The $1,000,000 USD MGM Yonkers International Trot is just two months away on September 13 and track management has been hard at work assembling an all-star field for the 2025 edition. Accepting the first invitation is French superstar Hohneck.

“It's a legendary race,” said owner/trainer Philippe Allaire on the reason he decided to accept the invite.

The famed French trainer won’t be making his first trip to the MGM Yonkers International Trot, or the United States, but it has been a long time since he last competed on these shores. He sent out Jeanbat Du Vivier in the 2005 Nat Ray at The Meadowlands and his prior appearances came way back in 1979 and 1980 as a 19- and 20-year-old driver behind Hillion Brillouard back when the International Trot was contested at Roosevelt Raceway.

Hohneck, the 2023 Elitloppet winner, finished third in that marquee race at Solvalla in Sweden on May 25 this year. It was just his fourth on-track appearance of 2025 and Allaire is planning to compete in the Prix Washington on July 12 and Grand Prix de Vitesse at Argentan on August 9 prior to sending his eight-year-old son of Royal Dream to New York.

Hohneck owns a stellar career record of 23 wins in 75 starts and nearly $4.2 million in earnings. While he has won at the 1-1/4 mile distance of the MGM Yonkers International Trot, racing on a half-mile track is going to be a new experience.

“He has only been on 1,000 metre (five-eighths mile) tracks but he should handle the 800 metre track at Yonkers perfectly,” said Allaire.

For Allaire, the experience of coming to New York and hopefully coming away victorious could be the perfect ending to the career of his champion trotter as Hohneck is reported to be retiring at the end of the year.

“It's possible, Hohneck will tell us,” said Allaire when asked if the MGM Yonkers International Trot would be the final start of Hohneck’s career.

One idea Allaire wouldn’t rule out was extending his North American tour to the Breeders Crown at Woodbine Mohawk Park if Hohneck were to have success at Yonkers Raceway and was invited. “It’s not impossible,” said the trainer.

The MGM Yonkers International Trot was raced consecutively from 1959 to 1993, again in 1995 and from 2015 to 2024 (no race was held in 2020 and 2021 during COVID). Hohneck will look to become the first French-bred to win the race since Reve d’Udon in 1990. Last year the Swedish-bred Jiggy Jog S was victorious with Dexter Dunn driving for the now American-based trainer Ake Svanstedt.

Additional invitees will be announced in the coming weeks as track officials prepare for the MGM Yonkers International Trot. The special afternoon card will also feature a pair of $200,000 USD Invitationals for older trotters and pacers.

(with files from Yonkers)