Grey Classic was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 Thoroughbred

Thoroughbred

The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...

 Champion

Sovereign Award

The Sovereign Award is given annually since 1975 by the Jockey Club of Canada to the outstanding horses and people in Canadian Thoroughbred racing.The most prestigious award for horses is Sovereign Horse of the Year....

 racehorse

Horse racing

Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

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Bred and raced by Ernie L. Samuel's Sam-Son Farm

Sam-Son Farm

Sam-Son Farm is a thoroughbred horse racing stable with farms locations in Milton, Ontario, Canada and Ocala, Florida. Originating in the 60's by Ernie Samuel, it began as a home for hunter/jumper horses...

 of Milton, Ontario

Milton, Ontario

Milton is a town in Southern Ontario, Canada, and part of the Halton Region in the Greater Toronto Area. Milton received a tremendous amount of awareness following the release of the results of the 2006 Census, which indicated that Milton is the fastest growing municipality in the Greater Golden...

, Grey Classic was conditioned for racing by Olympic

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

 equestrian

Equestrianism

Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 Gold Medalist

Gold medal

A gold medal is typically the medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture...

 and Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame

The Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame was established in 1976 at the Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario to honor those who have made a significant contribution to the sport of harness and thoroughbred horse racing in Canada....

 inductee, Jim Day.

Ridden by Irwin Driedger, as a two-year-old in 1985 Grey Classic won four of seven starts including the Summer Stakes

Summer Stakes (Canada)

The Summer Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Contested on turf over a distance of 1 mile , it is open to two-year-old horses...

  and then the two top races for Canadian juveniles, the Cup and Saucer Stakes

Cup and Saucer Stakes

The Cup and Saucer Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race held annually in October at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Open to two-year-old horses foaled in Canada, it is currently run at a distance of 11/16 miles on turf. The race was known as Mrs...

 on turf

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

  and the Coronation Futurity Stakes

Coronation Futurity Stakes

The Coronation Futurity Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race for 2-year-old horses foaled in Canada. It is run annually in early November at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario at a distance of 1 1/8 miles on dirt...

 on dirt. Grey Classic's 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

Queen's Plate

The Queen's Plate is Canada's oldest thoroughbred horse race. It is run at a distance of 1¼ miles for 3-year-old thoroughbred horses foaled in Canada. The race takes place each summer in June or July at Woodbine Racetrack, Etobicoke , Ontario...

, Canada's most prestigious race and first leg of the Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing

The Canadian Triple Crown is a series of three Thoroughbred horse races run annually in Canada which is open to three-year-old horses foaled in Canada...

. Minor injuries kept the colt out of the next two legs of the Triple Crown and a series of ailments meant he would not win an important race again until age five. On June 5, 1988 he won the Connaught Cup Stakes

Connaught Cup Stakes

The Connaught Cup Stakes is a Canadian Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto, Ontario. Run in late May, the Grade III race is open to horses aged four and older. Raced over a distance of seven furlongs on turf, it currently offers a purse of $150,000.The Connaught...

 at Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack

Woodbine Racetrack is a Canadian racetrack for Thoroughbred horse races located at 555 Rexdale Blvd. in the city of Toronto, Ontario. It is the only horseracing track in North America which stages, or is capable of staging, thoroughbred and standardbred horseracing programs on the same day...

 then in November, in what would turn out to be his last race, Grey Classic won the mile and a half Laurel Turf Cup Handicap

Laurel Turf Cup Stakes

The Laurel Dash was an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Maryland's Laurel Park Racecourse. Open to horses age three and older and run at 6 furlongs...

 at Maryland's

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

  Laurel Park Racecourse.
Two months later, the January 10, 1989 edition of the Toronto Star

Toronto Star

The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...

reported that Grey Classic had dropped dead at the Sam-Son Farm in Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

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