by Thomas Hedlund

The 2023-24 meeting in Paris ended last weekend and when we sum up the intense period of high-quality races from Vincennes, it’s clear that Idao de Tillard — not surprisingly — was the best trotter and that Jean-Michel Bazire — as many times before — dominated among the humans.

Thierry Duvaldestin’s Idao de Tillard (Severino) banked $1,035,488, won six races, of which four were Group 1-races (the Prix d’Amérique, Prix de France, Prix de Selection and Prix Tenor de Baune).

Ready Cash continues to produce offspring that are successful at Vincennes and the late stallion tops the list for best sires during the meeting. The 331 starts ended with 32 wins and total earnings of $1,928,568 for his offspring. Two of his sons, Bird Parker and Bold Eagle, are top-five on the list. So, Ready Cash’s continued importance in French harness racing is undisputed.

Bazire finished second to Eric Raffin among drivers at Vincennes, but as a trainer, Bazire proved best as his stable made 340 starts which resulted in 61 victories and $2,713,021 in earnings.

TOP TRAINERS DURING THE 2023-24 MEETING IN PARIS

Trainer — Starts — Wins — Earnings in USD

1. Jean-Michel Bazire — 340 — 61 — $2,713,021

2. Thierry Duvaldestin — 158 — 35 — $2,313,576

3. Laurent-Claude Abrivard — 270 — 30 — $1,731,413

4. Franck Leblanc — 259 — 24 — $1,301,328

5. Jean-Michel Baudouin — 140 — 28 — $989,617

TOP DRIVERS 

Driver — Starts — Wins

1. Eric Raffin — 407 — 45

2. Jean-Michel Bazire — 189 – 45

3. Matthieu Abrivard — 361 — 38

4. Benjamin Rochard — 368 — 30

5. Alexandre Abrivard — 202 — 29

TOP SIRES

Sire — Starts — Wins — Earnings in USD

1. Ready Cash — 331 — 32 — $1,928,568

2. Bird Parker — 174 — 20 — $1,499,253

3. Love You — 230 — 31 — $1,303,108

4. Bold Eagle — 132 — 16 — $1,123,628

5. Severino — 22 — 6 — $1,075,615

NEW SPRING FOR VIVID WISE AS?

Alessandro Gocciadoro’s Vivid Wise As (Yankee Glide) likes the French Riviera quite a lot. The 10-year-old super trotter has tried his luck in Cagnes-sur-Mer eight times and seven of them have ended with victory. So, the three-time Criterium de Vitesse winner will probably be one of the favorites in Sunday’s (March 10) edition of the prestigious mile race in beautiful Cagnes-sur-Mer.

Vivid Wise As won the $220,000 Criterium de Vitesse for the first time in 2020, made it back-to-back with a win in 2021 and returned to the winner’s circle again last year, after being defeated by Etonnant in 2022.

The 2024 edition of the Criterium de Vitesse does not look to be one of the more interesting ones in the race’s history, but there are some strong competitors as Go On Boy and Inmarosa are in the entries list two days before the definite program is official.

SWEDISH BREEDING NUMBERS ALARMING

Swedish media sulkysport.se reported some ominous news regarding harness racing breeding in Sweden on Wednesday (March ٦).

The number of foals born in Sweden 2023 landed at 2,158, the lowest crop since 1968 in the Nordic European country. These are alarming figures. Breeders have struggled for many years to make profits in the business and several names in the industry have stopped their investments in breeding.

Racing in Sweden is already experiencing difficulties filling the races with horses. Subsequently, betting handle will automatically decline probably sooner than officials working for the harness racing organization understand. This is the biggest problem in Swedish harness racing right now.

The people piloting the industry lack the genuine interest and knowledge of what is required to get the ship in the right direction again and for the future of European harness racing, one hopes that other countries don’t follow Sweden’s lead — not now anyway.

The foal crop number is truly bad news.