TROIS-RIVIERES, Quebec – Both harness racing drivers Guy Gagnon and Brett MacDonald will now advance to the Canadian Driving Championship to see who will represent Canada in the 2017 World Driving Championship that will be held in Canada.
Competing in six Quebec/Ontario Eastern Regional races on the 3R program, Gagnon held off MacDonald in the very last of the six races, winning by just one point, 42-41.
Finishing a close third was Pascal Berube with 40 points and tied for 4th each with 37 points were Jacques Beaudoin and Gord Brown.
Gagnon started the tournament right where he ended it, winning. In the second race first round, Gagnon gave Northern Trophy a perfect trip behind pacesetter Tickle My Fancy (Pascal Berube), tipping out on the final turn and winning by one and one-half lengths in 1:57.1. It was the first win for Northern Trophy in two years and 35 starts.
Not one driver was able to win two of the tournament races. That enabled Gagnon to maintain the lead throughout the night with a second and third place finish later on keeping him in front.
Brett MacDonald kept in the hunt without a victory in the tournament. He did have three second place finishes that enabled him to finish second and advance to the final.
Pascal Berbue just got nipped in the final race. He has won a tournament race in the eighth with Jimbelina, who wired the field in a lifetime best 1:57. She is now undefeated in five starts this year and is the winningest horse at 3R this season. The 15 points put Berube right into the hunt going into the ninth race, the last race of the tournament, but MacDonald edged him out finishing second as Berube was third and the three-point difference put MacDonald ahead of Breube by one point.
“I knew in the last race it was my best shot to win the tournament,” Brett MacDonald said. “I knew I really needed the points. I don’t mind finishing second (overall) tonight.”
As the winners in the Quebec-Eastern Ontario Regional, Gagnon and MacDonald will join the following six drivers in the National Driving Championship that will take place at The Raceway at Western Fair in London, Ontario on Friday, October 14.
James MacDonald & Trevor Henry (Ontario Regional)
Jason Hughes and Corey MacPherson (Atlantic Regional)
Brandon Campbell and Jim Marino (Western Regional)
TRACK NOTES: There were three second round divisions of the Breeders Cup Series for three-year-old colt and filly trotters on the card Tuesday.
Y A Jailhouse Jodi posted her sixth straight win in the first race division for fillies with a three-quarter length triumph over Y S Suzanne (Carl Duguay) and EAU Naturelle (Simon Delisle). The daughter of Andover Hall covered the mile in 2:00.4 for driver Stephane Gendron.
The third race first colt division saw Holiday Party post his fourth straight win with a 1:59.3 triumph. Driven by Pascal Berube, the son of Holiday Road kicked in a :28.3 last quarter to win by two and one-half lengths over Skyflex (Rheo Filion) and Tuscans Memory (Guy Gagnon).
Andovers Choice (Guy Gagnon) looked strong on the front end turning for home in the sixth race second colt division, but then went off-stride in the stretch, allowing Wildwild Men and driver Robert Shepherd to scoot up the passing lane to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:59.1. KFB Amigo Cool (Pascal Berube) was second with Victor D Morgan (Louis-Philippe Roy) third.
Live racing resumes Sunday at 3R with 1:30 pm post time. Featured will be the third preliminary round of the Breeders Cup Series for three-year-old pacing colts and fillies.
From the Quebec Jockey Club