from the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres, QC — The start of the stakes season gets underway at the Hippodrome 3R on Sunday (June 10) with the opening round of the Quebec-Bred series for 4- and 5-year-old pacers.

There is both a mare and horse division on Sunday and headlining their respective divisions are top horses HP Sissy and Wildriverbumblebee.

The fifth race is the mare division and ironically the best mare in the race has drawn post eight and that is HP Sissy. Now age five, the returning champion mare, bred and owned by Claude Hamel with Michel Damphousse, will be driven by Stephane Brosseau.

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At the Hippodrome 3R throughout her entire career, HP Sissy, a daughter of Up The Credit, has almost never lost.

Now a career winner of $229,390, HP Sissy returns to trainer Jean Tourigny from the Rene Allard Stable. In her last start in the USA, she posted her first win of the 2018 season at Pocono with a 1:53.1 clocking, parked out to the opening quarter from post seven and then wiring the field.

At the Hippodrome 3R throughout her entire career, HP Sissy, a daughter of Up The Credit, has almost never lost. She was second in the Future Stars final at age 2, then was the champion in the Breeder’s Cup at age 3 and last year at age 4 was the Quebec-Series champion.

“This series is three legs, plus a final,” said Stephane Brosseau. “The important thing is not necessarily the very first start, but the last. If things go well, the mare will be competitive and that’s what counts.”

It may not be a walk in the park for HP Sissy on Sunday as she faces some formidable rivals in Skyfall Sena (post one), Ashley’s Philly (post two) and Godiva Mackiavelyc (five).

The horses do battle in the eighth race and there are ten starters in the field, thus posts nine and ten start in the second tier.

The race favorite is the red-hot Roll Will Joe son Dance With Joe. Currently on a three-race winning streak for trainer Christina Davignon, Dance With Joe drew post two for driver Richard Simard. Dance With Joe is five and is owned by Daniel Dulude.

Over the past weeks he has posted victories in a lifetime best 1:54.1 at Rideau Carleton Raceway, then came to H3R and rolled off two scores, the best last week when Simard let him loose in the backstretch and he rallied to score by 4-1/4 lengths in 1:55.2.

Dr. John Bradbury bred, owns and at times trains the Quebec champion pacer Wildriverbumblee. He has prepped for his 2018 pari-mutuel debut Sunday with two sharp qualifying wins at H3R in 1:58.2 and 1:58.1. Wildriverbumble drew post ten for the race and will be driven by Stephane Brosseau.

Now age 4, Wildriverbumblebee is sired by Sportswriter. His past records show he was the champion of the Future Stars Series at age 2 and the Breeder’s Cup Series at age 3. Later in the season he went to Toronto where he won the Ontario Sire Stakes Grassroots final at Woodbine Mohawk Park in a lifetime best 1:51.2, the fastest record of any of his nine rivals on Sunday.

Lifetime, Wildriverbumblebee has 14 career starts with nine wins, three seconds and one third place finish. At H3R he has raced ten times with six wins. He has also been made eligible for the C$200,000 Prix D’ete at H3R on Sunday (Aug. 19).

“It is not good that for his first start of the season he draws post 10 in a 10-horse field,” said Brosseau. “Worse, his most serious rivals we feel are Dance With Joe and C L Sportaction. They each have around a half dozen starts and also drew the pole and post two.

“The important thing is that the horse (Wildriverbumblebee) performs well,” Brosseau added, “and that he is at his maximum capacity on the day of the final. This week, he faces horses that are readier then him, but that does not mean that I give them the victory. Certainly not. I do not expect a mile so difficult because of post 10.”

In addition to Dance With Joe and C L Sportaction (post one), the race also features Majo Lou Beka (post three), Noplay (post seen) and HP Patriote (post eight).

There are three elimination divisions of the Quebec-Bred Series with the top eight point earners returning on Thursday (Aug. 9) for their respective C$30,000 finals.

Post time on Sunday is 12:50 p.m. For more information and a free race program for Sunday, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.