No world record at H3R
July 30, 2017,from the Quebec Jockey Club
Trois-Rivieres, PQ — There was no world record set in the special two-mile race at the Hippodrome 3R Sunday (July 30), but there was plenty of racing action in the four-lap event.
Sea Donkey and driver Pascal Berube took the early lead away from Northern Juno (Denis Audet) after the opening quarter in :28.2. Then Audet came right back to the front with Northern Juno and led the field to the half-mile in 1:00.2 and the three-quarters in 1:32.
Then Louis-Philippe Roy came first-over with Ninoscredit before the mile in 2:03.2, but was unable to take command away from Northern Juno as they went 2:35.4 to the 1-1/4 mile marker. At the 1-1/2 mile mark in 3:07, the action heated up as Stephane Brosseau took CF Sting Rei three-wide in front of the grandstand. They were followed by Mister Big Top (Stephane Gendron) and Tiguan Seelster (Stephane Lareau).
In the backstretch the final time, it was the three Stephane’s in command with CF Sting Rei (Brosseau) clearing to the lead, leaving Mister Big Top first over at the 1-3/4 mile mark at 3:36.3 and Tiguan Seelster trying to follow his cover.
Then Gendron urged Mister Big Top and they blew right by CF Sing Rei and pulled away from the field to win by 6-3/4 lengths. CF Sting Rei was second with Tiguan Seelster third.
The time of the race was 4:06.1, well off the world record set last year by Strokin in 4:02.4.
For Mister Big Top, it was the fourth win this year for the 5-year-old gelded son of Mister Big. He is trained by Yves Tessier and is owned by Francois Morin of Beauceville, paying $4.80 to win.
There were six divisions of the second round of the Future Stars Series for 2-year-old colt and filly pacers. Each sex had three divisions. The fastest mile of all the freshman pacers took place in the 12th race, the last race of the program.
Power Fog and driver Jocelyn Gendron was able to grind out the early lead over Challenge Magic (Louis-Philippe Roy) to the opening quarter mile in :29.1. Then had things their own way until Lucky Match (Yves Filion) came first-over after the half-mile in 1:00, then as the pace picked up, dropped in behind Power Fog, getting a breather to the three-quarters in 1:30.1.
Then the action heated up as Filion pulled out of the pocket and came after Power Fog, but Gendron’s colt was able to dig in after a torrid stretch drive to win by a half-length in 2:00. Big Mach (Mario Charron) was third.
Sired by Power Park, it was the second win in four starts for Power Fog, who is trained by Dominic Gladu for owner/breeder Gilbert Sauve, paying $5.10 to win.
In the fifth race, Louis-Philippe Roy and Phil Dorleans, the full brother to C$800,000 winner Duc Dorleans, was able to lead from start to finish and hold off a bold three-wide move by G A Speed Sammy (Alain Garrier) in the backstretch, to win in 2:01.3. Leader Tonight (Mario Charron) was third.
A son of Shanghai Phil, it was the maiden win for Phil Dorleans, who is trained by Jacques Dupont for owner/breeders Dorleans Stable and Gestion Levesque. He paid $2.40 to win.
The seventh race division saw Louis-Philippe Roy return to the winner’s circle with a colt that his co-owns with trainer Kevin Maguire named El Muchacho.
Following pacesetter Kinnder Jackson (Justin Filion) in second until the backstretch, Roy then moved first-over with El Muchacho, clearing to the lead and winning by 1-3/4 lengths in 2:02. Kinnder Jackson was second with last week’s winner, Chloes Master, the heavy favorite, finishing third.
It was the second win in four starts for the colt by Goliath Bayama, who went off at odds of 9-1 and paid $20.50 to win.
The fastest of the fillies was D Gs Shadowbell, who notched her second straight win for driver Jonathan Lachance and trainer Mario Lachance in the third race.
The heavy favorite, Hammering Haley (Louis-Philippe Roy), cut the mile early on but Lachance came first-over with D Gs Shadowbell and took command for good before the half-mile marker and went on to win by one and three-quarter lengths in 2:00.4. Hammering Haley was second with Liisawithtwoeyes (Stephane Gendron) third.
The daughter of Shadow Play is owned and bred by Daniel Surprenant and paid $9.20 to win.
Next came a real nail-bitter to the in the fourth race as return winner Le Balafre and driver Stephane Brosseau went right to the lead from post seven. Following their cover was the 4-5 favorite Katniss S BG and trainer/driver Yves Filion.
Filion was content to sit the pocket trip until the three-quarters, when they came first-over to challenge. Those two battled neck and neck around the final turn along with the fast closing Lit De Rose (Pierre Luc Roy). As they came to the wire, Katniss S BG just got up by a neck over La Balafre with Katniss S BG third by a half-length in 2:01.1.
It was a lifetime mark for the Mach Three filly, who was bred and is co-owned by Sylvain Descheneauz and Gaston Bibeau, paying $3.60 to win. Katniss S BG, is named after the Katniss Everdeen character in the very popular Hunger Games.
The last filly division was the eighth race where Road To Lea (Stephane Brosseau) led early in the mile, then gave way to a determined Miss Rockadali (Yves Filion) until the backstretch, when Butterfly GB (Stephane Gendron) came first-over and cleared to the lead.
Then Brosseau found clearance with Road To Lea and moved three-wide and was able to not only collar race favorite, Butterfuly GB, but pass them by and went on to win by four lengths in 2:01.2.
Lune Bleu (Pierre Luc Roy) was second with Butterfly BG third.
Sired by Holiday Road, it was the maiden victory for Road To Lea. She is trained by Dany Fontaine for breeder/owner Gaetan Bono Stable and paid $6.60 to win.
Track Notes: Stephane Gendron has the hot hands for the afternoon, scoring three winners on the card. All six of the Future Star Series saw lifetime marks for the winners. This was the last Sunday race card as the Hippodrome 3R takes a two-week break while the Grand Prix auto races take place in Trois-Rivieres. Live racing resumes on Wednesday (Aug. 16) when H3R hosts the fourth leg of the World Driving Championship with a special first race post time of 7:15 p.m. Then on Sunday (Aug. 20) is the fourth revival of the C$200,000 Prix D’Ete with a special first race post time of 2:30 p.m.
For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.