by Karsten Bønsdorf, USTA Newsroom Senior Correspondent

Yannick Gingras will have the chance to try the French standing start system on Saturday afternoon (Jan. 24), the day before he will drive the Jimmy Takter-trained Maven in the prestigious Prix d’Amerique.

Gerard Forni photo

Solvato and Maven get in some ‘road work’ prior to Sunday’s Prix d’Amerique.

Gingras has picked up three drives at Vincennes Saturday afternoon — two in races over the 1-3/4 mile distance with a standing start.

In the Prix Ready Cash, with a total purse of 60,000 Euro, he will drive the Italian trotter Pershing Bi and in the Prix Moni Maker, he will drive the mare Bahira Buissonay, who won her second to last race.

In the main event, the Prix de Luxembourg raced over the 1-5/16 mile distance behind the gate, Gingras will drive the Swedish trotter S H Ts Playmate.

Gingras and Jimmy Takter will arrive in Paris Thursday and during the races at Vincennes that same afternoon, Takter will give Maven a final test before the Prix d’Amerique.

Takter announced that Maven on Sunday will race without shoes for the first time in her career.

On Monday, Maven trained together with the other USA-bred trotter in the Prix d’Amerique, Solvato, in the forest around Chamant. Tobias J. Gustafson was in the cart behind Maven and gave her eight intervals.