from the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres, PQ — The record number of nominees for the C$200,000 Prix D’Ete at the Hippodrome 3R continues as just one of the 33 horses originally nominated have dropped out.

The prior record for nominees to the Prix D’Ete was 28.

Off the 32 4-year-old pacers still eligible (and there is one more nomination fee due May 15), the Ron Burke Stable hopes to have a three-peat in the Prix D’Ete with Check Six. The Burke Stable won the race last year with Rockin Ron and the year before with All Bets Off.

Check Six, a son of Somebeachsomewhere, scored 11 wins in 24 starts last year with a record of 1:50 and victories in the $561,000 Pennsylvania Classic, the $252,000 Pennsylvania Sire Stakes final, the $200,000 Monument Circle, and a division of the Bluegrass Stake. He was second in the Adios and third in the Meadowlands Pace and the Breeders Crown.

Other contenders include Western Fame, a $453,674 winner by Western Ideal for trainer Jimmy Takter, who won the 2014 Prix D’Ete with Sunfire Bluechip. Western Fame was a divisional winner of the Bluegrass Stake last season and was second in the Little Brown Jug final.

Easy Lover Hanover ($320,424) was a 15-time winner last year for trainer Ben Wallace with his biggest win in the $314,000 Progress Pace. Lyons Snyder ($309,654) was a 1:49 victor in 2016 and Roll Away Joe ($342,081) won the $250,000 New York Sire Stakes final and four NYSS events last year. All are major contenders for the race.

Quebec owned nominees include Quebec-bred champions HP Patriote and Sports Authority, Endeavor and Stonebridge Beach.

The Prix D’Ete was the most prestigious race in all of Canada from 1966 through 1992. World champions Bret Hanover, Albatross, Niatross, Hot Hitter, Cam Fella, On The Road Again, Ralph Hanover, Matt’s Scooter and a host of other top pacers won the Prix D’Ete.

In 2014, the Quebec Jockey Club revived the Prix D’Ete, making it the track’s premier race and one of the richest races in North America for 4-year-old pacers.

For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.

2017 Prix D’Ete nominees (after April 15 payment)
American Passport
Another Daily Copy
Arsenic
Artmagic
Awesomeness
Big Top Hanover
Check Six
Day Trade Hanover
Dr J Hanover
Easy Lover Hanover
Endeavor
Gerries Sport
HP Patriote
Lyons Synder
Magnum J
Missile J
Mr Wiggle Pants
Nocturnal Bluechip
Pretty Boy Hill
Roll Away Joe
Rollaroundtheworld
Secrecy
Seeley Man
Sintra
Spider Man Hanover
Sports Authority
Stolen Glimpse
Stonebridge Beach
Talk Show
Voracity
Western Fame