The Prix d’Amérique at Vincennes, the most prestigious harnessed trotting race in the world and a great show in… the American way

It is a mythical event, more than a century old, which takes place every last Sunday of January. The Prix d’Amérique, object of all bets, is according to professionals the toughest race in the world, and a great celebration for racegoers and all the curious.

Who will succeed Davidson du Pont? The question is on everyone’s lips of racegoers, trainers, riders and other trotting racing aficionados. This last Sunday of January, as has been the tradition for more than a century, the Prix d’Amérique, the biggest event in the discipline, takes place in Paris, which acts as the world championship for trotters. They will be more than forty thousand in the stands of the mythical racecourse to attend the crowning of the best horse of the moment. “It’s the event of the year for French trotting, enthuses Emmanuelle Morvillers, head of the international department of the company Le Trot, which organizes horse racing meetings in this discipline – another takes care of galloping. The Prix d’Amérique is also the race where there are the most bets. »

Grace and fluidity

The Hippodrome de Vincennes, a 42-hectare setting located in the heart of the eponymous wood, is the Mecca of world trotting. The greatest horses in history have distinguished themselves here: Ourasi, Roquépine, Gélinotte, Bellino II. With a few others, they shaped the legend of the trot (there is also the mounted trot), which combines grace and fluidity. Without a rider on its back, the animal has greater freedom of movement, its gait appears flexible and natural. Seated in his sulky, a contemporary and lighter version of the Roman chariot, the jockey, here called driver, leads his horse by manipulating long reins. “Winning the Prix d’Amérique, the hardest race in the world, is the Holy Grail, confides Björn Goop, triple winner of the event (with Readly Express, then twice with Face Time Bourbon). The battle starts from the start, you mustn’t leave too quickly, but don’t be left behind either. And it lasts for 2,700 meters! » The famous “rise” of Vincennes, this part of the big track located opposite the stands, has the art of “cutting the legs” of the least enduring horses or too accustomed to flat ground. Two hours before the race, the drivers are entitled to a briefing with a reminder of the specifically French rules: start made on the fly (loop of the horse on the track) and not the autostart, this strange car with folding wings behind which usually rank competitors; how to cross the laser beam at the right time, on pain of a false start…