from the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivivere, PQ — The C$120,000 Quebec-Bred Series for 4- and 5-year-old pacers gets underway at the Hippodrome 3R on Sunday (May 22) with divisions for both horses and mares.

The series will feature four weeks of preliminary action with the top eight point earners returning on Sunday (June 26) for their respective C$30,000 finals.

The horses are in the limelight first in the sixth race when two-time series champion and track record holder Atomic Million AM takes on six rivals. Last week the 5-year-old gelded son of Million Dollar Cam took the goose-egg off his five-race losing streak in his return to 3R, scoring a wire-to-wire triumph in 1:58.2. Add a track labeled good with a two second allowance and Atomic Million AM looks to be back in winning form at his home oval.

Atomic Million AM will start from post seven for driver Sylvain Lacaille and owner/trainer Alain Martin and rightly is the morning line wagering favorite.

It may not be a walk in the park for Atomic Million AM, as he faces some strong competition from Rideau Carleton invader, Killer Thriller (post three) for driver Stephane Brosseau. In his last start, Killer Thriller was able to wire the field in 1:55.2 for trainer Karen Kroeger.

Half A Billion ships in from Flamboro Downs where he has three wins already and was second last week in 1:56.1. He starts from post four for driver Louis-Philippe Roy.

Other contenders include C L Art Magic (post one), Bali (post two) and Mach On The Beach (post five).

The mares do battle in race nine with a full field of 10 starters headlined by the return of the top performer Wanda Bayama. Bred and owned by Bayama Farms and trained and driven by Canadian harness racing’s newest Hall of Famer, Yves Filion, Wanda Bayama starts from post seven and after a two-month layoff, recently won a qualifying race at Rideau Carleton in 1:59.

That is not as impressive as before the 4-year-old daughter of Western Ideal was rested as she was on a two-race win streak at Woodbine Racetrack where she won the C$54,400 final of the HPIBET.com series in a lifetime best clocking of 1:51.4, which she first set the prior week in an elimination division.

If Wanda Bayama races back to that form during the series, the track and stakes record of 1:54.1 set last year by My Tallia Ideal could well pass by the wayside.

Other contenders in the race include Kinnder Elegance (post five), Big Bertha (post two) and Chaleurs Fantasy (post four).

Post time for Sunday’s program is 1:30 p.m.

Live night racing at the Hippodrome 3R for the 2016 season begins this Tuesday (May 24) at 7 p.m. and to kick-off the night program will be the start of the C$120,000 Quebec-Bred Series for 4- and 5-year-old trotters.

Featured will be the return of two-time series champion Viva Bayama, also from the Yves Filion Stable, for the mares and a classic match-up between three-time series champion Maximuscle against the track record holder from last year, Seeyou Men.

For free race programs, live video feed and more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.