Fabrice Souloy’s hard-to-retain tears, Franck Nivard’s smile, and La Marseillaise resounding with the ensuing Italian anthem. The Prix de France (Gr. I) had an air of nostalgia and dolce vita after the victory, on the racecourse of Paris-Vincennes (XII), of Ampia Mede Sm, which is one of the rising stars of the elite of trotters .
Franck Nivard, one of the best French drivers, won this prestigious event for the sixth time. “I had not won at the highest level since 2017, he specifies. And it’s quite a symbol to win with Fabrice Souloy in this Group I. “
“Franck Nivard has always had my esteem”
The Norman trainer was one of the first Frenchmen to welcome horses born on the other side of the Alps and made a specialty of them. “I won this same event with Exploit Caf in 2008, which was also born in Italy, he says. With this success and that of other good horses, I was entrusted with more and more…” And to add: “Franck Nivard has always had my esteem. Besides, I was with him last week, and it wasn’t about the races (laughs)…”
As for the winning driver, he is full of praise neither for the heroine of the day, “a true champion” who will undoubtedly be at the start of the Prix de Paris but not of the Critérium de Vitesse in Cagnes-sur-Mer, nor on the one who takes care of it on a daily basis: “Fabrice Souloy has trusted me for more than twenty years, even giving me the privilege of choosing. Winning for him and seeing him happy makes me very proud. »