He is the obvious favorite for the Prix Bilibili (Gr. I, December 15), the highlight of the end of the year for 5-year-olds. Unsurprisingly, Maple Jeroboam was already before the start of this Joseph Lafosse Prize, his domination is so implacable. The winner of the 2024 Prix de Normandie fully assumes, over the course of his releases, his status as leader of the promotion. All with class. Although forced to evolve with his nose to the wind during the first part of the course, the son of Prodigious gets rid of the opposition shortly before the exit of the final turn, to win with authority.
The pass of six
If the winner clocks 1’12”9 (second reference time of this semi-classic), Damien Bonne’s partner records a resounding run of six consecutive victories under the saddle. “The horse is in great shape”, savors his former jockey David Thomain, the brother of Clément, his developer, at the finish. I hope it’s not too much before the big deadline. What is certain is that he is on the rise. Today, we made some small adjustments by removing the bells on his front legs. He was only plated from the front. We wanted to preserve his feet in view of the beauty. They had put small irons on his posterior. So, I hope it will be a little better in three weeks (smile).”
Direction Grosbois
While waiting for the big day, “he arrives in Grosbois for the meeting. We don’t want him to move before Group I. He has three weeks to get into the swing of things. From now on, we’ll take care of it and work it a little harder over the last ten days. But he’s ready.” Among the winners of this semi-classic, several winners subsequently participated in the Cornulier two months later (Ideal of Oak, Blue Granvillaise, Fado du Chêne, Heather Star…). “It’s a bit of a logical next step.recognizes David Thomain. But above all, it has to go well in the classic of December 15,” he concludes.
The good performance of Je M’Envole
In this qualifying event for the Bilibili Prize (the first three win their ticket), Jezabelle Bie (2e) is gradually making its place among the elite. “It’s very good what she doesconfides Paul Ploquin with satisfaction. She is beaten by the promotion’s champion. I told Mike (Editor’s note, Michaël Izzo) to run these lots. This proves that we were right.” For his return under the saddle after a long absence, I’m Flying away (3e), crowned in the 2023 Elites, proves that he is no longer very far from recovering all his sensations. “He had a good performance because he didn’t have an easy race, confides Mathieu Mottier. I would have preferred to ride it a little more in the shots but I missed my start. This attempt will have opened it well. In the “Bilibili”, Maple Jeroboam will be hard to beat but we will hope to be a little sharper.” Jean Balthazarin the fight for runners-up, only concedes second at the end. “It didn’t reaccelerate as we thought.debriefs Benjamin Rochard. I think you have to ride with him all the time because he always goes at his own speed. He doesn’t have a quick end. Today, we wanted to have the back of “Jeroboam”. Next time, we’ll probably do it differently. Also, he only had one real run in his legs and maybe still needed that one.”
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