Quebec-bred champ Val Taurus qualifies for Takter

Champion Quebec-bred trotter Val Taurus, now in New Jersey-based trainer Jimmy Takter’s barn, won a qualifier at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on Wednesday in 1:59.2, romping home a 15 ¾-length winner. The mile was Val Taurus’s first since he made a break in a qualifier at the Meadowlands in late April.

“He had a bumpy road. When I qualified him at the Meadowlands he hit the bike with his left hind and he got a little scraped up. So we missed some time,” Takter told harnessracing.com Thursday afternoon. “The horse ran away with (driver) Ronnie Pierce the whole mile, and every time he tried to pull him up he hit more…It was not a good journey for him as he got bruised up.”

Takter said he will likely qualify Val Taurus one more time before embarking on a yet-to-be-determined pari-mutuel schedule.

In 2006, Val Taurus won all eight of his starts at two as he steamrolled his way through the Quebec trotting ranks. He then he won his first eight starts last year, with the 16-race win streak culminating in a career-best 1:53.2 victory in his Canadian Trotting Classic elimination at Mohawk in what was his first-ever start outside his home province.

A much-anticipated showdown between Val Taurus, Donato Hanover and the filly Pampered Princess the following week in the Canadian Trotting Classic final never materialized when the Montreal champ broke stride before the start and was a non-factor as he suffered his first-ever defeat. Val Taurus then returned to Montreal where he won a $200,000 stake.

Val Taurus’s connections then sent him to Kentucky for the Kentucky Futurity at The Red Mile but he tired on the lead in his first heat and failed to make the final. Over the winter he was sent to Takter, who trains on his own farm in East Windsor, N.J.

Lorraine Auger owns Val Taurus, a son of Taurus Dream. His career earnings stand at $361,688.

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