THE Prix d’Amerique weekend in Paris is fast becoming an annual pilgrimage for Irish harness racing followers.

The big race is traditionally staged on the fourth Sunday in January. On tomorrow’s supporting card there is extra Irish interest as Tadhg Murphy from West Cork will drive in a race.

Since the revival in 1968, pacing had been the dominant gait in Ireland, where the racing was billed as “American Style Harness Racing”.

However, in the last four seasons the influx of Trotteurs Francais has taken on a life of its own.

Irish trainers and drivers can relate better now to the skills and nuances of racing a French trotter.

Indeed, tomorrow’s €900,000 showplace will include horses from the same stud farms as Finbar Quill’s Tornao Josselyn and Ciaran Brickley’s Socrate Du Noyer. The dream of an Irishman owning a top-class one in France inches ever closer.

The Irish contingent will have an added interest on this trip as 46-year old Baltimore man Tadhg Murphy will be driving in the Coupe d’Europe des Amateurs.

Jonny Cowden was originally the Irish representative but he was anxious to preserve his ‘apprentice’ status. So Tadhg, with his unmistakable wiry frame, comes in for this prestigious opportunity.

These days Tadhg describes himself as ‘semi-retired’ from driving.

His early successes were with the like of HT Adios and Toms The Man. Le Trot import scheme has yielded Trotteurs Francais such as Bolero De La Fye, Tenor Meslois, Alineka Darche and the super-dependable Silvano Bello. Each of these horses enjoyed multiple wins.

Tadhg conditions the horses on picturesque Innis Beg Island and his younger brother Donal does most of the driving.

OPEN SPACE

Having cut his teeth on the bumpy fields in Cork, the wide-open space of Vincennes should pose no problem for Murphy.

The European Amateurs Cup will be the eighth race on today’s card (Saturday) at around 4.30pm. The race is over 2,100 metres (one mile, three furlongs). The purse is €14,000.

Tadhg will not have to contend with the difficult ‘volte’ start. Instead the Corkman will be already familiar with the ‘autostart’. The race is scheduled to have 16 runners, lots of traffic to negotiate.

DELIGHTED

Tadhg told The Irish Field on Tuesday night. “I am surprised and delighted to come in for this honour. To represent your country is a big thing and I am looking forward to driving at a track of Vincennes’ standard at this stage in my career.

“I was going to retire but I saw Alan Wallace still going and he’s an awful lot older than me,” said Tadhg, mischievously.

The Irish Field will have a reporter in Paris to keep readers abreast of Tadhg’s progress and also the happenings in tomorrow’s flagship race.