Paris, France — Horsy Dream, driven by Éric Raffin, was an easy winner of the Prix de Belgique – the last test race for the upcoming Prix d’Amérique — held Sunday (Jan. 15) at Vincennes.

Horsy Dream, a 6-year-old trained by Pierre Belloche, won the 2,850-meter (1-3/4 miles) event in 1.57.4f (mile rate) after he had finished strongly with a :27.3 final quarter mile.

Horsy Dream stamped himself as the likely favorite for the Prix d’Amérique with a win in Sunday’s Prix de Belgique at Vincennes. Kanal 75 photo.

Horsy Dream was already qualified to race in the Prix d’Amérique as he had won the Prix Tenor de Baune on Christmas Eve. He must now be considered as one of the favorites to the big race in a fortnight at Vincennes.

Second behind Horsy Dream was the 10-year-old mare Decoloration, with Gabriele Gelormini; and third was Hohneck with Francis Lagadeuc. They both are now qualified for the Prix d’Amérique.

Two trotters, Hirondelle Sibey and Gu d’Heripre — second and fourth past the winning post, respectively — were disqualified for being rough gaited down the stretch.

The much-hyped Swedish trotter Calgary Games was targeted for the Prix de Belgique – this would have been his only chance to get into the Prix d’Amérique field — but he was scratched from the race due to a sore throat.