A thrilling and eventful race for the Grand Cross de Fontainebleau saw Gentilhomme run out a 6l winner from Ici Avrilly in this 10th leg of the Crystal Cup. Cravache d’Or holder Felix de Giles had the 9 year old handy from the off, even if the lead changed hands a few times during the 6,000m race, run on testing conditions.

In other circumstances, Gabriel Leenders would be challenging for top honours in the Crystal Cup leaderboard, with two horses like Sweet David and Saturday’s winner rooting for him. Sweet David ran second to Roi Mage at Craon back in September before winning at Cheltenham in November, a race that is not part of the Crystal Cup. Venturing outside France again would put him in contention in any other year.

But this was a day to celebrate the achievement of Gentilhomme, who took up the running from the fourth from early leaders Iceo Madrik and Kap My Sun. Ever Forget Me was dropped out, biding his time.

The chance of Czech raider Gap Pierji was blown by losing a mistake at the fifth, and losing his position on the sharp left hand bend after the sixth, where the bulk of the field was pressed for room. Gentilhomme was able to dictate a good pace from the front, Roi Mage handy with Elcond ‘Or Forlonge and Gamsoul in attendance.

James Reveley sent Roi Mage in pursuit of home at the 15th, a full 7 from home, at which point Elcond ‘Or Forlonge cried enough. The leading group of Roi Mage, Gentilhomme, Ici Avrilly and Gamsoul had by now asserted by 10l from the rest. Roi Mage gave way to Gamsoul at the third last, and a mistake at the second last put paid to any chance of the minor places.  But de Giles still had horse under him, and Gentilhomme showed good pace to lengthen his advantage at the line.

A winning performance from Iceo Madrik would have put pressure on Scuderia Aichner for the leading owner position in the Crystal Cup, but without running well at Punchestown, it looks likely the only candidate with any chance of upsetting a second consecutive Cup for the leading Czech owners in Geoffrey Pryde and Roi Mage. The Czech push for Crystal Cup success was decided at Wroclaw, where they amassed a spectacular 18pts, more than 50% of their total, illustrating the importance of running outside your own jurisdiction to amass points.

The leading trainer title, however, is far from a done deal. Josef Vana scraped a point here that still gives him a 7 pt lead over Patrice Quinton, Gavin Cromwell a further point behind. A strong performance from Quinton at Lion d’Angers, where he might yet run several, could upset the odds, whilst Cromwell’s focus looks largely on next week’s Grand National, where Stumptown and Vanillier both run.

So, a thrilling climax to the Crystal Cup awaits; it’s certainly not over yet. The next leg is at Punchestown on May 1st.