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SportHorse Racing
NameUne de Main
SubtitleA Glorious Injustice
Number02-01
InfoRon Clarke never was an Olympic winner. Raymond Poulidor never won the Tour de France. These are some of the glorious injustices of sports. And not least among them is the fact that Une de Mai never won the American Trotting Championship. Not that she hasn't tried. Five separate attempts, from 1969 to 1973, ended in failure for this filly sired in 1964 by Kerjacques, a renowned trotter, out of Luciole III, who also had many other successful offspring. In harness racing Une de Mai belongs in the same class as such legendary horses as Gélinotte, Jamin, and Ro-quépine. She's run in more than 100 races, garnered nearly 100 victories—two of them world championships—and holds the all-time money-winning record, an estimated $2.25 million. From Vincennes to New York and from Rome to Gelsenkirchen, she has demonstrated her exceptional ability on the most prestigious tracks of the world. But she never managed to overcome the jinx of the American Championship. She made her debut there in 1969, when she finished second to Upsalin. But the big news in that race was the fall of an idol: Ro-quépine, the favorite, did not even show. The following year, Upsalin hooked up with Snow Speed right from the start. And the driver, Jean-René Gougeon, kept the lead until the last turn. But Toscan, driven by Michel-Marcel Gougeon (Jean-René's brother) moved ahead in the right lane. Une de Mai finished sixth, bowing to her stable mate, Toscan, whose victory assured him of a golden retirement as a stud. In 1971, Une de Mai managed to take third place behind Tidalium Pelo, her greatest rival. It was said that she recognized him on the training tracks. There was no speculation about the incident that deprived her of success in 1972, when she hooked up with Vismie. Without opposition, Tidalium Pelo finished first. It was Une de Mai's last chance. And in 1973, for the first time in her nine years, the old trotter wasn't at the post.
Photo InfoHot to trot
Copyright© 1977, Editions Rencontre S.A., Lausanne Photo APRH Printed in Italy 03 005 02-01
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