For the Quebec-based ownership group of three-year-old trotter Dream Nation, part of the dream for 2019 was competing in this month's Yonkers Trot.
But that's not going to happen.
Their Ontario-sired Archangel gelding returned from a workout with a stress fracture in a front foot and is sidelined, likely for several months. He was scratched from a conditioned event earlier this week at Woodbine Mohawk Park and will miss Monday's Ontario Sires Stakes Gold event.
"We had nominated to the Hambletonian but felt our best chance was the Yonkers Trot, because it's a half-mile track and you could luck into a good post," said co-owner Marc Camirand, a longtime Montreal horseman. "This is disappointing because he's a good horse and this cuts the season, but I know the game and that's part of it. What's encouraging is that it's an injury that should heal well. We certainly don't want to rush him. He's got a great gait and can be a good older horse."
Runner-up to Hambletonian champion Forbidden Trade for the 2018 O'Brien Award as champion two-year-old trotting colt in Canada, Dream Nation had just hit his best stride for trainer Jacques Dupont when the setback occurred. After finishing second to Forbidden Trade in an OSS Gold at Mohawk, he'd scored his first victory in five starts this season in a Gold at Rideau Carleton Raceway on July 21st with a career-best mile of 1:54.4.
A $42,000 yearling, Dream Nation has earned more than $270,000 to date, $68,000 of it this year.
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Paul Delean)