Quebec businessman Marc-Aime Guerin, who bought star trotter Val Taurus as a gift for his daughter Lorraine Auger in 2006, has passed away at the age of 84.

Guerin, founder of a successful company that published textbooks, was a lifelong collector of items as varied as old books, heavy machinery, art, and Percheron horses.

In a 2007 interview, Auger said her late mother, Jeannette, never knew what Guerin would bring home from one of his many visits to local auctions and sales.

One time it was a herd of dairy cattle, another time a Clydesdale horse.

“We had dinner once at a restaurant and he pulled out a big bag of jewelry for my mother. It had been seized at customs and he bought it at the old customs auction house,” Auger recalled.

Guerin bought Val Taurus privately for Auger from owner/breeder Jean-Pierre Dubois during a car ride to the airport. The son of Taurus Dream had won his first three starts in Montreal and Guerin was impressed. The trotter went on to win 15 straight over his two-year-old and three-year-old seasons, including the $100,000 final of the Coupe des Eleveurs for Quebec-bred two-year-olds, which he won by 12 lengths. He was 2006 horse of the year in Quebec and a finalist for an O’Brien Award.

He tasted defeat for the first time when he broke at the start in the 2007 Canadian Trotting Classic at Mohawk Racetrack, won by Donato Hanover. He’d captured his elimination the previous week.

Funeral service for Marc-Aime Guerin will be held Friday at 2:00 p.m. at Nativite de la Sainte-Vierge Church, 155 Chemin St. Jean, LaPrairie.

In lieu of flowers, donations directed to the Alzheimer Society of Haut-Richelieu would be appreciated.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Marc-Aime Guerin.

(A Trot Insider exclusive by Paul Delean)