Harness: Idao De Tillard triumphant again in Prix d'Amerique

Idao De Tillard took control on the last turn in Sunday's Prix d'Amerique at Vincennes Racecourse in Paris and held off challengers to the wire after that to win his second straight edition of the great French trotting race. Despite rainy conditions, the final kilometer time was 1'11"1 (a mile rate of 1:54 2/5), making this the second-fastest edition of the event.

After one false start caused the field to re-form, Don Fanucci Zet (Paul-Philippe Ploquin) got away best and led early but would be overtaken by 2023 Prix d'Amerique winner Hooker Berry (Nicolas Bazire) with about 2,000 meters to go in the 2,700 meter contest. Hooker Berry would then be challenged by Hussard Du Landret (Yoann Lebourgeois), who showed a lead on the outside before he went down to the pylons with about 1,300 left.

While that was going on in front, Idao De Tillard (Clément Duvaldestin) rode cover just off-the-pace in a three-wide position, but he lost the helmet he was following with about 700 meters remaining as Keep Going (Matthieu Mottier), who was giving him a tow, was able to slide down into a two-wide position. Nevertheless, Idao De Tillard powered forward and surged by all the leaders before they turned into the stretch. From there, he kept in front of Just Love You (Alexandre Abrivard) and Go On Boy (Romain Derieux) to secure the triumph. Josh Power (Eric Raffin) and Hussard Du Landret completed the top five.

► Sign up for our FREE DRF Harness Digest Newsletter

"The great champions achieve the double. It proves that the first time it was not a stroke of luck," remarked Clément Duvasdestin.

"The work we did on this horse is enormous," said Clément's father and winning trainer Thierry Duvaldestin. Idao De Tillard had been sick in November with leptospirosis (a disease transmitted by rodents), but came back to form with a tally in his last prep race, the Prix de Bourgogne on December 29 at Vincennes, and then today's classic.

Duvaldestin, who also captured back-to-back Prix d'Ameriques in 2011 and 2012 with Ready Cash, trains Idao De Tillard, a 7-year-old Severino stallion, for owner Cyril Sevestre. This was Idao De Tillard's 33rd win from 47 lifetime outings, and he has now earned 2,881,430 Euros.