by Thomas Hedlund

The Pierre Belloche-trained Horsy Dream (Scipion du Goutier), paired with comeback driver Eric Raffin, had the best power in the home stretch when the $255,000 Prix de Selection was held at Vincennes on Saturday (March 4) afternoon.

The Prix de Selection contained some of the most merited trotters from the ongoing meeting in Paris and first choice Idao de Tillard was one of them.

Idao de Tillard was the horse that gave cover to Horsy Dream down the backstretch as leader Juninho Dry tried to fire up the pace.

In the last turn, Joyner Sport found a spot between horses and attacked the leader. Idao de Tillard was interfered with by the move of Joyner Sport but was also beaten when he made a break in the home stretch.

With Idao de Tillard out of the race, Horsy Dream sprinted to a safe win in a strong mile rate of 1:53.2 over 2,200 meters. The Belloche trotter claimed his fifth win during the Paris 2022-23 meeting.

Raffin’s comeback in the bike after his injury some weeks ago couldn’t be better as he finished third among the drivers in Paris this winter.

Alexandre Abrivard was the most successful driver — and jockey — in Paris. He had 55 wins in the bike and 44 in the saddle for the meet.

Abrivard also had a great day at Vincennes on Saturday’s card since he claimed the prestigious monté race: the $255,000 Prix des Centaures. With a 25 meter disadvantage, Abrivard rode the Laurent-Claude Abrivard-trained Hanna des Molles (Village Mystic). In mid-stretch as the front horses ran out of power, he made his move in a race where the pace was set high. The mile rate for Hanna des Molles was an impressive 1:53.2 over 1.3 miles.

Jean-Michel Bazire continued to dominate among the trainers, with 49 wins in 267 attempts resulting in $2,840,282 in earnings.

Ready Cash was, as usual, the best sire in Paris this winter with 32 winners and a total of $2,495,200 collected in earnings from his offspring.

Ampia Mede SM, winner of the Prix de France and Prix de Paris and runner up in Prix d’Amérique, became the most merited trotter during the winter meeting with $703,341 in earnings.

Prix de Selection replay.

Summary of the Paris 2022-23 winter meeting

Trainers

Trainer — Starts — Wins — Earnings

1. Jean-Michel Bazire — 267 — 49 — $2,840,282

2. Laurent-Claude Abrivard — 304 — 44 — $2,241,613

3. Thierry Duvaldestin — 158 — 43 — $2,078,074

4. Fabrice Souloy — 145 — 11 — $1,443,324

5. Philippe Allaire — 78 — 11 — $1,212,998

Drivers

Driver — Starts — Wins — Earnings

1. Alexandre Abrivard — 364 — 55 — $2,376,162

2. Jean-Michel Bazire — 206 — 42 — $2,188,538

3. Eric Raffin — 304 — 40 — $2,154,490

4. Matthieu Abrivard — 353 — 36 — $1,869,489

5. Yoann Lebourgeois — 208 — 25 — $945,979

Horses

Horse — Sire — Starts — Wins — Earnings

1. Ampia Mede SM — Ganymede — 6 — 2 — $703,341

2. Hooker Berry — Booster Winner — 7 — 2 — $608,204

3. Hanna des Molles — Village Mystic — 7 — 3 — $408,848

4. Flamme du Goutier — Ready Cash — 6 — 1 — $378,649

5. Horsy Dream — Scipion du Goutier — 7 — 5 — $350,562

Sires

Sire — Wins — Earnings

1. Ready Cash — 32 — $2,495,200

2. Booster Winner — 13 — $1,186,996

3. Boccador de Simm — 17 — $1,131,418

4. Royal Dream — 17 — $1,023,842

5. Prodigious — 21 — $946,771

SPARSELY AT THE FRENCH RIVIERA

One week after the end of the meeting in Paris means that Cagnes-sur-Mer outside of Nice in southern France will take over the focus of European harness racing, at least for a day. On Sunday (March 12) the $215,000 Criterium de Vitesse, contested at over one mile, is scheduled.

But the interest in the race is not that big this year and only 12 trotters remained on the list of horses after Wednesday morning’s start declaration.

Title defender Etonnant will soon be back on the track, but the Criterium de Vitesse came too soon for the son of Timoko and instead, the race’s winner in 2020 and 2021, Vivid Wise As, will most probably be the horse to beat. Alessando Gocciadoro has four horses in the race and Matthieu Abrivard will be entrusted behind Vivid Wise As, as usual.

Gocciadoro himself will sit behind Vernissage Grif.

The final entries list for the Cagnes-sur-Mer’s race card on Sunday was set after this article was written.