by Thomas Hedlund

Pierre Belloche’s Horsy Dream (Scipion du Goutier) has returned to France, Paris and Vincennes after his successful adventure in Sweden in May, when he claimed the Elitloppet. In Sunday’s (June 23) $215,000 Prix Rene Balliere, Horsy Dream established his position as king of older trotters in Europe.

Eric Raffin, the driver — who experienced the biggest win in his already well-merited career at Solvalla — played it very cool in Sunday’s show at Vincennes.

Horsy Dream was placed second over by Raffin and that was probably the best position to have since the leader, favorite Idao de Tillard had to defend himself from an aggressive outside trotter in Izoard Vedaquais.

But the race included some of the best horses in the world and Raffin’s move, of not moving position when Hokkaido Jiel attacked three wide just before the last turn seemed to be a bad decision when the field turned for home. Horsy Dream was stuck between horses and leader Idao de Tillard was acting like a super hero in front. But, with 100 meters to go, Raffin found room to lift out Horsy Dream for a late attack and that was enough for Belloche’s trotter to hit the wire first, with a length advantage to the heroic leader Idao de Tillard. Vivid Wise As finished strongly on the inside in third and Alessandro Gocciadoro’s Yankee Glide son received an invitation to Yonkers International later this year.

Replay here.

The mile rate for Horsy Dream in the Prix Rene Balliere was 1:51.2 over 1.3 miles.

Vincennes played host to several big races during the Sunday card, among them three big monté races and the $260,000 Prix du President de la Republique for 4-year-olds that ended with an upset win by Kyrielle des Vaux (Rolling d’Heripre), trained by Charly Mottier.

Replayhere.

The distance was 3,000 meters and Kyrielle des Vaux came home in a mile rate of 1:56.2.

The 3-year-olds battled under saddle in the $215,000 Prix d’Essai and Thomas Levesque’s Lexie de Banville (Real de Lou) proved best under jockey Adrien Lamy.

Replay here.

The mile rate was 1:57.4 over 1.6 miles.

Prodigious son Jeroboam d’Erable claimed the $260,000 Prix de Normandie for 5-year-olds and Clement Thomain’s horse won in a strong mile rate of 1:55.3 over 3,000 meters.

Replay here.

Jean-Michel Bazire steered the favorite in the $215,000 Prix Albert Viel for 3-year-old trotters, but his weapon Liza Josselyn (out of Prix d’Amérique winner Belina Josselyn) had to settle as third behind runner up Loulou de Mye and winner Lombok Jiel (Enino du Pommereux). Lombok Jiel impressed a lot when he won in a stakes record 1:55.4 over 1.6 miles. His position as one of the last horses in the field didn’t bother him as he followed three wide on the backstretch, before the serious attack was set in at the top of the stretch. Jean Luc Dersoir trains and Pierre Yves Verva sat in the bike.

Replay here.

TIME FOR E3 FINALS

Two division finals of the E3 for 3-year-old trotters are scheduled at Färjestad racetrack in Sweden on Saturday (June 29) and in the $380,000 race for colts and geldings, Alessandro Gocciadoro has a great shot with the Face Time Bourbon colt Free Time Jepson.

Face Time Bourbon is the stallion behind two of the favorites in this final. Per Nordström trained Magic In has been impressive in his 2024 appearances and from a perfect post 2, in the hands of Erik Adielsson, Magic In should be the race’s first choice.

The high purse of $380,000 applies to horses born in Sweden, which did not participate in a special baby race as a 2-year-old.

The same conditions apply for the fillies where Roger Walmann trained S.G.Empress chases her sixth consecutive win since her debut in April this year.

E3 FINAL COLTS AND GELDINGS

2,140 meters

Horse — Sire — Driver — Trainer

1. Free Time Jepson — Face Time Bourbon — Alessandro Gocciadoro

2. Magic In — Face Time Bourbon — Erik Adielsson — Per Nordström

3. Phantom Express — Readly Express — Ulf Ohlsson — Joakim Elfving

4. Dream Mine — Maharajah — Jörgen Westholm

5. Like Magic Sisu — Googoo Gaagaa — Mika Forss — Petri Salmela

6. Arctic Emerald — Express Duo — Pekka Korpi

7. Preacherman — Father Patrick — Stefan Persson — Ola Samuelsson

8. Limoncello Boko — Muscle Mass — André Eklundh

9. J.Kagan Brick — From Above — Carl Johan Jepson — Christoffer Eriksson

10. Conrads Stefan — Brillantissime — Mats E Djuse — Jörgen Westholm

11. Greetings — Who’s Who — Örjan Kihlström — Roger Walmann

12. Romulus Tooma — S.J.’s Caviar — Björn Goop — Diederik Meilink

E3 FINAL FILLIES

2,140 meters

Horse — Sire — Driver — Trainer

1. Kilimanjaro Face — Googoo Gaagaa — Dante Kolgjini — Adrian Kolgjini

2. Oriana Boko —Father Patrick — Micha Brouwer — Danny Brouwer

3. Screen Time Limit — Face Time Bourbon — Ulf Ohlsson — Reijo Liljendahl

4. Unique Princess — Executive Caviar — Mats E Djuse — Joakim Elfving

5. S.G.Empress — Readly Express — Örjan Kihlström — Roger Walmann

6. Captiva — Walner — Hans Crebas

7. Pretty Be Linda — Varenne — Erik Adielsson — Ola Åsebö

8. Unforgettable A.Y. — From Above — Magnus A Djuse — Öystein Tjomsland

9. O’Hara Boko — Robert Bi — Robin Bakker — Paul Hagoort

10. Lilium Sisu — Face Time Bourbon — Mika Forss — Petri Salmela

11. Scarfo Pellini — Walner — Björn Goop

12. Melba Westwood — Quite Easy — Carl Johan Jepson — Mattias Djuse