by Karsten Bonsdorf, USTA web newsroom correspondent

Over the weekend some European 4-year-old trotters made their mark by winning in France and Italy.

Timoko, who is the best French 4-year-old trotter so far, took another victory at Vincennes, but was not as convincing as he used to be. In fact, Timoko and his trainer-driver Richard Westerink had to overcome an inquiry from the judges before he was posted as the winner. Timoko became rough gaited down the stretch and that could have led to a disqualification, and he would have been placed last.

Timoko won the Prix Phaeton over the 1-3/4 mile distance where he trailed the field by 25 meters in 1:57.4 (mile rate). The purse for the winner was $85,000.

In Italy, last year’s winner of the prestigious Gran Premio Orsi Mangelli, Nesta Effe, won her seasonal debut at San Siro in Milan on Saturday afternoon.

Nesta Effe, with Roberto Vecchione in the bike, had to trail the field by 20 meters over the 1-5/8th mile distance, but that wasn’t a problem and the daughter of top Swedish trotter Naglo was an easy winner in 1:58.3f (mile rate).

Nesta Effe opted for San Siro instead of racing in Sunday’s Gran Premio San Paolo at the half-mile track in Montegiorgio. That race was over a mile and with a purse for the winner of $50,000. It became an easy task for Norton Ans, driven by Giampaolo Minnucci, who won in 1:55.3h by open lengths.

Norton Ans is trained by Jori Turja, who also trained the world champion Varenne, which Minnucci drove.

Norton Ans is sired by Cantab Hall and out of an Italian mare, Valganna Ok, she by Lemon Dra. Norton Ans has nine wins from 25 races and winnings of $330,000.