Gigant Neo (born on 17 May 1998 - died 20 october 2021) is a Swedish
breeding stallion
Breeding is sexual reproduction that produces offspring, usually animals or plants. It can only occur between a male and a female animal or plant.
Breeding may refer to:
* Animal husbandry, through selected specimens such as dogs, horses, and rab ...
and former racing
trotter by
Super Arnie out of
Clorita Lobell by
Speedy Crown.
His most prestigious victories include
Konung Gustaf V:s Pokal (2001),
Grand Criterium de Vitesse
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
* Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor
* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and co ...
(2003) and
Prix d'Amérique
Prix d'Amérique is a harness race held at the Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, France. The race takes place on the last Sunday of January every year, and has been doing so since 1920, with the exception for the years 1940-1941 when it was cancel ...
(2006).
At the end of his career, the
stallion had earned US$2,596,145.
Gigant Neo was trained by Swedish trotting trainer
Stefan Melander, and driven by
Jorma Kontio
Erkki Jorma Kontio (born August 7, 1953 in Oulu, Finland) is a Finnish Harness racing driver. With more than 11,000 wins, he is the most victorious harness driver in Scandinavia.
Kontio started his career in the late 1960s. Since 2000 he has live ...
,
Jean-Michel Bazire,
Dominiek Locqueneux,
Joseph Verbeeck and trainer Melander himself.
Gigant Neo won the
3-year-old of the Year Award in Sweden in 2001.
Victory in Prix d'Amérique
In 2006, Gigant Neo raced his fourth Prix d'Amérique, arguably the most prestigious trotting event in Europe.
He had made attempts to claim the title the three previous years, without success.
He came fairly close in 2005, when he finished second behind French
Jag de Bellouet.
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.
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
A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of d ...
. 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. Upon getting the news, Gigant Neo's trainer Melander was shocked and reacted by sitting down on a hay bale, staring straight forward.
Pedigree
References
{{reflist
Swedish standardbred racehorses