Three-year-old pacing fillies and colts are in the limelight this Sunday at Hippodrome 3R with the opening round of the $220,000 Breeders Cup Series.

There are three weeks’ worth of preliminary competition with the top eight point earners returning on September 3 for their respective $65,000 finals. Heading the lineup will be the track record holder and last year’s Future Stars Series Champion, Wildriverbumblebee.

Last year this colt by Sportswriter, trained by owner/breeder Dr. John Bradbury of Cookshire-Eaton, was at his all-time best in the final when he scored in a romp by six open lengths in a track record time of 1:54.3, the fastest mile ever at H3R by a two-year-old.

Wildriverbumblebee starts from post four in the fifth race, the second of two divisions for colts. He will be driven by Stephane Brosseau. He prepped for his debut with two sharp qualifying races at H3R, where he was second both times, but by only a nose in each race, the fastest last week in 1:57.3.

“Wildriverbumblebee had a nice winter jogging back,” said Dr. Bradbury. “He filIed out nicely. I usually don’t rush over the winter. This year the Quebec winter was pretty rude.”

This past week, Dr. Bradbury gave Wildriverbumblebee to a new trainer to handle for the season.

“I still do train horses,” Dr. Bradbury explained. “I did train Wildriverbumblebee down and just brought him to my friend Francis Richard 4-5 days ago. My main job is being a horse veterinarian. It’s still pretty busy at work right now, so I decided to send him out to Francis. The horse will also save 4-1/2 hours of trucking on race days because I live near Sherbrooke in the eastern townships.”

It will not be a “walk in the park” for Wildriverbumblebee in his first start as he faces a very sharp competitor in Doc Semalu.

Winless in four starts last year for Bayama Farms and trainer/driver Hall of Famer Yves Filion, Doc Semalu has come alive in 2017. He has won his last two starts, the fastest a 1:54 triumph last week in the Ontario Sires Stakes at Mohawk Racetrack.

The gelded son of Mach Three starts from post five for Filion and has been installed as the 5/2 morning line favourite.

Also in the field is Histoire Enchantee (post one) who was a game second in 1:57.4 last week at H3R and Western Phil (post three), who was fourth last week at Mohawk to Doc Semalu.

“I was pretty satisfied with his (Wildriverbumblebee) last qualifier,” Dr. Bradbury explained. “This weekend is his first race. We’ll see how it goes. The season is long so we'll go week by week.”

The third race is the first division of the Breeders Cup for colts and features Majo Lou Beka starting from the rail for driver Jonathan Lachance. This gelded son of Badlands Hanover won last week in 1:55 for trainer Mario Lachance, who bred the colt along with co-owner Lynda Fortin of Mirabel.

Other hopefuls in the field include Rebel Voyager (post two), Noplay (post four) and Silky Cam (post three).

A full field of ten three-year-old pacing fillies will go at it in the 10th race for their opening round of the Breeders Cup Series.

Featured is the return to Quebec of the top filly, Yaris Bayama for trainer/driver Yves Filion.

The daughter of Sportswriter starts from post 10 with Filion in the sulky. She won her qualifier back on May 26 at Mohawk in 1.54.1, but has yet to win again after three starts this year for the Bayama Farms homebred.

She will be facing some stiff competition including last year’s Future Stars Series champion, Queen Elsa for owner/breeder Daniel Dube. Although winless in seven starts this year, she should fare well in the series and starts from post nine for driver Steeve Genois.

Winless in six starts last year, D Gs Elsa will be a factor in the race and starts from post position one, seeking her third straight win. The chestnut filly by Shanghai Phil will be driven by Jonathan Lachance for trainer Guylaine Fortin and won her last two starts by a total of more than ten lengths, the fastest was last week in a lifetime mark of 1:57.2. Also entered are Herspeedfromheaven (post three), Kinnderuntouchable (post four) and Chaleurs Melodie (post two).

For entries, click the following link: Sunday Entries - Hippodrome 3R.

(with files from 3R)