The Quebec Jockey Club hosted four divisions of the Breeders Cup Series for three-year-old pacers on Sunday (July 28) at the Hippodrome 3R, and D Gs De Vito was the fastest second-round winner.

There were two colt and two filly divisions, each of which featured a purse of $7,500. After the third leg, the eight top point earners will return for the $65,000 finals on Sunday, September 8.

The second race, first colt division, saw Ashleysbest (who was driven by Pascal Berube) go right to the early lead, as the son of Shanghai Phil was going for his fifth win in six starts for trainer Sylvain Cote.

Past the opening quarter mile in :27, Ashleysbest held the field at bay with GA Speed Gaby (Guy Gagnon) sitting the pocket trip to the half mile in :56.3.

Through the backstretch, Ashleysbest kept up his torrid pace, passing the three-quarters in 1:24.2. Ashleysbest then started to show he was tiring. GA Speed Gaby caught the race leader as D Gs De Vito (Jonathan Lachance) was coming three-wide after the race leaders.

All three horses battled it out down the stretch, and it was D Gs Vito that showed he was the strong horse by coming on late to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:54.3. GA Speed Gaby was second with Ashleysbest third.

It was a lifetime mark and the third win this year for D Gs De Vito, a gelded son of Sportswriter who is trained by Antonio Valente and was bred and is owned by Daniel Surprenant of Saint-Valentin. He paid $4.80 to win.

The second colt division, Race 3, was where YS Sunshine and driver Jonathan Lachance shot to the early lead with race favourite HP Napoleon (Stephane Brosseau) dropping into the two-hole.

After an opening quarter mile in :27.3 and a :57.3 half, the action started to pick up. Brosseau pulled the pocket with HP Napoleon and came after Lachance and YS Sunshine.

Past the three-quarters in 1:26.3, HP Napoleon kept grinding it out against YS Sunshine and took over the lead on the final turn. He then went on to win by one length in 1:56.1. Angers Bayama (Yves Filion) closed well to be second with Riot (Stephane Gendron) third.

The victory was the fourth win from eight starts this year for HP Napoleon, a gelded son of Big Jim who is trained by Francis Richard and is owned by Claude Hamel of Ayer’s Cliff. He paid $3.20 to win.

The first division for the fillies was Race 4 and it all belonged to Hall of Famer Yves Filion and Akita Bayama.

After grinding it out to the lead by the opening quarter mile in :28, Black Elektra (Marie Claude Auger) was on the lead with Fancy Girl (Francis Picard) sitting the pocket trip. The situation changed when Filion came first-up with Akita Bayama and took command of the race.

Past the half mile in :58.2 there were no challengers for Akita Bayama to contend with until past the three-quarters in 1:28.4. That was when Better Now and driver Guy Gagnon came charging three-wide; and by the middle of the final turn, was first-over and gaining on Akita Bayama.

Battling it out down the stretch under urging from Filion, Akita Bayama found another gear and held on to win by three-quarters of a length in 1:59. HP Xandu (Brosseau) was second with Better Now third.

The victory was a lifetime mark and the first win in three starts this year for Akita Bayama. The daughter of Sportswriter is trained by Yves Filion and was bred and is owned by Bayama Farms of Saint-Andre-D’Argenteil and Jacques Damours of Laval. She paid $5.70 to win.

Yves Filion then made it a ‘driving, trainer, owner, breeder double’ in the second filly division, upsetting the field with 14-1 longshot Audi Bayama.

The seventh race began with Cooking The Speed and driver Stephane Gendron getting the lead from Majelyca (Marie Claude Auger) by the opening quarter mile in :28.3.

Undefeated Esprit Dequipe (Tyler Jones) came first-over by the half mile in :59.1 as she was seeking her sixth straight win, all at H3R. Following second over was Audi Bayama and Filion.

As the field came to the three-quarters in 1:28.4, Filion came three-wide with Audi Bayama, blowing by Esprit Dequipe and then going after Cooking The Speed. Also going four-wide on the final turn to get into contention was D Gs Fairystars (Jonathan Lachance).

Down the stretch all three horses battled to the wire with Audi Bayama scoring the win by a neck in a lifetime mark of 1:58.4. D Gs Fairystars was second with Cooking The Speed third.

Audi Bayama paid a healthy $30.40 to win.

The sixth race Preferred-Handicap Trot saw Holiday Party (Berube) cut the mile with Capteur De Reve (S. Gendron) grabbing the pocket seat. Then by the half mile, Ice O Late and driver Jocelyn Gendron came first-over with Kinnder Dangerous (Pierre Luc Roy) second over.

Ice O Late (Jocelyn Gendron) won the Preferred-Handicap Trot in 2:00.2; Saulsbrook Peach (Guy Gagnon) won the Preferred-Handicap Pace in 1:55.3; and Lit De Rose (Stephane Gendron) won the The Filly and Mare Preferred-Handicap Pace in 1:57.

Track Notes: Yves Filion and Stephane Gendron each had driving doubles. Filion also had two training wins, as did Francis Richard. Richard is now tied with Michel Allard at 15 wins for leading trainer at H3R with Yves Tessier a close third with 14 wins. The 9th race was the two-mile special pace that saw Appleby Hanover and driver Kevin Waldron from Bermuda winning with ease in 4:07.1. The Hippodrome 3R will be closed for live racing for ten days due to the Grand Prix Auto Race Week in Trois-Riveres. The next live race day will be Thursday, August 8. First-race post time will be at 7:00 p.m. and it will be NASCAR Race Night with NASCAR drivers coming to H3R to compete in an exhibition race. For more information, visit quebecjockeyclub.com.

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)