Harness: Face Time Bourbon repeats, lowers Prix d'Amerique record

Face Time Bourbon defended his Prix d'Amerique championship on Sunday at Vincennes Racecourse, and he did it with authority, lowering the record in the race to 1'10"8 (mile rate just under 1:54 flat).

Driven by Björn Goop, Face Time Bourbon was close to the pace throughout, but wound up three-wide and uncovered in the early going while Power (Robert Bergh) and then Bahia Quesnot (Junior Guelpa) took the lead. Goop was able to make a key move in the middle stages of the race as Power couldn't keep the pocket closed, and Goop was able to slide Face Time Bourbon into that position. Second choice Davidson du Pont (Jean-Michel Bazire) followed Face Time Bourbon when he was on the outside, and then was able to make the same dart to the rail, settling in third.

Goop and Face Time Bourbon bided their time on the pylons for a bit, and then with about 650 meters to go in the 2,700 meter race, Goop pulled the trigger two-wide. Face Time Bourbon's response was impressive, as he surged around Bahia Quesnot with around 400 meters left in the race, leaving Davidson du Pont to take up the chase two-wide. Davidson du Pont chased Face Time Bourbon gamely the remainder of the event, but Face Time Bourbon was just too good, as he went on to the win by a couple of lengths. Gu d'Héripré (Franck Nivard) got up for third, well behind the top two, with Delia Du Pommereux (Eric Raffin) and Bahia Quesnot rounding out the top five finishers.

"I got a good start from the beginning, but I didn't want to be too hard because, of course, there are a lot of drivers who want to have a good start," Goop said about how things went from the standing start to the race. "It might cost a lot to be too early. He could have opened faster today than I wanted, but I took a security start.

"He has been drinking and eating well since the race. I hear he'll start next in the Prix de France (February 14)."

The previous standard in the Prix d'Amerique had been 1'11"2, set first by Bold Eagle in 2017 and then equaled by Readly Express the next year. Goop has now won three of the last four Prix d'Ameriques (Readly Express in 2018 and Face Time Bourbon in the last two editions), and Guarato has won four times in the last six runnings, with his two successes with Face Time Bourbon joining the back-to-back triumphs he had with Bold Eagle in 2016 and 2017.

Goop is normally quite celebratory in his major victories, but with the lack of a crowd at Vincennes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, he was more subdued after the race today.

"With the current times in what is going on in the world, I had a little difficulty being excited," he explained. "I had a little bit of mixed feelings. It probably touches me a bit more than people think. I was in my own world. When you are out there on the track you are in a world of your own with the horse."

Guarato, of course, brought Bold Eagle to North America before his career concluded, winning the 2019 Breeders Crown Open Trot with him at Woodbine Mohawk Park. Goop was asked about the chances we could see Face Time Bourbon make the journey across the Atlantic, and he responded, "Maybe, I think so in the future. I know when Sebastien went with Bold Eagle he was satisfied, so he knows how it works now."

As for Bazire, who was looking for his fifth Prix d'Amerique title, he said about his second-place finish today, "I knew Face Time Bourbon was excellent, and he left me behind three lengths. I couldn't do anything. On the last turn I was thinking I might win, but I just couldn't get there."

A 6-year-old Ready Cash stallion who is owned by Antonio Somma's Scuderia Bivans SRL, Face Time Bourbon now has a record of 29-4-0 from 33 career starts.

"Today is very, very good. The Prix d'Amerique is fantastic for me," said Somma. "Face Time Bourbon is perfect, Bjorn is perfect, and Sebastien's work is very, very good. Today (compared to last year) is better for me.

The next major event for the stars of European trotting is the above-mentioned Prix de France on the 14th of February. Face Time Bourbon is expected to meet up with Davidson du Pont again, and also likely 2019 Yonkers International Trot winner Zacon Gio from Italy. Davidson du Pont defeated Face Time Bourbon in last year's Prix de France, and Zacon Gio bettered Face Time Bourbon when they met in the Gran Premio Lotteria in Naples last October and also in the 2019 Prix Unonie Europea in Modena.