Big things expected from Little Manny

He may not be the biggest looking harness racing horse on the racetrack, but not many others have the heart, lungs and desire to win as much as Little Manny (Articulator) currently has.

Little Manny headlines the Preferred Pace Sunday afternoon at the Hippodrome 3R in Quebec. The six-year-old gelding is shooting for his third straight win since joining the Yves Tessier Stable and will have H3R’s four-time defending driving champion, Pascal Berube, in the sulky.

Little Manny is set to start from the far outside in post position 8 in the 10^th race feature Sunday, part of a 12-race program at H3R that gets underway at 12:00 noon under predicted sunny skies.

“This horse,” driver Pascal Berube said. “I watched him race at Woodbine because often on Mondays I listen to the Woodbine races in parallel with our TV shows and I found him really beautiful to see despite the fact that he was not racing well.”

Before being purchased privately by current owners Michel Letarte of Boucherville and Jean Allaire of Montreal and joining the Tessier barn, Little Manny was not doing so well.

Barely able to earn minor checks in his last seven starts before being sold, Little Manny had not won a race since mid-February. He did have three prior wins, but he was not racing up to his potential until now. Little Manny currently has 24 career wins.

“I drove him for the first time in his first start for Yves,” Berube explained. “For the first start Yves told me that he had towed the horse during the week and that he had liked it. He was not sure that he was in his best shape, but he had liked it the way he had worked.”

In that first start for the Tessier Barn, Berube woke up the pacer who took the lead at Rideau Carleton at the first quarter and then wired the field in 1:55.1, winning by three and one-half lengths as the wagering favorite.

“Yves was right after his victory in his first start in the mud at Rideau,” Berube said. “He won and especially that he finished his race very strong as he had not done so well for a long time. He was very energetic.”

Then Tessier decided to move Little Manny from Rideau to H3R last week and the results were once again the same. Little Manny and Berube were parked out to the first quarter and then wired the field in the Preferred Pace in 1:55.3 by four and three-quarter lengths.

“His race last week did not surprise me,” Berube added. “Because Yves seemed to tell me that he will be even better in the weeks to follow.”

Even though Little Manny drew post eight this Sunday at H3R, he is still listed as the 5/2 morning line favorite in the 10^th race off his two prior wins, which were from much better inside post positions.

“This week with position 8 it will not be easy,” Berube said. “He won’t be able to win all the races, but this horse is very brave. He seems to like his work and I love driving him. It’s a race that will be very exciting.”

While Little Manny did beat most of the starters in the race against him, he is still facing some stiff competition.

Mickeymaksomespeed (Mickey Hanover) goes from post 6 for driver Jocelyn Gendron and trainer-owner Michel Allard. An eight-time winner last year, last week was the first start of the season for Mickymaksomespeed and he is expected to improve greatly this week.

Siddhartha (So Surreal) starts from the rail and is moving up in class for driver Stephane Brosseau. He is a return winner in 1:57.3 from last year, who last year was a Preferred class winner at H3R.

The trotters are in the limelight in the 9^th race Preferred Trot when the “Princess of Trot” at H3R, 11-time winner last year, Stella Alpha (Royalty For Life) stands out in the field despite drawing the outside post 8 position, also to be driven by Pascal Berube.

In her last start, Stella Alpha cut the mile, but was dogged first-over the entire mile and ended up losing to Morally Flexible. Morally Flexible is back in the race for driver Stephanie Brosseau and starts alongside Stella Alpha in post seven.

There are three other return winners in the race that will make it a super race. In addition to Morally Flexible, there is C Un Bon Deal (post 3), coming off a five-length romp last week. Then it’s Fix A Drink (post 6) who won his qualifying race and Sammy Justice (post 9), who posted a neck victory last week at H3R.

The 12-race program gets underway at H3R at 12:00 noon. For a free race program, visit here.

For complete race entries, click here.

by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club