ALL THE NUMBERS OF THE MEETING D'HIVER: BONDO THE MOST WINNING FOREIGN TRAINER

After the ‘Meeting d'Hiver’ (French horse racing season's end meeting) it's time to take stock, and while on the one hand there are some important confirmations, on the other there is some interesting news for Italian horse racing.

TRAINERS

For the seventh consecutive year, the Bazire team dominates the French trainers scene. The difference is that at the helm is no longer Jean Michel, but his son Nicolas, to whom ‘Le Roy’ has passed the baton. They have achieved an impressive 57 victories with earnings of over 2.5 million. It's not a record (in 2019/2020 they achieved 83 victories and 3,731 thousand euros), but it's still a respectable achievement. Last year's podium was confirmed with Thierry Duvaldestin and Laurent Claude Abrivard in second and third place (39 and 32 victories).

The good news is that Eric Bondo came in eighth overall. The Danish trainer, who has been living in Italy for years, won 15 races (earning 680 thousand euros) and is the most successful foreign trainer at the meeting. It is worth mentioning that most of his victories were with horses born and bred in Italy.

DRIVERS: ERIC RAFFIN ABOVE ALL

Among the drivers of the sulky, the undisputed champion was Eric Raffin who won an impressive 67 races and over 3.1 million euros. In second place was Jean Michel Bazire with 40 victories, ahead of Mathieu Mottier (39) who is proving to be a rising star. In terms of total wins, Mottier is in the lead with 32 victories, compared to 21 for Alexandre Abrivard and 19 for Raffin.

RECORD FOR FOREIGN WINNERS

It was a record year for foreign victories at the meeting: 67 (9 in group races), beating the record of 60 set in the 2021/22 season.

BARJON AND HIS VICE DOMINATE AMONG THE OWNERS

The green and white jacket with diagonal stripes belonging to Monsieur Jean Pierre Barjon, president of Le Trot, also well-known on our tracks, was the one that won the highest prize in monetary terms with 751 thousand euros. In second place was that of his ‘deputy’ Joel Seché. However, in terms of the number of victories, the top position goes to Christian Bigeon's team. Among breeders, Jean Philippe Dubois dominated with 26 victories and 1,018,900 euros.