It's been a bleak year for most Quebec racehorse owners, so Richard Berthiaume counts himself blessed.

Thanks to stable star Voelz Hanover ($125,000) and steady performers Catalina Morgan ($78,835), Ingrid Hanover ($46,160) and Armand Spice ($43,895), all good enough to race and win in Ontario, Berthiaume has been able to make up for some of the shortfall caused by the severe cutback in racing at Quebec's major track, Hippodrome de Montreal.

His Quebec-bred two-year-olds may finally generate a bit of cash as well, since there'll be stakes races for them in Montreal on Sundays through to the end of November.

"We've got about $400,000 collected so far this year so I can't say I'm disappointed. I just wish there was more happening in Quebec. It's like death now when you go to the track in Montreal," said Berthiaume, a longtime racehorse owner who heads a Montreal-based company that provides cleaning and waste-management services to the shipping industry.

For the second consecutive year, Voelz Hanover has been the key to his stable.

The three-year-old Astreos filly, purchased as a yearling for $27,000, has so far earned $377,000. Fresh off a 1:52.4 victory at Mohawk Racetrack in an Ontario Sires Stakes Gold elimination, she has post three for Saturday's $120,000 final.

"She got a little sick at one point in the season but she's been better the last few weeks," Berthiaume said. "It's a tough division, though. There are a half-dozen in there who are competitive."

His hope is that she'll race in both the $300,000 OSS Super Final and Breeders Crown before closing out her campaign.

On Sunday, Berthiaume will have a chance to see his two best Quebec-bred two-year-olds in stakes action at Hippodrome de Montreal.

Magnificentobseshn, a Broadway Blue filly who at $40,000 was one of the most expensive yearlings sold at auction in the province last year, will try to snap the unbeaten streak of Flanagan Beauty in a $35,000 Quebec Sires Elite stake for two-year-old pacing fillies.

Despite a series of outside draws at half-mile Sulky Trois-Rivieres, Magnificentobseshn has been worse than second only once in five starts.

Berthiaume's other stakes contender Sunday is Filou Ray, a Fill V trotting colt who cost $45,000 as a yearling and was second from Post 11 in a Distinction stake last week in Montreal. He's also in a $35,000 Elite stake. In all, more than $300,000 in purses will be up for grabs in 14 races on the Sunday-afternoon program.

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