Trois-Rivieres, QC – The third and final preliminary legs of the Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-old harness racing horses and mares was held Sunday at the Hippodrome 3R.
This was the most important leg of the series as horses are vying for points to insure they will make the $30,000 finals that will take place on a special Thursday night race card at H3R on August 9.
In the third race, the first division of the Quebec-Bred Series for horses, it was 2017 champion Wildriverbumblebee and driver Stephane Brosseau who sped out to the early lead over Dance With Joe (Daniel Dulude). They went to the opening quarter mile in :27.3.
Contend to sit the pocket trip, Dance With Joe followed Wildriverbumblebee to the half mile marker in :57.4. And it was then that driver Pascal Berube made his move first-over with HP Patriote as C L Sportaction (Jonathan Lachance) was following second-over.
They raced up the backstretch with HP Patriote slowing gaining ground on the leaders to the three-quarter mile post in 1:27. Then the action really heated up.
Danel Dulude wisely backed out of the two-hole trip and swung three-wide to try and loop the leaders. As they started down the stretch, Wildriverbumblebee began to fade as HP Patriote still had strong momentum and was able to hold off Dance With Joe to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:56.1. Wildriverbumblebee held for third place.
It was the sixth win this year for HP Patriote, a four-year-old gelding by Vintage Master, who is trained by Gerard Demers and owned by Les Ecuries GLF, Inc. of St. Andre-Avelin and Claude Hamel of Ayers'S Cliff and paid $5.80 to win. HP Patriote was the Quebec-Series champion in 2016 at age three.
In the eighth race Quebec-Bred Series for mares it was a story of the lead changing maybe five times during the one mile race.
It started out with Queen Elsa (Stephane Gendron) going to the early lead with Skyfall Sena (Jonathan Lachance) getting the pocket-seat, but before the opening quarter mile in :28.1, Imagine Speed (Tyler Jones) was first-over and cleared to the lead, only to have Queen Else and Gendron re-take control of the race.
Then after the half mile marker in :58, Art De Gagnee (Pierre Luc Roy) came first-over and as Imagine Speed started to fade in the pocket, and Art De Gagnee dropped into the two-hole, still behind Queen Elsa.
In the backstretch, it was Wild River Swan (Francis Picard) ending up first-over at the three-quarters in 1:27. Then Queen Elsa began to fade on the final turn, putting Wild River Swan on the lead with Art De Gagnee coming after her and three-wide from the back of the pack was HP Sissy and driver Stephane Brosseau.
But they did not have enough momentum to catch Wild River Swan, who pulled off the upset win by one and three-quarter lengths in 1:57.4 over HP Sissy and Art De Gagnee.
It was the second win in five starts this year for Wild River Swan. She is the older sister (by one year) of Wildriverbumblebee. Both are sired by Sportswriter from the Mach Three mare, Alcor Semalu. She is trained by Harold Duguay and is owned by Dr. John Bradbury of Brookshire-Eaton. She paid $31.30 to win.
Pascal Berube was on fire at H3R Sunday, winning four races on the program. Stephane Brosseau had three wins and trainer Charles Gaudreault sent out two winners from his stable.
Track Notes: There is a change in post time for this Tuesday, July 10 at H3R. Post time will be 7:15 pm, 45 minutes later than normal due to a motorcycle event next to the racetrack.
Tuesday's card featured the final leg of the Quebec-Bred Series for four and five-year-old trotters. Top trotters entered include Kinnder Dangerous, KFB Amigo Cool, Capteur De Reve, Y S Suzanne and EAU Naturelle.
Please remember post time Tuesday is at 7:15 pm. For more information or a free race program, visit www.quebecjockeyclub.com.
From the Quebec Jockey Club