by Karsten Bønsdorf, USTA Senior Newsroom Correspondent

The 5-year-old French trotter Bold Eagle is the heavy favorite to win Sunday’s Prix d’Amerique at Vincennes, Paris, France, Sunday morning at 10.20 a.m. U.S. Eastern time.

Bold Eagle, who has 20 wins from 23 races, will be the shortest price favorite in the race since 2005, when Jag de Bellouet won at 5-7. In 1987 and 1988 the legendary Ourasi won at 10-11 and 5-6.

A fortnight ago Bold Eagle met elder trotters for the first time in the Prix de Belgique, which he won in very impressive style. Bold Eagle exploded with 300 yards to go and went past the field to win the Prix de Belgique, a prep race for the Prix d’Amerique.

Journalists from all over France handicap each race at Vincennes, and the selections are posted in the daily newspaper, Paris Turf.

Twenty-two of the twenty-four tipsters have Bold Eagle as the winner, while two of them stuck with last year’s winner, Up and Quick.

Up and Quick, who will have the services of Jean Michel Baize, the leading driver in France, has raced in all four prep-races for the Prix d’Amerique, with a fourth place finish in the Prix de Bourgogne the best result. However, Up and Quick will race without shoes, and add earplugs and another head collar in the Prix d’Amerique.

His trainer, Franck Leblanc used the same method to prepare Up and Quick for the race last year, which he won, but there was no Bold Eagle in the field.

Bold Eagle will have top driver Franck Nivard in the bike, and his trainer Sebastian Guarato is one of the leading trainers in France.