Trois-Rivieres, QC – This Sunday, November 12th, will mark the end of the "live" harness races at the Hippodrome 3R for the 2017 season. A season that started on April 23rd, but does not really end this Sunday as there is still the wonderful year-end gala Championship Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 18.
The awards dinner will honor the top horsemen, women and horses that competed throughout the season at the Hippodrome 3R. The dinner begins at 5:00 pm and runs throughout the night. The Emcee for the affair is non-other that track announcer, Guy Lafontaine. Tickets are only C$35 per person.
According to the chairman of the dinner, H3R's Francois Carignan, there are only a few tickets left to the affair and people interested in attending must contact him at the racetrack ASAP. The gala dinner will be held on the second floor of the casino, adjoined to the racetrack.
This kind of event is essential to all segments of harness racing in Quebec. It allows horse people to fraternize after a long season, it highlights the merits of each other, it allows leaders, often to make some important announcements for the coming season.
It is fashionable to honor first the winners of the finals of the three-major series presented at the racetrack during the season, namely in order, the Quebec-Bred Series with their four finals for horses of 4-5 years, the Breeders Cup Series for three-year-old's and the Future Stars Series for the two-year-old's.
This will be the first time since the introduction of the gala that we will honor the winners of the Quebec Spring Series Finals. An important addition. This part of the gala, held before the big dinner, will end with the recognition of the only track record established this year.
It will then be trophies awarded to the most deserving: some are known, because of their statistics for 2017, others are not. The selection committee was composed of H3R leading administrators, Murielle Thomassin, Francois Carignan, Guy Lafontaine, Johanne Letourneau and Daniel Delisle.
The awards include the groom of the year, the owner of the year (new category), the 4th star, an Excellence Media awards (new), the trotter of the year (the most victories at H3R in out of the series), the pacer of the year (same conditions), the trainer of the year, (statistics on November 12th), the driver of the year (same conditions), and the personality of the year.
Anyone wishing to get some of the last tickets to the gala dinner Saturday, November 18, must contact Francois Carignan at H3R at +1 819-374-6734.
From the Quebec Jockey Club