from the SOA of New York

Yonkers, NY — Nearly two dozen French trotters were safely released from their New York Federal quarantine facility Saturday morning (June 16) and are now in the hands of their new American owners.

These Trotteur Francais horses will race for their new owners as part of the French American Trotting Club, a series of races this summer at Yonkers Raceway exclusively for the French horses acquired in the beginning of June.

The first leg of the French American Trotting Club series will be held Sunday (Aug. 5) at Yonkers Raceway. The second leg will be Sunday (Aug. 19) and the third leg will be Sunday (Aug. 26). Each of the legs will carry a $30,000 purse.

The top finishers in the legs will return for a $100,000 final on Sunday (Sept. 2).

The races in the series will all be varied distances ranging from a mile and a quarter to a mile and nine-sixteenths.

Yonkers will hold qualifiers for these French trotters for several weeks leading up to the first leg of the series. Each of the trotters must qualify before being eligible to race. Qualifiers will be held on July 6, 14 and 21 and will be at a mile and a quarter distance exclusively for these French trotters.