Popular performer R Rkadabra has passed away at the age of 14.
The son of Kadabra from the Angus Hall mare True To Form passed away due to apparent heart trouble on Saturday (May 14), after his usual warm-up with trainer Marc Lemay, his owner, in the sulky.
One of the most famous horses of 3R enthusiasts, as he has performed there so often over the past eight years, R Rkadabra was just getting ready to start his final season at the races.
When Lemay talks about his trotter, it's clear that R Rkadabra was special to him.
"I [claimed] him in Toronto on March 7, 2014 for $12,000,” Lemay explained. “Since then, he has won for me about 30 races, on all kinds of tracks, even on the tracks of the Quebec Regional Circuit; so, I was the one driving him. He was the horse of a lifetime, one might say, throughout those years. A love of horse, without any malice, endearing, special, gentle with everyone. He was the favourite of his official groom, Mélanie Gaudreault.
Lemay appreciated that the trotter gave his all each and every start.
“It's true that on the track he was a different horse,” Lemay added. “As soon as he put a hoof on the track, he was 100 percent business, to say the least. In the language of racing, it is said of this kind of horse that he 'pulls' and believe me, he 'pulled', to scare me sometimes. But as soon as he left this same track, he became again that sweet and endearing animal that he has always been.”
According to Lemay, the racetrack was his favourite place.
“One year, I had to stop him for a few months. He had languished so far from the track and the racing action that he had lost a few hundred pounds. It describes part of what he was, a born competitor.
“Without the daily care that Mélanie gave him, the horse would never have been able to race for so long and have such a career on the track,” Lemay noted. “Mélanie spared nothing for 'her' trotter. She often gave him massages that did him great good, little touches that make all the difference.”
Melanie Gaudreault shared her grief and her memories:
"My old man, my best friend for years. Your heart decided that your career would end today on the track, where you liked to be the most.
"Everyone knows how much I loved you, my old man, I find it so hard to think that I will never see you again. I thank you for all the victories, all our sweet moments, you will have marked my life and I know in the depths of my heart that you will watch over me in your own way now, we see each other in my dreams. I will miss you so much, I love you.”
For those who have never had the chance to rub shoulders with horses up close, perhaps these words will seem exaggerated. But for anyone who has had the happiness of having a horse in their life, an exceptional horse, this one or that one, will understand.
R Rkadabra's resume reads 214 starts (38-27-22) with $168,107 in earnings and a mark of 1:56.3 taken as a four-year-old at Woodbine Racetrack.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of R Rkadabra.
(Quebec Jockey Club)