by Thomas Hedlund

The third B-race, the $125,000 Prix de Bourgogne over 2,100 meters, was held at Vincennes in Paris on Sunday (Jan. 1) afternoon and the female trotters dominated the race.

Five mares entered the 1.3 miles long race and four finished 1-4, as the grand old lady Delia du Pommereux (Niky), paired with Pierre Yves Verva, claimed an upset win in a 1:52 track record.

The race’s favorite, Jean-Michel Bazire-trained Heraut d’Armes, was pushed to the lead with 550 meters to go as leader Etonnant (who made a short break in the start) ran out of power in the last turn. And it looked pretty safe for Bazire’s horse in the lead as the field turned for home, but just as the stretch began, Heraut d’Armes went off stride and Delia du Pommereux, who did the heavy job as first over most of the race, got the advantage and held on to the win.

Sylvain Roger’s 10-year-old trotter will face her fifth start in Prix d’Amérique (finished 4th in 2021) and along with her, Thierry Duvaldestin-trained Flamme du Goutier, who was third in Prix d’Amérique 2022, will follow.

Already qualified Ampia Mede Sm was third and Decoloration was fourth and she will get a new chance to qualify in Prix de Belgique on Jan. 15.

Thierry Duvaldestin’s Idao de Tillard, who won the $210,000 Criterium Continental at Vincennes on Dec. 24, will enter the Prix d’Amérique on Jan. 29. The 5-year-old trotter is in such a good shape that the trainer has decided to try the big race already this year.

RAITALA OVER 400 WINS

Finnish driver Santtu Raitala had a great 2022 and was superior to his fellow drivers in Finland during 2022. Raitala entered the winner’s circle on 402 occasions and dominated the sport big time in his home country.

Raitala was born in 1991. Nine years younger is Sweden’s best driver in 2022. Magnus A Djuse’s career has been nothing but successful and superlatives hardly describe the young man’s abilities on the track. For the first time, Djuse collected the prestigious driver’s championship in Sweden.

In the list of 2022 leaders that follows, some European countries are missing and we hope to report the stats from those countries as soon as possible.

DENMARK

Drivers

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Birger Jörgensen – 761 – 138 – $576,069

2. Rene Kjaer – 702 – 99 – $431,731

3. Steen Juul – 345 – 72 – $353,903

4. Flemming Jensen – 231 – 64 – $299,833

5. Bo Westergaard – 237 – 61 – $522,697

TRAINERS

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Bo Westergaard – 654 – 122 – $1,252,949

2. Flemming Jensen – 481 – 107 – $831,637

3. Steen Juul – 427 – 75 – $639,532

4. Erik Bondo – 57 – 14 – $454,603

5. Jeppe Juel – 334 – 44 – $439,497

FINLAND

Drivers

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Santtu Raitala – 1,835 – 402 – $2,496,189

2. Hannu Torvinen – 1,415 – 214 – $1,500,088

3. Ari Moilanen – 1,355 – 203 – $1,305,343

4. Olli Koivunen – 1,084 – 155 – $828,019

5. Jukka Torvinen – 1,165 – 149 – $705,616

TRAINERS

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Pekka Korpi – 338 – 57 – $1,064,210

2. Markku Nieminen – 433 – 67 – $613,879

3. Tapio Perttunen – 561 – 79 – $605,532

4. Antti Ojanperä – 268 – 79 – $549,663

5. Seppo Suuronen – 299 – 76 – $463,869

FRANCE

Drivers – (Most earnings)

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Eric Raffin – 1,849 – 307 – $10,429,941

2. Alexandre Abrivard – 1,719 – 335 – $9,479,951

3. David Thomain – 1,465 – 179 – $7,010,857

4. Matthieu Abrivard – 1,228 – 211 – $6,669,479

5. Francois Lagadeuc – 1,337 – 173 – $5,377,875

TRAINERS

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Jean-Michel Bazire – 817 – 141 – $5,771,336

2. Laurent-Claude Abrivard -1,004 – 177 – $5,188,975

3. Thierry Duvaldestin – 862 – 208 – $5,024,239

4. Sébastien Guarato – 1,012 – 147 – $4,587,409

5. Philippe Allaire – 334 – 68 – $4,265,373

NORWAY

Drivers

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Eirik Höitomt – 1,418 – 187 – $1,247,278

2. Dag-Sveinung Dalen – 1,596 – 157 – $866,885

3. Åsbjörn Tengsareid – 1,173 – 145 – $1,332,350

4. Vidar Hop – 1,023 – 130 – $864,414

5. Magnus Teien Gundersen – 755 – 121 – $818,307

TRAINERS

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Frode Hamre – 751 – 215 – $2,042,876

2. Öystein Tjomsland – 333 – 106 – $1,306,221

3. Kristian Malmin – 549 – 85 – $659,258

4. Bo Westergaard – 265 – 48 – $439,589

5. Geir Vegard Gundersen – 116 – 38 – $428,275

Sweden

Drivers

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Magnus A Djuse – 1,399 – 255 – $3,081,002

2. Ulf Ohlsson – 1,890 – 241 – $3,194,726

3. Örjan Kihlström – 1,124 – 235 – $5,449,559

4. Mats E Djuse – 1,665 – 210 – $2,414,729

5. Jorma Kontio – 1,314 – 198 – $1,720,788

Trainers

Starts – Wins – Earnings

1. Daniel Redén – 514 – 157 – $4,341,938

2. Timo Nurmos – 630 – 202 – $3,230,871

3. Tomas Malmqvist – 669 – 104 – $2,867,148

4. Johan Untersteiner – 1,291 – 237 – $2,605,433

5. Björn Goop – 1,123 – 158 – $2,094,643