Paris — For trainer Matthieu Mottier, the final day of Winter Meeting at Vincennes was a very good one, as he won two of the three Group 1 races on the program (March 1).
Mottier won the under saddle races Prix Henri Desmontils with Je M’Envole (sired by Joyau d’Amour) and Prix des Centaures with Kobayashi (sired by Face Time Bourbon), two horses he also trains. Each victory earned €108,000. With a bit of luck, he could also have won the sulky race, the Prix de Sélection. In that race, he finished third with Maestro Vrie (sired by Village Mystic), who crossed the finish line with plenty left in the tank.
The Prix de Sélection was won by Maitre Jacques (sired by Rolling d’Héripré) with Alexandre Abrivard, trained by Luc-Claude Abrivard, ahead of the handicap horse L’as Desbois (sired by Booster Winner) with Matthieu Abrivard. Maitre Jacques was a convincing winner and confirmed his strong form following his victory in the Prix Ephrem Houël on February 7.
Among the beaten horses in the Prix de Sélection was Lisa Josselyn with Nicolas Bazire, who launched an attack three-wide around the final turn but tired and finished unplaced.
All the Group 1 races carried a total purse over 240,000 euros – 108,000 euros to the winner.
The Winter Meeting attracted more spectators than last year, but betting turnover declined.
Attendance figures at Vincennes include the major race days, which averaged 10,500 visitors — totaling 225,000 spectators on those days — an increase of 3% compared to last year’s Winter Meeting, and no less than 28% more than the 2023-2024 Winter Meeting.
On the other hand, turnover fell by 3%, possibly because this year’s Winter Meeting had more scratched horses than in previous years.