When it comes to a preference in horses — Standardbred or Thoroughbred — Louis Baudron has only one.

“My preference is they are good,” Baudron said with a laugh. “When you have a good horse, I don’t care if it’s a trotter or a Thoroughbred. We try to find the good one.”

Baudron, a native of France and the 34-year-old grandson of renowned horseman Jean Pierre DuBois, has enjoyed success with both breeds during his career as a trainer, driver and jockey. He has trained 560 harness racing winners and 151 on the Thoroughbred side. He has nearly 400 wins as a driver, including four Grade 1 events, and nearly 200 as a jockey.

On Friday (Oct. 23), he will drive in the Breeders Crown for the first time when he sits behind Cuatro De Julio in the first of two eliminations for two-year-old male trotters at Harrah’s Hoosier Park.

Cuatro De Julio, bred and owned by DuBois and trained by Marie Ortolan Bar, appears to fit Baudron’s preference for a good horse. He has won nine of 13 races, and his 1:51.3 mile in a division of the International Stallion Stakes on Oct. 9 at The Red Mile makes him the fastest of the two-year-old male trotters entered in the Breeders Crown.

Baudron drove Cuatro De Julio in the International Stallion, his first drive in the U.S. since appearing in the 2008 Hambletonian Oaks with Saorse. She finished second in her elimination and seventh in the final.

“I bought her when she was a yearling, so that was really a lot of fun,” Baudron said. “To be at the Hambletonian, it was a good time. It was a great experience.”

Baudron is hoping for another great experience in the Breeders Crown. Cuatro De Julio, who started his career on the Kentucky fair circuit and graduated to Grand Circuit stakes winner, is the 3-1 morning-line favourite in his elimination.

The top five finishers from the seven-horse elimination advance to the $600,000 final Oct. 30 at Hoosier. Elimination winners draw for posts one through five.

“He’s sharp, he’s fast, he’s a very nice horse,” Baudron said about Cuatro De Julio, a son of Trixton out of Clarabelle. “Sometimes he can be not so easy behind the gate, but he is strong. He’s not just fast, he’s strong. I think he is one of the best two-year-olds in America.

“I hope he qualifies well and then after that we hope for the best. I’m excited.”

(USTA)