On Sunday afternoon (September 18) at the Hippodrome 3R, a little known pacer by the name of Whitemountain Nemo is headlining the sixth race feature pace, going for his fourth straight victory.
What makes this story interesting is that until August 23 of this year, Whitemountain Nemo could not pace his way out of a paper bag.
The seven-year-old gelded son of Yankee Cam spent the first five years of his life making just 35 starts with three wins and earnings of just over $4,300. He did flash some speed at age four, winning a qualifying race at Trois-Rivieres in 1:59.3, but other than that, he was not a very good racehorse.
Now comes owner/trainer Guy Roy into the picture.
Roy, from Sorel, Que., took charge of the horse in mid-August and had done some homework, thanks to advice from his good friend Francis Proulx, who pointed out that Nemo’s full brother, White Mountain Top, recently took his lifetime mark at age 10 with a 1:49.3 record at Pocono Downs. White Mountain Top is a career winner of $433,000.
So as the story goes, Roy brought the horse to his stable and gave him to his son, William, to work on.
“He was an extremely nervous horse,” Guy said, “and William is quiet and easy going. It made for a beautiful blend. William worked on his splints every day, he made him do a lot of mileage to relax him, which seemed to be working and we gave him a lot of time in the paddock to enjoy himself.”
The formula began to pay off right away for Guy and William Roy.
In his first start for the new stable at 3R on August 23, Whitemountain Nemo sat along the rail for driver Guy Gagnon and then with a quick brush, went to the lead at the half-mile pole and then tore away from the field, winning by 10 and one-quarter lengths in 1:57.2.
The magic continued the very next week with Gagnon in the sulky, only this time Whitemountain Nemo went to the lead right from the start and once on top by the opening quarter-mile, tore away from the field once again, only this time he stopped the teletimer in 1:54.3, winning by seven and three-quarter lengths.
Was this a fluke for Whitemountain Nemo? Was he just feeling his oats or was this horse making up for years of poor performances?
That question was answered this past Thursday when Roy raced Whitemountain Nemo at Rideau Carlton Raceway. Now a change in venue and again, moving up in class, facing tougher competition.
So once again, Gagnon sent Whitemountain Nemo to the lead, cleared by the opening quarter-mile and wired the field by one and one-quarter lengths in 1:55.1.
This Sunday, it will be interesting to see how “Nemo” handles starting from the far outside in post eight. He will also be driven for the first time by Pascal Berube and he will be facing two other return winners in the field.
Starting from post two is St Kitts, one of the winningest horses at 3R this season with five wins in her eight starts. She is one of three three-year-olds in the field against older horses.
But in her last start on August 30, she did something she had not done before, she refused to get behind the starting gate and got away ninth and then had to re-qualify last week, which she did and she won in 2:00.3. She will be driven for the first time Sunday by Stephane Brosseau.
“She [St. Kitts] has always had a bit of an attitude,” explained trainer Maxime Velaye, “and that is what happened that day. She was also in heat and that did not help. She does not like to turn too much before she races so you need to catch the starting gate when it starts moving.
“So Jonathan [Lachance] did a really good job to keep her calm,” Velaye said, “but it was just bad timing. This will be a big test for her on Sunday. Whitemountain Nemo has been so good and she is racing against the boys, which is always tough. But she keeps improving all season so I’m confident she will finish in the top three and it would not surprise me if she wins.”
Another filly in the race is the third return winner in the field. She is Skyfall Sena and starts from the rail position for driver Stephane Gendron. The daughter of Goliath Bayama sports three wins this season and in her last start she scored a lifetime mark of 1:58.1.
Other contenders in the field include Sagawi (post three), Sheldonthepsychic (post nine) and Shanghai Ben (post seven).
Post time on Sunday is 1:30 p.m. For a free race program, visit quebecjockeyclub.com where they also have a link to watch the races live on the internet.
to view Sunday's harness racing entries, click on the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.
(With files from QJC)