Trois-Rivières, QC — At the recently held Gala de Champions at Hippodrome 3R last week, François-Patrick Allard, general manager of the Québec Jockey Club, surprised the hundreds of harness racing guests with a special announcement.

During his speech to everyone in attendance, Allard announced that there would be a purse increase of nearly 10 percent for all the overnight races this season at Hippodrome 3R.

The purse increase will affect all classes and will start on opening day, May 1.

H3R race secretary Cynthia Theriault pointed out that some classes will benefit more from the increase, but the overall average purses will see some classes get less than 10 percent and some a little more. The actual average increase is 8.8 percent.

For more information, please visit www.hippodrome3r.ca.