Winter Meeting ends in Vincennes

Paris-Vincennes, Saturday, 4 March: The Winter Meetings in Paris-Vincennes will be a thing of the past after the final Prix d`Argenton-sur-Creuse. Two rounds of the classic level will be contested for 240,000 euros in prize money.

The Prix des Centaures (5th race/15.50/2200m) admits four-, five- and six-year-old horses, with only the four-year-olds starting from the basic mark. Hanna des Molles (Alexandre Abriavard), who excelled in the Prix de I`Ile de France (Group 1), should not let the `butter be taken off her bread`, but Happy and Lucky (Adrien Lamy), who paled in seventh place in that match, should also play a supporting role, as should Ina du Rib (Jean Dersoir), who was not available for cleaning in the Prix Camille Blaisot (Group 2). From the front, Joyeuse (Mathieu Mottier) and Junon (Guillaume Martin) suitably hit it.

The same yearlings under the identical starting conditions, but this time in front of the sulky, will contest the Prix de Selection (8th race/17.35/2200 m). Idao de Tillard (Theo Duvaldestin) immediately corrected the `red` form in the Prix d`Amérique and easily beat the best-run Instrumentaliste (Gabriele Gelormini) in the Prix Ovide Moulinet (Group 2). The five-year-old will have to contend primarily with Horsy Dream (Eric Raffin), whose reputation as a shooting star in the `Amérique` and the `France` has fallen somewhat silent. Heraut d`Armes (Jean-Michel Bazire) will be interesting if he runs faultlessly. Juliet Papa Bravo (Mathieu Mottier) and Joyner Sport (David Thomain) could benefit from the band advantage.