Over the weekend, a couple of trotters that are on track to start in the Prix d’Amerique in about two months won their races.
On Saturday (Nov. 30), the 5-year-old Jushua Tree with Jean Michel Bazire, who was the favorite at 12-10, won the Group 2 race Prix Doynel De Saint-Quentin with a first prize of 54,000 Euros.
Jushua Tree, who secured his second consecutive victory in the Winter Meeting at Vincennes, was not as certain a winner as expected and was closely followed by Justin Bold with Pierre Yves Verva and Jack Tonic with Theo Duvaldestin.
The first two horses to cross the finish line both have Bold Eagle as their sire, while Jack Tonic is sired by Charly du Noyer, who, like Bold Eagle, is a son of Ready Cash.
On Sunday (Dec. 1), the main race at Vincennes was the final of the Grand National du Trot — harness racing’s equivalent of cycling’s Tour de France.
The final, raced over a distance of 1-3/4 miles, which had a prize of 150,000 Euros, was won by Sebastian Guarato-trained It’s A Dollar Macker (sired by Saxo de Vandel) with Eric Raffin in the sulky. The winning time of 1:54.2 (mile rate) was a new record for the race.