Standardbred racing in Quebec has lost one of its trailblazers with the passing of longtime participant Real Bardier. Bardier died Thursday at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal. He was 92.

Son Stephane said he'd been hospitalized about 10 days after experiencing drops in blood pressure at home.

Bardier was one of the first Quebec-born driver-trainers to make a name for himself throughout North American harness racing during the 1940s and 1950s.

He shone not only at Richelieu Park, Blue Bonnets and other Quebec tracks, but as well at tracks like Buffalo, Rosecroft, Yonkers, Saratoga and Toronto's Dufferin Park.

"Real was a pioneer of the sport in Quebec," said Gilles Fortier of the provincial horsemen's association, ATAQ, which had honoured him for career achievement.

A leading horseman for two decades, Bardier captured the driving championship at Richelieu Park in 1952.

One of 10 children in a family from St. Victoire de Sorel, Quebec, Bardier became a groom at age 9 and by 13, he was driving on the Quebec fair circuit, winning three races in his first appearance.

By 17, he'd become the go-to driver for one of Quebec's leading trainers, Raoul Potvin, and when he had his own stable, ended up employing five of his brothers.

One of his remarkable feats was capturing 17 races in a single day, racing at Richelieu Park and Trois-Rivieres.

Statistics in his era were not kept meticulously, but Bardier in his prime probably averaged 100 wins a year, at a time when racing seasons were shorter, Stephane said. Trotter Carpet Bagger, who collected $100,000 over three years in the late 1950s, was one of his stars.

"He was an aggressive driver, and an honest and generous man," said Stephane, who also became a horseman.

A back injury from a racing spill at Richelieu Park in the early 1960s cut short Bardier's driving career, but his passion for the sport never waned. His last listed start as a trainer was a win at Hippodrome de Montreal in October, 1996.

"He loved racing. Up until two years ago, he was riding his bike, and he​'d go by bike to the (off-track betting theatre) near where Blue Bonnets used to be. He watched the Mohawk races every night on TV," Stephane said.

Real Bardier leaves children Stephane and Sylvie, and a granddaughter, Stephanie. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, the funeral will be small and private, but Stephane said a larger-scale remembrance may be held after the pandemic.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Real Bardier.

(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)