The racing world is still in shock after Face Time Bourbon's withdrawal just five days from the Prix d'Amérique.
Turfists as well as professionals were surprised by the announcement made via a video posted on the Twitter account of Antonio Somma, owner of the champion.
The resident of Sébastien Guarato, who will not be seen again in competition, was on the way to achieving the feat of winning a third Prix d'Amérique in a row, and thus joining in history the legendary trotters, Uranie, Bélino II, Roquépine and Ourasi.
Face time bourbon non parteciperà la prossimo AMERIQUE pic.twitter.com/LMe5JqPhE4
— Antonio Somma (@antoniosomma8) January 25, 2022
A real star on the black clinker track of the Gravelle plateau, Face Time Bourbon will therefore leave a big void on Sunday.
And his absence will not only have an emotional dimension.
For the company organizing the races, LeTrot, and for the PMU, this last-minute package represents a shortfall.
“Obviously, this will have an impact, confides Benoit Fabrega, attached to the technical direction of LeTrot.
There will be repercussions on the Prix d'Amérique race, but also on the other races of the meeting.
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The stakes could rise to 16.2 million euros
Thanks to stake optimization tools, the organizing company relies on statistics in order to come up with some figures.
“On average, when there is a horse offered at less than 1.50 euros, the stakes in the race are boosted by 7%.
And Face Time Bourbon has started 26 times in his 43 races under that bar.
If it had started at 19/10 in 2021, crack would certainly have been even more popular this year.
“Last year, there were 17.5 million euros in stakes in the Prix d'Amérique race, explains Benoit Fabrega.
If we apply this 7% rule, we go to 16.2 million euros.
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But this drop in the stakes could be a little higher depending on the races of the weekend and in particular the fifth of Saturday, whose winning bettors would be tempted to reinvest in the Prix d'Amérique.
The absence of Face Time Bourbon, and even more so the end of its career, is therefore very bad news for the entire industry.