by Karsten Bønsdorf, USTA Senior Internet Correspondent

French trotting sensation Bold Eagle driven by Franck Nivard showed once again that he is in a class of his own winning, the prestigious Prix de France over 1-5/16 mile Sunday afternoon (Feb. 12) at Vincennes, Paris, France.

Gerard Forni photo

Bold Eagle takes the Prix de France by three dominating lengths and now has collected two-thirds of the French Triple Crown for trotters.

With less than a half-mile to go Nivard made his move and Bold Eagle was soon behind leading Un Mec d’Heripre driven by Jean Michel Bazire. Going into the stretch, Nivard took Bold Eagle to the outside and went round Un Mec d’Heripre as easy as one can imagine.

Bold Eagle went on to win by three lengths followed by Timoko driven by Bjorn Goop and Voltigeur de Myrt driven by Lorenzo Donati – that was in fact the same 1-2-3 as in the race last year. Un Mec d’Heripre finished fourth.

The winner was timed in 1:54 (mile rate)

Bold Eagle, who picked up the winner’s purse of $190,000, will now be headed for the Prix de Paris on Feb. 26, which is a real marathon test over 4,150 meters or approximately 2-5/8 miles.

If Bold Eagle can win this race, he will take home the French Triple Crown (Prix d’Amerique, Prix de France and Prix de Paris) and earn a bonus of $320,000.

The two North American entries in today’s race were Propulsion and Wild Honey. Propulsion, driven by Ôrjan Kihlström, was boxed in and went past the final post sixth with a lot spared, while Wild Honey had to trot outside without cover most of the trip and finished unplaced.