Appleby Hanover utilized a gutsy, first-over performance to capture Hippodrome 3R’s $5,500 Preferred-Handicap Pace on Sunday afternoon (June 9).

The afternoon’s feature race began with three horses battling in the early going. Surf Report (who was driven Tyler Jones), Rainbow Palace (Francis Picard) and D J Power (Pierre Luc Roy) each briefly held the lead before the trio led the field past the :27.2 quarter pole.

As the field came past the grandstand the second time, driver Stephane Gendron came first-over with Appleby Hanover, and the pair battled with Surf Report past the half mile marker, which was clicked off in :56.3.

Surf Report and Appleby Hanover were still battling at the 1:25.1 three-quarters pole (1:25.1), at which point Bali (Stephane Brosseau) was in the second-over position and the public’s favourite, Ufdragons Rocket (Pascal Berube), lurked third over.

Appleby Hanover was able to find another gear in the stretch. He wore down Surf Report and went on to win by one and one-quarter lengths in 1:55.2. Surf Report held for second place while Ufdragons Rocket finished third.

The win was the third consecutive victory for Appleby Hanover, a six-year-old son of Well Said that is trained and co-owned by Michel Allard of Saint-Esprit. Appleby Hanover’s mile was the fastest of the afternoon. Appleby Hanover, who was sent off at odds of 7-1, paid $16.70 to win.

Track Notes: Sultan D Or saw his four-race win streak come to a close in Race 7. Sultan D Or, who had been unbeaten in his four starts in 2019, started from Post 9 in the second tier, had problems getting behind the starting gate, and was never in the hunt. Stephane Brosseau led all drivers Sunday with three wins, while Marc Andre Simoneau was the leading trainer with two wins from his stable. All nine of the races Sunday were timed in under 2:00. Management at the Quebec Jockey Club has announced that the Hippodrome 3R will host the Quebec Regional Fair Finals on Saturday, July 13 with first-race post time at 1:00 p.m. (there will be live racing at the track on Friday, Saturday and Sunday that weekend).

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

(With files from the Quebec Jockey Club)