Trois-Rivieres, QC – Stephen Foster’s epic harness racing minstrel song from 1850 has a special repetitive line that reads “Somebody bet on the gray”.
Well, that won’t be a problem at the Hippodrome 3R on Friday afternoon as racing fans will have a gray to wager on named La Petite Grise (Sportswriter) – French for “the little gray.”
One of only two return winners in the field, La Petite Grise is a beautiful gray filly by Sportswriter, trained and co-owned by Fernand Jodoin of St-Pie-De-Bagot with Michel Letendre of Saint-Jude.
So far in 2022, La Petite Grise has yet to finish worse than second place 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 two and one-quarter 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 and in each of her starts this year she is always on the lead at the half mile, at the three-quarters and at the top of the stretch.
“She’s a good little mare,” driver Pascal Berube said. “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 Gray goes again against the best mares in Quebec in the 7th race Preferred Handicap Mares Pace. She has been handicapped and given the far outside post 8.
Looking back to May 22 at H3R, La Petite Gray was also handicapped with post 8 and led from start to finish in 1:57, her fastest winning time this year.
“Tomorrow with the outside position and the competition she has this week will make the race difficult,” Berube explained. “We will need her talent and luck too.”
When asked how pretty La Petite Grise is being a gray, which is not that often seen at the races, Berube said “I have already had four other gray 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 (Westwardho Hanover), who last week led from start to finish for catch-driver Samuel Fillion in one of the divisions of the Quebec/Eastern Ontario Regional Driving Championship. She won with ease in a lifetime best 1:56.2 clocking.
Fancy Girl will start from post six and will have regular driver and owner, Francis Picard, in the sulky. They are the morning line favorite in the race after last week’s impressive score.
Another major contender in the race is Platine Alpha from the trainer Sylvain Tremblay, who’s Alpha Stable bred and owns the four-year-old mare by Control The Moment.
Last year she was the Queen of Pace at H3R. She won nine times at age 3 with a record of 1:55. Seven of those wins came at H3R making her the winningest horse of the 2021 season.
This year Platine Alpha (Control The Moment) has had her ups and downs. She sports three wins, the fastest in 1:58. She has drawn post 1 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-tailed.
Post time Friday is 4:00 pm. For a free race program, click here.
For complete race entries, click here.
by Steve Wolf, for the Quebec Jockey Club