It is rare that a horse does not have a good story, usually unknown to the masses. This is the case of the three-year-old pacing filly Pop Goes Theweasel, who goes for her third straight win at the Hippodrome 3R on Sunday.
The daughter of Mach Three, who has finished first or second in her last four races, starts from the rail in the third race co-feature for trainer Jean Tourigny and will be driven by Louis-Phillipe Roy.
Pop Goes Theweasel is owned by Roland Trudel of Becancour, Que., and that is where the story begins.
In 2012, Trudel went to the Forest City Standardbred Sale looking for bargains as he admits he loves to do. He had already purchased a Kadabra filly that he had a crush on, Sarakadabra. When the bidding was done, he had his filly for $10,000, a bit more than he would have liked to have paid, but nonetheless he wanted the filly.
It was Claude Beausoleil who was to bring the filly home and Trudel was to pick her up the following morning.
"I brought my cheque book," Trudel explained, "because Claude had bought that Sunday a filly by Mach Three that he had paid $2,500 for. I had the opportunity to see her video and I liked her 'swing' in the paddock.
"Once there, I told Claude that I wanted to see her again and what I saw, I liked. 'Give me $500 more and she is yours,' Claude said. So sooner said than done, I came back with two fillies instead of one.
"This year," Beausoleil said, "it's true that sometimes bargains come good. After all, when considering the pedigree of the filly, one is impressed and pleased that her mother had been prolific. Bell Amis Love, an Artsplace filly, was sold for $55,000 as a yearling, and has already to her credit three foals, all fillies, with average earnings of over $100,000.
"Three out of five in that time," Trudel added. "So this is an excellent family and Mach Three is probably the highest rated stallion in Ontario. So yes, we can speak of a bargain for Claude and me then."
The genealogy enthusiasts will also noticed that the brother of Pop Goes Theweasel sold for $26,000 last week in Lexington.
Of course, the filly is named after the popular children’s nursery rhyme.
Unraced at age two, Pop Goes Theweasel has been making up for lost time and last week she blossomed big time. Starting from the rail for Roy, she was given great cover and then came out in the stretch and blew by the field to win going away by two and one-quarter lengths in 1:57.4.
The win was her sixth of the season and a lifetime mark. Pop Goes Theweasel is the 5-2 morning line favourite on Sunday.
She will have her work cut out as she faces a stellar field that includes recent 3R winners Pro Play (post two), Classic Mondiale (post five) and Classic Breeze (post six).
With just two race days left to the meet at 3R, Denis St Pierre still leads the drivers with 48 wins, which would be tough for either Mario Charron (39) and Stephane Brosseau (37) to catch up to him for the driving title.
There is a five-way battle for the trainer title. Maxime Velaye has a slight lead with 18 wins, but Jean Tourigny (17), Dany Fontaine (15), Yves Tessier (15) and Andre Champagne (11), all have a shot at winning the title.
This Sunday is the second to last day of live harness racing action at the Hippodrome 3R. The final card of the meet will be Sunday, November 1.
(With files from QJC)
Great story :)
Great story :)