France’s leading trainer, Thierry Duvaldestin, had a fantastic day at Vincennes on Saturday afternoon, where the three biggest French classic age-group races, the Criterium for 3-year-olds, 4-year-olds, and 5-year-olds, were decided.
Duvaldestin had horses starting in two of the Criterium races and won both – in the Criterium des 4 Ans, it was even a double victory for the Duvaldestin stable, and for Duvaldestin’s youngest son, Theo, who got his first Group 1 race win.
In the Criterium des 4 Ans, Lancier du Goutier (sired by Ready Cash) won with Theo Duvaldestin ahead of stablemate Lovino Bello with Eric Raffin, and half an hour later, Theo Duvaldestin could again be noted for a Group 1 victory when he won the Criterium des 3 Ans with Mack de Blary (sired by Face Time Bourbon).
The pair were initially second over the finish line, but due to interference down the stretch by Magic Night with Paul Philippe Ploquin, Magic Night, who reached the finish line first, was relegated to second place – and thus Mack de Blary was declared the winner.
Magic Night is trained by Phillippe Allaire, and he had a good chance for revenge in the Criterium des 5 Ans with Koctel du Dain with David Thomain.
The pair led for a long time but were caught shortly before the finish line by Krack Time Atout (sired by Face Time Bourbon), trained by Sebastian Guarato and driven by Franck Nivard.
Ready Cash and his son, Face Time Bourbon, were responsible for the three winners of the Criterium races, each with a total prize sum of 300,000 Euros.