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Meaulnes du Corta wins Prix de France

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February 08, 2009

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Meaulnes du Corta followed up his Prix d'Amerique victory by capturing the Prix de France on Sunday afternoon at the Vincennes racetrack in Paris in a mile rate time of 1:55.1, but he had a different driver for this race.

Meaulnes du Corta, who is trained by Pierre Levesque, was driven by Franck Niard in the Prix d'Amerique, but Levesque and the horse's owner decided to have Pierre Vercruysse, who had driven the horse in previous years, in the sulky for the Prix de France.

The victory was a big one for Vercruysse, a veteran horseman who was sidelined last summer when he suffered serious injuries in an accident while riding in a truck shipping horses. His son was killed in the accident. Vercruysse only last month started driving horses again.

Meaulnes du Corta showed his dominance in the Prix de France by leading the 2,100 meter race (a little more than 1 1/4 miles) for about one mile. A furlong into the race Qualita Bourbon appeared to come out into Meaulnes du Corta and cause the Prix d'Amerique winner to be steppy for a few strides, but he was settled by Vercruysse and then sent to the front.

Meaulnes du Corta won easily over Nouba du Saptel, who also finished second in the Prix d'Amerique. Opal Viking was third and Qualita Bourbon finished fourth, but was disqualified because of her bad gait. That moved Offshore Dream, the 2008 Prix d'Amerique winner, into fourth place.

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