Stephen Foster’s epic harness racing minstrel song from 1850 has a special repetitive line that reads: “Somebody bet on the grey.”
Well, that won’t be a problem at Hippodrome 3R on Friday afternoon (July 1) as racing fans will have a grey to wager on named La Petite Grise (French for the little grey).
One of only two return winners in the Friday feature, La Petite Grise is a beautiful grey mare by Sportswriter, trained and co-owned by Fernand Jodoin of St-Pie-De-Bagot, Que., with Michel Letendre of Saint-Jude, Que.
So far in 2022, La Petite Grise has yet to finish worse than second in seven starts with four wins, all for driver Pascal Berube.
In her last start, La Petite Grise and Berube teamed up to lead from start to finish from post seven, winning by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:57.2.
La Petite Grise has very good leaving ability from the starting gate. Perhaps headstrong, she is almost always on the lead by the first quarter in her races this year.
“She's a good little mare,” said Berube. “I think she can come from behind as well as she can leave, but she's really aggressive on the track so that's why you often see her leading the race.”
This Friday, Le Petite Grise goes again against the best mares in Quebec in the seventh race, the $6,000 Mares Preferred Handicap Pace. The four-year-old has been handicapped and given the far outside post eight.
Looking back to May 22 at 3R, La Petite Grise was also handicapped with post eight and led from start to finish in 1:57, her fastest winning time this year and a tick off her lifetime record.
“Tomorrow with the outside position and the competition she has this week will make the race difficult,” explained Berube. “We will need her talent and luck too.”
When asked how pretty La Petite Grise is being a grey, which is not that often seen at the races, Berube said, “I have already had four other grey horses, all of whom were very beautiful too. But she is perhaps the prettiest one I have sat behind and very fast.”
The other return winner in the field is Fancy Girl, who last week led from start to finish for catch-driver Samuel Fillion in one of the legs of the Quebec/Eastern Ontario Regional Driving Championship that ultimately helped him win the tournament. Trained by Dominique Picard, the six-year-old daughter of Westwardho Hanover won with ease in a lifetime best 1:56.1 clocking.
Fancy Girl will start from post six and will have regular driver and owner, Francis Picard, back in the sulky. They are the morning line favourites in the race after last week's impressive score.
Another major contender in the race is Platine Alpha for trainer Sylvain Tremblay, who also bred and owns the four-year-old mare by Control The Moment. Last year, she was the "Queen of Pace" at 3R, winning nine times with a record of 1:55 taken at Rideau Carleton Raceway. Seven of those wins took place at 3R, making her the winningest horse of the 2021 season.
This year, Platine Alpha has had her ups and downs. She sports three wins -- the fastest in 1:58. She will start from post one and will be driven by Jimmy Gagnon.
As the Stephen Foster song goes, “I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag,” well then racing fans will have to watch the post parade and see if any of the other mares in the race have a bob tail.
Post time on Friday is 4 pm.
To view Friday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Friday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from Quebec Jockey Club)