiel with Pierre Yves Verva. Lovino Bello won in 1:57.3 (mile rate). The distance was 2700 meters or approximately 1-11/16th miles and the purse for the winner was 135,000 Euro. Lovino Bello, trained by Jocelyn Robert, has now earned 420,895 Euro.
The biggest surprise came in the Criterium des 4 Ans. Here the favorite Koctel du Dain with David Thomain was leading for a long time, but in a very close race the outsider Keep Going (sired by Follow You) with Eric Raffin won by a head and neck, respectively, ahead of Koctel du Dain and Ksar with Matthieu Abrivard, who finished strongly on the outside. The winner was timed in 1:56.3 (mile rate) and the distance here was 2850 meters or 1-3-4 miles. Keep Going, who gave odds of 22.60 to win, received 135,000 Euros in prize money and has now won 374,420 Euros in his career. Matthieu Mottier is the trainer.
The winner of the Criterium des 5 Ans, Josh Power, was at odds of 18.50 to win. In this race Jushua Tree with Jean Michel Bazire was the horse that couldn’t lose, but the big Bold Eagle son did after an outside trip. Jushua Tree was in the lead going down the stretch, but towards the finish he became rough gaited. Josh Power (Offshore Dream) with his trainer Sebastian Ernault fought his way to victory in 1:53.4 (mile rate); the distance here was 3000 meters or 1-7/16th miles. This was Josh Power’s first win of the year; in fact, he hadn’t won a race since last September when he won the Criterium des 4 Ans. So this is a horse with a taste for big races! Josh Power has now earned 650,170 Euros in his career.