Grey Classic (1983–1989) was a Canadian Thoroughbred Champion racehorse.

Grey Classic
SireGrey Dawn
GrandsireHerbager
DamNo Class
DamsireNodouble
SexStallion
Foaled1983
CountryCanada
ColourGray
BreederSam-Son Farm
OwnerSam-Son Farm
TrainerJames E. Day
Record28: 7-0-6
Earnings$602,039
Major wins
Summer Stakes (1985)
Cup and Saucer Stakes (1985)
Coronation Futurity Stakes (1985)
Connaught Cup Stakes (1988)
Laurel Turf Cup Handicap (1988)
Awards
Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1985)

Background edit

Bred and raced by Ernie L. Samuel's Sam-Son Farm of Milton, Ontario, Grey Classic was conditioned for racing by Olympic equestrian Gold Medalist and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame inductee Jim Day.

Racing career edit

Ridden by Irwin Driedger, as a two-year-old in 1985, Grey Classic won four of seven starts including the Summer Stakes[1] and then the two top races for Canadian juveniles, the Cup and Saucer Stakes on turf[2] and the Coronation Futurity Stakes on dirt.[3] His performances earned him Canadian Champion Two-Year-Old Colt honors for 1985.

At age three, Grey Classic suffered with condition problems and did not race until July 13, 1986, when he ran eighth as one of the favorites in the Queen's Plate, Canada's most prestigious race and first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. Minor injuries kept the colt out of the next two legs of the Triple Crown, and a series of ailments meant that he did not win an important race again until age five. On June 5, 1988, he won the Connaught Cup Stakes at Woodbine Racetrack, then in November, in his last race, Grey Classic won the mile and a half Laurel Turf Cup Handicap at Maryland's Laurel Park Racecourse. [4]

Two months later, the January 10, 1989, edition of the Toronto Star reported that Grey Classic had dropped dead at the Sam-Son Farm in Florida.[5]

References edit