Holiday Party and driver Francis Picard brought plenty of cheer to those who supported them at the betting windows on Sunday (June 3) at Hippodrome 3R, as the 13-1 longshot upset the field in the Invitational-Handicap Trot.

The featured contest on the card (Race 6) began with the race favourite, Kinnder Dangerous and driver Justin Filion, outduelling Caroluzzo (driven by Stephane Gendron) for the early lead by the opening quarter mile in :28.3.

Filion then led the field to the half-mile marker in :59 with Kinnder Dangerous as Torches Angel (Jocelyn Gendron) came first-over to challenge. Holiday Party grabbed the second-over cover.

The field raced down the backstretch for the final time and Torches Angel was unable to gain ground on the outside against Kinnder Dangerous as the pair passed the three-quarters in 1:29.

The final turn was where Picard made his big move with Holiday Party. The duo swept three-wide and gained ground on Kinnder Dangerous (Caroluzzo also found clearance as Torches Angel began to fade and he moved into the mix). The race belonged to Holiday Party from there, as he had good momentum and went on to beat Kinnder Dangerous by one length in 1:59.1. Caroluzzo finished third.

The win was the second victory from nine starts this year for Holiday Party. The five-year-old gelded son of Holiday Road is trained by Isabelle Binet for the Holiday Party Stable of Portneuf and paid $29.20 to win.

Track Notes: In the second-race pace, Flames Of Sport made his racing debut from the rail for owner/trainer/driver David Pilon of Berthierville. The three-year-old colt by Sportswriter went off-stride at the start and spotted the field some lengths from last place. He then was not only able to regroup and catch the field in ninth place, but Pilon took him three-wide going into the backstretch from eighth place, and was able to loop the entire field. He collared the pacesetting race favourite, Hercule J M (Carl Duguay), and beat him to the wire to win by three-quarters of one length and pay $9.20 to win.

Both Stephane Brosseau and Francis Picard had driving doubles on the program.

Wildriverbumblebee, the 2017 Quebec champion three-year-old, won his second qualifier at H3R Saturday in 1:58.1 for breeder, owner and trainer Dr. John Bradbury.

Live racing will resume on Tuesday night at H3R with first-race post time at 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.

To view the harness racing results for Sunday at H3R, click the following link: Sunday Results – Hippodrome 3R.

(Quebec Jockey Club)