The Prix d’Amerique Legend Race, contested this Sunday at Paris-Vincennes, will be the scene of a thrilling duel between Face Time Bourbon, reigning world champion, and runner-up Davidson du Pont, in search of revenge. This is not the first time, in the most coveted trotting race on the planet, that two antagonists have stood out from the crowd, far from it. And harness racing connoisseurs know that it is risky to sum up a race to a match between two trotters … But we have to admit that some fights marked their time, before going down in posterity. We have selected four top rivalries since the early 1980s in the Prix d’Amerique Legend Race. Second part dedicated to the confrontation between Coktail Jet and Abo Volo, in the mid-1990s.
January 28, 1996. 75th Prix d’Amerique Legend Race in history. The three previous editions have fallen into the hands of foreign trotters: Queen L (1993), Sea Cove (1994) and Ina Scot (1995). Third a year earlier, Abo Volo, with whom Albert Viel hopes to finally win the Grail, is installed favorite at 15/10! Since the beginning of Spring 1995, the son of Lurabo has been driven by Jos Verbeck with whom he won a multitude of Groups and gleaned luxury podiums such as a third place in the Elitloppet and a first accessit in the Prix René Ballière, beaten … by Coktail Jet precisely.
The horse bred by Jean-Etienne Dubois, second favorite at 41/10, had bad luck in his youth (strangulation, rupture of a ligament in one knee), blowing hot and cold, before making up for lost time by 1995, notably winning three Group I labeled races: the Prix René Ballière, the 5yo Criterium and the Prix de l’Etoile. But unlike Abo Volo, who has just flaunted his form by finishing third in the Qualif # 6 Prix de Belgique, with 25 meters of handicap, Coktail Jet was much more discreet, finishing not placed.
For observers, Abo Volo brings together more assets than Coktail Jet which, in order to win, must imperatively preserve its sharpest final speed. But Jean-Etienne Dubois, his trainer-driver, will take his opponents by surprise. With gunshot to the leading horses in front of the stands, in Abo Volo‘s back, Jean-Pierre Dubois’s youngest son suddenly opts for the lead race. In the plain, “Cocktail” takes the lead and controls operations, flanked by Cedre du Vivier on the outside, himself tfollowed by Abo Volo.
At the intersection of the tracks, the seats remain unchanged. Abo Volo is chomping at the bit, ready to pounce, soon covered by Activity and Arnaqueur outside. The trap has just closed on the favorite, as Cedre du Vivier is leveling off. Home Straight : Jean-Etienne Dubois knows that his poker move is about to turn into a master stroke. He waves his arms to cheer on the spearhead of Stable Daniel Wildenstein. But the “Belgian Devil” does not admit defeat. Abo Volo dives in and sets off in pursuit of Coktail Jet. But too late. The bay trotter with the black sheepskin on the nose has just become a legend. Ecstatic, Jean-Etienne Dubois exults at the passage of the disc, before flattering his champion.
Winner two weeks later of the Prix de France Speed Race, before triumphing in the Prix de l’Atlantique, Coktail Jet will meet once again Abo Volo in May in the Prix des Ducs de Normandie. Abo Volo takes revenge on his opponent who is preparing for the Elitloppet. On May 26, 1996, Coktail Jet signed the rare double Prix d’Amerique-Elitloppet the same year, at the end of a long-remembered home straight and sounded the Marseillaise in the spans of Solvalla, 13 years after Ianthin.
On his return to France, Coktail Jet reunited with Abo Volo, whom he beat in the Prix d’Europe at Enghien. But following a nightmarish journey through the United States, the world champion falters and loses his luster. In the 1997 Prix d’Amerique Legend Race, Abo Volo won wire to wire, disgusting his great rival and offered the coveted title to Albert Viel, just before he died. Coktail Jet draws an end to the competition two weeks later, at the end of a Prix de France Speed Race, where he could not stand out, to start a new career, that of a stallion, highly prolific.
