His supporters went through all the emotions.
Starting 3/10 in the final of the Grand National du Trot,
Elie de Beaufour
almost lost all chance due to a fault at the start.
“He was very 'gassed' in the heat, so I had decided to change his mouthpiece but he got angry when he started,” explained his coach-driver, Jean-Michel Bazire, as soon as the race started.
Relegated to 54 m from the head of the event after 300 m of race, according to the tracking system, the favorite big had to show a new facet of his talent to get a victory - in 1'12''6 - which, before the blow, held out his arms.
“It was hot, admits JMB.
As soon as I put it back to the trot, I "spat" to get back behind the friends.
Then I waited and in the last turn I knew it was done!
"
The GNT race:
# MH2021
🏆 Elie de Beaufour (JM Bazire) wins the Grand National du Trot Paris-Turf Final (Gr.2).
🥈 Be One des Thirons (P. Daugeard)
🥉 Crusoe d'Anama (JM Bazire)
4th Duel du Gers (M. Abrivard)
5th Désir Castelets (Y. Desmet)
🏁 Arrival: 6 - 7 - 5 - 9 - 2 pic. twitter.com/GWxWWQi4U5
- Equidia (@equidia) December 6, 2020
His sixth victory in the Grand National du Trotting
By winning this final,
Elie de Beaufour
offers himself 30 additional points which allow him to win the general classification of the Grand National du Trot 2,020 ahead of
Et Voilà de Muze
, absent, and
Crusoe d'Anama
, third on the track this Sunday.
Jean-Michel Bazire won his fifth final in a row and his sixth GNT as a coach.
"Without an audience, it's not the same"
Renowned for its festive side but contested in front of empty stands, the GNT weekend unfortunately sounded hollow.
Despite this, Jean-Michel Bazire, the first to say that "without an audience, it's not the same", still found some walkers, stopped at his boxes along the gates of the racecourse, to discuss ... just minutes from the GNT final.
Quinté + is resisting
This Sunday, the Grand National du Trot final generated € 6,488,607 in stakes at Tiercé, Quarté + and Quinté +.
This result, down by around 13% compared to 2019, turns out to be a good result since the confinement has caused the closure of many PMU points of sale.