from the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres, QC — The inaugural Ben Hur Cup pitted two great harness racing drivers, the Champion, Sylvain Filion, facing off against the Challenger, Louis-Philippe Roy. And the champion prevailed as Filion won four of the eight races in the competition on Sunday (June 23) at Hippodrome 3R. The score was close through the first seven races as Filion led by only one point over Philippe Roy, 45 to 44. But that was before the final race in the challenge.

thephotodesk.ca photo

Filion proudly displays his Cup on Sunday afternoon at H3R.

In the ninth race, Filion was driving All You Can Dream, a 3-year-old filly by Sportswriter that was making her pari-mutuel debut off a 2:03.4 qualifying win at H3R last week for owner and trainer Harold Duguay of Pabos.

Filion left from post three, traded the early lead with A R Sublime (Jocelyn Gendron) and then pulled away from the field, leading by 12 lengths at the three-quarters in 1:26 and then opening up down the stretch winning by 24 open lengths in an amazing 1:56. Philippe Roy was a distant second place.

Philippe Roy took the immediate lead in the Ben Hur Cup as he sent Loves A Challenge ($2.80) to the lead by the opening quarter mile in the second race and led the rest of the way, winning in a romp in 1:56.1. Sylvain Filion was fourth with Evergreen Artist.

Filion came right back in the third race, wiring the field with Lune Bleu ($2.90), her third straight win, in 1:59. Philippe Roy was game with Yoshi from post eight, collared Filion after the half but then Filion stuffed him back in the two-hole and they finished second behind Lune Bleu.

Philippe Roy then started to edge away with points over Filion, leading 28 to 22 after the fifth race, then Filion made up ground in the sixth race with a second-place finish and then the score was Philippe Roy 30, Filion 28.

Filion then wired the field in the seventh race with Dry Creek Image ($8.50) but LPR was a game second, so then the score was tied Philippe Roy 37 and Filion 37.

Filion then put himself in the lead going into the final race as he gave Bet I Can Fly ($3.20) a second-over trip, then three-wide on the final turned to pass Philippe Roy and Pantheon Seelster in the stretch for the victory. The score going into the final race of the Ben Hur Cup, Filion 45 and Philippe Roy 44. For Filion, it was a driving triple, his third winner on the afternoon.

Then Filion crushed the field in the ninth race and took home the inaugural Ben Hur Cup.

As per the wager between Filion and Philippe Roy, well it started raining after the eighth race so Philippe Roy pulling Filion around the track in a race bike will have to wait until another day that they both are at H3R.

The first race on the program was the mare’s division of the Quebec-Bred Series for 4- and 5-year-old pacers.

Before the start of the Ben Hur Cup, introductions of the two gladiators were done in both French and English by none other than the great announcer, Jean Desautels. And when he introduced Sylvain Filion, Filion came on the track with one of the greatest Quebec-bred horses ever, Goliath Bayama, whom his father, Hall of Famer, Yves Filion, bred/owned/trained and drove to greatness.

It was Imagine Speed and driver Tyler Jones, who won the opening round of the series, who went right to the lead with race favorite Skyfall Sena (Mario Lachance) leaving from post six and grabbing the two-hole spot as they went to the opening quarter mile in :28.3.

Then at the half mile in :58.2, Queen Elsa with driver Stephane Brosseau started up first-over and that flushed Skyfall Sena and Lachance to pull from the pocket trip and come first-over against Imagine Speed to the three-quarters in 1:28.3.

Brosseau then took Queen Elsa three-wide and those thr2.8)ee horses were all neck and neck as they started down the stretch.

Queen Elsa began to fade in the stretch as Skyfall Sena dug in held off Imagine Speed at the finish to win by a neck in 1:57.4. Godiva Mackiavelyc (Pascal Berube) closed well to be third.

It was the fifth win this year for Skyfall Sena. The 5-year-old daughter of Goliath Bayama is trained and owned by Alain Martin of Gatineau and paid $3.20 to win.

In the 10th race, the horse division of the Quebec-Bred Series, it was Dance With Joe and driver Daniel Dulude and they would not let anyone pass them by.

Leaving from post three, Dance With Joe went right to the front but was not only challenged first-over by Noplay (Melanie Plourde) but also three-wide by C L Sportaction and driver Jonathan Lachance.

Those three raced past the opening quarter in :28.3, then :57.3 to the half when Noplay backed off the took the two-hole trip, leaving C L Sportaction first-over with Wildriverbumblebee (Sylvain Filion) second-over.

To the three-quarters in 1:26.3, Dance With Joe and Dulude kept C L Sportaction from getting the lead. Filion then took Wildriverbumblebee three-wide on the final turn and was coming after the lead down the stretch, but Dance With Joe was the strong horse, winning by a quarter-length in 1:55.3. Wildriverbumblebee was second with HP Patriote (Pascal Berube) third.

For Dance With Joe, a 5-year-old gelding by Roll With Joe, it was his fourth win in eighth starts this year, making him the winningest horse at H3R so far this season. He paid $10.60 to win for trainer Christine Davignon. Dulude, of Ste-Martine owns Dance With Joe.

Track Notes: Live racing resumes at H3R on Tuesday evening with two divisions of the Quebec-Bred Series for 4- and 5-year-old trotting mares and horses. The mare’s division is headlined by Y S Suzanne who is seeking her third straight win. The horse division features the great rivalry between Capteur De Reve, Kinnder Dangerous and Holiday Party.

Post time Tuesday evening is 6:30 p.m.

For a free race program, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.

The Quebec Fair Racing Circuit was held at Nouvelle Saturday and the all-time track trot mark was set by Mr Logan Mirox, driven by owner/trainer, Michel Audet, winning in 2:02.4, eclipsing the previous mark of 2:03 set by Ocean Mist Beauty and Carl Duguay back on 07-11-2015.