Paris — The countdown to the winter’s major European harness racing event, the Prix d’Amérique, is in full swing. The first eight horses have qualified for the race, and on Sunday afternoon (Dec. 22) at Hippodrome de Vincennes, two more horses can secure their spots.
Sunday’s Prix d’Amérique spots will be awarded to the winners of the Criterium Continental, for 4-year-olds; and the Prix Tenor de Baune, for 5-year-olds.
The Criterium Continental is run over the “sprint distance” of 2,100 meters (1-5/16 miles) and has 18 horses starting. Among these are two American-born trotters: Crown, with François Lagadeuc; and Kilmister, with Gabriele Gelormini. However, they are not given great chances in the field, which has French-bred Keep Going (Matthieu Mottier) and Italian-bred Executiv Ek (Eric Raffin) as favorites.
The Prix Tenor de Baune is conducted over the Prix d’Amérique distance of 2,700 meters (1-11/16 miles) and has 12 horses starting. After a fine performance in second to Jushua Tree in the last start, Justin Bold (Pierre-Yves Verva) is the favorite.
Both Group 1 races have a total prize pool of €240,000 with €108,000 to the winner.
As always, the French races can be watched on the website letrot.com. The Criterium Continental starts at 9:15 a.m. and the Tenor de Baune at 10:25 a.m. (EST).