from the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres, PQ — Three-year-old pacing fillies and colts are in the limelight this Sunday (July 2) at the Hippodrome 3R with the opening round of the C$220,000 Breeders Cup Series.

There are three weeks of preliminary competition with the top eight point earners returning on Sept. 3 for their respective C$65,000 finals. And heading the lineup will be the 2017 of track record holder and last year’s Future Stars Series Champion, Wildriverbumblebee.

Pierre Duguay photo

Wildriverbumblebee and his owner/breeder Dr. John Bradbury.

Last year this colt by Sportswriter, trained by owner/breeder Dr. John Bradbury of Cooksire-Eaton, was at his all-time best in the final when he scored in a romp by six open lengths in a track record time of 1:54.3, the fastest mile ever at H3R by a 2-year-old.

Wildriverbumblebee starts from post four in the fifth race, the second of two divisions for colts. He will be driven by Stephane Brosseau. He prepped for his debut with two sharp qualifying races at H3R, where he was second both times, but by only a nose in each race, the fastest last week in 1:57.3.

“Wildriverbumblebee had a nice winter jogging back,” said Dr. Bradbury. “He filled out nicely. I usually don’t rush over the winter. This year the Quebec winter was pretty rude.”

This past week, Dr. Bradbury gave Wildriverbumblebee to a new trainer to handle for the season.

“I still do train horses,” Dr. Bradbury explained. “I did train Wildriverbumblebee down and just brought him to my friend Francis Richard four or five days ago. My main job is being a horse veterinarian. It’s still pretty busy at work right now, so I decided to send him out to Francis. The horse will also save 4-1/2 hours of trucking on race days because I live near Sherbrooke in the eastern townships.”

It will not be a walk in the park for Wildriverbumblebee in his first start as he faces a very sharp competitor in Doc Semalu.

Winless in four starts last year for Bayama Farms and trainer/driver Hall of Famer Yves Filion, Doc Semalu has come alive in 2017. He has won his last two starts, the fastest a 1:54 triumph last week in the Ontario Sire Stakes at Mohawk Raceway.

The gelded son of Mach Three starts from post five for Filion and has been installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite.

Also in the field is Histoire Enchantee (post one) who was a game second in 1:57.4 last week at H3R and Western Phil (post three), who was fourth last week at Mohawk Raceway to Doc Semalu.

“I was pretty satisfied with his (Wildriverbumblebee) last qualifier,” Dr. Bradbury explained. “This weekend is his first race. We’ll see how it goes. The season is long so we’ll go week by week.”

The third race is the first division of the Breeders Cup for colt and features Majo Lou Beka starting from the rail for driver Jonathan Lachance. This gelded son of Badlands Hanover won last week in 1:55 for trainer Mario Lachance and was bred by Lachance with Lynda Fortin of Mirabel, who owns him.

Other hopefuls in the field include Rebe; Voyager (post two), Noplay (post four) and Silky Cam (post three).

A full field of 10 3-year-old pacing fillies will go at it in the 10th race opening round of the Breeders Cup Series.

Featured is the return to Quebec of the top filly, Yaris Bayama for trainer/driver Yves Filion the Bayama Farms that own and bred the C$231,820 stakes winner. The daughter of Sportswriter starts from post 10 with Filion in the sulky. She won her qualifier back on May 26 at Mohawk Raceway in 1.54.1, but has yet to win again after three starts this year.

She will be facing some stiff competition including last year’s Future Stars Series champion, Queen Elsa for owner/breeder Daniel Dube. Although winless in seven starts this year, she should fare well in the series and starts from post nine for driver Steve Genois.

Winless in six starts last year, D G’s Elsa will be a factor in the race and starts from post position one, seeking her third straight win. The chestnut filly by Shanghai Phil will be driven by Jonathan Lachance for trainer Guylaine Fotin and won her last two starts by a total of more than 10 lengths, the fastest was last week in a lifetime mark of 1:57.2. Also entered are Herspeedfromheaven (post three), Kinnderuntouchable (post four) and CHaleurs Melodie (post two).

Track Notes: The first crop of 2-year-old’s make their debut in a pari-mutuel start in the seventh race pace on Sunday. Two return winners head the field. They are Art Of The Master and Butterfly BG. Art Of The Master is a half-brother to both Pieraz, a C$329,000 winner and Ferrari Sena, who won C$203,584 with a record of 1:50.1.

First race post time is 12:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.