3 minute read

There are small stables the length and breadth of the racing world where the trainer would count themselves lucky to have one champion in a lifetime.

For Jean-Pierre Gauvin , that horse looked to have been Saonois, the colt he took from a Deauville claiming race to triumph in France's Derby, the Prix du Jockey Club.

That rollercoaster season of 2012 also introduced Saonois' jockey, a young Antoine Hamelin, to the world stage and while he is now a firm fixture in Hong Kong's jockey ranks, Gauvin did not sink back to obscurity either.

In 2016, he sent out Siljan's Saga to be fourth in Europe's premier all-aged race, the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, and in recent season Gauvin has unearthed a third jewel in the shape of Iresine, the most costly of the three having been purchased as a yearling for a whole €6,000.

Carefully kept away from the toughest combat in the early part of his career by the meticulous Gauvin, Iresine didn't run in a Group 1 until he was a five-year-old, knocking off some of Europe's best stayers to win the Prix Royal-Oak.

And in a move which might not seem outrageous in Australasia but certainly raised eyebrows in the conservative confines of the way horses are campaigned in France, he then dropped back in distance the following spring to snare the G1 Prix Ganay.

"He's done something which in the modern era is unthinkable, namely to win the Prix Royal-Oak over 3100 metres and the Prix Ganay over 2100 metres," says Gauvin. "He is extremely adaptable in terms of trip but I think the 2400 metres of the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase is his best distance."

 Saonois ended his three-year-old season by running down the field in the LONGINES Hong Kong Cup (2000m) and Gauvin is relishing the chance to have another crack at one of the big Sha Tin prizes, while jockey Marie Velon - a constant component of the Iresine story - will become only the third woman this century to ride in a Hong Kong Group 1, following Rosie Myers (sixth on Benzini in the 2016 LONGINES Hong Kong Vase) and Jamie Kah (ninth on Packing Treadmill in the 2024 Centenary Sprint Cup).

"I really didn't think I'd have another chance to come back here but it was always a dream to try and maybe take our revenge after what was ultimately a disappointing day when Saonois ran poorly in the Cup," says Gauvin.

"Saonois had run below expectations in the Arc but it was heavy ground and he was drawn poorly, so we said we'd come here where we were sure to get the fast track that he loved and he could come back to 2000 metres.

 "He trained very well up to the race but never performed on the day and, after that race, I never really quite got him back properly.

Gauvin adds: "I thought about Hong Kong for Iresine last year and, though ultimately we opted for Japan, that experience has really helped me prepare the horse for this trip."

Iresine  will be easy to spot during morning trackwork this week, and not just for his near-black coat, his broad white blaze and flashy white socks.

Gauvin himself will be riding the striking son of Manduro, while his companion and lead horse Marcan has been entrusted to retired former stable jockey Eric Antoinat.

"He really couldn't be without his travelling companion and we did the same when travelling to Japan and even Ascot," says Gauvin.

 "He might have been alright on the plane because he came over with [the Andre Fabre-trained] Marquisat but when it comes to the morning trackwork, a companion is indispensable."

While Iresine tends to do most of his fast work solo at Gauvin's St Cyr-Les-Vignes base, away days are a different matter.

"If he went out on his own in a foreign environment like this on his own, he could get pretty revved-up quite quickly," says Gauvin. "The first two days I wondered whether to ride him out or just walk him round by hand but in fact, the quicker you can get him out on the track the better."

Also part of Team Iresine this week are retired head lad Joseph Heintz and Gauvin's brother Jean-Paul - who followed in the family tradition as a trainer of trotting (harness racing) horses 20 kilometres down the road - meaning there will be animated debate over every little detail of the preparation.

Not that Gauvin needs much advice when it comes to readying his horse for the day that matters most, as his record shows.

Iresine won the Prix Foy (2400m) for a second time in September and ran a race full of promise in a messy renewal of the G1 Champion Stakes (2000m) at Ascot in October, charging home for fourth after Velon found herself a victim of a slow pace and the tight inside track in use that day.

"I was uncertain that we'd come to Hong Kong after Ascot but he came out of the race in better shape than he had been going into it," says Gauvin. "He's come on for each of his four races this year.

"Marie Velon said he barely had a race and only really ran the last 200 metres. He doesn't have an instant turn of foot, it's more of a long acceleration and as he was stuck in behind Calandagan, he wasn't able to deploy that."

Gauvin adds: "The leaders picked up a bit quicker than him and he had only just got into full stride by the line. I think he'd have been in the first three, though I can't say more than that. 

"Despite having a long trip by road he recovered very quickly and it made it a very easy decision to come here."

Gauvin doesn't expect to take up the option of a spin on the turf before Sunday, and will repeat the exercise of Monday, which saw Marcan and Iresine walk to about the 600-metre mark after their warm-up lap before cantering the rest of the way.

Each day may be that little bit faster than the last up until Thursday, but the full range of his talent will be kept strictly under wraps until the gates open for the LONGINES Hong Kong Vase on Sunday (8 December). Then it's up to Velon and Iresine.

Up to that point you can rely on the thoughtful Gauvin to have every possible base covered.