by Karsten Bønsdorf
The French trotter Ready Cash failed in his attempt to win all four prep-races for the Prix d’Amerique Sunday afternoon at Vincennes, settling for third in the Prix de Belgique.

Gerard Forni photo
Royal Dream won Sunday’s Prix de Belgique at Vincennes, a prep race for the Prix d’Amerique.
Though Ready Cash had to race 25 meters behind at the start, driver Franck Nivard made an aggressive early first-over move to pull beside leader Roc Melois. He stayed there until taking over the lead going around the last turn.
Heading into the stretch Ready Cash was still in control but Royal Dream sprinted past the leader to win easily in 1.58 (mile rate), followed by the mare Roxanne Grif, driven by Eric Raffin, who had followed Ready Cash during the race.
Royal Dream is a lightly raced 7-year-old trotter who has 29 career starts winning 19 of them.
Jean Phillipe Dubois, the elder son of famous horseman Jean Pierre Dubois, has always had big hopes for the chestnut son of Love You. He did not race Royal Dream as a 2- and 3-year-old and his debut was as a 4-year-old in September 2009. He only raced three times that year, winning all three races. The following year Royal Dream raced 10 times, winning 8 races, and last year won 6 of 14 starts.
With this win Royal Dream must be considered as one of the favorites for the upcoming Prix d’Amerique, along with Ready Cash and the Swedish trotter Maharajah, who finished fourth today.
Lou Guida’s Lisa America was prominent from the start though she also had a 25 meters handicap – but she tired around the last bend and finished seventh.