Criterium Continental Q3: What the past reveals

PROFILE OF THE TROTTERERS WHO PERFORMED IN THIS QUALIFY

Starting grid
The position of the competitors behind the autostart will be important this Sunday. Good to know: 12 of the last 15 winners of this Group I started with a number ranging from 2 to 7 behind the car. EAST ASIAKeep Going, EXECUTIVE EKCrown (usa), NINETTA BOKO and Edy Girifalco Gio therefore seem well placed on the starting grid for the 2024 Critérium Continental.
Starting at the front of the line behind the autostart is an advantage, but there is one exception. Often considered a trap number, 1 is particularly so in this test. Since Freiherr As’s 2nd place in 2001, no trotter with this number has managed to finish in the top 2 of this Critérium. Koctel Du Dain will try to put an end to this curse on Sunday.

Latest performances
Form is a visibly determining criterion in the Critérium Continental. A number of figures seem to attest to this. Since 2012, 83% of the winners of this Qualification had won during their most recent competitive outing (10/12). This Sunday, EAST ASIA, EXECUTIVE EK and Kokote meet this condition.
Being able to string together good performances is also an asset here. 10 of the last 13 winners of this race had finished in the first 3 during their last two outings on the track. LikeEXECUTIVE EK et ALL THE WAY (already cited above), CROWN, NINETTA BOKO et KHAL’S FELLA exhibit this characteristic.

Sex and races references
Advantage to sex said loudly in this race. Males have in fact won 12 of the last 15 editions of this classic.
For males, the Prix Octave Douesnel constitutes an excellent springboard for the Critérium Continental. The last 6 editions of the Continental have also been won by horses which had finished in one of the first 3 places in this event. A good point for Keenan De Joudes or KHAL’S FELLA (respectively 2nd and 3rd of the Octave Douesnel Prize 2024).
The benchmark race for females is the Prix Ariste Hémard. 2 of the last three winners of the Critérium Continental (Doria Desbois in 2017 and Victoire in 2013) had previously won this event. 3rd in Qualification #3 last year, Just Love You also distinguished itself in this tournament. Winner of the 2024 edition of the Ariste Hémard Prize, ALL THE WAY was ahead KANA DE BEYLEV et NINETTA BOKO on this occasion. These three females will be present this Sunday on the starting grid, where KANA DE BEYLEV et NINETTA BOKO will start in the front line behind the autostart.

Gains
The winnings accumulated in competition make it possible to situate the value of the different competitors. The last 6 winners of the Critérium Continental presented themselves with a capital of more than 400,000 euros in winnings at the start of the race. This year, 4 starters meet this condition: KOCTEL DU DAIN (the richest of the lot), Kilmister, KANA DE BEYLEV et CROWN.

Favorites
Is the hierarchy often respected in the Critérium Continental? Yes, if we rely on the recent success of the most played horses (Pmu, Pdv) in this speed tournament. The last 5 editions of this Qualif have thus been won by the favorite of the race.
In this event, the outsiders have a fairly good success for the runners-up. There are around fifteen trotters offered at more than 15 euros (in a single winning game) on the podium in the last 10 episodes of this Critérium. Clarification: The vast majority of them had finished in the top 3 during their previous competitive outing.

Visitors
Since 2000, 5 foreign horses have won the Critérium Continental. A score which is perhaps not exceptional, but one parameter calls out: these 5 trotters discovered the Grande Piste de Vincennes on the occasion of their success. Which is the case here of CROWN.

CRITERIUM CONTINENTAL 2024: THEY CHICK SEVERAL BOXES

Will the winner of the Critérium Continental 2024 be French? Doubt is allowed. Well placed behind the autostart, visitors EAST ASIA, EXECUTIVE EK, CROWN or NINETTA BOKO (Bazire effect?) also have other arguments to put forward and are cited several times here.
French trotters KANA DE BEYLEV or KHAL’S FELLA present a very interesting profile, but their number on the starting grid is not a gift (9 for KANA DE BEYLEVthe 17th for KHAL’S FELLA). KEEP GOING is our representative best positioned behind the car.

FROM Q3 TO AMERICA RACE FINALS

Critérium Continental-Prix d’Amérique, direct and indirect link
Since 2011, two champions have achieved the victorious Critérium Continental-Prix d’Amérique double during the same winter: Bold Eagle and Face Time Bourbon. Since 2011, the winners of Q3 have had a 50% success rate in the top 5 when they compete in the Legend Race a month later (5/10).
One fact challenges and enhances the Critérium Continental: 7 of the last 10 winners of the Prix d’Amérique had finished in the first three of this Group I (one month, one year or two years earlier). This was true for the last two winners of the Grande Course: Idao De Tillard (winner of the Continental a year earlier) and Hooker Berry (3rd of the 2021 Continental).riterium Continental-Prix de France, a natural connection
Contested on the same flying start course, the Critérium Continental and the Prix de France are also very “connected”. 4 of the last 10 winners of the Speed ​​Race were horses who had registered their name on the Continental prize list. However, only one of them managed to win these two races during the same meeting: Bold Eagle.
Finally, some figures illustrate the link between these two events: There is at least one winner of the “Continental” on 9 of the last 10 podiums of the Prix de France.