When Quebec's 2020 racing season kicks off Wednesday at Hippodrome 3R, a familiar face will be missing.
Guy Pelletier, active in the sport in the province for more than 50 years as a racetrack administrator and racing judge, decided over the winter to retire, at age 82.
"I was tempted to go to the opener, but finally decided against it. It would hurt too much. I felt sick when I gave my notice," Pelletier said in an interview from the home he shares in Sherbrooke with his wife of 57 years, Nicole Doucet. It's the city where he got his start in the sport in 1968.
Sherbrooke`s now-defunct racetrack had an opening for a race secretary and Pelletier, then working in industrial engineering, applied for the job.
"I was born on a farm, I liked animals, so the idea of working in racing appealed to me," he said. "I got the job, but it came with a pay cut for me. I started at $75 a week. I was getting about $100 as an industrial engineer."
Filling out two cards a week with a limited horse population was a scramble, he recalled. Often, the same horses would compete on both cards. "Ìt was work, I tell you. There were no computers in the day. I knew pretty much all the horses we had available by heart."
Pelletier stayed at Sherbrooke until 1975, when he moved to Hippodrome Trois-Rivieres as race secretary, a post he held until 1980. Then he headed to Pre-Vert racetrack in Jonquiere for a three-year stint as general manager and race secretary, subsequently returning to Trois-Rivieres to wear the same hats.
In 1987, he applied successfully to become one of the province's racing judges, a position that took him to racetracks around the province until his recent retirement.
"I stayed in the racing industry because I liked the people, the activity...everything. The horsemen were respectful, and good collaborators. I got to see Albatross and Silent Majority race, and Herve Filion and Billy Haughton drive, along with Quebec idols like Gaetan Lamy and Daniel Dube. It was a great place to be," he said. "I`ve turned the page now, it's time, but I miss it."
First post time for 3R's opening day program on Wednesday (June 24) will be at 4:00 p.m. 3R will then race on Fridays and Sundays for the rest of the season. To view the entries for the first card of 3R's 2020 harness racing season, click the following link: Wednesday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)