Gigant Neo

Gigant Neo
Breed Standardbred
Sire Super Arnie
Grandsire Super Bowl
Dam Clorita Lobell
Maternal grandsire Speedy Crown
Sex Stallion
Foaled 17 May 1998
Country Sweden
Colour Bay
Breeder Nils-Erik Ohlsson, C & M Olsson
Owner Stall T.Z. & Lövis
Trainer Stefan Melander
Record
63: 32-8-3
Earnings
US$2,596,145
Major wins
Konung Gustaf V:s Pokal (2002)
Prix d'Amérique (2006)
Awards
Three-year-old of the Year Award (Sweden) (2001)
Last updated on: 2009-03-18.

Gigant Neo (born on May 17, 1998) is a Swedish breeding stallion and former racing trotter by Super Arnie out of Clorita Lobell by Speedy Crown.[1]

His most prestigious victories include Konung Gustaf V:s Pokal (2001), Grand Criterium de Vitesse (2003) and Prix d'Amérique (2006).[2] At the end of his career, the stallion had earned US$2,596,145.[3][4] Gigant Neo was trained by Swedish trotting trainer Stefan Melander, and driven by Jorma Kontio, Jean-Michel Bazire, Dominiek Locqueneux, Joseph Verbeeck and trainer Melander himself.[2][5] Gigant Neo won the 3-year-old of the Year Award in Sweden in 2001.[6]

Victory in Prix d'Amérique

In 2006, Gigant Neo raced his fourth Prix d'Amérique, arguably the most prestigious trotting event in Europe.[5][7] He had made attempts to claim the title the three previous years, without success.[5] He came fairly close in 2005, when he finished second behind French Jag de Bellouet.[8]

In the 2006 Prix d'Amérique, the field was recalled three times, and one horse lost his driver and went loose on the track. Gigant Neo took the lead in the fourth starting attempt. Soon, reigning champion and favourite Jag de Bellouet went up front while second favourite Kazire de Guez was parked outside. In the stretch, Kazire du Guez broke stride, and Jag de Bellouet won by two lengths before Gigant Neo.[9]

A little more than a month after the race, it was announced that Jag de Bellouet had been disqualified due to a failed doping test. Traces of tolfenamic acid, an anti-inflammatory substance, had been discovered. As a result, Gigant Neo become the new winner of the title and US$600,000, which was the winner's share of the purse in 2006's edition of the richest trotting race in Europe.[10] Upon getting the news, Gigant Neo's trainer Melander was shocked and reacted by sitting down on a hay bale, staring straight forward.[11]

Pedigree

Pedigree of Gigant Neo Sweden
Sire
Super Arnie		 Super Bowl United States Star's Pride United States Worthy Boy United States
Star Drift United States
Pillow Talk United States Rodney United States
Bewitch United States
Arnies Likeness United States Arnie Almahurst United States Speedy Scot United States
Ambitious Blaze United States
Picture Dart United States Dartmouth United States
Picturesque United States
Dam
Clorita Lobell		 Speedy Crown United States Speedy Scot United States Speedster United States
Scotch Love United States
Missile Toe United States Florican United States
Worth A Plenty United States
Countess Advocate United States Speedy Count United States Speedster United States
Countess Song United States
Lovie Hanover United States Star's Pride
Lovely Hanover

[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Travsport.se - Gigant Neo - Härstamning". travsport.se (in Swedish). STC. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  2. 1 2 "Gigant Neo". gigantneo.nu (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  3. 1 2 "The Blood Bank - Pedigree - Gigant Neo". Blodbanken.nu. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  4. ↑ Gigant Neo won 20,254,374 Swedish Kronor (SEK). In the conversion to USD, the rates of 2006-02-12, the date of Gigant Neo's last race, have been used.
  5. 1 2 3 "Gigant Neo". qhurth.com (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  6. ↑ "Svenska Hästsportjournalisters Klubb - Tidigare vinnare - Årets treåring". shk.nu (in Swedish). Svenska Hästsportjournalisters Klubb. Retrieved 2009-03-18.
  7. ↑ Bonsdorf, Karsten (2009-01-12). "New names in the picture for Prix d'Amerique". ustrotting.com. United States Trotting Association. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  8. ↑ Corban, Anthony (2005-02-01). "Powerful trotting performance". harnesslink.com. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  9. ↑ Bonsdorf, Karsten (2006-01-29). "Repeat Prix d'Amerique win for Jag de Bellouet". ustrotting.com. United States Trotting Association. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  10. ↑ Bonsdorf, Karsten (2006-03-09). "Prix d'Amerique winner taken down". ustrotting.com. United States Trotting Association. Retrieved 2009-03-19.
  11. ↑ Andersson, Pär (2006-03-09). "Jag de Bellouet diskad i Prix d'Amerique". trav.ifokus.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 2009-03-19.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, October 09, 2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.