New goal for Scarlet Knight

The 2001 Hambletonian champion Scarlet Knight will be competing under saddle in the richest race for trotters at that discipline, the $900,000 Prix de Cournulier, set for Jan. 22 at the Vincennes track in Paris, France.



Scarlet Knight's owner and trainer, Stefan Melander, had the top French jockey Nathalie Henry work the 7-year-old stallion over 300 meters at his farm in France's Normandy region on Thursday morning , Jan. 13.



Melander reported to Horseman European correspondent Lars Palm that he and Henry were satisfied with Scarlet Knight's gait and confident he could perform well in the Prix de Cournulier.



The Prix de Cournulier is contested at a distance of 2,700 meters (almost 1 ¾ miles). Melander has raced Scarlet Knight at distances well over one mile for the last several years and said he believes the son of Pine Chip will have no difficulty with the distance.



Henry will ride Scarlet Knight in the Prix de Cournulier. She won a stakes for trotters under saddle with Vasterbo Daylight at Vincennes on Jan. 9, but that mare will not be entered in the Prix de Cournulier because of the long distance.



Scarlet Knight's toughest competitor in the Cournulier will be Jag de Bellouet, who is also favored to win the Prix d'Amerique at Vincennes on Jan. 30. If Jag de Bellouet wins both races, he would become the first horse to capture the Cournulier and d'Amerique since 1977, when Bellino II managed the feat.

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