One of the stallions that helped define and shape the path of Ontario's harness racing industry, Mr Lavec has passed away at the age of 30.
"We are sad to announce that Mr Lavec passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 30. Mr Lavec was our first big horse who turned out to be a game changer for the farm," said Tara Hills Farm in a statement issued on Friday (June 11). "RIP old fella, we will miss you."
Mr Lavec (Speedy Somolli - Kramer Samba) was a champion racehorse. As a three-year-old for trainer Jimmy Takter, he took his mark of 1:54.3 at The Meadowlands and finished his career in North America with a 12-7-6 summary from 25 starts and earnings of $947,321. He then raced successfully overseas as a three- and four-year-old capturing multiple stakes while more than doubling his stateside earnings. His career summary at retirement was 20-11-9 from 44 starts with total international earnings of more than $1.98 million.
Takter, a member of three harness racing halls of fame, considers Mr Lavec to be the horse that changed the trajectory of his illustrious career.
“Everybody would probably expect me to say Moni Maker, but I think it is Mr Lavec,” said Takter in a 2016 interview. “Timing and financially, he meant a lot. He got me a little bit into the game. I drove him all his career both in Europe and here...Great horse.”
Mr Lavec sired of the winners of more than $41 million. His $500,000+ winners included Pepi Lavec, Think Gold, Valvec, CJs Secret, Coventry, Armbro Approach, TJs Mr Lavec, Misterizi, Master Lavec, Corinas Mission, Classic Lavec and Shoeless White Sox.
"He is this big, dark horse. A strong horse, gorgeous horse,” Heffering said previously in discussing Mr Lavec's impact. “He has French bloodlines in him. He was something different and we clicked. He never produced that Hambletonian winner, but Ontario was a good spot for him at the time because the (Ontario) Sires Stakes program was just starting to get rolling. I think we had 15 years of full books to that horse.”
After retiring from stallion duty, Mr Lavec lived life in luxury at Tara Hills in their immaculate stallion barn with access to his own paddock.
Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Mr Lavec.
Exactly, one year ago today,
Exactly, one year ago today, I drove by Tara Hills and saw Mr Lavec in a distant paddock and snapped a photo. He looked amazing for his age. RIP Boy <3
Was associated with Mr. Lavec
Was associated with Mr. Lavec at Peter's. What an absolute sweetheart. Jimmy would know better than I but I believe he went through his whole career without an X.