On Saturday, Doug McNair will line up in unfamiliar territory in the 2013 Prix des Rencontres Internationales du Trotteur Français at Hippodrome Paris-Vincennes.
McNair will make his first start over the historic racecourse, and he'll do it from Post 15.
Here's the field of trotters for the Prix des Rencontres Internationales du Trotteur Français. The horses are claiming trotters, aged 6 to 10 years, racing in the 22,000€ claiming range, with a distance of 2,100 metres (1-5/16 miles).
1. ROCCO DARCHE - Olga Bondar
2. PUY DE SANCY - Noël Baldacchino
3. PRIEURE - Pierre Vercruysse
4. STITCH DU RIEUTORT - Hubert Brandstaetter
5. QUARTINO - Marc Huygens
6. QUASSIA DU BON AIR - Hans Petter Tholfsen
7. RYDER DE TAGOR - Helmut Biendl
8. POEME DES DOMBES - Jiri Svoboda
9. PADIWAN D'ABLON - Ruslan Kiselev
10. PELICANO QUICK - Jean Bernard Matthey
11. QUITO DE L'ORMEAU - Rick Ebbinge
12. QUINTILLUS - Joseph Rutkai
13. THEO DU MONCEL - Sergej Nikolajevich Matvejev
14. QUOBERNADOR - Guillermo Andreu Adrover
15. RAMSES DE VAUDON - Doug McNair
Early odds have Prieure, a winner in his last start, as the favourite. McNair's horse is one of the longer shots on the board.
"They really think a lot of horse racing over there and I'm just glad to be part of it," noted McNair in an earlier interview. "It's going to be a lot of fun, I've never been across the pond for anything -- let alone horse racing."
Items on the itinerary will include the 2013 Trotteur Français International Awards Dinner on Friday, November 29; a clash against fellow international reinsmen in the 'Prix des Rencontres Internationales du Trotteur Français on Saturday, November 30, and a visit of the Training Centre in Grobois, lunch at the Vincennes racecourse and final race of the 'GNT' (Grand National du Trot) on Sunday, December 1.
Trot Insider will provide a recap of the Prix des Rencontres Internationales du Trotteur Français with comments from McNair on Saturday.