In early August, Stormont Garcon and Forceful Diva showed that they had bright futures when they finished one-two in the final of the Majestic Son Trotting Series. Trot Insider has learned that both juveniles have tragically passed in separate incidents recently
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Stormont Garcon, a son of Stormont Bronze, was a homebred of owner Eric Baker which was trained by John MacMillan. The colt had posted victories in eight of his nine career races and had swept the five-leg Majestic Son. The colt had followed that up with a mark-lowering victory in the Bridger Trotting Series at Mohawk Racetrack before finishing second in the $49,600 final.
“He was back at [Eric Baker's] farm and was turned out in the paddock where he lived 24 hours a day, and he got chased down out of his paddock through a fence and down into a ditch," MacMillan explained to Trot Insider. "He was dead when they found him the next morning. We don’t know if he got chased by another horse or another type of animal. It was just bad luck.”
Stormont Garcon raced hard for his connections and therefore opened up many doors in terms of future racing opportunities.
“We weren’t sure what we wanted to do with him after he was second in [the Bridger] final at Mohawk. We considered taking him to Lexington or there was a race we could have supplemented to in Chicago, but we decided to quit with him and get him ready for next year. He’d had nine races by that time, and he had showed us enough to quit with him and aim for some of the big races next year.
“The unfortunate thing is I know, and the guys that drove him know, how good he was. He was significantly better racing out of a hole, but because he was always a short price he was always raced up near the front end. His first lifetime start was breathtaking. He came out of the hole that night like a pacer. I was really looking forward to next year with him. We saw no limit to his potential.”
Like Stormont Garcon's passing wasn't tragic enough, owner Judith Farrow of Hemmingford, Quebec had to endure similar tragedy, as Forceful Diva suffered a serious injury and had to be euthanized.
"Yesterday (October 1), I had to put down [Forceful Diva], a promising two-year-old filly who broke her pelvis in a freak accident when slipping in the field," Farrow told Trot Insider.
Forceful Diva, a two-year-old Victorys Force filly, had made three lifetime starts for trainer Luc Blais and driver Darrell Colville. The filly had last raced in the final of the Majestic Son, where she finished second, three and a quarter lengths in arrears to Stormont Garcon.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of both Stormont Garcon and Forceful Diva.