Twister Bi will enter Saturday’s $1 million Yonkers International Trot as Europe’s top-rated contender in the invitational event, and U.S.-born trainer Jerry Riordan believes his five-year-old horse is primed for a strong performance at Yonkers Raceway.

A son of Varenne, Twister Bi will represent Italy in the 10-horse field. Twister Bi has won four of 11 races this year, including the Oslo Grand Prix and Ulf Thoresen Grand International – both Group 1 events – and has finished off the board only twice this season. Twister Bi, owned by Pasquale Ciccarelli, is No. 4 in the European Trotting Union (UET) rankings, behind only Bold Eagle, Timoko and Propulsion.

Twister Bi heads to the International Trot, which is contested at the distance of one and one-quarter miles, off a third-place finish in the UET Trotting Masters championship on September 9. He drew Post 4 for the International Trot and is the 4-1 second choice on the morning line behind favourite Resolve, the race’s defending champion. He will be driven by 30-year-old Christoffer Eriksson, who ranks sixth in wins among all drivers in Sweden.

“He has raced against the best, and he’s raced really hard races against the best horses,” Riordan said about Twister Bi. “He was arguably the best horse on the track in his last three races and he’s been racing against Propulsion, Bold Eagle; the very best. We’re confident. We really believe in the horse.”

Twister Bi has won 20 of 49 career races and earned $708,328. The bulk of his earnings – $528,768 – have come this season. He will try to become Italy’s second International Trot champion, joining 1977 winner Delfo in the history books.

The 39th International Trot features horses representing the U.S., Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, and Sweden. The race was held from 1959 through 1995 before being resurrected three years ago by Yonkers President and CEO Tim Rooney.

Riordan, a New England native based in Sweden after a long stint in Italy, is making his second appearance in three years in the International Trot. He finished eighth with Rod Stewart in 2015. His personal history with the event goes back to his days as a groom at Roosevelt Raceway, which hosted the International Trot before it moved to Yonkers in 1988.

Twister Bi and Jerry Riordan (Photo courtesy Janet Terhune)

One reason for Riordan’s optimism with Twister Bi is the horse’s ability to handle racing on a half-mile track, such as Yonkers.

“He’s a lefty by nature,” said Riordan, who received the 1990 Rising Star Award from the U.S. Harness Writers Association. “He takes the left line, cocks his head to the left, and you can just send him into the turn. That’s one of the reasons I was pretty confident about coming over to race him.

“I think at this point with this horse, whatever the results are Saturday is the result of the last three months of work. What we’re going to do at this point is try not to do anything dumb and just bring him in as fresh as we can possibly make him.”

Following is the field in post-position order for the International Trot with drivers, trainers and morning line odds.

PP-Horse-Driver-Trainer-Line
1. Marion Marauder-Scott Zeron-Paula Wellwood-5/1
2. Oasis Bi-Kim Eriksson-Stefan Pettersson-5/1
3. Dreammoko-Gabriele Gelormini-Richard Westerink-6/1
4. Twister Bi-Christoffer Eriksson-Jerry Riordan-4/1
5. Shadow Woodland-Tim Tetrick-Reijo Liljendahl-12/1
6. Resolve-Ake Svanstedt-Ake Svanstedt-3/1
7. Midnight Hour-Iikka Nurmonen-Ossi Nurmonen-10/1
8. In Secret-George Brennan-Ron Burke-6/1
9. Tripolini VP-Jeppe Juel-Jeppe Juel-15/1
10. On Track Piraten-Johnny Takter-Hans Stromberg-8/1

Note: Tripolini VP and On Track Piraten start from the second tier.

This story courtesy of Harness Racing Communications, a division of the U.S. Trotting Association. For more information, visit www.ustrotting.com.