by the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres, PQ — Neither rain nor a sloppy track with a five second allowance could put a damper on harness racing driver Louis-Philippe Roy’s 2017 return to the Hippodrome 3R (H3R) Sunday (May 14) as he scored a track record eight winners on the card, including the first four races on the program.

Roy is greeted after his upset win in the first race with Restless Hanover by his parents.

Roy, the 2016 Future Star O’Brien Award Winner and the leading driver at both H3R and Rideau Carlton last year, now calls Toronto home as he has been competing this year at Woodbine Racecourse and Mohawk Raceway and is currently the second leading dash-winning and money-winning driver in all of Canada.

Roy started off the day scoring an upset win in the very first race with Restless Hanover, paying $15.70 to win. He then completed the Daily Double in the second race with race favorite Trys Little Prince, leading from start to finish, paying $4.50 to win.

In the third race Roy was able to get live cover second-over with Surveillance ($5.20), tipping three-wide on the final turn and gunning down race favorite R Rkadabra for the victory.

Then in the fourth race, an opening round division of the C$100,000 Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-old pacing mares, it was Louis-Philippe Roy once again, this time with race favorite HP Sissy.

Skyfall Sena (Jocelyn Gendron) was the first on the lead but right after the opening quarter-mile, driver Stephane Brosseau had HP Pandora on the move and in command. They lead past the half-mile marker and into the backstretch. It was then that stablemate entry, HP Sissy and Roy began grinding it out first-over and they were able to wear down the pacesetter on the final turn and sprint home a winner by three-quarters of a length. HP Pandora held for second with Skyfall Sena third.

Trained by Jean Tourigny, HP Sissy is a 4-year-old mare by Up The Credit, bred and co-owned by Claude Hamel of Ayer’s Cliff with Michel Damphousse. She paid just $2.80 to win. Last year HP Sissy was the 3-year-old filly champion in Quebec.

The only reason that Roy did not win the fifth race, was because he did not have a horse to drive. It was one of two races he was not listed to compete in Sunday.

Roy returned to the winner’s circle for the fifth time in his first six drives in the seventh race division of the C$100,000 of the series for horses bred in Quebec. He overpowered the field in the backstretch with favorite Half A Billion in 2:00.3, which was the fastest mile on the 13-race card.

thephotodesk.ca photos

Roy and Half A Billion winning in the mud.

Leaving from the outside in post seven, Roy could not make it to the top and took back with Half A Billion as Mr Match On Beach (Stephane Brosseau) led the field with Sports Authority (Pierre-Luc Roy) in second place at the opening quarter-mile.

Then by the half-mile, Roy came back out with Half A Billion and started grinding it out first-over on the sloppy track. They were not only able to collar Mr Match On Beach in the backstretch, but pass them by before the three-quarter mile marker to pull away in the stretch in a six-length romp. Mach On The Beach (Pascale Berube) was second with stablemate entry Mr Match On Beach third.

Trained by Francis Richard for co-owners Michel & Francois Letarte and Jean Allaire and Corey Giles, it was the third win this year for Half A Billion. The 5-year-old gelding is sired by Sportswriter and after today’s victory, is still C$499,645,884 away from earning his name. He paid $3.10 to win.

Roy was not done yet as in the ninth race he was driving the race favorite, Code Word, who broke stride after the start on the sloppy track. The horse then came back with a bold three-wide move in the backstretch, was hung three-wide through the final turn and kept on coming on to win, paying $2.90 for trainer Charles Gaudreault.

The day was not over yet for Roy, as he won number seven in the 12th race with Quint Largo ($6.50) for trainer Pierre Ouellette Jr. over race favorite Marc Hanover. With his seventh win on the day, Roy tied Yannick Gringas (2014) for the most wins ever at H3R on a single race program and then proceeded to break the record in the 13th and final race of the day.

Driving the 1-5 favorite, Royal Kee Wee N, Roy took no chances, moving three-wide at the half-mile marker, getting parked out around the turn and then clearing to the lead before the three-quarters to draw away in the stretch for the triumph.

TRACK NOTES: Driver Stephane Gendron won the eigth race Preferred Trot for the second straight week with Caroluzzo ($6.80), who led from start to finish. He also drove Updragons Rocket ($3.90) to victory in the Preferred Pace. Gendron is now just five wins away from his 4,000th career victory.

Jamigo is the winningest horse so far at H3R this season, posting his third victory from four starts on Sunday for trainer/driver Daniel LaFlamme in the 10th race.