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Just Love You, a mare's love

The wheel has turned. Today, all the planets were aligned…” Eyes red with emotion in front of Christophe Meyer's camera, Alexandre Abrivard not only experiences the satisfaction of a duty accomplished, but also remembers the physical and moral suffering that Just Love You and endured at the start of the year. On January 13, they escaped the worst in a truck accident on the A11 motorway. A long convalescence and eleven months later, it is with plate no. 13 that the tandem reaches the top of the roller coaster by winning a second group I, after the 2023 Ourasi Prize.

This is a third victory in the Prix Ténor de Baune for the Abrivard father (Laurent) and son (Alexandre Abrivard), after those ofExcellent (2019) et Fairy Wood (2020). “This time, the race has the group I label, that changes everything, continued the thirty-year-old. Since the start of the meeting, I only had this event in mind for my mare. It was his great objective, his Prix d’Amérique! I was really looking forward to leaving, after having lived solely for her this week, sometimes having difficulty getting to sleep. Deep down, I was convinced that I would be driving the best in the peloton, but you all know that it is never a foregone conclusion, especially at such a level.

Alexandre Abrivard took his destiny in hand by deciding to occupy pole position with Just Love You.I knew she was capable of going ahead, provided she didn't have to counter multiple attacks. So I had the progress I wanted. At the last bend, I wondered what could happen to me, I was doing such a canter. Feeling, however, that Mathieu (Mottier) had a lot of resources at my back, I preferred to secure the blow by activating the blinders two hundred meters from the post. Honestly, she imposed herself very easily.

Joviality, absent but qualified

In a style of delightful purity, specific to the best products of Love You evolving with all four feet unshod, the No. 1 fillies born in 2019 filled her breeder – owner Michèle Bliard, a true horse lover, with happiness. “She always comes to the racetrack with a bag full of apples and carrots, laughed Valérie Abrivard, Laurent's wife. But we ask him to wait until the mare has recovered well before giving it to her (laughs).”

After his fourth place in the Prix de Bretagne, Just Love You finds herself “double qualified” for January 26. “We will try to prepare it as best as possible for this Prix d’Amérique, but it will inevitably be much more difficult for us”tempered Alexandre Abrivard. Concretely, this means that there will be a maximum of 17 qualified by the America Races, which allows Joviality, absent this Sunday due to a small health problem, to have a guaranteed place (with the 10% increase granted to 6 year olds, she moves on to winnings ahead Hohneck).

The man of the first half of the meeting, Mathieu Mottier, once again had a fantastic Sunday. About an hour after triumphing in the Critérium Continental with his resident Keep Going, he led the Swedish Working Class Hero in second place in this other classic. “He's a very good horse, in great shape, and we enjoyed a great run in the wake of Just Love You. Even if we were taking the temperature against the best, I am not at all surprised by this result.

Good third, the favorite Justin Bold however, left some regrets to Pierre-Yves Verva: “I had a lot of trouble balancing it at the start of the course. He was less comfortable with all four feet unshod (editor’s note, a configuration that he inaugurated)”.

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