€130,000 Conseil de Paris (Gr2): Iresine welcomes home

Sunday, October 15, 2023, ParisLongchamp Racecourse (Paris) - The 6-year-old gelding Iresine (Manduro) was the favourite in the €130,000 Prix du Conseil de Paris (Gr2), marking his eighth appearance at ParisLongchamp. In all his previous outings here, he had never finished worse than third and had already secured victory in two Group 1 races: the Prix Royal-Oak (Gr1) over almost 2 miles, and the Prix Ganay (Gr1) earlier this season over 10.5 furlongs.

After travelling behind a group led by the English raider Jack Darcy (Gleneagles), the representative of Bertrand Millière made his move in the straight. There was a moment of uncertainty as he struggled to gain the upper hand over Junko (Intello) or even the 3-year-old Marquisat (Zarak), who had surged forward in the middle of the straight. However, rider Marie Velon managed to get her mount going, urging him to shift into a higher gear. Eventually, Iresine comfortably secured victory, winning by a length over a promising  Marquisat, who had been unbeaten until then, and Junko, trailing by ¾ of a length.

Bred by Pierre Joyaux and Marie-Louise van Dedem in Normandy, Iresine was sold for only 6,000 € as a yearling at Deauville to his trainer and co-owner Jean-Pierre Gauvin.

Iresine is the second foal out of Inanga (Oasis Dream), a direct descendant of Riverqueen (Luthier), winner of the Poule d'Essai and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud for the Head family. She has a 3-year-old daughter by Joshua Tree, also trained by the Centre-Loire region handler and a winner on Lyon-La Soie's Polytrack. Next is a 2-year-old by Chemical Charge, also in training with Jean-Pierre Gauvin, and a yearling colt by Mondialiste.

Iresine's sister by Joshua Tree, Purple Lady, was unsold at €6,000 at the iwantthewinner.com online sales in November, and Inanga herself was also unsold at the same session for €80,000.