Vivid Wise As is favored to win the Grand Criterium de Vitesse where his son, Charmant de Zack, also is entered to race.

Once in a while a father and son will compete in harness racing, but what is going to happen Sunday afternoon (March 12) at Cagnes sur Mer in Southern France in the most valuable mile race in France is a rarity. The 9-year-old Vivid Wise As will race against his son, 5-year-old Charmant de Zack.

Italian trotter Vivid Wise As (sired by Yankee Glide) has won the race twice (in 2020 and 2021) and was a narrow second last year.

Charmant de Zack is like his father, an Italian trotter, and has made a name for himself by winning the Italian Trotting Derby.

Both trotters are trained by Alessandro Gocciadoro, who also has Vaprio and Vernissage Grif entered in the race.

The purse for the winner is 200,000 Euro and the race is off at 10:25 a.m. (eastern time).

The start list is as follows:

PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer
1. Frisbee d’Am – Robert Westerink
2. Charmant de Zack – Nicolaj Ensch – Alessandro Gocciadoro
3. Gently de Muze – Christophe Martens – Jean Michel Bazire
4. Moni Viking – Björn Goop
5. Vernissage Grif – Alessandro Gocciadoro
6. Delia du Pommereux – Pierre Yves Verva – Sebastian Roger
7. Vivid Wise As – Matthieu Abrivard – Alessandro Gocciadoro
8. Blackflash Bar – Santo Mollo – Pietro Gubellini
9. Go On Boy – Romain Derieux
10. Vaprio – Rene Legati – Alessandro Gocciadoro
11. Emeraude de Bais – Franck Nivard – Benjamin Goetz