Eighteen of the world’s top trotters laid it all on the line today (Sunday, January 27) at the Vincennes Racetrack, as the €900,000 Prix d’Amerique was the centerpiece of a robust program that was contested under rainy conditions at the grand course in Paris, France.
The highly anticipated annual event was contested at a distance of one-and-eleven-sixteenths-miles (2,700 metres), and a total of six different countries were represented in tape-start event.
When the slop settled, it was the Jean-Michel Bazire-trained and driven Belina Josselyn that nailed the wire first after a measured approach.
After having started from Post 12, Bazire got his pupil out and trotting early. The duo found themselves in fifth, away from the majority of the field, where Bazire opted to keep close tabs on the front end instead of being coaxed into an early duel.
Bazire was patient throughout the course of the race, as he watched the Franck Ouvrie-driven Davidson Du Pont and the Gabriele Gelormini-driven Uza Josselyn go tit for tat on the front. Uza Josselyn had the lead early before Davidson Du Pont looped to the lead and led the field into the stretch for the final time.
It was in the stretch where Bazire and Belina Josselyn made their move. Bazire had his charge trotting in the third-over position for much of the back end of the contest, and that positioning paid off in full when the horseman finally called on his mount to make his move.
Bazire pulled Belina Josselyn out wide through the rain-soaked stretch, and the duo raced in the five or six path as they gobbled up real estate late and joined a pair that was battling it out on the lead.
The pair that had been battling for the lead in deep stretch was the defending champion, Readly Express – driven by Björn Goop, who had pounced after having raced in third throughout the affair – and Looking Superb, the rail starter that had come home with a flurry for pilot Alexandre Abrivard.
In what seemed like a flash, Bazire and Belina Josselyn quickly joined Readly Express and Looking Superb with just a few metres to go, and Belina Josselyn just got up in time to get up on the outside for the well-measured win.
Belina Josselyn (12), pictured defeating Looking Superb (1) and Readly Express (15) in the 2019 Prix d’Amerique
Looking Superb finished in second while Readly Express finished just slightly further back in third. Davidson Du Pont finished fourth and Propulsion rounded out the top five.
Belina Josselyn is owned by Ecurie Yvan Bernard, who also bred the mare.
Belina Josselyn, an eight-year-old distaffer by Love You and out of Lezira Josselyn, was sent postward as the public's 5-2 choice. The victory was the 20th of her 63-start career, and she has now banked €2,127,430 in overall purses.