by Karsten Bonsdorf, USTA web newsroom correspondent

The French horseman Franck Nivard was the man in focus on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 13) at Vincennes as he not only won the Prix de France in the sulky behind trotting star Ready Cash, but later on in the day he rode Scipion du Goutier to victory in the under saddle race, Prix de Centaures.

Franck Nivard

It was a good day at the office for 30-year-old Franck Nivard as he won the two main events at Vincennes. The purses to the winners in the two races was a total of 320,000 Euro — or $430,000 — and Nivard is entitled to 10 percent in fees.

Within the last couple of years Nivard has established himself as one of the leading catch drivers and trot jockeys in France. Last year he drove or rode the winners of more than 10 million Euros — or $13.5 million. So far he has won 13 races (sulky/saddle) this year and more than 1.4 million Euros ($1.9 million) in total earnings.

The next big stake race for international trotters at Vincennes is the Prix de Paris next Sunday (Feb. 20). We won’t see Ready Cash there as he would have had to race from 50 meters behind as the winner of the Prix d’Amerique, as well as the Prix de France. But the Swedish trotter Maharajah, who gave Ready Cash a match in both the Prix d’Amerique and the Prix de France, is entered and will probably be declared to race.

The Prix de Paris is raced over 4,125 meters — or a little bit more than 2-1/2 miles. The total purse is $475,000.