by Thomas Hedlund

The winter meeting in Paris closed on Saturday (March 6) and Swedish harness racing site www.sulkysport.se published a summery from the winter’s events.

As usual, Jean-Michel Bazire ended up at the top of both the trainer and driver lists, though Eric Raffin collected more Euros in total.

Ready Cash dominated the list of stallions and his offspring collected four victories in Group 1 races during the winter. Face Time Bourbon claimed the trophies in the Prix d’Amérique and the Prix de Selection, while Flamme du Goutier was successful in the Prix de l’Ile-de-France and Prix des Centaures.

Paris winter meet 2020-2021 numbers

Best horses by earnings
Horse – Starts – Wins – Earnings in USD

1. Face Time Bourbon – 6 – 5 – $916,836
2. Bahia Quesnot – 7 – 1 – $516,605
3. Flamme du Goutier – 7 – 4 – 507,799
4. Etonnant – 7 – 2 – $412,606
5. Delia du Pommereux – 8 – 1 – $380,775

Best trainers by earnings
Trainer – Starts – Wins – Earnings in USD

1. Jean-Michel Bazire – 407 – 74 – $3,463,177
2. Laurent-Claude Abrivard – 270 – 43 – $1,778,859
3. Sébastien Guarato – 193 – 22 – $1,749,402
4. Thierry Duvaldestin – 126 – 32 – $1,677,126
5. Franck Leblanc – 359 – 29 – $1,557,491

Best drivers by wins
Driver – Starts – Wins – Earnings in USD

1. Jean-Michel Bazire – 263 – 65 – $2,791,703
2. Eric Raffin – 427 – 61 – $3,217,232
3. Matthieu Abrivard – 371 – 46b – $1,870,090
4. Franck Nivard – 407 – 45 – $2,516,664
5. David Thomain – 298 – 30 – $1,402,182

Best monté jockeys by wins
Jockey – Starts – Wins – Earnings in USD

1. Eric Raffin – 148 – 27 – $1,270,386
2. Mathieu Mottier – 119 – 27 – $1,147,324
3. Alexandre Abrivard – 113 – 17 – $799,747
4. Adrien Lamy – 113 – 14 – $843,084
5. Matthieu Abrivard – 117 – 10 – $966,301

Best owners by earnings
Owner – Starts – Wins – Earnings in USD

1. Scuderia Bivans Srl. – 21 – 5 – $982,091
2. Ecurie Saint-Martin – 29 – 12 – $706,969
3. Philippe Allaire – 63 – 14 – $694,808
4. Ecurie Christian Bigeon – 135 – 19 – $657,682
5. Ecurie Quick Star – 107 – 12 – $555,718

Set for speed race in southern France

The $202,000 Grand Criterium de Vitesse over the mile at the beautiful track in Cagnes-sur-Mer in southern France is scheduled for Sunday (March 14) and 11 trotters will hunt for the presumed fastest mile of the year so far in Europe.

It looks like the race can be a speedy event. Delia du Pommeruex, Davidson du Pont and Vivid Wise As start from the three post on the inside and quick starter Frisbee d’Am, this time paired with Björn Goop, begins from post 5.

Criterium de Vitesse 2021 — onemile

Horse – Driver

1. Delia du Pommereux – Eric Raffin
2. Davidson du Pont – Jean-Michel Bazire
3. Vivid Wise As – Alessandro Gocciadoro
4. Bahia Quesnot – Junior Guelpa
5. Frisbee d’Am – Björn Goop
6. Tamure Roc – Luco Becchetti
7. Billie de Montfort – Gabriele Gelormini
8. Etonnant – Anthony Barrier
9. Elsa de Belfonds – Nicolas Ensch
10. Alcoy – Christophe Martens
11. Vanesia Ek – Rene Legati