by the Quebec Jockey Club

Trois-Rivieres, PQ — It is most certainly looking like this is the year of a rising star, as harness racing hottest young driver, 27-year-old Louis-Philippe Roy, soundly defeated many of the top drivers in harness racing with an impressive victory in the second annual All Star Drivers Tournament at the Hippodrome 3R (H3R) on Sunday (June 4).

thephotodesk.ca photo

Roy defeats an elite contingent of drivers to capture the All-Star Drivers Tournament at H3R on Sunday afternoon.

Roy was the only driver in the tournament able to score points in all eight tournament races. He ended the day totaling 192 points with Stephane Bouchard second with 144 points and Scott Zeron third with 118 points.

“I was not that sure how I would do,” Roy said after winning. “I was told that I was the morning line favorite and that the favorite has never won the tournament before and I am very happy with the victory.

“I was fortunate to have some good horses today,” he explained. “They kept me close to the action at the finish and I know that helped a lot with the points.”

Roy won the fourth race pace with Whitemountain Nemo in 1:55.2. That was his only victory in the tournament, but combined with five second place finishes, one third and one fifth place finish, his performance put his point totals well ahead of the rest of the drivers.

Also in the competition were defending champion, Jody Jamieson, Hall of Famer David Miller, Grand Circuit Champion Yannick Gingras, Trois-Rivieres native Daniel Dube and two-time O’Brien award winning driver Sylvain Filion. There was a C$10,000 prize offered.

Bouchard, who was making his first return to the Hippodrome 3R in 20 years, was the only driver to win two of the tournament races. Defending champion Jody Jamieson was the only driver not to win one of the races. Three horses took lifetime marks in the tournament.

The Hippodrome 3R named the eighth race the ALS Fight For The Cure honoring Bouchard, whose son, Olivier, passed away last year in Montreal at age 26 from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease). There was a special blanket presentation to the winning horse and 15 members and friends of the Bouchard family were in the winner’s circle.
The management at Quebec Jockey Club donated the proceedings from the daily 50/50 drawing to the ALS Foundation in Olivier Bouchard’s memory.

Roy, the youngest of the eight drivers in the field, currently is the leading money winning driver in all of Canada and is second in dash victories. Last year he was the leading driver not only at the Hippodrome 3R, but also at Rideau Carleton. This year he moved his base of operations to Toronto.

“After this afternoon,” Roy said. “I will to go Quebec City and celebrate with my friends and then tomorrow fly back to Toronto to race at Mohawk. Then I will be coming back to the Hippodrome 3R next Sunday for the Quebec-bred Series finals.”

It was Scott Zeron, who at age 28, the second youngster driver in the tournament, who had the early lead, winning the first race of the tournament with Rainbow Palace in a lifetime mark of 1:55.3. Zeron then was second in the next two races to lead the group with 100 points. But with Roy finishing second five times and Zeron then failing to get points in some of the later races, Roy was able to seal the victory after the eighth race and extended the lead with a second place finish in the ninth and final race of the tournament.

“We had superb weather, a soldout dining room, good betting handle and great drivers competing,” said Quebec Jockey Club president Claude Levesque. “We could not ask for anything more for the tournament. I want to thank all the drivers for taking the time from their schedules to come to H3R and what great gentlemen they are. We also want to thank the owners and trainers for entering their horses in this competition.”

Total point standings for the tournament were: Louis-Philippe Roy 192; Stephane Bouchard 144; Scott Zeron 118; Daniel Dube 103; Sylvain Filion 94; David Miller 74; Yannick Gingras 65 and Jody Jamieson 39.

TRACK NOTES: Live racing resumes Tuesday evening at the Hippodrome 3R, post time 7 p.m. Featured will be the second round of the C$100,000 Quebec-bred Series for 4-and 5-year-old trotting mares and horses. For more information, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.