An enormous Holiday crowd cheered off the 10 runners for the 2026 Anjou-Loire Challenge on what amounts to a long weekend in France that starts with  Thursday’s Ascension Day. A substantial proportion of the workforce takes Friday off to make a four day weekend, and an evening at the picturesque Lion d’Angers Racecourse is now a standing dish.

This is a race where it helps to know the way across a bewildering 50 obstacles and 4 1/2m or 7,000m to use French parlance. Damien Thomas sent Hersent de Mee off in front, capturing a 5l lead over the rest of the field within yards, led by young pretender Saturne Pelem and Miss Laura, third last year and a valiant old favourite among this crowd.

By the time they descended the three steps of the Piano, an eclectic but accurate description of the tiered bank that might more readily have been part of last weekend’s Badminton Horse Trials, the field covered 20l, Gemini d’Ax in rear, last year’s winner Gold Allen one up.

The order remained largely unchanged to halfway, when Raphael Mayeur was unseated from Saturne Pelem at the 26th. Six fences later, Gold Allen had jumped his way into contention, and thereafter, his jumping gained him ground at each fence as the pace quickened. Long time leader Hersent de Mee went with Clement Lefebvre for a while, Miss Laura still in third, but Lefebvre asserted at the 39th, and made the best of his way home.

Running down the hill toward two out, the leader was still on the bridle, and in truth, whilst shaken up between the last two, he was untroubled to come home 10l ahead of improving Hiso, Miss Laura a bridesmaid once again.

The winner is owned by leading French owner Mme Patrick Papot, long time supporters of the Jumps game. Both winner and second were bred by Bruno Vagne, who left the world of IT to breed horses and farm on 400 acres near Moulins. If his cows are of the same standard as his horses, they’ll be cleaning up in every agricultural show in the Massif Central. The Allen line is of course well known to British and Irish racing followers through horses like Envoi and Eldorado Allen.

Happy connections with Andre Martin, President Lion d’Angers, Nicholas Landon & Crystal cup VP Mario Pirone (fro right) © Aidan Gabard

Patrice Quinton’s second consecutive victory in this race with the enduring Gold Allen offered him a late flurry in the Crystal Cup standings, but it was too little, too late to catch long time leader Josef Vana, himself a keen advocate of French-bred steeplechasers. He set out his stall to win the Crystal Cup back in September, regaining it from Quinton, winner in 2025.

For the full result, follow here