Inexess Bleu dominates Grand Prix du Sud-Ouest

by Thomas Hedlund

Inexess Bleu gave Idao de Tillard absolutely no chance in Wednesday’s (Oct. 21) $220,000 Grand Prix du Sud-Ouest at Toulouse, France. Heavy favorite Idao de Tillard (Severino) and Clément Duvaldestin took command after 800 meters but surrendered the lead to Inexess Bleu (Vittel de Brévol—Pearl of Charm) and Alexandre Abrivard another 400 meters later.
The pace picked up considerably down the final backstretch, and Idao de Tillard tipped out to challenge in the stretch. However, he never seriously threatened the leader. Instead, Inexess Bleu drew clear to an uncontested victory in a 1:58 mile rate for 2,750 meters.
Idao de Tillard had to settle for second in a 1:58.2 mile rate.

In late summer 2025, Inexess Bleu broke stride in the Group 2 Grand Prix de la Fédération du Nord. Seventeen days later, he captured the first Group 1 victory of his career in the Grand Prix de Wallonie before adding another triumph at the highest level in the UET Elite Circuit final at Solvalla, where he produced a spectacular late rally to defeat Don Fanucci Zet (Hard Livin).
This spring, he broke stride and was disqualified in the Elitlopp final without ever getting a chance to play a decisive role. However, he bounced back to prove strongest in the Group 2 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère at Enghien.
On this October afternoon in Toulouse, with the sixth and final leg of the 2026 Trophée des Grands Prix en Région on the program, making amends for the disappointing performance in Belgium the previous month was particularly important. Especially since this would be his final start of the season.

“In 2025, he won every race, so when things went wrong, it almost felt abnormal,” Abrivard said. “I was a little nervous today because he had made a break in his previous start, and we only had one race left before the end of the season. We simply couldn’t afford to have two disappointing performances in a row.”