by Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres PQ — Bali was the “fly in the ointment” towards who will be the winningest harness racing horse at the Hippodrome 3R 2016 race meet as the 5-year-old gelding was given a strong drive by Mario Charron in capturing the 10th race co-feature pace Sunday (Sept. 25). It was the sixth win at 3R this season and with the losses by both Beach Runner A M and St Kitts, all three horses are now tied with seven Sunday race programs left for the season at 3R.

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Bali strides to his 11th triumph of the season at Hippodrome 3R.

Bali posted his 11th victory of the season in prime fashion as Charron sent the son of Dali right to the front. They then cut fractions of :28, :57 and 1:25.4, held off a strong first-over challenge by Solid Performance (Pascal Berube) and then pulled away in the stretch to win by 2-3/4 lengths in 1:54.4. Solid Performance held for second place with the pocket-sitting SOS Mach Xreme (Stephane Brosseau) third.

Trained by Marie Claude Auger for breeder/owner Denise Auger of Trois-Rivieres, it was the third straight win for Bali, who paid $9.30 to win.

Then in the 11th race co-feature, St Kitts and driver Stephane Brosseau sat a perfect two-hole trip behind pacesetter D G’s Ninja (Jonathan Lachance) but could not catch them in the passing lane, losing by 1-3/4 lengths in 1:59.3.

Thus, the contest continues next Sunday (Oct. 2) at 3R to see who can become the winningest horse of the year at the track.

TRACK NOTES: Driver Stephane Gendron has only a handful of drives at the Hippodrome 3R Sunday, but he made the most of them, scoring four victories on the program from his seven drives. It was the first time this year that anyone other than Louis-Philippe Roy (three times) has won four races on the program.

Both drivers Stephane Brosseau and Mario Charron had driving doubles.

Live racing resumes next Sunday at 3R with first race post time at 1:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.