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. Fourth part dedicated to the confrontation between Ready Cash and Maharajah, in 2011.
January 30, 2011. 90th Prix d’Amerique Legend Race in history. Ready Cash has a date with history. A year earlier, he participated in his first world trotters championship, leaving regrets after having mortgaged all his chances of success on the plain. After having outrageously dominated the debates between 2007-2008, then ceding his throne to Rolling d’Heripre in 2009, Ready Cash is in the bottom of the wave at 5 yo. Following his failure in the 5yo Criterium, his trainer-owner “disoriented” him by entrusting him to Thierry Duvaldestin. Slowly but surely, and despite still some indelicacies, the jewel regains all its brilliance.
Although popular with turfists (36 /10), Ready Cash is not the favorite. This status fell – by little – to Maharajah (29 /10), whom the hexagonal turfists knew above all from reputation. A most flattering reputation with, among others, the Swedish 3yo and 4yo Derby to its credit, as well as a continental title in the UET Grand Prix. But the style of his success in the Qualiff # 6 Prix de Belgique, for his big debut on our soil, encourages punters to place him in the lead. His trainer, Stefan Hultman, said he was convinced he would win the Legend Race America’s Prize with the son of Viking Kronos.
Exciting on paper, the race keeps all its promises. Quickly in action, Maharajah manages to take the lead from Lana del Rio at the bottom of the descent then sees Ready Cash rise to his height. There follows a phase of observation on the uphill, where Örjan Kihlström and Franck Nivard keep glancing at each other to see who will attack first. At the intersection of the tracks, the duettists deliver their recital at the same time. Defending champion Oyonnax, despite a very good race, cannot invite himself to the party. Halfway through the final turn, Ready Cash accelerates sharply then takes the best on his great rival. To thunderous applause, Ready Cash holds up Maharajah‘s attack to the post and enters the legend.
Two weeks later, in the Prix de France Speed Race, Ready Cash dominated again Maharajah and definitely took the lead over the Swedish champion, who won the Prix de Paris Marathon Race at the end of the meeting. In the Prix d’Amerique Legend Race 2012, without being disappointing, Maharajah finished at the foot of the podium and helplessly watched Ready Cash‘s second Prix d’Almerique in a row. Beaten down in the next edition, where Royal Dream put an end to the hegemony of Philippe Allaire’s crack, Stefan Hultman’s protegy again lost to Ready Cash in the Prix de France Speed Race and the Prix de Paris Marathon Race. At the 2014 Prix d’Amerique Legend Race, the very last time for the two opposing sides, specialists predict the victory of Up And Quick or Ready Cash and neglect the Swedish icon, in decline. They were wrong, because at the end of a tactically perfect race, Örjan Kihlström shifts Maharajah into a home straight to take the Grail. Like the downpours of water falling on Paris-Vincennes, Stefan Hultman cries bitterly. Tears of joy: Maharajah has offered him the coveted Prix d’Amerique.
