Next Sunday’s meeting at the Marsa racetrack starting at 1.30pm, has no less than 11 races on the card. All will be trot races over a long 3,140m distance; these favour horses having strong stamina and finishing powers.

This is the last meeting before the start of the championships reserved for French trotters and is thus the last opportunity to evaluate the form of many participants.

The highlights consist of two Premier class races, both including various popular horses. The first features recent winners Niky du Donjon, Noble d’Ete and others, whilst the second has a line up worthy of a final, with various championship winners such as Mon Daniel, Isolated, Major Chaleonnais, Master Perrine and others taking part.

Interestingly this second Premier class race will also include three newcomers who enjoyed popularity in France until recently.

Two interesting Gold class races are also on the card. Both are balanced affairs and include in-form horses such as Lutan Villetot, Master Lupin, Hulot, Baronello and others.

The racing strategy in long distance races is nothing short of fascinating. While the first half tends to be rather tactical, the second part sees interesting moves from drivers asking for a final effort from their horses, and leading to many exciting finishes.