December 10, 2017 – Today’s Prix Octave Douesnel (Gr. II, four year olds, purse €120,000, 2700 meters) resulted in a blanket finish with victory to the 1/2 harness racing favorite Django Riff (4m Ready Cash-Rasta Perrine).
Away at the end driver Yoann Lebourgeois moved the winner to the outside at the halfway point and he reached the death seat at head of the lane.
But, his inner leading adversary 6.9/1 Delfino (4m Speedy Blue-Miss Volo) would not yield easily and just missed as he battled back for Mathieu Mottier and breeder/owner/trainer Dominique Mottier. Third was 13/1 Doberman (4m Prodigious-Quietude Mesloise) for Franck Nivard and fourth was 8.5/1 Discours Joyeux (4m Goetmals Wood-Quelle Copine) for Eric Raffin.
Race time was 1.15.2kr off modest even fractions.
Django Riff now has 16 career wins in 34 starts for €1,139,500 earned.
Earlier on the card was the Prix des Jacinthes (purse €40,000, 2700 meters, two year olds) and the 1.18.2kr timed and 4.8/1 odds winner was the unchecked impressive Faithful (2m Village Mystic-Horsaca) handled by breeder/owner/trainer Louis Baudron. Faithful now has two wins in three career starts. 4/5 favorite Fleuron d’Ironise (2m Kaisy Dream-Star des Charmes) was second for J-M Bazire and owner/trainer William Bigeon. 5.3/1 Fifty Kalouma (2m Ready Cash-Sadaya de Cerisy) was third for Thierry Duvaldestin.
Thomas H. Hicks