The World According To Dean

Published: January 24, 2009 12:28 am EST

To quote from the second line of Le Marsellaise, the French national anthem, "Le jour de gloire est arrive" ("The day of glory has arrived")

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Technically, it's tomorrow when trotting devotees from across Europe will be at Vincennes to witness the Prix d'Amerique. But the sense of anticipation before the big race takes over Paris several days in advance.

I'm in Paris now with a group of 16 North American horsemen and racing fans: Blair Burgess, Karin Olsson-Burgess, Dr. Robert Fox, Marsha Cohen, Peter Gerry, Gina and Rick Beinhauer, Joyce and Tom Dillon, Johanna and Charlie Beaver, Tom Hicks, Maryellen and Dave McDuffee, Don Richards, and Bonnie Smith.

We're the North American contingent of a tour sponsored by the Swedish firm Equitours and we're hoping to see an exciting race tomorrow. In fact, we're practically guaranteed to see an exciting race. The French fans are so vociferous in supporting their favorites that the Vincennes racecourse is rockin' n rollin' with excitement long before post time.

You can probably make a legitimate case for about half of 18 starters in the Prix d'Amerique. That makes for a wide open race. Of course, since Offshore Dream has won the big event the last two years, it's hard to pick against him.

There is a lot of cat-and-mouse in the prep races for the Prix d'Amerique. It's hard to know with certainly which horses are truly fit for the war that stretches over 2,700 meters. For example, in the Prix de Belgique, the most recent for the four major preps, Offshore Dream started with a 25-meter handicap, as did several others. That makes it difficult to precisely assess their performance, but the French betting public will weigh in on this issue with millions of Euros bet on this great event.

The purse is 1 million Euros or about C$1,650,00 and about 40,000 screaming fans will be shoe-horned into the Hippodrome de Vincennes, which is often referred to as the "Temple of Trotting". The main track at Vincennes is just shy of 2,000 meters and its surface is crushed cinders. The Prix d'Amerique starts in a chute that angles off the backstretch. A mobile gate is not used.

Trotting is France is stronger than in any other country, thanks to strong government support and a betting system that reaches people across the country. The stars of the French sport are the older horses and they typically stay at the top level for many years. Because they're not pushed hard when they are young, they're sound enough to keep going for a long time; if they attain fame and there is a demand for their breeding services, they simply do double duty, breeding and racing.

This will be the 88th edition of the Prix d'Amerique, so it's older than the Hambletonian, Jug or many major North American events. The only horse to win the Hambletonian and the Prix d'Amerique was Walter Dear, who triumphed in Paris in 1934 five years after winning the American trotting classic.

In 1935, Muscletone won the Prix d'Amerique at age 4 less than six months after winning a heat of the Hambletonian at Goshen. He won again in 1937 and American-bred horses were quite successful in the 1930s.

The race was not contested in 1940 or 41 as the French were contending with the early stages of the war, but it resumed in 1942.

The great mare Roquepine won the Prix d'Amerique three consecutive years in the 1960s, but she was not able to handle the 4-year-old Armbro Flight in the Roosevelt International in 1966.

Hanover-bred trotters Dart Hanover and Delmonica Hanover took the French classic in 1973-74, but not until 1994 did another North American-bred horse win. That was Sea Cove, bred by A.M. Cuddy of Strathroy. In 1999, the great mare Moni Maker took the Prix d'Amerique.

The Prix d'Amerique has been sponsored for almost a decade by Marionnaud, a large French firm offering beauty products and perfume.

The countdown is upon us and we're looking forward to a great trotting spectacle tomorrow.


Dean Hoffman, one of North America's most prolific harness racing journalists and member of the U.S. Harness Racing Hall of Fame, offers SC website readers his weekly look at international standardbred racing through his eyes.

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